(The Center Square) – Lordstown Motors Corp., touted by former President Donald Trump during a White House visit in 2020, filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday.
The company, which began in 2019 with a promise to revitalize a former General Motors plant and build electric vehicles, also filed suit against Foxconn, claiming fraud and willful failure to live up to its commercial and financial commitments to Lordstown.
Lordstown Motors has stopped operations and put the company up for sale.
In a statement, Lordstown Motors CEO and President Edward Hightower said, “As one of the early entrants to the EV industry, we have delivered the Endurance, an innovative and highly-capable EV with significant commercial and retail potential – and had subsequently engaged with Foxconn in a purposeful, strategic partnership to leverage this expertise into a broader EV development platform. Despite our best efforts and earnest commitment to the partnership, Foxconn willfully and repeatedly failed to execute on the agreed-upon strategy, leaving us with Chapter 11 as the only viable option to maximize the value of Lordstown’s assets for the benefit of our stakeholders. We will vigorously pursue our litigation claims against Foxconn accordingly.”
Lordstown bought the former General Motors plant in 2019 and promised to produce electric pickup trucks. GM’s decision to shutter the Lordstown facility drew condemnation from several officials, including Trump.
Lordstown Motors, touted by former Trump during a visit in 2020, also received a $200 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy in September 2020, as previously reported by The Center Square.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority also approved a 15-year, 1.637% job creation tax credit for Lordstown in December 2020 on the promise the company would create 1,570 new jobs and more than $91 million in new payroll by Dec. 31, 2025.
Ohio Department of Development Chief of Communications Sarah Wickham said Tuesday that Lordstown Motors never signed the agreement, and no state tax credits were given.
According to CNBC, Lordstown Motors sold the company to Foxconn for $230 million in 2022. The two also reached a second deal for Foxconn to invest up to $170 million.
