The electric truck maker Lordstown Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday and sued business partner Foxconn for allegedly reneging on an investment deal, delivering a blow to a venture that Donald Trump hailed during his presidency as a boon for Ohio.
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Lordstown Motors Declares Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and Initiates Legal Action against Foxconn
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In its bankruptcy filing, Lordstown said it will pursue a sale of its assets and reduce its 243-person staff to a skeleton crew able to oversee the sale and complete previously ordered vehicles.
The company’s bankruptcy is a far cry from the bright future Trump predicted when he praised the start-up for taking over a shuttered GM factory in 2019. “With all the car companies coming back, and much more, THE USA IS BOOMING!” Trump tweeted in 2019. In a 2020 visit with Trump at the White House, a Lordstown executive predicted the company would eventually manufacture 100,000 trucks a year.
Lordstown’s troubles underscore the difficulty of scaling up a new auto company amid fierce competition in the electric-vehicle market. The transition to EVs has spawned dozens of new automakers across the globe, some of which have stumbled on the expensive and complex work of mass-producing vehicles.
The shift to electrification is unleashing a sweeping retooling of the auto industry that is creating uncertainty for workers, who are winning vehicle manufacturing jobs in certain parts of the country and losing them in others.
