Lordstown Motors says 2021 production will be half expectations, needs capital By Reuters

By Ben Klayman

DETROIT (Reuters) – Lordstown Motors Corp on Monday said 2021 production of its Endurance truck, slated to begin in September, will be half of prior expectations and that the electric vehicle startup needs additional capital to execute its plans, sending shares down 8.3% in after-hours trading.

“We are still in a position to ramp the Endurance, but we do need additional capital to execute on our plans,” Chief Executive Steve Burns said in a statement. “We believe we have several opportunities to raise capital in various forms and have begun those discussions.”

Lordstown said Endurance production this year will be limited and would be “at best 50%” of the company’s prior expectations. It said it was still on track for the September launch of the truck, with pre-production vehicle builds slated for July.

The Ohio-based company blamed COVID-19 and industry-wide related issues that resulted in “significantly higher than expected” spending on parts, expedited shipping costs and third-party engineering resources.

Lordstown’s shares slumped in March after Hindenburg Research disclosed it had taken a short position on the electric pickup truck maker’s stock, saying the company had misled consumers and investors.

Short sellers bet the price of a stock will fall by borrowing shares in the hope of buying them back at a cheaper price and pocketing the difference.

Lordstown subsequently said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had asked for information related to its merger with special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) DiamondPeak Holdings and preorders of its vehicles.