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Cellphone with logo of Lordstown Motors Corporation on screen in front of webpage.
Cellphone with logo of Lordstown Motors Corporation on screen in front of webpage.
Cellphone with logo of Lordstown Motors Corporation on screen in front of webpage.
Cellphone with logo of Lordstown Motors Corporation on screen in front of webpage.
Cellphone with logo of Lordstown Motors Corporation on screen in front of webpage.

GM Reports Sale of Lordstown Motors Stake

March 1, 2022
The automaker invested $75 million in the EV pickup business in 2019, to boost the prospects for restarting the plant, but now confirms it exited the project last year.

General Motors Corp. sold its stake in electric-vehicle start-up Lordstown Motors Corp. during Q4 2021, a spokesman for the automaker confirmed. The 7.5 million common shares were acquired in 2019 for $75 million in shares and in-kind contributions. The timing and return on the sale was not revealed by GM.

The investment had been made in order "to facilitate the sale of the plant," toward the goal of restarting production there, according to GM’s Jim Cain.

Lordstown Motors was established in 2018 with a plan to manufacture battery-electric pick-up trucks after restarting GM’s idle automotive assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio.

So far, Lordstown has not begun commercial production of its Endurance pick-up trucks, but recently stated it will begin manufacturing vehicles in Q3 2022 and will fill orders for 500 units this year. That total will rise to 2,500 units in 2023, it added.

In 2021 a former shareholder accused Lordstown of misleading investors with “fictitious” pre-orders, leading to an executive shakeup that replaced founding CEO Steve Burns. In October 2021 Lordstown Motors announced a deal to sell the Ohio manufacturing plant to Foxconn Technology Group for $230 million, which also would acquire $50 million in Lordstown common stock.

In a conference call, Lordstown executives said they are continuing to finalize the agreement with Foxconn.

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