What happened Shares of embattled electric-truck start-up Nikola (NASDAQ: NKLA) were trading lower on Friday after its CEO downplayed the need to build an electric-pickup truck as negotiations with General Motors (NYSE: GM) remain unresolved. As of 2 p.m. EDT, Nikola's shares were down about 14.2% from Thursday's closing price. So what In interviews with Financial Times and Bloomberg, CEO Mark Russell said that the company is prepared to drop the idea of building the Badger if it can't secure an agreement with GM or another major automaker. GM and Nikola have been in discussions about a potential partnership in which GM would sell batteries and fuel cells to Nikola, and engineer and build Nikola's electric Badger pickup, in exchange for a $2 billion stake in the start-up. What is Nikola worth if the GM deal, and the Badger pickup, don't happen? That's the question that Nikola's investors were confronting on Friday. Image source: Nikola Corporation. GM's willingness to complete the deal appears to have diminished after a noted short-seller accused Nikola and its founder Trevor Milton of deception. Both Nikola and Milton have denied the claims, but the accusations led to a sell-off of Nikola's high-flying shares and Milton's departure from the company. Automotive sector investors have seen the pending deal with GM as a viable path forward for the company in the wake of Milton's departure. Fears that the deal may not happen, amplified by Russell's remarks, put pressure on Nikola's stock on Friday. Now what GM and Nikola announced their partnership just a few days before the short-seller's report was published. The original deal would have given GM $2 billion worth of newly issued Nikola shares at a price of $41.93 per share. With Nikola now trading around $20, it's believed that GM is seeking a larger stake, or additional compensation, before moving forward. The original deadline to finalize the agreement has passed; the parties are now working to close the deal -- or abandon their partnership -- by Dec. 3. Stay tuned. 10 stocks we like better than Nikola CorporationWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Nikola Corporation wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of September 24, 2020 John Rosevear owns shares of General Motors. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source