Thursday, June 20, 2019
Staff report
LORDSTOWN
Workhorse Group Inc., an electric-vehicle company seeking to buy the idled General Motors complex in Lordstown, obtained $25 million from private investors.
While the company once again did not respond to a request for comment from The Vindicator, The New York Times reported Thursday that the company said the money would not go toward the purchase of the GM Lordstown plant.
The company obtained $15 million on May 31 and the remaining $10 million June 6.
The money will be used for general working capital and research and development.
“This funding provides Workhorse with sufficient capital to fully deliver on our existing backlog and will enable us to make significant strides in our strategic vision of being a leader in the electric last mile delivery space,” said CEO Duane Hughes in a prepared statement. “We now have all necessary pieces in place to bridge Workhorse into full-scale N-GEN production and are looking forward to commencing the manufacturing process, in earnest, during the fourth quarter of this year.”
General Motors said in May the move to sell its Lordstown facility to electric vehicle-maker Workhorse “has the potential to bring significant production and electric vehicle assembly jobs to the plant.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, who has Lordstown in his district, said: “Since the announcement late last year, I have encouraged GM to reinvest in the Lordstown complex and assign a new product line without delay. That has been the ultimate goal” but “GM has been reluctant to make that commitment, so this is positive investment news and an important step in moving forward in the Mahoning Valley. While I firmly believe that GM should put a new line in Lordstown, I will continue to consider possible alternatives.”
Terry Dittes, United Auto Workers’ national vice president, said the union still wants GM to “assign a product to the Lordstown facility and continue operating it. A federal lawsuit filed by the UAW over the closing of the Lordstown, Baltimore and Warren facilities is still pending, and the UAW will continue its effort to protect the contractual rights of its members at these locations.”
Workhorse is a Cincinnati-based company that manufactures electric delivery and utility vehicles.
The company was founded in 1998 by investors who took of the production of General Motors’ P30/P32 series stepvan and motorhome chassis.
Its products include electric cargo vans, medium and light-duty pickup trucks and delivery drone systems.