Foxconn buys Lordstown plant, will build Endurance pick-up
The battle to get the Lordstown Endurance electric ute into production has taken another twist, with the company best known for manufacturing the Apple iPhone agreeing to buy the factory where it is meant to be built.
Under the deal, Taiwan’s Foxconn will pay US$230 million ($317 million) for the assembly plant in Lordstown Ohio owned by Lordstown Motors and take over production of the mid-size Endurance.
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai PTechnology Group, will also invest US$50 million ($69 million) in Lordstown Motors equity.
Lordstown Motors in-turn plans to enter into a long-term lease for a portion of the existing facility for its Ohio-based employees, and Foxconn plans to offer employment to many Lordstown employees.
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It will also retain the Endurance’s battery pack and hub motor assembly lines.
The deal is expected to close by April 30 2022 when production of the Endurance is forecast to start. Foxconn and Lordstown will pursue a loan from the US government to retool the plant.
Foxconn already has a partnership with another American EV start-up, Fisker Inc, and models from that company will also be built at Lordstown. Fisker’s first vehicle is scheduled to be the Ocean SUV, but the sub-US$30,000 ($41,000) Project PEAR appears to be the prime candidate.
Chief executive Henrik Fisker said Foxconn would build 150,000 vehicles per year for it, starting in 2024. That’s certainly doable as Lordstown Motors production filled only a small part of the plant.
Foxconn has been an aggressive mover in the global EV market, revealing its own MIH open-source vehicle architecture and announcing a co-operations with China’s Geely.
It had previously announced a mammoth US$10 billion plan to build EVs at a new site in in the US state of Wisconsin, but had scaled that back significantly ahead of this deal being announced.
“We have high expectations through this partnership that we will be able to successfully integrate our resources with Lordstown Motors,” said Young Liu, Chairman of Hon Hai Technology Group.
“In addition to achieving the goal of moving ahead our timeline to establish electric vehicle production capacity in North America, it also reflects Foxconn’s flexibility in providing design and production services for different EV customers.
“This mutually beneficial relationship is an important milestone for Foxconn’s EV business and our transformation strategy. I believe that the innovative design of the Endurance pickup truck, with its unique hub motors, delivers an advantageous user experience and has manufacturing efficiencies. It will undoubtedly thrive under our partnership and business model.”
Lordstown has been battling to get the Endurance into production since officially launching it in June 2020. Founder and CEO Steve Burns was forced to depart the company earlier this year after exaggerating orders for the Endurance.
The company has had consistent financial troubles and went public in a reverse merger in late 2020.
Selling off its ex-GM plant, which it purchased for USD20 million ($27 million) from the auto giant, and relinquishing a manufacturing role to concentrate on vehicle design and development aligns Lordstown more closely with Fisker’s business model.
It also contrasts with the vertical integration adopted by EV pioneer Tesla and emerging rival Lucid.
