Lordstown Motors appoints new CEO
The financially troubled electric car start-up Lordstown Motors has appointed a new CEO, Daniel Ninivaggi. Previously, Steve Burns had stepped down as CEO and Julio Rodriguez as CFO.
Daniel Ninivaggi is now to drive the series production and market launch of the Endurance electric pickup truck and raise additional capital, according to Lordstown. Ninivaggi himself stated after his appointment that his focus will be on the production and market launch of the Endurance.
“Job No. 1 is to make sure we stay on track from a production standpoint,” Ninivaggi told Reuters in an interview. “Without that, you can’t raise capital.”
Ninivaggi is described as an “industry veteran”. He had headed Icahn Enterprises’ automotive aftermarket service network and component sales, among others. He previously worked for Lear Corporation and as co-CEO for supplier Federal Mogul. Ninivaggi is a graduate of Stanford University School of Law, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and Columbia University.
Lordstown founder Steve Burns and its CFO Julio Rodriguez had resigned in June. Previously, short-seller Hindenburg Research had leveled serious accusations against the company, including the lack of production readiness of prototypes shortly before the start of production and also faked pre-orders. Previously, production targets were cut and higher capital requirements were announced.
Lordstown Motors had officially warned of going-concern risks for the company in a notice to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in June. In August, Angela Strand, who temporarily led the company as executive chairwoman in the absence of a CEO, said she was in talks with several potential partners about sharing the Ohio plant to bring money into the coffers.
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