Electric commercial vehicle manufacturer Bollinger Motors has added two dealer partner groups as it looks to capture mid-size commercial EV market share.
Bollinger Motors, a subsidiary of vehicle manufacturer Mullen Automotive, added 10 Nacarato Truck Centers locations in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, and Virginia and one Nuss Truck and Equipment location in Minneapolis, Minn. as the startup continues to grow its dealer base, according to a March 5 Bollinger release.
The new partnerships, along with the addition of two LaFontaine Automotive Group Michigan locations announced Feb. 14, brings Bollinger’s total U.S. locations to 13.
Bollinger is considering multi-line dealerships as potential partners, Bollinger’s Chief Revenue Officer Jim Connelly told Equipment Finance News.
“Nacarato and others, LaFontaine, they’re not single-line dealers, they have multiple franchises, and we are just another step in that conversation with the customer,” he said. “If they’re looking at a commercial vehicle in the Class 4 or 5 space, these dealer groups that we’re looking at don’t have something to offer in that space, so it’s natural that we have that conversation with them.”
Navigating EV landscape
Bollinger’s partnership with Nacarato made the most sense as the Nacarato explored the mid-size commercial EV space, Patrick Daly, chief operating officer at Nacarato Truck Centers, told EFN. With 10 locations, it will become Bollinger’s largest dealer group.
“We just felt that Bollinger offered a lot of the answers to a lot of the questions that we had that many other OEMs couldn’t answer for us at the time, and certainly, it’s new to everybody still, but we were really comfortable with their team,” Daly said. “We felt that our team and their team would be kind of a good combination moving forward, as we all try to navigate through what this looks like, how do we sell it to our customers and how do we support it in the field?”
Bollinger manufactures in the United States, which fits with Nacarato’s other lines, Daly said.
“One of the things that was really important to us with Bollinger, and with our other brands as well, is whether it’s the Volvo EV product, the Tico EV yard spotter or the Bollinger medium-duty truck, all three of those trucks are manufactured in the United States of America,” he said. “That was very important as well to the workforce, the way that the truck is built in the U.S. and supports those economies as well. You have Virginia for Volvo, you have South Carolina for Tico and you have Michigan for Bollinger.”
Starting the electric engines
As Bollinger prepares to roll out its commercial electric truck line with the Bollinger B4 Chassis Cab in the second half of 2024, it continues to develop its financing landscape, Bollinger’s Connelly said.
“Existing dealers have financing partners that they deal with today, and they use some of those partnerships across the board, when they have multiple franchises,” he said. “Am I looking for offerings from a Bollinger perspective that they could offer as well? Sure. Those aren’t all mapped out yet just based on where we are, but we are looking at offering, at some point, some type of financing, whether it’s for the consumer or whether it’s for the dealer from a floor planning perspective.”
While Bollinger’s Class 4 products are set to hit the market in the second half of 2024, it is planning the next generation of products, Connelly said.
Standard operating procedure “starts at the end of the year. We’re setting up our dealer network, and we have the credibility in our space to be the electric truck in the Class 4, 5 and 6 segment,” he said. “We’re coming out with the class for vehicle shortly.
“In our plans, we’re going to be coming out with a Class 5, which is the Ballinger B5 Class 5 vehicle, and then we’re looking at other versions. Whether that is a strip chassis or looking at a Class 6, those are still under consideration, but we feel that, based on what we have from a product perspective, we do have an advantage.”
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