Manufacturing · Profile from Manufacturing Research Companion: Companies, Strategic Moves, and Technical Studies
Lordstown Motors
The Ohio electric-pickup start-up that bought General Motors' closed Lordstown Assembly plant in November 2019 for a reported $20m, backed by a GM open-end mortgage of up to $40m, listed through a merger with the SPAC DiamondPeak in October 2020, and promised to build the Endurance, a hub-motor electric pickup for commercial fleets, in a plant designed for hundreds of thousands of cars a year. It built a few dozen. Hindenburg Research reported on 12 Mar 2021 that many of its claimed pre-orders were non-binding or not genuine; Foxconn bought the plant for ~$230m (closed May 2022) and built the truck under contract; the company recalled most of the trucks it had made, filed for Chapter 11 on 27 Jun 2023, sued Foxconn, sold its EV assets to LandX for $10.2m, settled with the SEC and emerged on 14 Mar 2024 as Nu Ride Inc., a shell pursuing its claims against Foxconn. This profile takes the factory angle only: the plant purchase, the Endurance build and its hub-motor quality problems, Foxconn's purchase of the plant, and the bankruptcy. Foxconn's side of the story is in Supply chain: Foxconn and its Lordstown move; GM's closure of the plant is in General Motors. Lordstown Motors is the cleanest case in this knowledge base of a product with no process and no demand evidence, financed by a SPAC and a symbolic plant.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2018–19, by Steve Burns, previously CEO of Workhorse Group, to commercialise an electric pickup design licensed from Workhorse (from memory, verify date and terms)
- Headquarters
- Lordstown, Ohio (the former GM Lordstown Assembly complex) until 2022; Nu Ride Inc. after Mar 2024 (location of the shell, verify)
- Ownership / structure
- Listed on Nasdaq (RIDE) after the Oct 2020 SPAC merger with DiamondPeak Holdings; Foxconn held common and preferred stock from 2021–22 (reported); after emergence, Nu Ride Inc. traded over the counter (NRDE, reported)
- Leadership
- Steve Burns (founder, CEO to Jun 2021, from memory, verify month); Angela Strand (executive chair after Burns, from memory, verify); Daniel Ninivaggi (CEO 2021–22, from memory, verify); Edward Hightower (president, then CEO from 2022, from memory, verify)
- Product
- Endurance: a full-size battery-electric pickup with four in-wheel hub motors, aimed at commercial fleets (company); one of the first US electric pickups announced, but built only in the dozens
- Plant
- GM's former Lordstown Assembly, ~6.2m sq ft of factory space (Business Journal Daily, reported); bought Nov 2019 for $20m (Trumbull County auditor filing via the Vindicator, reported); sold to Foxconn ~$230m (closed May 2022); sold by Foxconn in Aug 2025 to Crescent Dune LLC, a SoftBank entity, for ~$375m incl. equipment (equal to Supply chain)
- Scale
- ~31 Endurance trucks made for sale and ~40 "completed or in process" with 6 sold by Feb 2023 (company filing and press, reported); first recall 19 trucks, second 5 trucks (2023, reported)
- Outcome
- Chapter 11 27 Jun 2023 (Delaware); EV assets to LandX $10.2m (27 Oct 2023); SEC charges Feb 2024 with a $25.5m claim settled in the plan; plan confirmed 5 Mar 2024; emerged 14 Mar 2024 as Nu Ride Inc. (Nu Ride 10-K)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Buying GM's Lordstown plant (2019); the DiamondPeak SPAC (2020); the Hindenburg report and the pre-order claims (2021); the Foxconn plant sale and contract-manufacturing deal (2021–22); the Endurance launch, hub motors and recalls (2022–23); the Foxconn investment agreement and its collapse (2022–23); Chapter 11 and the Foxconn lawsuit (2023); the SEC settlements and emergence as Nu Ride (2024)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2019
Buying GMs Lordstown Plant
New plant (brownfield purchase of a closed automaker plant), with seller financing and a seller buy-back option
2020
SPAC Merger with DiamondPeak
Spin-off or IPO — listing through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with a PIPE
2021
Foxconn Plant Sale and Contract Manufacturing
Divestment of the plant and make-vs-buy switch to contract manufacturing; strategic equity investment by the buyer
2021
Hindenburg Report and the Pre Order Claims
Regulatory or legal action — a short-seller report, an internal review, management departures and SEC scrutiny of demand claims (failure)
2022
Endurance Launch Hub Motors and Recalls
Product launch (low-rate production of a battery-electric pickup with in-wheel hub motors) followed by quality failures and recalls
2022
Foxconn Investment Agreement and Dispute
Financing — strategic equity investment with milestone-based tranches and a planned joint product programme (failure)
2023
Chapter 11 and the Foxconn Lawsuit
Restructuring or bankruptcy — Chapter 11 filing with a sale of EV assets (a 363-style sale) and an adversary proceeding against its strategic investor
2024
SEC Settlements and Emergence as Nu Ride
Regulatory or legal action (SEC settlements) and restructuring (plan confirmation and emergence)