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Lordstown Motors Set To Sell Former GM Plant To Foxconn

Lordstown Motors is set to announce the sale of the eponymous former General Motors production facility in Ohio to Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn.

Per a report from Reuters, the announcement is set to be made this afternoon. Lordstown Motors purchased the facility from General Motors late in 2019, setting up shop to produce new electric vehicles, including the Lordstown Endurance EV pickup truck. Lordstown was previously in talks to produce vehicles for other automakers, as well as possibly leasing out factory space. According to the report, Lordstown uses just 30 percent of the facility’s expansive 6.2 million square feet.

In August of 2020, General Motors agreed to invest $75 million into Lordstown Motors, including the plant and equipment, valued at $20 million. Later, in October of 2020, Lordstown Motors went public following a merger with DiamondPeak Holdings, a deal that valued the all-electric startup at $1.6 billion.

Lordstown Motors is working towards the launch of the Endurance pickup truck as its first product to market. In addition, the startup is seeking additional funding while battling scrutiny from regulators. The EV startup recently appointed Daniel A. Ninivaggi as CEO following the resignation of Steven Burns in the wake of an investigation into allegations that Burns lied about preorders received for the upcoming Endurance pickup truck, previously stating that the company had received more than 100,000 non-binding pre-orders, a claim found to be false by a self-appointed Special Committee.

Regulators took action following a report from short-seller Hindenberg Research, which claimed that Lordstown Motors had “no revenue and no sellable product.” The Hindenberg Research report also claimed that Lordstown Motors had “misled investors on both its demand and production capabilities.”

As for Foxconn, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer is investigating possible locations to build electric vehicles in the United States, previously holding talks with the state of Wisconsin, as well as talks with Fisker Inc. to build new Fisker EVs.

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Jonathan is an automotive journalist based out of Southern California. He loves anything and everything on four wheels.

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Comments

  1. I had been waiting for this here. It has been hot news here in the shadow of the plant.

    The main thoughts here are that Foxconn is looking to be an assembler of EV vehicles for tech companies.

    The primary company may be the Apple Car.

    Tech companies like Apple don’t mfg anything companies like Foxconn do the work. Apple has been talking to Kia to assemble cars but then they blabbed it to the press. Word is that ended talks. Then word was Foxconn was in talks but no one is blabbing. Now Foxconn buys the plant.

    This could be a big deal. The truck was a dead issue but should Apple come they will spend a lot of money on this so it will happen. The only question is will Apple have a hit like the IPhone or a failure like a number of products they have had few remember.

    Reply
    1. Apple is not going to allow their flagship vehicle to be built in a dirty, rundown, leaky, rusty factory. If anything, they will build the factory themselves in one of the Carolinas and have a contract manufacturer use it. Their “green” image is too valuable to them to tarnish.

      Reply
  2. i remember watching a documentary about chinese glass manufacturer fuyao setting up shop in ohio. if the people in lordstown are excited about foxconn coming to town, they should watch the documentary. low wages. chinese attitude that is basically “you should be grateful to have a job”.

    i felt sorry for those workers who have to put up with that BS just to feed their families.

    Reply
    1. Foxconn is Taiwanese company, but same low wages, etc….

      Reply
    2. Here is the catch. This part if Ohio is decimated for work. Most MFG left over the last 40 years as the cost of labor was so high it went else where.

      So today unemployment is still high and many in the area drive 1 hour or more for work.

      So jobs that may appear low wage are welcomed.

      What critics leave out is the cost of living in much lower and while many are paid low wages that would be tough to live on in California it goes much farther in Youngstown and Warren Ohio.

      This is the same reason Ford went to KY and TN. Better governments to work with, lower cost of living and in many cases workers that will not unionize. They will pay lower wages but things like housing are a fraction of what they are in other parts of America.

      Reply
      1. Meanwhile the CEO’s of the companies continue to rake in millions or tens of million dollars while cheating it’s workforce. And we know the southern states are still fighting the Civil War to make sure that people cannot make a liveable wage while kissing the butts of the management.

        Reply
      2. Move.I have a tenant that moved from Lima to Kenosha,Wi over 2yrs. ago and he loves it here way less general chaos and higher wages,cost of living is a little higher but not that much.

        Reply
        1. Nobody cares about you or your tenant.

          Reply
          1. FU2

            Reply
            1. Keep crying

              Reply
              1. No worries I will not be a resident of the state of Wisconsin When the Fox Connors Put the final screws to the taxpayers and nap start paying the bill

                Reply
                1. Thanks for letting us know that.

                  Reply
      3. Yea because unions are pure trash that have sucked for decades now.

        Reply
    3. Sounds like they didn’t know how to use the Millennial app. You just hit a few buttons on your phone and your mom comes in and does your work for you.
      In the more liberal parts of the country, we’ve been quick to legalize lesbian adoption. 2 moms is a dream come true for Millennials.

      Reply
      1. Funny how you try to pass yourself off as the casual liberal when you are on the extreme left. Just another dude obsessed with himself and talking politics constantly.

        Reply
        1. Ford went to KY and TN because they have competent governments and economic development departments unlike Michigan who did not even bid on Ford’s new flagship plant.

          Reply
        2. James
          From where stand, you’re the right wing nut job extremist.

          Reply
          1. Outside of the big 3 the rest of the OEM,s have little to do with deetroit. Why?

            Reply
          2. No Peter you have no common sense you are a racist I saw what you said about Asians you are pure trash I feel sorry for your son. If I’m the right wing nut job even though I’m a democrat then it’s guaranteed you are the extreme left maybe you like the word Marxist better.

            Reply
          3. Leave racist pig.

            Reply
      2. Here you go again with politics.

        Reply
  3. Well I was sure wrong on this… I did not think Foxconn would be interested in this old dinosaur.

    Reply
    1. To be honest I was surprised but I suspect the price was a bargain. Also there is tons of property to expand.

      In time they could replace what is there with new buildings if they need more room.

      The key is Apple I know was wanting production in country.

      Reply
      1. GM holds a lien on that factory property to secure Lordstown’s loan, so whatever deal that was made, GM would have to sign off on it, or Lordstown would have to satisfy the GM lien, AKA pay GM back… Unless the deal with foxconn is a sublease instead of an outright sale?

        Reply
        1. GM also holds a 5% stake in Lordstown, or did when the sale was first completed. Foxconn is buying additional shares (50M) so maybe the GM stake will be diluted. Certain assets are also excluded in the sale of the property, whatever that means. That must be one long complex contract for sale.

          Reply
    2. No way Donavan you were wrong?

      Reply
  4. I got a novel idea! All these boondoggle EV trucks take forever to come to market, and require mystery and vapor ware to advertise (Rivian and hummer, looki NY at you) why not use known parts and create a quality product at an affordable price because you aren’t a massive corporation with big inefficiencies???? Take achates power who have had no takers on their motor for almost 4 years, plop it on a GMT900 chassis, which lordstown already has, and pair it with Dana axles and a ZF transmission and sell it for 25K. Done, got sales, got profit. Your in business to make profit, not be a charity case

    Reply
    1. No way to make money on a full size pickup at $25K that meets emissions and safety standards.

      Rivian is on the market and selling now (at least 20 customers have taken delivery, and hundreds are getting test drives every week), and Hummer will be in about 3 weeks, production has started, You don’t have the money to buy one, get a better job, but people are lined up to buy both of them, Rivian has 40K people that put up $1000 just to wait in line (Including me for an R1S) and GM has over 100K people who put un $100 to be on the HummerEV list, and people are on the Hummer Forums trying to buy Edition 1 Hummer reservations for between $5K and $20K, so I would say that is demand through the roof, which will become profit.

      Reply
      1. There’s always a certain percentage of people that insist on buying the latest and “greatest” of everything that comes out, they are the Beta testers, me I’m a realist if it lasts and finally proves itself then I consider it. After all the bugs are worked out and it proves to be a viable alternative, maybe!

        Reply
  5. How is Foxconn gonna run a factory in the US? Their labor conditions are notoriously poor.

    Reply
    1. You ever been to Youngstown Ohio?

      Reply
    2. Are they going to put up a suicide net like they have in Asia?

      Reply
  6. The foxconners will screw them over,just like they did to my village and county,a billion in debt for 250 jobs plus all the money the state spent on new 2 and 3 lane roads with few cars on them,while a lot of roads that are used are crap.

    Reply
    1. To the 3 down voters or future down voters can you explain yourself?

      Reply
      1. Spineless

        Reply
        1. Lol talking to yourself huh? 3 comments all responding to your own.

          Reply
        2. Are you calling yourself spineless? Lol

          Reply
        3. Yes you are spineless.

          Reply
  7. How many times has Foxconn pulled this crap in the US only to make everybody look stupid? There are plenty of moron politicians that use these schmucks to sway votes their way. Years later the taxpayer gets hung out to dry. This company isn’t going to pay a livable wage. They promised Wisconsin $54,000/year jobs. Where are they? Diaper Don and Scott Walker were at the ground breaking. Terry Mou drank all of the free beer he was given. That was the end of it. Billions in infrastructure down the tube with the taxpayer left with the bill. Foxconn got rich because they work the H out of people for very low wages. If that is what Ohio wants than lower the minimum wage down to $5.00/hour with no benefits and go for it.

    Reply
    1. Ah, so I just read Lordstown/Foxconn is re-initiating their request for a 200M gov loan to retool the factory. Anyone surprised? Belly on up to the pork table.

      Reply
  8. If you think about it…GM chose to stop producing the Cobalt (Dumbest idea ever) and basically gave away the Lordstown Plant to Lordstown Motors. It was as close to a giveaway as it gets.
    Now Lordstown is selling it to Foxcon meaning GM basically gave away this Plant to a Chinese EV Automaker. Like I have been saying for the last three years, if Chrysler, Ford, and GM do not shift to BEV’s soon enough, the Chinese will come here and sell vehicles in Droves because people want EV’s. There aren’t many being sold right now because they’re not many on offering as of right now. This is not good news for the Big Three at all. I pray they do not act as they did when Toyota and Honda came to our shores and then later Hyundai and Kia. Take this very serious and have a plan.

    Reply
    1. The cobalt was a P.O.S.
      A refresh of the 80s cavalier.
      The engines were dogs.
      Unreliable,poor handling and squeeks and rattles to the max.
      The Cruze was a much needed upgrade.

      Reply
      1. *Cadavalier (FTFY)

        See also the Aveo

        Reply
  9. To avoid some well deserved, bad publicity, gM practically gave this huge complex away. Simultaneously screwing it’s ‘valued team members’ and the American taxpayers that saved gM from bankruptcy, “To keep good paying jobs in the USA”

    I would love to see Apple build their ‘Titan EV’ project in GMs ex second largest assembly complex in the USA and clean GMs clock.

    Better sell that gM stock now and get rid of Mary Barra. It may already be too late.

    Reply
  10. Very good points alot of people are making. Ultimately it will be lies for the tax incentives they will have the illegals that are crossing the border work for minimum wage or just a little over to them that’s good money. Next thing you know they’ll be more and more of them living 10 to 20 to.the house and you’ll be buying their vehicle while destroying the true made in the USA stuff. I don’t mind paying more to support union wages for the working people assembling vehicles but let’s face it one way or the other the avg American will keep paying to bail out the big boys while whoever gets bribes and you get a junker in the end while unintentionally sending alot more money overseas

    Reply
  11. The Cobalt was a train wreck. It had a poor cam design and GM knew it. But worst of all they wouldn’t repair it free of charge.

    Reply

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