Nikola Motors Corporation has announced that Mark Russell is joining its executive management team as president. The announcement comes as the company prepares to introduce a new crop of zero-emission trucks and begin serial production of the new vehicles.

In a press release, Nikola hailed the 56-year-old Russell as a “seasoned executive” with a 20-year track record of building successful manufacturing companies. Most recently, Russell served as president and chief operating officer of Worthington Industries (NYSE: WOR) from 2012 to 2018, and prior to that served as president of WOR subsidiary Worthington Steel since 2007.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Nikola team at this critical time and look forward to assisting its growth into production and beyond,” Russell said.

"We needed the best. We needed a seasoned manufacturing executive to join the Nikola team. Mark's background and experience match well with the challenge to ramp up production of the extraordinary vehicles we will unveil at Nikola World on April 16 and 17," said Trevor Milton, founder and CEO of Nikola. 

Nikola currently has over four years of production committed with pre-order reservations. Nikola’s Coolidge, Ariz. manufacturing facility is scheduled to come online in 2022 and will be capable of building up to 35,000 trucks per year at full production.