CNH Industrial brands IVECO and FPT together with Nikola Motor Company announce future Nikola TRE production in Ulm, Germany

The IVECO manufacturing facility in Ulm, Germany, will host the production hub for the Nikola TRE battery electric and fuel-cell electric heavy-duty truck models.

London, February 6, 2020

IVECO and FPT Industrial, the commercial vehicle and powertrain brands of CNH Industrial N.V. (NYSE: CNHI/ MI: CNHI), and Nikola Motor Company will manufacture, through their European Joint Venture, the Nikola TRE in Ulm, Germany, at the IVECO manufacturing facility.

This strategic and exclusive Heavy-Duty Truck partnership saw CNH Industrial taking a $250 million stake in Nikola as the lead Series D investor. The partnership announcement at the CNH Industrial Capital Markets Day in September 2019, was quickly followed in December with the unveiling of the Nikola TRE, a battery electric vehicle (BEV) heavy duty truck, which is the first step towards the fuel-cell electric (FCEV) model.

Today, the site in Ulm is IVECO’s chassis engineering hub, ideally situated at the heart of the Baden-Württemberg region, which is striving to become a leading hub for fuel-cell mobility thanks also to its skilled workforce and research labs. The region has committed a substantial investment to fund research and development projects in the area which has a strong automotive industry, with strategic project partnerships, meaning the Ulm facility will benefit from close proximity to key suppliers.

Furthermore, the German Federal Government recently released its draft National Hydrogen Strategy, which has the aim of expanding the pioneering role of Companies in hydrogen technologies. In this strategy, it commits a total of two billion euro to fund the hydrogen innovation programme, incl. the development of the necessary distribution infrastructure.

“Our European joint-venture with NIKOLA and today’s announcement, is real proof that zero-emission long-haul transport is becoming a reality, resulting in tangible environmental benefits for Europe’s long distance hauliers and its citizens,” said Hubertus Mühlhäuser, Chief Executive Officer, CNH Industrial. “The decision to build the Nikola TRE in Ulm – a center of heavy-duty truck engineering excellence – underscores the site’s strategic location at the heart of Germany’s fuel cell technology cluster.”