Electric truck maker Nikola Corp. announced the addition of Wagner Equipment Co. and four other independent dealers to its national sales network on Thursday that will culminate in three dealerships in New Mexico and dozens of others.
In addition to locations in Albuquerque, Bloomfield and Hobbs, Wagner Equipment Co. has locations in Colorado and Texas.
The other new dealer partners include Ring Power (signed for 14 locations in Florida), Carter Machinery (12 locations in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia), and HOLT Truck Centers (seven locations in Texas).
Nikola (Nasdaq: NKLA) is still building out its first manufacturing facility south of its Phoenix headquarters, but the company expects to complete the factory and make deliveries of its first U.S.-built battery electric vehicles (BEVs) by the end of 2021.
Nikola’s stock was up 80 cents (5.75%) to a price of $14.69 per share at a morning check of the market. Follow the stock here.
Less than a year ago, when short-seller Hindenburg Research accused Nikola of fraud and founder Trevor Milton resigned, the company’s future looked uncertain. Nikola is still under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but it has inked several outside partnerships in the wake of last year’s turmoil.
In April, Nikola said it had agreed to a partnership with the RIG360 Service Network, a national chain of truck maintenance centers, to support Nikola sales and services at more than 65 locations in the Southeast, Midwest and Northwest.
And in June, Nikola bought into a forthcoming hydrogen production facility in Indiana to support the hydrogen-powered FCEVs (fuel cell electric vehicles) the company plans to start building by 2023.
