Signage exterior Lordstown Motors Corp. headquarters in Lordstown, Ohio, on Saturday, Might 15, 2021.
Dustin Franz | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
Struggling electrical truck startup Lordstown Motors nonetheless plans to ship the primary examples of its Endurance pickup truck earlier than the tip of the 12 months, the corporate stated Tuesday, a day after it introduced a brand new funding from Taiwanese contract producer Foxconn.
Lordstown stated that it’s now constructing the Endurance at “a really sluggish fee” whereas it really works to construct out its meeting line and awaits ultimate regulatory approval to promote the vehicles. The corporate now expects to construct about 30 pickups on the market by year-end, and to finish the rest of the primary batch of 500 vehicles by the tip of June 2023.
Lordstown stated in late September that it hoped to build 50 trucks by year-end. Thus far, it has accomplished 12 vehicles.
Lordstown’s shares opened about 23% greater following the information.
The corporate stated late on Monday that Foxconn, which already owns a stake in Lordstown and bought its Ohio factory for $230 million in May, will make investments an extra $170 million in three phases, with the primary $52.7 million due later this month. As soon as these investments are accomplished, Foxconn will personal about 18% of Lordstown and can have the appropriate to designate two members of its board of administrators.
Lordstown stated it is going to use a part of that funding to develop a brand new automobile along with Foxconn. The businesses had beforehand introduced a three way partnership to develop a brand new mannequin; the brand new funding replaces that three way partnership.
The funding helps deal with a scarcity of capital that has hindered Lordstown’s efforts to get the Endurance into manufacturing.
Lordstown beforehand advised traders that its first batch of Endurance pickups might be limited to a maximum of 500 vehicles as a result of the price of constructing a pickup is at the moment “materially greater” than the corporate’s anticipated promoting value. Extra investments in manufacturing tooling would carry the associated fee down, however CEO Edward Hightower has deferred these investments to protect money.
Lordstown stated on Tuesday that it’s actively in search of an automaker companion to assist scale up manufacturing of the Endurance.
The updates got here as a part of Lordstown’s third-quarter earnings report. Lordstown, which does not but report income, reported a web lack of $154.4 million, or 73 cents a share, together with practically $75 million in non-cash accounting expenses.
The corporate had $204 million in money remaining as of quarter-end.
Correction: This story has been corrected to take away an incorrect description for a non-cash accounting cost of practically $75 million reported by Lordstown throughout its third quarter.
