Lordstown Motors sells its factory to Foxconn
Looks like the Taiwanese giant best known for assembling iPhones wants in on the EV sector.
Today marks yet another unexpected twist in Lordstown Motors' roller coaster trajectory. The electric truck startup sold its sprawling manufacturing facility in Lordstown, Ohio, to Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group. The deal not only raises much-needed funds for Lordstown Motors, but perhaps helps make better use of the massive complex it acquired from General Motors back in 2019. We first got wind of this deal in a Bloomberg report on Thursday, and it looks like the deal has gone through.
Read more: Struggling Lordstown Motors opens its doors as it tries to rev up production
The Taiwanese company confirmed its intentions to bring a US manufacturing site online in 2023, though it never formally stated where this site would call home. Rumors suggested a Wisconsin site remained in the running despite a soured relationship over a $10 billion investment deal. As for the kinds of cars Foxconn wants to build, that's unclear, too. It has an off-the-shelf EV platform ready for use and its first customer will be Fisker, the California-based startup. While Fisker works on bringing its Ocean electric SUV to market, it's also working with Foxconn to produce what it calls Project PEAR. All we know is this will be a $30,000 EV, and Foxconn's the one ready to build it.
Perhaps Project PEAR will be an Ohio-made vehicle, or perhaps Lordstown will be able to scale up production of its Endurance electric pickup with Foxconn's help. Lordstown previously maintained it would build the first production trucks in September this year. With October less than 24 hours away, the startup's deadline is certain to come and go.
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