Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
Lordstown Motors (RIDE) is one of the more notable electric vehicle manufacturers in North America. The company has long operated a GM plant in Ohio, which sees the production of mass amounts of EVs every year. However, ownership of the plant will soon be changing over. After some lengthy negotiating, Lordstown Motors has closed a deal with Foxconn to sell its Ohio General Motors facility for $260 million.
The news of the deal closing between Lordstown and Foxconn comes by way of Cleveland.com. The two sides had been discussing a sale since September 2021, and have finally come to an agreement. It was quite timely, too, as Lordstown would have had to pay $200 million to Foxconn had a deal not been reached by May 18. Lordstown Motors CEO Dan Ninivaggi spoke to Cleveland.com to shed more light on the sale, saying that “the key theme in the entire transaction with Foxconn is it gives us a more flexible and less capital intensive business model.”
Following the deals’ close, Foxconn plans to hire 400 of Lordstown Motors’ workers at the facility. As for what will be manufactured there, Foxconn will manufacture the EV pickup trucks designed by Lordstown Motors, The Endurance. Foxconn will be able to manufacture vehicles for both Lordstown Motors, as well as other companies.
It seems like Foxconn’s acquisition of the Lordstown Motors (RIDE) GM plant in Ohio will be mutually beneficial. Where Foxconn will have more manufacturing freedom, Lordstown Motors will gain access to Foxconn’s design platform to create new vehicles. It’s certainly good news that the company could use, after GM dumped its sizable stake in Lordstown Motors back in March of this year. Stick with Shacknews as we continue to follow the latest development in the world of electric vehicles.