Nikola Corporation on Wednesday unveiled its strategy and vision to becoming a global leader in zero-emissions transportation; one that calls for the company to play the role of both “innovator and an integrator.”
Nine days ago, company founder Trevor Milton stepped down as executive chairman of his Phoenix, Arizona-based hydrogen-electric upstart amid a firestorm of criticism sparked by a skeptical stock short-seller and subsequent inquiry from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Among the charges laid out in the report were that some of the technologies and capabilities Milton and Nikola laid claim to either did not exist, were exaggerated or provided by other companies and manufacturers.
Nikola, via statement emailed this morning, said it sees itself as an Original Equipment Manufacturer with expertise in design, innovation, software and engineering. “We assemble, integrate and commission our vehicles in collaboration with support from business partners and suppliers that bring decades of experience in manufacturing, and that have invested billions of dollars in industrializing and scaling production,” the company wrote. “Nikola designs and engineers its vehicles and works with business partners and suppliers to manufacture a majority of the vehicle components.”
As an “innovator and an integrator,” Nikola said its model combines the company’s intellectual property and proprietary technology with that of strategic business partners and suppliers “to design and manufacture innovative energy and transportation solutions.”
Nikola’s list of strategic business partners and investors include the likes of General Motors, Bosch, and Iveco parent company CNH Industrial.
