GM Sells Idled Lordstown Assembly Plant to Electric Truck Manufacturer

Detroit’s General Motors Co. has sold its idled Lordstown Assembly plant in northeast Ohio to Lordstown Motors Corp. (LMC), an entity created by electric truck manufacturer Workhorse Group for the purpose of acquiring the GM facility. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
1614
Workhorse truck
GM has sold its Lordstown Assembly plant to Lordstown Motors Corp., an entity created by electric truck manufacturer Workhorse Group for the purpose of acquiring the GM facility. // File photo

Detroit’s General Motors Co. has sold its idled Lordstown Assembly plant in northeast Ohio to Lordstown Motors Corp. (LMC), an entity created by electric truck manufacturer Workhorse Group for the purpose of acquiring the GM facility. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

GM stopped producing vehicles at the 6.2 million-square-foot plant on March 8. LMC plans to produce its Endurance electric pickup in late 2020, although a firm startup date was not revealed.

“GM is committed to future investment and job growth in Ohio and we believe LMC’s plan to launch the Endurance electric pickup has the potential to create a significant number of jobs and help the Lordstown area grow into a manufacturing hub for electrification,” said the company in a statement.

LMC CEO Steve Burns, the former CEO of Workhorse, says, “We, along with Workhorse, remain dedicated to keeping vehicle production in Lordstown. Now, with LMC’s acquiring of the Lordstown, Ohio factory, it is time to begin executing on our plan.”

In a related move, Workhorse entered into an intellectual property licensing agreement with Lordstown Motors Corp., founded by former Workhorse CEO Steve Burns.

“Workhorse is the right technology partner for LMC, and this agreement ensures that both parties are positioned, and incentivized, to succeed,” Burns says. “Under this structure, both Workhorse and LMC stand to benefit by blending Workhorse’s technology with the production capacity of Lordstown Assembly.”

Duane Hughes, CEO of Workhorse, says, “This long-term partnership allows Workhorse to benefit by both monetizing our existing technology and participating in the upside potential of this new venture without prohibitively diluting our existing shareholders.

“Having an affiliated company with significant automotive production capacity also provides us with beneficial manufacturing footprint options in the future, should Workhorse win substantially larger contracts as we scale our operations. We also appreciate GM’s acceptance of our combined proposal and believe it represents the best opportunity to keep production in Lordstown. We look forward to working together in the future as we finalize this transaction and explore additional production possibilities at the plant.”