Lordstown to start limited truck production in late September

DETROIT (Reuters) -Electric truck maker Lordstown Motors Corp on Wednesday said it will begin limited production of its Endurance pickup truck in late September and was evaluating working with other companies.

Shares rose 4.7% in after-hours trading.

The Ohio startup, which also on Wednesday announced a second-quarter loss, said its plant in the northeastern part of the state is ready and that retooling of stamping, assembly, body and paint shops has been completed. It also said the electric battery line is fully commissioned.

“We are launching the Endurance with a prudent ramp of production given a challenging industry and supply chain landscape,” Chairwoman Angela Strand said in a statement.

Lordstown will begin deployments with select early customers in the first quarter of next year, followed by wider commercial deliveries in the second quarter, she said. Production of the Endurance will increase steeply in the second half of 2022.

Lordstown, which previously warned it needed to raise additional funds, added it was “evaluating potential strategic partners.” Strand said the size of its Ohio plant could “easily accommodate additional manufacturing partners.”

Lordstown on Wednesday said it lost just over $108 million, or 61 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with a loss of almost $8 million, or 11 cents a share, a year earlier.

Lordstown had $366 million in cash and equivalents at the end of the quarter, and said it expected to end the third quarter with liquidity of between $225 million and $275 million excluding any funds from a capital raise.

Lordstown also hiked its expected 2021 capital expenditures to a range of $375 million to $400 million, up from its previous forecast of $250 million to $275 million. It said the costs are largely related to prepayments for hard tool purchases.

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