Feb 19 (Reuters) - Nikola ( NKLA ) said on Wednesday it

had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and would pursue

a sale of all or most of its assets, after grappling with rapid

cash burn and struggling to raise funds in the past few

quarters.

The development brings a close to a challenging journey,

which included numerous leadership changes, choppy sales and a

plummeting share value.

EV firms that went public during the pandemic, promising to

revolutionize the sector, such as Fisker, Proterra and Lordstown

Motors have filed for bankruptcy in recent years as funding for

the capital-intensive operations dried up due to high interest

rates and flagging demand.

Nikola ( NKLA ) said it decided to initiate a sale process of its

assets to maximize value and ensure an orderly wind down.

The firm will continue some operations for trucks in field

and some hydrogen-fueling operations through the end of March.

The company listed assets of between $500 million and $1

billion, and estimated its liabilities were between $1 billion

and $10 billion, according to a court filing.

Phoenix, Arizona-based Nikola ( NKLA ) was founded more than a decade

ago. It went public in June 2020 and delivered its first vehicle

in the December of the following year.

Industry veteran Stephen Girsky, who was an analyst at

Morgan Stanley and an executive at General Motors ( GM ), took

over as the company's chief executive officer in August 2023. He

was then the company's fourth CEO in as many years.

It was through his special purpose acquisition company,

VectoIQ Acquisition Corp, that he took Nikola ( NKLA ) public.

Nikola ( NKLA ) ramped up production of its hydrogen-powered

fuel-cell electric trucks in 2024. But the company struggled to

raise funding and its cash balance dwindled as it continued to

lose hundreds of thousands of dollars for every vehicle sold.

Fleet operators have been hesitant to spend on setting up

charging stations and inducting electric trucks, as high

interest rates pinched budgets, hurting companies such as

Nikola ( NKLA ).

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio

D'Souza and Sriraj Kalluvila)