Mullen CEO David Michery doubles down on commercial EVs after buying out Bollinger
And that's the way Michery, 58, is approaching his financially challenged electric vehicle startup, Mullen Automotive of Brea, Calif.
Michery sat down with reporters from Automotive News and Crain's Detroit Business on June 4 at Mullen subsidiary Bollinger Motors' headquarters in Oak Park, Mich.
Michery didn't flinch or give an inch under tough questions that probed his company's finances and why he remains determined to crank up production of EVs when the business case that justified their investment has, in part, been upended by tariffs and changing government policies.
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Dressed in a black T-shirt and weathered blue jeans, wearing a gold watch and showing a smattering of colorful tattoos on his arms, Michery doesn't look like a traditional automotive CEO. He doesn't act like one, either.
In the last 60 days, after Mullen stock twice sank to less than a nickel a share, Michery orchestrated two reverse stock splits to keep Mullen Automotive's shares in Nasdaq compliance. He gave away an unused 675,000-square-foot plant in Indiana to a creditor — which Mullen got in 2022 in its $240 million purchase of bankrupt Electric Last Mile Solutions, another failed EV startup.
On June 3, Michery settled a lawsuit filed by Bollinger Motors founder Robert Bollinger, paying him $11 million and acquiring 95 percent of the company's shares.
Michery essentially runs both Mullen Automotive and Bollinger Motors on the generosity of an unnamed benefactor who cuts a check for $1.5 million per week to the company and a $150 million line of credit that the company draws upon. That investor's total cash infusion into Mullen is more than $800 million, according to court documents.
Michery believes the difficult market for EVs is temporary and his strategy is to wait out the tariff negotiations while positioning Mullen and Bollinger for big production increases. Virtually all Mullen and Bollinger vehicles contain significant Chinese-sourced components.
Here is an edited transcript of the interview with Automotive News Reporter Richard Truett and Crain's Detroit Business Reporter Kurt Nagl.
A: A lot of those losses are noncash losses. There's no excuse. EVs are out of favor right now. We have invested about $900 million since going public in 2021. The company has survived when no one else has. It's a testament to our resiliency and our ability to withstand the most awful market conditions in the last 20 years. It's no excuse for [our] performance, but if you look at the major OEMs, like General Motors and them shutting down the [Chevrolet] Bolt, that should tell you all you need to know. Backing off of EVs is something we haven't done, and we believe that is a viable space. Our core investor is a multibillionaire who is committed to the company. It's not going to go nowhere. I am a fighter. I don't give up. I like to believe that you have to kill me to stop me.
The whole purpose of me buying Bollinger for $148.2 million initially and then investing another $77 million was because I believe in the B1 and the B2. This was never about a commercial vehicle, the B4. When I bought the company, it was about B1 and B2. I still stand firm and believe there is a big market for the B1 and B2 at some point in time. But we have to crawl before we walk and walk before we run. We are going to establish the commercial business, not only on the Bollinger side with the B4 and the B5, but on the Mullen side with the Class 1 and Class 3. We believe we will monopolize the commercial segment. I am determined to move Bollinger forward. I believe in the product. I believe in American engineering. Here in Detroit is the foundation of the electric car business, in general. Bollinger is, in my opinion, one of those brands that, realistically, will outlast everyone. We are banking our bet on Bollinger and their products because it is American engineered, American built and it is done here, in the great state of Michigan.
To be clear, Bollinger was paused temporarily. The company is in the process of ramping production back up. We believe we will be in position to deliver new, upgraded vehicles within a 10-week period. We have over 40 vehicles in inventory that are ready to go to customers. We are working on cleaning up Bollinger's supply chain. We are also looking at getting the B5 ready.
We are looking at all our best opportunities to give us maximum potential to not disrupt manufacturing. But, more importantly, scale to a level where I believe this is going to become a hot commodity. I want to produce hundreds of thousands of these [B4s]. In order to do that, you have to have the mechanism to go into high volume production. Roush. Let's be real. It's a low-volume manufacturing line. I want to move to high-volume production. That may be at Roush. Maybe I will acquire a high-volume manufacturing facility that could support ramping high-volume production for B4 and B5.
There's a story behind that. You can't blame Bollinger for the current market. And you can't blame Bollinger for tariffs. And you can't blame Bollinger for Robert Bollinger filing this frivolous lawsuit. That hurt the company. But we have to set a clear narrative that Bollinger is going to move aggressively forward. It has customers. It has support. And it has a great product. There's a demand for the product and we will prove that.
We have a $150 million equity line of credit. We've had it for about six months and we've only used about $1 million. That's an instrument that allows us to use our stock as currency. Picture that as a credit card. Mullen has a $150 million credit card that it can use at will. There's also three instruments that are preferred that total $80 million. We have another $80 million of firm, committed capital that we draw down on.
We're like everyone else running our cash flow based on … again, we draw down on our instrument. We pay when we pay. Typically, we try to pay people within 30 [days], and we have been. We are no different than General Motors. Ask GM what is the timing of their [accounts payable]. Probably 60-90 days. We are paying people. We are still producing. We still own our factory. We have no debt against us. We are in a much better position than everyone else because we don't owe anything on what we own.
Founded: 2021
CEO: David Michery
Company headquarters: Brea, Calif.
Plants: Tunica, Miss.; contract manufacturer, Roush Enterprises, Livonia, Mich.
Products on sale: Bollinger B4 electric chassis cab; Mullen One electric cargo van; Mullen Three Class 3 commercial electric truck; Mullen Campus compact electric cargo van
Products in development: Bollinger B1 and B2 consumer off-road utility electric vehicles; B5 and B6 chassis cab electric commercial trucks; Mullen Five electric crossover
Financials: $7.9 million in revenue for 6-month period ending March 31; $162 million net loss; $2.3 million cash on hand
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