LORDSTOWN, Ohio, July 12,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lordstown Motors Corp. (Nasdaq:
RIDE), ("Lordstown Motors" or "LMC"), an original equipment
manufacturer (OEM) of electric vehicles focused on the commercial
fleet market, today announced several key executive appointments
that further strengthen the company's senior leadership team.
- Daniel A.
Ninivaggi was elected to serve as Executive
Chairman of the Board of Lordstown Motors. In this role, Dan
will focus on corporate strategy, strategic partnerships and
capital raising.
- Edward T. Hightower, the
company's President, has been elected to the additional role of
Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Edward will also
continue to serve as CEO of MIH EV Design LLC, LMC's product
development joint venture with Foxconn. He has also been elected to
the Board of Directors of Lordstown Motors.
- Dr. Donna Bell, a former
Ford Motor Company executive with almost 30 years of automotive
product development and technology innovation leadership
experience, has been appointed Executive Vice President, Product
Creation, Engineering and Supply Chain, effective immediately.
- Andrew Reyntjes, a 30-year veteran of the automotive and
commercial fleet industry, was appointed Senior Vice President,
Sales, Service and Marketing, effective June
29.
- Jill Coniglio-Kirk was
appointed Vice President of People & Culture, effective
June 20. Jill has more than 20
years of experience in automotive human resources roles and
building out early-stage organizations.
- Jane
Ritson-Parsons will be transitioning out of the
role of Chief Commercial Officer and become an advisor to the
company.
"Since joining Lordstown Motors, recruiting an experienced and
talented management team has been a key priority. With the
recent closing of the Foxconn transactions and the launch of our
new Foxconn joint venture, Lordstown Motors has shifted to a more
engineering and product development focused OEM. With over 30
years of automotive experience and having made significant
contributions to the Endurance launch preparation and Foxconn
transactions, Edward is the perfect person to lead the company and
launch our product development efforts with Foxconn. As
Executive Chairman, I will continue to focus on strategic and
financial matters, working closely with Edward and CFO Adam Kroll," said Daniel
Ninivaggi, LMC's Executive Chairman. "As the Endurance gets
closer to production and we select partners for our first joint
venture vehicle, our commercial strategy will also be critical.
Andrew will accelerate the development of our commercial
fleet partnerships," Ninivaggi continued. "Finally, we are in
an industry with emerging technologies and the need for constant
innovation. Jill will be a key member of our senior
management team, with a particular focus on recruiting and
developing the best EV engineering talent."
"We now have a focused leadership team with vast experience in
developing, launching and commercializing vehicles," said
Hightower. "I've just returned from two weeks in Taiwan meeting with Foxconn and exploring our
joint product development opportunities. I look forward to
strengthening our partnership and confirming our first vehicle
program over the next several months. The LMC team also
remains laser focused on launching the Endurance this quarter, with
commercial deliveries expected in the fourth quarter."
Dr. Donna Bell comes
to Lordstown as Executive Vice
President, Product Creation, Engineering and Supply Chain with
almost 30 years of hands-on leadership experience in engineering,
product development, purchasing, quality, mobility and autonomous
vehicle strategy, and research. Her work in the development of
electronic modules and infotainment systems led to her receiving
multiple patents. Bell also served as research operations director
at Ford's Palo Alto Innovation Labs. She holds two master's
degrees and a Ph.D. from Wayne State
University's School of Engineering and a bachelor's degree
in electrical engineering from Lawrence
Technological University.
"The excitement of a startup appeals to me," said Bell.
"Lordstown, and its partner,
Foxconn, have the potential to reinvent how vehicles are developed
and manufactured. It is the ultimate challenge."
"Along with our intense focus on the Endurance launch, we are
actively working to plan and develop additional vehicles and
mobility solutions for our commercial fleet customers. Dr. Bell's
extensive experience in the high-quality execution of vehicle
programs, technologies, and innovations will make her an excellent
addition to our team. As EV performance attributes and features are
becoming more defined and driven by software, Donna's leadership
and track record will build on the strengths of the Lordstown
Motors team and play a key role driving the success of the joint
venture," said Hightower.
Andrew Reyntjes joins Lordstown Motors as Senior
Vice President of Commercial Sales, Service and Marketing. He
is experienced in US and international markets and multiple
industries outside automotive. He most recently worked in
sales leadership positions at LEER Group, a business unit of J.B
Poindexter & Co., a leading provider of vans, truck bodies,
vehicle storage systems and accessories to the commercial vehicle
market. Prior to his position as director of fleet and
commercial sales at LEER Group, he spent more than 15 years in
various roles within the fleet industry including WABCO and at
General Motors in Fleet & Commercial Operations as well as
numerous other positions and functions.
"Lordstown Motors is focused on meeting the needs of our
commercial fleet customers. Andrew has lived and breathed the
commercial fleet market from every aspect. His leadership and
enthusiasm will help to ensure that our vehicles and solutions
deliver on the work-focused needs and expectations of our customers
and create value for the company," said Edward Hightower.
A seasoned human resource professional with two decades of HR
leadership experience at global Tier 1 automotive suppliers,
Jill Coniglio-Kirk recently
joined LMC as Vice President of People & Culture. Jill
has a proven track record of developing cultures that reward,
promote, and drive high performance. Prior to joining
Lordstown, she was Vice President
of Human Resources for Veoneer, Inc., a world leader in automotive
safety. Previously, Jill served in a variety of
management positions at Autoliv, Inc.
Jane
Ritson-Parsons joined Lordstown more than a year ago and greatly
contributed to the transition to the new leadership team, the
development of our commercial strategy and the execution of the
Foxconn transactions. She will be transitioning out of her
formal role as Chief Commercial Officer and become an advisor to
LMC. Daniel Ninivaggi
commented, "Jane's leadership in several of our functions was
instrumental to the progress we have made over the past year.
I thank her for her many contributions to the company and look
forward to her support as an advisor."
About Lordstown Motors
Corp.
Lordstown Motors is an electric vehicle (EV) innovator with a
mission to develop high-quality, light duty commercial fleet
vehicles, with the Endurance all electric pick-up truck as its
first vehicle being launched in the Lordstown, Ohio facility. Lordstown Motors is
also the primary development partner with Foxconn for MIH based
vehicles in North America through
its recently established joint venture. Lordstown Motors has
corporate, engineering, and research and development facilities in
Lordstown, Ohio, Farmington Hills, Mich. and Irvine, Calif. For additional information,
visit http://www.lordstownmotors.com/.
Forward Looking
Statements
This release includes forward looking statements. These
statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of
the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements may be identified by words such as "feel,"
"believe," "expects," "estimates," "projects," "intends," "should,"
"is to be," or the negative of such terms, or other comparable
terminology. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not
historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and
uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ
materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein due
to many factors, including, but not limited to: the need to raise
substantial additional capital to execute our business plan,
achieve our production targets for the Endurance in 2022 and
beyond, achieve scaled production of the Endurance, to continue
ongoing operations and remain a going concern, and our ability to
raise such funding on a reasonable timeline and with suitable
terms; the cost and other impacts of litigation, regulatory
proceedings, investigations, stockholder letters and claims and
availability of insurance coverage and/or adverse publicity with
respect to these matters, which may have a material adverse effect,
whether or not successful or valid, on our liquidity position,
business prospects and ability to obtain financing; our limited
operating history and our ability to execute our business plan,
including through our relationship with Foxconn; our ability to
raise sufficient capital in order to invest in the tooling that we
expect will enable us to eventually lower the Endurance bill of
materials cost, continue design enhancements of the Endurance and
fund any future vehicles we may develop; the rollout of our
business and the timing of expected business milestones, including
our ability to complete the engineering of the Endurance and
Foxconn's completion of the conversion and retooling of
the Lordstown facility, to establish and maintain
appropriate supplier relationships, to successfully complete
testing, homologation and certification, and to start production
and delivery of the Endurance in accordance with our projected
timeline; our ability to successfully identify and implement
actions that will lower the Endurance bill of materials cost;
supply chain disruptions, inflation and the potential inability to
source essential components and raw materials, including on a
timely basis or at acceptable cost, and their consequences on
testing, production, sales and other activities; our ability to
obtain binding purchase orders and build customer relationships;
the risk that our technology, including our hub motors, does not
perform as expected and our overall ability to deliver on the
expectations of customers with respect to the pricing, performance,
quality, reliability, safety and efficiency of the Endurance and to
provide the levels of service and support that they will require;
our ability to conduct business using a direct sales model, rather
than through a dealer network used by most other OEMs; the effects
of competition on our ability to market and sell vehicles; our
inability to retain key personnel and to hire additional personnel;
the ability to protect our intellectual property rights; the
failure to obtain required regulatory approvals; changes in laws or
regulatory requirements or new or different interpretations of
existing law; changes in governmental incentives and fuel and
energy prices; the impact of health epidemics, including the
COVID-19 pandemic, on our business; cybersecurity threats and
compliance with privacy and data protection laws; failure to timely
implement and maintain adequate financial, information technology
and management processes and controls and procedures; our ability
to remain in compliance with our debt covenants, our ability to
repay the obligations when due, and the risks associated with
having pledged significant assets as collateral for recently
obtained indebtedness; and the possibility that we may be adversely
affected by other economic, geopolitical, business and/or
competitive factors, including the direct and indirect effects of
the war in Ukraine. In addition, the transactions entered into
with Foxconn are subject to risks and uncertainties. No assurances
can be given that we will successfully implement or that we
will realize the anticipated benefits from the recently completed
transactions with Foxconn, including the contract manufacturing
agreement and the joint venture to jointly develop additional EVs
for launch. If we are unable to maintain our relationship with
Foxconn or effectively manage outsourcing the production of the
Endurance to Foxconn, we may be unable to ensure continuity,
quality, and compliance with our design specifications or
applicable laws and regulations, which may ultimately disrupt and
have a negative effect on our production and operations. The
success of the joint venture depends on many variables, including
our ability to utilize the designs, engineering data and other
foundational work of Foxconn, its affiliates and other members of
the MIH consortium to commercialize, industrialize, homologate and
certify a vehicle in North
America, along with variables that are out of the parties'
control, such as technology, innovation, adequate funding, supply
chain and other economic conditions, competitors, customer demand
and other factors that impact new vehicle development. If we are
unable to develop new vehicles for ourselves and potentially other
OEM customers, our business prospects, results of operations and
financial condition may be adversely affected. We will need
additional funding to execute our 2022 business plan and achieve
scaled production of the Endurance. As we seek additional sources
of financing, there can be no assurance that such financing would
be available to us on favorable terms or at all. Our ability to
obtain additional financing in the debt and equity capital markets
is subject to several factors, including market and economic
conditions, the significant amount of capital required, the fact
that our bill of materials cost is currently, and expected to
continue to be, substantially higher than our anticipated selling
price, uncertainty surrounding regulatory approval and the
performance of the vehicle, meaningful exposure to material losses
related to ongoing litigation and the SEC investigation,
our performance and investor sentiment with respect to us and our
business and industry. Additional information on potential factors
that could affect the financial results of the Company and its
forward-looking statements is included in its most recent Form 10-K
and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their
entirety by this cautionary statement. Any forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date on which they are made,
and Lordstown Motors undertakes no obligation to update
any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances
after the date of this release.
Contacts:
Investors
Carter W. Driscoll, CFA
IR@lordstownmotors.com
Media
Colleen Robar
313.207.5960
crobar@robarpr.com
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SOURCE Lordstown Motors Corp.