Nikola Open To 'Flexible' Pricing For Large Fleet Deals As EV Truck Maker Fishes For Bigger Customers Outside California

EV truck maker Nikola Corp NKLA saw the average sales price of its fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) trucks rise by $30,000 in the first quarter as compared to the prior quarter, contrary to other EV makers who have been witnessing their vehicle prices fall amid a severe price war. However, going forward, the company intends to be “flexible” with its pricing.

Average Selling Price Rise: The average sales price of the company’s fuel cell truck rose to $381,000 in the first quarter, company CEO Steve Girsky said on Tuesday during the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

Future Plan Outline: The company is currently looking to build volume across North America to optimize its cost structure. The focus, the CEO said, would be on selling to fleets with over 1000 trucks and selling outside of its focus areas of California and Canada. While California and Canada have the best incentives for EV makers at this point in time, other states are starting to offer incentives of their own, Girsky noted.

While the company does not intend to cut prices, it would be “flexible” with the initial part of its deal to large fleet operators, he said.

“We’re just not going to walk away from a great deal with a great customer because we’re being too stingy on price,” company CFO Tom Okray said while adding that bigger customers generally get better price deals than smaller customers.

The price per unit in the next quarter would vary depending on customers, Okray said.

“At this point, it depends, again, on the order book and what’s the mix between the bigger fleet customers and the smaller fleet customers and then the much smaller fleets. All of those will have different pricing and a different economic profile. And again, I could throw out a number, and it would probably be wrong,” Okray said when asked about the expected price per unit in Q2.

Nikola Financials: Nikola wholesaled 40 fuel cell trucks in the first quarter and produced 43 trucks. The company reported total revenue of $7.5 million in the quarter and a net loss of $147.7 million, down from the $169.1 million reported in the corresponding quarter last year.

Price Action: Nikola stock fell 5.4% on Tuesday at $0.6. The stock is down nearly 27% year-to-date, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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 Photo courtesy: Nikola