Lordstown Motors has emerged from bankruptcy with a new name and an almost singular focus: continuing its lawsuit against iPhone maker Foxconn for allegedly “destroying an American startup's business.”
The company announced in a regulatory filing late Thursday that it has put into effect a Chapter 11 restructuring plan that was recently approved by the Delaware Bankruptcy Court. This makes it one of the first electric vehicle startups to survive the bankruptcy process in some form, albeit a very diminished one. Electric Last Mile Solutions was liquidated in Chapter 7 proceedings in 2022, while IndiEV's Chapter 11 proceedings are ongoing in California. A decade ago, both Fisker Automotive and Coda sold themselves to other buyers in Chapter 11 restructurings.
Now known as No Ride Corporation, the reshaped version of Lordstown Motors will also pursue “potential business combinations,” though it has not said what types of mergers it is seeking. The company has little left to its name. It sold the former General Motors plant it owned to Foxconn. Assets related to its electric pickup truck were seized by Lordstown founder Steve Burns.
With the restructuring plan in effect, Nu Ride is now led by an entirely new board of directors and slate of executives. It will now trade on the over-the-counter markets as “NRDE.”
The newly named company has two federal investigations and other lawsuits that need to be resolved beyond its borders with Foxconn. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently accused the company of misleading investors about the potential success of its discontinued electric pickup truck, forcing Lordstown to set aside $25.5 million to help settle some ongoing shareholder lawsuits. That investigation remains active, according to the agency, as well as an investigation from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
Lordstown Motors sued Foxconn in June 2023 when it initially filed for bankruptcy protection. It claimed that the Taiwanese group misled the startup about its plans to collaborate on a range of electric cars. Lordstown's lawsuit has been more or less put on hold during the Chapter 11 proceedings.
Foxconn now operates the plant once owned by the Lordstown company, and built a few dozen of the startup's electric pickup trucks before it was recalled. Foxconn's efforts to become an American electric vehicle manufacturer have so far failed. Two of its four potential clients — Lordstown and Endive — have filed for bankruptcy, while Fisker (which is said to be considering its own bankruptcy filing) recently distanced itself from the conglomerate, saying it would prefer to partner with an established automaker. The only thing Foxconn was making at its Ohio plant were tractors for California-based Monarch.
