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DOJ Investigates Electric Truck Startup Nikola

The Wall Street Journal  /  September 15, 2020

2 hours ago, mrsmackpaul said:

That is quite the car, pretty sure Packard made a copy of the Rolls Royce Merlin during WW2 for the PT boats and no doubt other things as well 

And it was a lot more reliable than the Rolla I seem to recall reading once

Paul

With the exception of the experimental PT boats, all U.S. PT boats were powered by three marine modified derivations of the Packard 3A-2500 V-12 liquid-cooled, gasoline-fueled aircraft engine. Improvements upon Packard's World War I Liberty L-12 2A engine, the successive "M" for "marine" designated 3M-2500, 4M-2500, and 5M-2500 generations all featured slight changes and more power. Their superchargers, intercoolers, dual magnetos, and two spark plugs per cylinder reflected their aircraft origins.

Packard's licensed manufacture of the famed Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine alongside the marine 4M-2500 has long been a source of confusion. Only the British built PT-9 prototype boat brought from England for Elco to examine and copy featured a Merlin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PT_boat

2021 Ford Bronco Won't Ever Come with a V-8

Connor Hoffman, Car & Driver  /  September 14, 2020

Bronco chief engineer Eric Loeffler says Ford will never offer a V-8 in the new Bronco.

Loeffler claims that even if Ford wanted to put, for example, the 5.0-liter V-8 in the Bronco, emissions regulations wouldn't allow it. He says that Ford is also confident the Bronco's existing engine options will satisfy customers' needs.

Currently, the Bronco can be had with either a turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four that's projected to produce 270 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque or an optional twin-turbocharged 2.7-liter V-6 that'll make 310 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque.

Separately, there are rumors of a more capable Bronco Raptor which, like the F-150 Raptor, could use a more powerful EcoBoost V-6, and Ford has confirmed that, as with the Wrangler, there will be a hybrid powertrain as well.

9 hours ago, Red Horse said:

I can't believe it- they actually screwed up and showed an early 80's F-600/700?

But they made up for that mistake by showing a 150 being loaded by a skid steer with gravel.  Heaven forebid that they at least show a 350 one ton dump being loaded.  Might convey the wrong message that Ford builds stuff beyond Lariats!

Nikola's truck was not powering through the Utah countryside, propelled by its next-generation electric vehicle technology. In fact, the unpowered truck was pushed down a hill.

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Nikola/Hindenberg: gravitational spin

Jamie Powell, Financial Times  /  September 16, 2020

In a year of remarkable market stories, one of the most remarkable emerged last Thursday when short selling research firm Hindenberg took aim at $13bn electric vehicle bubble stock, and recent GM partner, Nikola.

Nikola’s shares plummeted, prompting the company’s paper-billionaire founder and private jet enthusiast Trevor Milton to promise a full rebuttal of Hindenberg’s allegations before market open Friday. It never came.

Instead we got a short statement from Nikola that it refutes the allegations, and had retained Kirkland & Ellis as its legal rottweiler against the evil shorty.

That changed Monday morning as Nikola, a day late and several billion bucks short, published its full response.

Now arguably the most amusing allegation in the Hindenberg report was that the born-of-Spac Tesla-knock-off faked a promotional video back in 2018. The clip showed one of Nikola’s trucks powering through the Utah countryside, seemingly propelled by its next-generation electric vehicle technology.

In fact, as the FT confirmed, the truck was simply rolling down a very gentle hill. Newton would have been a better name for the company than Nikola, it seems.

So we were keen to see how Nikola would spin this revelation in its response, and we weren’t disappointed (emphasis ours):

Short Seller Distorts Nikola One 2017 Third Party “Future of Transportation” Promotion Video and Creates a Popular Lie: Hindenburg seeks to portray Nikola as misrepresenting the capabilities of the Nikola One prototype in a 2017 video produced by a third party, as “simply filmed rolling down a big hill.” Nikola never stated its truck was driving under its own propulsion in the video, although the truck was designed to do just that (as described in previous point). The truck was showcased and filmed by a third party for a commercial. Nikola described this third-party video on the Company’s social media as “In Motion.” It was never described as “under its own propulsion” or “powertrain driven.” Nikola investors who invested during this period, in which the Company was privately held, knew the technical capability of the Nikola One at the time of their investment. This three-year-old video of a Nikola prototype is irrelevant except for the fact that the short seller is trying to use it for its main thesis. The fact is, Nikola has real working hydrogen fuel-cell powered semi-trucks. Any reports intended to suggest that Nikola’s trucks do not drive are erroneous, and recent videos of Nikola vehicles driving can be found here.

Gravitational forces, it seems, are also beginning to exert themselves on the stock. At pixel, Nikola’s shares are off 7.2 per cent in pre-market trading to $29.81, after jumping to reach the low $50s on the back of the General Motors announcement last Tuesday.

What a difference a week makes eh?

6 hours ago, Dirtymilkman said:

I try to stay away from Limited Partnership "LP" stocks. Think its really worth it? 

100% yes. Some people live off these dividends. ET is a high quality company.

Nikola’s History of Discrepancies Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight

Edward Ludlow, Bloomberg  /  September 12, 2020

Nikola Corp. has left a trail of inconsistent statements and contradictory announcements that are now coming under scrutiny from short sellers eager to poke holes in the electric-vehicle company’s success story.

Hindenburg Research, which holds a short position in Nikola stock and stands to gain if the shares fall, released a report Thursday detailing what it called “dozens of lies” about the company’s capabilities, partnerships or products. The firm used internal emails, analyzed photos and even cited an investigator dispatched to rural Utah to test how far a car would roll down a hill. Nikola said Hindenburg’s report was full of falsehoods but hasn’t offered anything specific to rebut the allegations.

It doesn’t take a hedge fund or a private eye to determine that Nikola, which struck a partnership this week with General Motors Co., has a pattern of discrepancies. A look at some of its announcements and filings, along with statements and tweets by Executive Chairman Trevor Milton and other management over the past few years, yields other examples that weren’t part of Hindenburg’s report. “It’s a bit confusing trying to follow Trevor on his various social media outlets about the timing and cadence of communication of the different variables that you’re talking about,” Jeff Osborne, a Cowen & Co. analyst, told executives on an Aug. 4 conference call.

Nikola’s shares have tumbled 24% since the Hindenburg report, which, among other sources, cited a Bloomberg story from June about the company exaggerating the capabilities of a truck. Its slump over the last three sessions was 36%.

“We are committed to doing our best to keep the investing public and all of our stakeholders informed and up to date at all times,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Russell said Friday in an emailed response to questions from Bloomberg about the following items.

Under Construction

At a press event on July 22, ahead of the groundbreaking of Nikola’s Coolidge, Arizona, factory, Head of Global Manufacturing Mark Duchesne fielded a question on when construction would get underway. “That one is an easy answer,” he said. “Start of construction is tomorrow.”

The timeline was repeated by Milton the following day in a tweet. But “construction” turns out to be a broad term.

To facilitate the groundbreaking ceremony, the city of Coolidge issued Nikola a temporary use permit on July 13. The document, obtained by Bloomberg, allowed the company to do some limited ground clearing and preparation for holding the event, along with listing a plan for coronavirus safeguards. It didn’t allow further construction to start beyond that. The company also obtained a Pinal County dust permit around the same time, a legal requirement in Arizona.

On Aug. 7, the company received its at-risk grading and drainage permit, City Manager Rick Miller said by phone. The permit allows Nikola to clear dirt and do drainage work on the site, but as yet the company doesn’t have the permits required for foundation work, plumbing, electrical or vertical construction, Miller said. The permits are available through public-records requests.

On Wednesday, Nikola said in a tweet that Coolidge’s city council had approved the company’s “factory masterplan” and that “construction can now go forward.” This is only partly true, Miller said. It was the planning and zoning commission that approved a “major site plan.” The approval will allow Nikola and its architects and engineers to apply for the next batch of permits.

In a statement, Nikola said that by “construction” it meant everything from groundbreaking to seeking permits. Now that its building plan is approved, “the various permits will be obtained in cadence with the steps of the construction. We remain on schedule for Phase 1,” the company said in an email.

“The factory will be up in 12 months,” Milton said in a live broadcast on Instagram on Friday night. “The permit was just issued by the city. We are all good to go.”

Puzzling Partnership

Nikola has a stated ambition of manufacturing hydrogen-powered fuel cell semi trucks by 2023. Since 2017, it has had an agreement for German auto-parts supplier Robert Bosch Gmbh to “develop, build, test and support” various components for Nikola’s prototypes including a fuel-cell system, battery packs, steering pumps and motors, according to a regulatory filing in March.

The details of which partner is contributing what to the project has shifted over time, and the future of the deal has gotten hazier.

Nikola agreed to pay Bosch around $40 million for the development, according to the filing. In a presentation to investors in April, Nikola described the agreement with Bosch as a “co-development” and strategic supply chain partnership and said the company would jointly own any intellectual property developed with Bosch.

However, Nikola executives have regularly stated that Nikola designed, developed and will provide much of the technology for its vehicles -- not Bosch. On Friday, Chief Financial Officer Kim Brady said that Nikola will provide only 15% of the parts in battery electric pickups due to be built in Ulm, Germany, while partner Iveco provides the rest. However, he added that Nikola’s input represents 90% of the truck’s value.

“We are responsible for Nikola Tre -- the batteries, e-axle, e-motors, inverters, BMS system, infotainment system,” Brady said. “All the key electric propulsion systems come from Nikola.”

As recently as Aug. 25, Bosch has said that it’s “working with the company to make the fuel-cell drive for trucks suitable for mass production.”

On Monday, Nikola announced that GM -- not Bosch -- will mass-supply a fuel cell system for Nikola’s Class 7 and 8 semi trucks, as well as the battery packs for its debut electric pickup, the Badger. On Friday, Nikola clarified that Bosch will supply semi truck fuel cells in Europe, while GM will have exclusivity everywhere else.

“Bosch is an investor, board member and supplier to Nikola. They help us in many facets of our business as our partner,” Nikola said.

Milton bristled at a claim by a Twitter user that Nikola was jilting Bosch in favor of GM.

“Bosch as a company with a dedicated hydrogen strategy welcomes the decision of GM to enter this market as an important player,” Bosch spokesman Tim Wieland said in an email. “Beyond that, Nikola and Bosch have been working together for several years, not only on the fuel cell power train but also on other innovations like the steering system and the Mirror Cam System for the first prototypes of the Nikola trucks. The two companies will continue to cooperate in the future, also on fuel cells.”

Game Changer

Nikola’s narrative about its battery strategy has also shifted over time.

In November 2019, Nikola issued a press release claiming to have “game-changing” battery cell technology that it would unveil at an event in 2020. Nikola also said it had entered into a letter of intent to acquire a “world-class battery engineering team” to help bring the new battery to pre-production.

“We are talking about doubling the range of BEVs and hydrogen-electric vehicles around the world,” Milton said in the statement.

In July, Milton tweeted that Nikola would “make the entire pack like the top guys do” for its upcoming pickup truck, called the Badger. He said that all internal components, such as batteries, inverters, software and controls, are Nikola’s own intellectual property. “We own it all in house,” he said.

Milton clarified in a tweet on Thursday that Nikola’s change of direction -- to use GM’s Ultium battery technology for the Badger -- was a result of cost analysis and cost savings.

Beer Trucks

Back in March, Nikola said in a presentation to investors that it has a “signed binding agreement” to provide Anheuser-Busch with as many as 800 hydrogen fuel cell electric semi trucks. What the presentation didn’t say was that Anheuser-Busch committed to buy fewer trucks than that, and doesn’t have to buy any at all.

The deal was first announced in May 2018 and stated the trucks were originally expected to be integrated into Anheuser-Busch’s dedicated fleet by the end of 2020, according to a press release.

That timeline isn’t going to be met. During the Aug. 4 earnings call, Russell, the CEO, updated investors on the deal, saying, “We do believe that we’ll be able to give them test prototypes before the end of 2021; serial production or mass production of the fuel cell truck will not begin until 2023.”

That does corroborate with the timeline for production set out in a July filing -- and to be fair, lots of people’s plans have changed this year. But in the same filing, Nikola revealed that Anheuser-Busch retains the right to cancel the truck order, though there’s no indication that will happen. The contract also has lease terms and rental rates that may be hard for Nikola to meet, according to the filing, “depending on our ability to develop our trucks and hydrogen network according to current design parameters and cost estimates.”

The agreement between the two companies states that Anheuser-Busch gets priority of delivery for as much as 20% of Nikola’s initial “production line of Class 8 vehicles.” To get production going by 2023, Nikola must work to have dedicated equipment in Anheuser Busch’s breweries and distribution centers by the end of 2021, according to the deal terms. Anheuser-Busch only agreed to use at least 600 trucks -- the 800 figure, according to the document, is an estimate of what the brewer will need.

“They have been, and continue to be, a great long-term partner in our shared vision of a zero-emission future (a Nikola Two prototype hauled our first load over public roads for them in St. Louis not too long ago),” Russell said in the statement Friday, referring to Anheuser-Busch. “Our original agreement with them has been modified over time. The current agreement terms are as we set forth in our earnings call.”

Anheuser-Busch didn’t respond to a request for comment. The partnership with Nikola will help the brewer transition its entire long-haul fleet to zero-emission vehicles, Anheuser-Busch said last November.

Prototype Production

On July 13, Milton said European partner Iveco was already producing vehicle prototypes.

“We have a truck coming in to production right now with 720KwH, the largest battery we know of anywhere in the world coming in to production,” Milton said on the TC’s Chartcast Podcast. “We have five of them coming off the assembly line right now in Ulm, Germany.”

On Aug. 4, during the company’s debut earnings call, Russell echoed the sentiment, saying that the first five prototypes were “coming off the end of the facility at this point.”

Those statements were a mischaracterization of Nikola and Iveco’s progress in Ulm, according to two people familiar with the matter. The assembly line is still under construction and not yet operational or building prototypes, the people said. There are prototypes being built by hand in a workshop, one of the people said.

“As stated previously, the first five production prototypes of the Nikola Tre are being completed, by an assembly team at the Ulm facility. Also as stated previously, the Nikola/IVECO JV mass production line facility in Ulm is still under construction, and is on track for the start of regular serial production in 2021,” Russell said Friday. “We anticipate that a number of current IVECO personnel will join the Nikola/IVECO JV production team in Ulm.”

Nikola’s Guidance

Here’s when Nikola has said it will hit its big milestones, based on filings, statements and interviews:

1 hour ago, Dirtymilkman said:

So say a certain guy I know bought 1800 shares of NAV when it was $15, what is the magic number to sell it at? 

$43 to $47.

Then, invest that money in Energy Transfer (symbol ET) while it’s presently under $6.00, particularly for the 20% yield dividend.

The trouble behind Traton’s offer to buy Carl Icahn-backed Navistar

New York Post  /  September 11, 2020

Even as Volkswagen subsidiary Traton revs up its efforts to buy a trucking company linked to billionaire Carl Icahn, sources warn that its merger plans could still easily veer off course.

In a press release Thursday, Traton said it increased its offer to buy Navistar — the company behind the International brand of trucks and diesel engines — to $43 a share. Shares of Navistar jumped 16 percent to $41.59 on the news, up from a previous close of $35.84 a share, before closing up 14 percent at $40.78 a share.

But a sale is still far from certain because Traton only made its offer for Navistar public after merger discussions with the board broke down.

Problems arose when Navistar’s board demanded that Traton agree to consider a set price of around $50 a share in order to gain access to Navistar’s financials and begin advanced merger discussions. Not willing to commit to the higher amount, Navistar instead went public with its offer in hopes of convincing shareholders to back the sale at $43 a share.

Traton on Thursday noted that its sweetened offer represents a 23 percent premium over its January proposal to buy Navistar for $35 a share at a time when deals have been collapsing left and right due to the coronavirus.

“We continue to believe in the compelling strategic benefits that a complete merger of Traton and Navistar would produce,” said Traton CEO Matthias Gründler. “This is why we are re-emphasizing our interest in the transaction in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Navistar said it would review the revised offer.

“Navistar’s board of directors and management team are committed to exploring all avenues to maximize value. Consistent with its fiduciary duties, the board will carefully review the revised proposal from Traton,” Navistar said.

Traton’s hope is that the move pressures the board — whose members include Icahn and a representative for Icahn’s one-time protégé Mark Rachesky — to take the deal or risk angering shareholders if it falls apart and the stock collapses, sources said.

Jefferies Analyst Steve Volkmann has predicted, for example, that Navistar’s shares will settle lower — to between $27 and $30 a share — if no deal is announced in the coming weeks.

It’s unclear which board members may have been holding out for a higher price and why. Icahn and Raschesky each control roughly 16 percent of Navistar’s stock.

But as The Post reported earlier this week, Rachesky told some of Navistar’s directors after Traton made its $35 offer in January that he wanted more than $70 a share — causing jitters ahead of negotiations that were set to resume this week following  a coronavirus-induced lull.

And it does appear at least one top ten shareholder is willing to settle for less than the desired $50 a share. A large Navistar shareholder not associated with Icahn or Raschesky told The Post on Thursday that he thinks that Navistar should sell if it can get Traton to raise its offer by just a few dollars.

Bloomberg  /  September 11, 2020

Nikola Corp. shares dropped as much as 18% after the company issued a blanket denial of allegations made in a short-seller report without offering any specifics to refute allegations it lied about its technology and staged events.

The electric-truck startup said allegations made by Hindenburg Research are false but did not provide evidence to refute specific claims in the report. Chairman and founder Trevor Milton had vowed earlier Friday to issue a detailed rebuttal after “working through the night.”

Nikola instead hired law firm Kirkland & Ellis to consider its legal options and said it plans to bring unspecified documentation to the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Milton said in a tweet Friday he wouldn’t make any further comments about the allegations on the advice of counsel. In reference to earlier pledges to provide a “detail report” to address Hindenburg’s claims, he hinted in another tweet that might take time.

“This document had to be prepared well with the SEC in mind. It will be released as soon as they give me the green light,” he said.

Although Milton didn’t explain from whom he was awaiting a “green light.”

Hidenburg Research’s founder, Nathan Anderson, said he welcomed Nikola’s pledge to petition securities regulators. “We are pleased that Nikola is engaging with the SEC and we are not surprised that Trevor Milton is not commenting further on advice of counsel,” he said.

Effer* is an Italian brand. Good product. But why is it that the US doesn't have any good producers? All the good booms are from Europe. Coming out of WW2, the US was the benchmark for technology across the board, the envy of the world. Now the US is largely a follower that continues to be taken over by foreign aggressors.......and few take take note or care.

* https://www.effer.com/en/

8 hours ago, Red Horse said:

Closed today at 40.78

Bob, I expect it to reach the $43 to $47 range.

Traton Ups Navistar Offer

Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT)  /  September 10, 2020

Traton on September 10th upped the ante in its offer to buy all outstanding shares of common stock of Navistar International Corp. The new offering price of $43 per share in cash is a 23% increase from the $35 per Navistar share that Traton offered at the end of January, according to an announcement from the company. Traton, formerly VW Truck and Bus, currently holds 16.8% of Navistar’s outstanding common shares. 

“We continue to believe in the compelling strategic benefits that a complete merger of Traton and Navistar would produce. This is why we are re-emphasizing our interest in the transaction in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Matthias Gründler, CEO of the Germany-based commercial vehicle manufacturer, in a press release.

According to MarketWatch, the offer represents a 20% premium over Navistar’s stock closing price of $35.84 on Sept. 9. Navistar Wednesday reported a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss. Its shares jumped 16.5% to a two-year high in morning trading after the announcement.

Traton said in the announcement that it expects the Navistar’s board of directors to review the increased offer. The New York Post reported on Sept. 7 that a squabble on the board could derail the merger, with one member demanding a significantly higher share price than even the sweetened offer.

The offer remains subject to a satisfactory due-diligence process as well as negotiation and a common understanding as regards the merger agreement, and any resulting merger agreement would be subject to final approval by the boards of Traton and Volkswagen AG, and Navistar’s board and stockholders.

Navistar issued a statement confirming receipt of the proposal and said, "Navistar's board of directors and management team are committed to exploring all avenues to maximize value. Consistent with its fiduciary duties, the board will carefully review the revised proposal from Traton in consultation with its advisors to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the company and its stakeholders." The company warned that "there is no assurance that any transaction with Traton will occur or be consummated. Navistar does not intend to make any additional comments regarding the proposal unless and until it is appropriate to do so, or a formal agreement has been reached."

Traton was formed in 2018 out of Volkswagen’s Truck and Bus Group, in order to spearhead the German automaker's push to become a major player in the global commercial vehicle market. That bid included establishing a presence in North America – the world’s highest volume commercial vehicle market.

To further that goal, Volkswagen had already developed a close relationship with Navistar, in 2016 announcing a strategic alliance that included various research and development projects. That alliance has helped lead to Navistar introducing a version of Volkswagen truck brand MAN’s diesel engine as the International A26 engine for International Class 8 trucks and more recently, a prototype electric medium-duty truck.

Electric Truck Will be First Off the Line at New Navistar Texas Plant

Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT)  /  September 10, 2020

Navistar said an electric truck will be the first vehicle off the line at its new San Antonio, Texas, production facility when it opens in the spring of 2022. The news came as part of the company’s third-quarter earnings release, where it also noted that its NEXT eMobility Solutions business unit recently signed a master services agreement with In-Charge Energy to provide charging infrastructure and consulting services to electric vehicle customers.

While Navistar did not offer any more specifics, at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show last fall, the company unveiled a prototype for a battery-electric drive version of its International MV medium-duty truck, dubbed the eMV. Originally Navistar said it was slated to come to market by early 2021. Navistar again showed the truck at The Work Truck Show earlier this year.

The company held a virtual groundbreaking for its new San Antonio facility in late June, and in August, announced a new facility in Rochester Hills, Michigan, will house its NEXT eMobility Solutions business unit.

Navistar also recently announced that it had become a member of CharIN E.V., a global association that focuses on electric vehicle adoption and wants to set a global standard for charging battery-powered electric vehicles.

Short seller Hindenburg alleges that electric truck maker Nikola is an 'intricate fraud' in new report

MarketWatch  /  September 10, 2020

Short seller Hindenburg Research published a report on electric truck maker Nikola Inc. on Thursday, accusing it of being an "intricate fraud" built on lies told by its Founder and Executive Chairman Trevor Milton over many years. Nikola shares fell 9% on the news.

"We have gathered extensive evidence-including recorded phone calls, text messages, private emails and behind-the-scenes photographs-detailing dozens of false statements by Nikola Founder Trevor Milton," said the report. "We have never seen this level of deception at a public company, especially of this size." Nikola has misled partners by making false claims about the company's technology, including its hydrogen fuel cell batteries, which Hindenburg says never existed.

The company is now planning to use General Motors Co. battery technology after signing a deal with GM this week, under which it will issue $2 billion of new shares to GM.

33 minutes ago, Red Horse said:

KSC,

Just out of curiosity I was on the Ford corporate web site the other day seeing seeing what they were  still pushing for sedans-given Hackett's position that cars are dead in the US. (Apparently the Koreans, Toyota, Honda etc have not discovered they are losing their ass building cars).  In any case, thinking of all the press we see from the Turks about their new dealers in Europe, just for kicks I went to some of the Ford  euro country web sites and clicked on "commercial", and guess what...No F-Max. 4142 etc.

This clearly says to me that Ford Otosan is a "mirage" as far as Ford is concerned.  The Turks may have the name, but they  are on their own and if Ford does not even show  the big Fords on country websites where Otosan is making big press announcements about their dealers, they are completely on their own and Dearborn could care less.

No mirage Bob. Ford Trucks uses separate, purpose-focused websites.........and that's my preference. Cars (light vehicles) and heavy trucks are two entirely different animals (apples and oranges). 

Note the website address says "Ford Trucks", not Ford-Otosan or Otosan.

Here, for example, is the Ford Trucks website for Spain................https://www.fordtrucks.es/

F-MAX        https://www.fordtrucks.es/tractora/f-max

4142           https://www.fordtrucks.es/camion-de-carretera/4142

International Trucks Press Release  /  September 9, 2020

Built to be tough, this HV Series will take whatever garbage you throw at it!

.

Related reading - https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/54348-ford-trucks-introduces-truck-of-the-future/?tab=comments#comment-406320

Ford Trucks International Press Release  /  September 10, 2020

With F-Vision, the most concrete indicator of our vision for the future, we are opening the doors of a zero-emission future. Happy World Electric Vehicle Day!

#FordTrucks #SharingTheLoad #WorldEVDay

29 minutes ago, alex g said:

Was in a Mack box from dealer but unsure of brand

Understood. I've no idea who Volvo sources them from now.

20 minutes ago, alex g said:

I changed oil a couple months ago and the noise started recently. What do I check on centramax filter. Thanks for reply as well

What brand centrifugal filter cartridge did you use at the oil change ?

Carl Icahn’s feud with former protégé threatens Navistar sale

Josh Kosman, New York Post  /  September 7, 2020

Carl Icahn has been squabbling with a former protégé in negotiations to sell a truck-making giant — and investors fret that the tiff could land the deal in a ditch.

The 84-year-old billionaire is squaring off against Mark Rachesky — a hard-charging financier who worked for him for six years in the 1990s — over the asking price for Navistar, which makes the International line of big rigs, as well as buses and military vehicles, sources told The Post.

Traton, a Volkswagen subsidiary that makes the German auto giant’s trucks and buses, offered to buy Navistar in January for $35 a share, or $2.9 billion, in a deal that could enlarge VW’s share of the US truck market. Navistar shares surged more than 50 percent to above the asking price, and Navistar hired bankers in February to respond.

Not long after Traton made its offer, Rachesky, a large Navistar shareholder who controls a seat on the board, told some of Navistar’s directors that he wanted more than $70 a share, sources said. While other board members, including Icahn, agreed that Traton needed to sweeten its offer, they didn’t expect Traton to double it, sources said.

Talks were then stalled due to COVID-19, but Navistar’s board is now scrambling to align itself before discussions resume this month, sources said. Traton, which has seats on Navistar’s board, is Navistar’s biggest stockholder with a 17 percent stake. Icahn and Rachesky’s MHR Fund Management each hold stakes of roughly 16 percent.

It couldn’t immediately be learned what price Icahn wants, but sources close to the situation say it’s significantly lower than $70.

“Any speculation on MHR setting a price is reckless and completely false, and only serves to create unnecessary distraction and strife,” a Rachesky spokesman said in a statement, declining to comment specifically on whether Rachesky had floated the sky-high price to fellow directors.

“[Navistar Chairman] Troy Clarke is running a thorough and comprehensive process to negotiate a deal with Traton that assures value for all shareholders,” the spokesman added. “He has MHR’s full support.”

Nevertheless, some investors worry that Rachesky could endanger the deal if he holds out. That’s despite the fact that Navistar’s stock has lately bounced from a COVID hit that brought it near $15 in March and April, closing at $37.35 on Friday.

“Navistar was not worth what Rachesky was asking for,” one source close to Navistar fumed.

“Maybe if Mark had said $55 to the other directors . . . a deal could have been had before the pandemic.”

Another source put it more bluntly: “The rest of the board is not in love with Mark.”

A Stanford-trained medical doctor before he embarked on an investing career, Rachesky has done well for himself since branching out on his own. In 2012, he and his wife, Jill, paid $33 million for a swanky apartment at

But critics say his lofty demands have gotten in the way of deals before.

His second-biggest holding next to Navistar is a 58 percent stake in Loral, a satellite company he has controlled since 2005. In 2015, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan had a handshake deal with Loral to buy it for $7 billion, or $85 a share, The Post reported at the time.

And as chairman of Loral, Rachesky walked away, apparently after refusing to pay a $300 million consent fee to a co-investor, The Post reported. The shares are presently trading at $23.13. While Loral has been consistently paying dividends since, they don’t come close to offsetting the lost, fourfold premium.

And his performance has lagged in recent years. In 2007, MHR raised a $3.5 billion fund that Forbes said was generating a 13 percent annual return. At the end of last year, that return had fallen to 5.1 percent, according to the Oregon Employees Retirement Fund. That places it in the lowest 25 percent of buyout funds raised at that time, according to Cambridge.

Rachesky last raised a fund in 2016 that closed on $2.3 billion. That fund had generated only a 1 percent annual return as of Dec. 31, according to the Oregon pension. A source close to Rachesky, however, said the fund surged 32 percent during the first half of this year, leaving it with a gross return of 16 percent.

As anxiety about the Navistar deal continues to mount, longtime media and telecom banker Woody Young of Perella Weinberg Partners came to Rachesky’s defense.

“Mark is one of the smartest, most strategic and disciplined investors I’ve ever met,” Young told The Post. “The record shows that when he realizes investments, he makes fortunes for his limited partners.”

Navistar, meanwhile, faces growing skepticism from analysts about its chances for a lucrative buyout.

“Based on Traton’s history with buyout situations, we doubt it will raise its bid or that any competing proposal will emerge, especially given Navistar’s levered balance sheet and currently anemic demand for commercial vehicles,” BMO Capital Markets said in a June 4 report.