Lordstown CEO and CFO Resign After a Special Investigation
Electric pickup startup Lordstown Motors is hitting choppy water with the company’s CEO Steve Burns and CFO Julio Rodriguez stepping down abruptly. The pair resigned after an investigation in the Hindenburg Report was made public by Lordstown. Despite the company disagreeing with the Hindenburg Report’s assessment of Lordstown Motors, its top two executives have left the building.
While Lordstown’s statement on the Hindenburg Report point to it being off base, the company did acknowledge that it could have, potentially, made misleading statements on its periodic release of pre-orders. The company notes in a release, “Lordstown Motors made periodic disclosures regarding pre-orders which were, in certain respects, inaccurate.”
Those inaccuracies could be the reason that the company’s top management is stepping down; however, Lordstown points to the company’s repositioning from its research and development, and early production, phase into the commercial phase of its business as the reason for the change at the top. It’s not uncommon for companies to shift executive management when transitions inside of the company occur, though this change does seem coincidental.
Read the article at Autoweek.
GM Ups its Planned Investment in EVs, Will Build New Battery Plants
General Motors is investing more money in electric vehicle and self-driving technology, adding capacity at its car assembly factories and building two new battery plants in an aggressive effort to advance and lead in EV sales.
In a wide-sweeping announcement Wednesday, GM said it will increase its investment in EV and autonomous vehicle technologies to $35 billion through 2025, a 75% boost from its initial commitment in early 2020.
“We are investing aggressively in a comprehensive and highly-integrated plan to make sure that GM leads in all aspects of the transformation to a more sustainable future,” said GM CEO Mary Barra in a statement.
Read the article at Detroit Free Press.
Merchants Fleet Earns Simultaneous Wins at the 2021 TITAN Business Awards
Merchants Fleet has announced simultaneous wins at the 2021 TITAN Business Awards, with Merchants Fleet awarded a Gold TITAN for Most Innovative Company of the Year and CEO Brendan P. Keegan taking home a Gold TITAN for Most Inspiring Leadership of the Year. The TITAN Business Awards recognizes companies and business professionals who go beyond the status quo to promote their strategy, culture, and teamwork to the world.
"Thanks to the remarkable leadership and innovation from Brendan and the Merchants team, our clients were able to stay operational throughout the worst of the pandemic, with the knowledge that Merchants would be there for them as a true business partner to keep them on the road and moving forward," said Gary Singer, Chairman of the Board at Merchants Fleet. "It’s a tremendous honor to see the efforts of both Brendan and the team being acknowledged on an international level with these two TITAN awards, and I congratulate them on this well-deserved recognition."
Donlen Launches RemarketingAdvantage™ Program
Donlen announces the launch of RemarketingAdvantage™. This new vehicle remarketing program offers customers the opportunity to sell fleet vehicles quickly and efficiently to Donlen.
With traditional remarketing auction channels, vehicle sales take an average of 28 – 30 days to sell in addition to a turn-around time for sales proceeds. By choosing RemarketingAdvantage™, customers have cash in hand within a week with the added benefit of immediate billing credits. Because Donlen takes care of the titling and transportation, the process is completely hassle free.
Khalid Latif, Donlen’s Senior Vice President of Operation and Supply Chain, said, “This past year has been a tough economic year for organizations across the world and we’re pleased to offer a program that provides cash flow to our customers.” Anna Stanke, Donlen’s Vehicle Remarketing Process Manager, adds, “Donlen assumes the risk with each vehicle sale, which makes the process even more valuable to our customers.”
1st Gear: Mazda Says it Will Have 13 Electrified Cars by 2030
Mazda is trying to go premium. Mazda has the Holy Grail internal combustion engines. Mazda is also going electric, despite being a relatively small automaker with limited resources (as any Mazda public relations person will remind you). Mazda has been understandably hesitant to go in on EVs, though it appears that, with the assistance of Toyota, Mazda is now going in on EVs.
Mazda will introduce 13 electrified cars by about 2025, including full-electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid models,the automaker said in a statement on Thursday, and it aims to electrify all vehicles by 2030.
The rollout of three hybrids, five plug-in hybrids and three full-electric vehicles will start next year, focusing mainly on Europe, Japan, the United States, China and ASEAN markets, the company said in the statement.
Read the article at MSN.
