Lordstown Motors is facing an inquiry from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over accusations made by a short seller that the startup all-electric automaker misled investors.
According to a new report from Reuters, Lordstown Motors announced that it received a request for information from the SEC on Wednesday regarding a report from Hindenburg Research that claimed the startup automaker had lied about receiving 100,000 pre-orders for the upcoming all-electric Lordstown Endurance pickup truck.
“Our conversations with former employees, business partners and an extensive document review show that the company’s orders are largely fictitious and used as a prop to raise capital and confer legitimacy,” Hindenburg Research claims.
“We are cooperating with that inquiry,” said Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns in reference to the SEC inquiry during an earnings conference call. Burns added that the Lordstown Motors board of directors had formed a special committee to investigate the matter.
Hindenburg Research, which has taken a short position in Lordstown Motors, is the same firm that accused EV startup Nikola of misleading investors with regard to the capabilities of Nikola’s all-electric semi-truck prototype. Nikola was eventually forced to acknowledge the report, with company founder and CEO Trevor Milton stepping down shortly thereafter. Additionally, the Hindenburg Research report also led General Motors to back out of a partnership with Nikola.
Lordstown Motors purchased the GM Lordstown Assembly plant from General Motors in 2019, with GM providing Lordstown Motors with a $40 million mortgage to finalize the deal. Lordstown Motors is expected to ramp up production of its new Endurance all-electric pickup later this year.
Pricing for the new Endurance pickup is set at $52,500 before government incentives. Additionally, Lordstown Motors plans to reveal a second vehicle, an all-electric van, this summer, with production ramping up next year.
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Comments
I think I will sell my house to a party with no credit and carry the mortgage with a 20yr.balloon payment.No down payment required
This is the same shortseller that exposed Nikola.
Maybe the next investigation should be into GM and how they keep getting duped by these EV startups…or is there something else going on?
i don’t think gm got duped by lordstown. the money they put into it was the price to shut it down and they were glad to do it.
i don’t understand the hidden motives behind nikola but they didn’t lose any money.
How was GM duped? Lots of investors who bought actual stock may have been duped. However, please outline actual cash outlays made by GM to purchase actual stock from Nikola or Lordstown and how much that stock is actually worth now.
Lords town was built on the hope of the postal contract. Now they just have a truck that is not enough.
GM lost nothing here. If they did it is just going to be written off taxes.
True true. If anything GM gained a lot. They sold off a costly factory, no longer have that liability, and may have a business partner if lordstown does pull out of this and can actually produce the truck.
I hope there’s nothing untoward here. If Lordstown is cooking the books, then it will do a lot to hurt trust in the EV industry and the SEC should expand its investigation into more EV companies to ensure everything is on the up and up — especially with all of those crazy stock market swings.
Perhaps there should be a EV industry STANDARD for pre-orders. IE accounting practice to verify each order is valid and requires same accountability.
What an UGLY turd, who wants it.
Lords town motors needs a PR person. They don’t do interviews well, don’t show the truck or factory in interviews just chopped up videos. Show the brand, show the truck and be on tv. Get a news piece done AT THE FACTORY.