2) Please refer to “Forward Looking Statements” below.
Executive Commentary
Commercial production of our Endurance BEV pick-up truck began in the 3rd quarter, at a very slow rate. Engineering readiness, quality, and part availability have and will continue to govern the speed of production and our ramp up and the timing of our first deliveries. Twelve of the first batch of up to 500 units have been built at the Foxconn EV Technology plant in Lordstown, Ohio to date. Production is expected to increase towards the end of the month as the remaining supplier part pedigree and availability issues are resolved. Approximately 30 commercial units of the first batch are estimated to be built by the end of 2022, with the remainder built in the first half of 2023.
Full homologation and certification is expected later this quarter, which is required to start shipping vehicles to our customers. As previously reported, all FMVSS crash testing has been successfully completed and remaining FMVSS non-crash testing is ongoing. As with any new vehicle launch, engineers will continue to drive and accumulate miles on test vehicles to find and resolve any potential issues and help ensure that we give our customers a great experience.
Three weeks ago, over thirty automotive journalists conducted extended drives of the Endurance and competitors as part of the North American Truck of the Year (NACTOY) semifinalist evaluation. The team is pleased and excited by the initial feedback from the journalists, both during the drives and in their early articles, and looks forward to the next phase of the competition and the announcement of the Truck of the Year winner in January.
“I am very proud of how far our capable, disciplined, resilient, and collaborative LMC/Foxconn team has advanced this vehicle over the last year, as we prepared for commercial production,” said Edward Hightower, Lordstown Motors’ CEO and President.
As previously discussed, the first production batch of Endurances will be limited to up to 500 vehicles, because the bill of materials (BOM) cost is materially higher than our anticipated selling price. Investments in hard tooling, building scale with production suppliers, and VA/VE initiatives would bring this cost down, but have been deferred to manage the balance sheet and limit the amount of new capital needed to achieve initial production targets. LMC continues to seek one or two OEM partners to help scale the Endurance. As one of the very few full-size, all electric pickup trucks in the market, the Endurance offers other OEMs the opportunity to enter the market quickly and at relatively low cost.
LMC continues to make progress in the planning and pre-development work on its next vehicle, which will be co-created with the Foxconn EV ecosystem and the MIH Consortium.
Yesterday, LMC announced that Foxconn has agreed to make additional equity investments in LMC (collectively, the “Investment Transactions”) of up to $170 million in the form of $70 million of LMC’s Class A common stock and up to $100 million of a newly created Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (“Preferred Stock”). Upon completion of the Investment Transactions, Foxconn is expected to hold all of LMC’s outstanding Preferred Stock and 18.3% of its Common Stock on a pro forma basis, and will have the right to designate two members of LMC’s Board of Directors.