Lordstown Motors Corp. warned that it may have to cease operations and file for bankruptcy if it can’t resolve its dispute with partner Foxconn or find alternate financing.

The EV startup’s deal with Foxconn Technology Group is in jeopardy after the Taiwanese company threatened to withhold funding. Lordstown said in a securities filing that if it can’t resolve its dispute with Foxconn, identify other sources of funding or a strategic partner, it may have to halt production and seek bankruptcy protection.

Foxconn could not be reached for comment, but the filing highlights the rapid destabilization of the partnership amid turmoil in the EV market. Six months ago, Foxconn agreed to invest up to $170 million in Lordstown and take two board seats.

The deal provided Lordstown with much-needed capital and gave Foxconn a stronger foothold in automotive production. Foxconn also paid $230 million for a former General Motors factory in Lordstown, Ohio, where it planned to make Lordstown’s debut vehicle, the Endurance under contract.

However, in January, Lordstown asked Foxconn to suspend production because the cost of making the Endurance battery-powered pickup exceeded the targeted sale price of $65,000 and said it would need another partner beyond Foxconn to share costs. Shares of Lordstown plunged 27 percent to 38 cents in morning trading in New York.

Electrified Mag’s Take: Lordstown Motors, which occupies the old GM factory in Ohio that built Chevy Cruzes for years, is circling the drain. Only a few short years ago, the EV market was wide open and Tesla had it all to itself, with some Volts, Bolts, Priuses, and Ford hybrids bringing up the bottom of the mix. 

The Lordstown Endurance truck was an attractive offering in the relatively still waters of the EV market, pre-pandemic.  Today, with the EV truck market at full assault from the Big Three, Endurance is an unknown entity with no brand loyalty, manufacturing footprint or dealer body. A tough sell when up against Ford and Chevy, not to mention Toyota, Nissan and Honda.

Nipping at the Big Three’s stranglehold of the truck market was not going to go unchallenged. The knockout punch is that the Ford Lightening, GM Silverado/Sierra EVs, and the RAM 1500 Revolution are top-notch contenders with the full marketing and manufacturing might of Detroit behind them. A devastating response to not only Lordstown, but Rivian too. In fact, I predict that Rivian isn’t long for this world either and that’s a shame because they fielded nicely conceived entries here.

I have no relation to Debbie Downer, the old SNL character that always spoke of doom and gloom, but Lucid seems especially vulnerable too. Check out this video from the Electric Viking who talks about what the automotive landscape will look when the electrification of the automobile matures. He shares with us the opinion of a Chinese car exec who predicts there will be just ten automakers left in the world when the industry makes the transition to EVs.  So, it’s not just Lordstown, Rivian, Lucid, Fisker, et al., that are in danger, but very entrenched legacy automakers are in the crosshairs too. Can you guess the ten that are predicted to survive?