General Motors

Nikola begins Badger electric pickup marketing push

Nikola Badger electric pickup

Let the marketing begin.

Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ: NKLA) likely won’t have its Badger battery-electric pickup with a fuel cell range extender for sale until 2022. But it began taking orders Monday, offering to match $5,000 deposits and guaranteeing an invitation to a reveal party in December.

With a truck giveaway, Nikola is sweetening the pitch used by and rival Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). The industry-leading electric car maker took deposits on hundreds of thousands of its Model 3 sedans during the...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/nikola-begins-badger-electric-pickup-marketing-push

Lordstown Motors says first-year electric pickup build is sold out

Lordstown Motors sign

A commercial fleet-focused electric pickup from Lordstown Motors Corp. (LMC) is sold out for its first year – if the startup secures the $450 million needed to retool a former General Motors (NYSE: GM) car plant to make full-size trucks.

LMC revealed a prototype of its Endurance on Thursday with Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Secretary of EnergyDan Brouillette in attendance.

“I really think this is a pickup truck 2.0,” CEO Steve Burns told FreightWaves in a June 23 interview. “We think we’ve...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/lordstown-motors-says-first-year-electric-pickup-build-is-sold-out

Workhorse gets final safety nod to begin electric van ramp-up

Workhorse C1000 electric delivery van

Workhorse Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WKHS) can begin ramping up production of its composite-body electric delivery van now that it has met federal safety standards.

Production of the C-Series 1,000- and 650-cubic-foot vans is trickling through assembly at Workhorse’s plant in Union City, Indiana. Workhorse has about 1,100 orders pending with United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) and others. It expects to build 300-400 trucks this year absent supply chain issues.

Workhorse successfully completed Federal...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/workhorse-gets-final-safety-nod-to-begin-electric-van-ramp-up

Lordstown Motors plans Endurance reveal against capital raising deadline

Lordstown Endurance Sketch

Lordstown Motors Corp. (LMC) will unveil the commercial fleet-focused Endurance electric pickup truck next week even as a deadline looms to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to convert a closed General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) small car plant to full-size electric truck production.

GM holds a $40 million mortgage, allowing LMC to operate while it seeks investors. LMC, led by former Workhorse Group (NASDAQ:WKHS) CEO Steve Burns, paid $20 million for the 6.2 million-square-foot assembly complex...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/lordstown-motors-plans-endurance-reveal-against-capital-raising-deadline

Former Navistar and GM executive joins Plus.ai board

Former Navistar and GM senior executive Dennis Mooney has joined the Plus.ai advisory board, the autonomous trucking company announced today.

Mooney will leverage his experience in global product development for automotive and truck manufacturers to work with the Plus.ai team to help bring autonomous trucks to market, according to a press release. 

“We are very pleased to welcome Denny to our advisory board and look forward to his counsel across our engineering, product and commercialization...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/former-navistar-and-gm-executive-joins-plus-ai-board-to-help-commercialize-autonomous-trucks

What does Navistar loss portend for other truck manufacturers?

International construction truck

Navistar International Corp.’s second-quarter fiscal loss from COVID-19-disrupted production in April points to worse numbers for truck manufacturers that will report pandemic-addled results for the April-June quarter.

For Navistar (NYSE: NAV), things likely will get worse in its third quarter, which covers May-July. Its second-quarter report on Thursday, June 4, pointed to the difficulties that manufacturers and suppliers will unpack when they report their second quarter results in July.

None of...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/what-does-navistar-loss-portend-for-other-truck-manufacturers?

Report: GM starting electric delivery van program

General Motors electric van


General Motors Co. is planning an electric delivery van, adding to the list of carmakers and startups planning vehicles for the last-mile delivery segment, according to a Reuters report.

The GM electric van is code-named BV1, the report stated, and is due to go into production in late 2021 at the automaker’s Detroit-Hamtramck factory.

GM spokesman Stuart Fowle said the company is not confirming the news. The automaker has said previously that it will build several other electric vehicles at the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/report-gm-starting-electric-delivery-van-program

General Motors to open Mexican factory Wednesday

General Motors’ assembly plant in Silao, Mexico, will resume operations Wednesday, following its COVID-19 shutdown more than six weeks ago.

According to Reuters, GM received approval from the Mexican government to restart the Silao plant, where it assembles Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, two of its fastest-selling vehicles. 

“We are now beginning a new phase given the Mexican government’s official announcement earlier this week to consider the transportation manufacturing industry as...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/general-motors-to-open-mexican-factory-wednesday

Mexico aims to restart critical factories and supply chains by Monday

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced on Wednesday morning a plan for the “gradual” resumption of economic activities.

The plan includes restarting factories in the automotive, mining and construction industries by as early as Monday. Other parts of Mexico’s economy and social systems — such as public schools — could reopen by June 1.

“It is not a return to normal, it is the return to the new normality,” Obrador said during his daily press briefing. “There have already been...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/mexico-aims-to-restart-critical-factories-and-supply-chains-by-monday

Cushman to step down as CEO at P.A.M. Transportation

P.A.M. rig on highway

P.A.M. Transportation Services (NASDAQ: PTSI) announced that President and CEO Dan Cushman will retire after 11 years at the helm. He will remain with the company in an “advisory role” until July 31.

Cushman’s retirement is effective May 1.

The Tontitown, Arkansas-based truckload (TL) carrier plans to begin an “internal and external national search” to fill the vacancy.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors and our entire company, I want to sincerely thank Dan for his transformative leadership and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cushman-to-step-down-as-ceo-at-pam-transportation

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