Lordstown Motors Continues to Fall Apart

Lordstown Motors Corp. (NASDAQ: RIDE) remains at the bottom of the heap of electric vehicle (EV) makers. Its shares trade as a penny stock at $1.30. This is down 52% from six months ago. Many investors have decided Lordstown will not be viable in the next year. (Click here to see the most fuel-efficient trucks this year.)

Lordstown recently cut a deal that will give it a modestly long runway. Chinese electronics company Foxconn bought 18.3% of Lordstown stock and preferred stock in exchange for a complex deal that could bring it $230 million. Some of the shares will only be bought based on performance benchmarks. The companies will “collaborate” on manufacturing in the future.

In its third-quarter press release, management said it would build 500 of its Endurance BEV (battery electric vehicle). However, it forecast only 30 of these were to be produced last year. In the period, Lordstown had no revenue and lost $155 million.

Lordstown’s problems go well beyond its financial results. While its truck is widely regarded, its progress is well behind several companies, the most important of which is Ford. Although Ford has bungled its F-150 Lightning launch, it may build as many as 200,000 in 2023. (Recent production problems put that figure in doubt.). Ford’s F-150 gasoline-powered truck is the best-selling vehicle in America. There are probably over 6 million of these on the road. That means it has a huge base of current owners to whom to market the Lightning.

Chevy has announced it will have an electric version of its Silverado soon. Ram has made a similar claim. And Tesla is expected to come to market with its pickup next year. The market has become crowded with competitors in numbers Lordstown’s management cannot overcome. These manufacturers have billion-dollar budgets for research and development, production and marketing. And they have universally known brands.

Lordstown will be gone soon. All that is left to guess is when.

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