On September 3, 2019 local time, CNH Industrial N.V. held a Capital Markets Day event at the New York Stock Exchange and announced several blockbuster announcements.
Closely related to the aspect, it will split from the group to establish a new company, and invest 250 million US dollars to join hands with the US new energy heavy truck brand NIKOLA to establish a strategic and exclusive heavy truck partnership.
CNH Industrial will acquire a strategic equity stake of $250 million in NIKOLA, making it the largest investor in the Series D financing, which includes $100 million in cash and $150 million in services such as product development, manufacturing engineering and other technical assistance, as well as the supply of certain key components to accelerate the production time of Nikola TWO and Nikola TRE.
According to the plan, IVECO and FPT Industrial, the commercial vehicle and powertrain brands of CNH Industrial respectively, will use their engineering and manufacturing expertise to industrialize Nikola’s fuel cell and battery electric trucks.
The first three products listed in the product plan are the Nikola ONE, a NAFTA-compliant Class 8 long-head truck with sleeper, the Nikola TWO, a NAFTA-compliant Class 8 long-head truck, and most importantly, the Nikola TRE, a European-compliant cab.
The Nikola TRE will be based on IVECO’s S-WAY, which was released this year, to meet the needs of consumers outside of Europe and North America.
Under CNH Industrial’s "transformation win-win" strategy, the two companies will be divided into road and off-road assets, with the two companies listed separately. IVECO’s "On-Highway" company is scheduled to be split from CNH Industrial in early 2021, but this requires approval by an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, which is expected to be held in the second half of 2020.
The "On-Highway" company will include several brands, namely Iveco, Iveco Buses, Heuliez Bus and FPT Industrial Powertrain business. Through investment in product and technology upgrades, the market position and product lineup of the IVECO brand will be further strengthened.
We are familiar with Astra special vehicles, IVECO defense, and professional manufacturing brands, which are divided into "Off-Highway" companies, which will further develop their industry-leading products for their professional customer base.
Mr. Suzanne Heywood, chairperson of CNH Industrial, said: "This bold plan will lead to the emergence of two new global leaders in their respective fields. The rigorous work we have undertaken in developing our strategy provides the strongest support for the board’s confidence in strongly supporting the five-year strategic plan."