LORDSTOWN – Electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors Corp. has appointed former CEO of Icahn Enterprises L.P, Daniel A. Ninivaggi, as its chief executive.

Ninivaggi, 57, has served in a variety of senior leadership positions in the automotive and transportation industries. He began his automotive career at Lear Corporation, ultimately serving as executive vice president, where he was responsible for, among other functions, corporate development and strategy.

He later held the positions of co-chairman and co-CEO of Federal Mogul Holdings Corporation, an $8 billion supplier of powertrain, chassis, sealing, brake and other automotive components, prior to its sale to Tenneco.

Lordstown Motors stock was trading up 28.5 percent after the automaker’s news today.

Ninivaggi replaces former CEO and founder Steve Burns, who resigned June 14.

No reason was given for the resignation, but the move came in tune with an admission by the company that statements regarding preorders for the first electric truck, the Endurance, were inaccurate and an earlier revelation that production this year could be stunted.

Chief Financial Officer Julio Rodriguez stepped aside the same day.

The company reported earlier this month it’s on track to start limited production of its all-electric truck, the Endurance, at the end of September with validation and regulatory approval complete in December and January. The truck will be deployed to select early customers in the first quarter of 2022 ahead of commercial deliveries in the second quarter of the year.

It also warned for the second time in a regulatory filing it might not survive the next year without additional financing.

Lordstown Motors has come under scrutiny over the past several months, starting with a short-sellers report in March that claimed the company misled investors regarding preorders. The report spawned several federal lawsuits.

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