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Mullen Automotive
Mullen Automotive, Inc., is an American automotive and electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Brea, California. Its products include passenger electric vehicles and commercial vehicles. The company is primarily involved in rebadging Chinese captive imports such as the Mullen Campus, Mullen One, Mullen Three, Mullen Go, and Mullen GT lines. The company intended to field a luxury vehicle, the Mullen Five, then pivot to all-consumer electric vehicle models.[1] Development of the Mullen Five was cancelled in 2024.[2] HistoryThe Mullen Automotive brand was created by David Michery by combining the companies Mullen Motor Cars with Coda Automotive. Michery planned for rapid expansion of the company, but as of 2023 the company hasn't released a single vehicle since its inception except for imported Chinese vehicles.[3] Mullen originally intended to launch the Dragonfly K50 luxury sports car, now called the Mullen GT and GTRS, in the U.S. by 2021.[4] However as of March 2023[update], the company is still finalizing engineering.[5] The vehicle is based heavily on the Qiantu K50. On June 15, 2020, Mullen Technologies announced a merger agreement with payments-as-a-service platform Net Element, Inc.,[6][7] which was completed in November 2021.[8] This reverse merger resulted in Mullen becoming a subsidiary of Net Element, and Net Element changing its name to Mullen Automotive, Inc.[9] On March 17, 2021, Mullen Technologies announced that they would open a factory in Memphis, Tennessee for the manufacture of their Mullen FIVE crossover SUV, with plans to sell these models as early as 2024.[10] However, in November 2021, Mullen purchased a facility in nearby Robinsonville, Mississippi instead, forgoing the Tennessee site.[11] In February 2022, an article by Fuzzy Panda Research presented Mullen acquisition and bankrupt commercial EV manufacturer Electric Last Mile Solutions[12] as an "EV Pretender – Passing Off Chinese Imports as "Made in the USA"; Booking Fake Revenue of Fully Returnable Products".[13] In April 2022, an article by Hindenburg Research presented Mullen as one of "the worst [electric vehicle] hustles" in recent history.[14] In September 2022 Mullen purchased a controlling stake in Bollinger Motors, a manufacturer of EV pick-ups and SUVs, for $148.2 million[15] This valued pre-revenue Bollinger Motors at $247 Million. In June 2022, Bollinger had little more than a month left of cash to cover operating expenses.[16] VehiclesMullen Go The Mullen Go is an electric city car unveiled by Mullen Automotive in October 2022. Being essentially a rebadged Chinese Xiaohu FEV, the Go serves as a last mile delivery vehicle.[17] Mullen OneThe Mullen One is a rebadged version of the Wuling Motors G100 van. An unhomologated version of the Wuling G100 van, titled Mullen Campus, is sold for use only on private property, without the safety improvements added to the Mullen One. Mullen ThreeThe Mullen Three is a three-seat, cab-over class 3 last-mile delivery truck with a 60/120Kw (rated/peak) Jing-jin electric engine generating 150/320Nm of torque. It is manufactured by Yuejin, a subsidiary of SAIC Motor, a state-owned enterprise of China. Mullen GT and GTRSThe Mullen GT and GTRS are rebadged kit versions of the Qiantu K50. Mullen FIVE Mullen has been developing a premium compact SUV titled Mullen FIVE, but development was cancelled in 2024.[2] Bollinger B4Mullen's acquired subsidiary Bollinger Motors has begun deliveries of its Bollinger B4 truck in 2024.[2] ControversiesCEO compensation and awardsDespite Mullen Automotive Inc being unprofitable, Michery has continued with a base salary of US$750,000 per year and received a number of performance awards totalling over $40M as of September 2023[update].[18] At Mullen's 2023 annual shareholder's meeting, Michery was granted further 2023 performance awards.[19][20] On August 31, 2023, Michery, along with Wes Christian, appeared on Fox Business's Making Money show hosted by Charles Payne to discuss the Mullen "Naked Shorting" lawsuit filed against TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, and National Finance Services, in which Michery alleged illegal short selling of Mullen stock by the defendants. In the second half of the interview, Payne asked Michery about his compensation. Michery did not respond with an explanation before technical audio issues occurred. Charles Schwab has denied all of the charges.[21] In a press release the following day by Mullen, the company responded to the question of $31M in General and Administrative expenses for the company's third quarter but did not answer the question about the CEO's compensation.[22] References
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