Nikola taps former General Motors executive Mary Chan as new COO

Nikola Corp. has hired a new chief operating officer to lead the company's engineering, product and manufacturing teams, among others, the company said Monday.

Mary Chan will start her new role Oct. 9. She's a former president of the global connected consumer group at General Motors and a former senior vice president at Dell.

"My career has been dedicated to pioneering smart transportation and wireless communications across automotive, telecommunications and high-tech industries," Chan said in a written statement. "Joining Nikola represents the culmination of this journey, and I'm excited to be part of the team that will drive trucking to a zero-emissions future, encompassing trucking products, customer solutions and the corresponding energy infrastructure."

At GM, Chan led the automaker's launch of 4G LTE connectivity across brands in the U.S., China, Europe and Mexico. She has been named the "Top Woman in Wireless" by Fierce Wireless, an industry news outlet. She also worked as a managing partner at VectoIQ LLC, which took Nikola public through a special purpose acquisition company in 2020.

Chan comes to Nikola at a key time. The company is being led by a new CEO, Steve Girsky, and is working through a recall impacting all 209 of its battery-electric vehicles on the road.

Nikola said last week that the recall will not impact the delivery of its hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, slated to begin this month.

Like many electric vehicle startups, Nikola is running low on cash. The company passed a shareholder proposal over the summer to increase its authorized shares, a fundraising tool to back its hydrogen fuel cell truck and a hydrogen production project to support the vehicle.

As of June 30, the company had six months' worth of cash remaining.