Potential Buyer Still in Talks for Lordstown Plant, GM Spokesman Says

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Discussions are underway between General Motors and a company interested in purchasing the plant to manufacture electric vehicles, a GM spokesman clarified this morning. 

GM’s Jim Cain responded Friday to an online story The Vindicator posted at 10:33 a.m. reporting that Workhorse Group Inc. “is not buying the Lordstown plant.” 

That was never the case, Cain said. The Vindicator has posted a clarification to the original story.

A new company being formed by former Workhorse CEO Steve Burns remains in discussions with GM regarding acquisition of the plant, Cain said. The new entity would then license Workhorse’s technology and manufacture electric vehicles at the Lordstown plant. 

GM is still in talks with Burns’ group, he confirmed. 

“Workhorse is an investor in the company, but Workhorse has never been the buyer,” he said. “A reporter who was unfamiliar with the transaction reported something as news that wasn’t.” 

A reporter read an article in a trade publication quoting Cain, responding to a statement Tuesday by Vice President Mike Pence, who had said that Workhorse had secured financing “to move forward to keep jobs in that community,” referring to Lordstown.   

Cain had stated that Workhorse wasn’t buying the plant, which was interpreted to mean that Workhorse was pulling out of the project. 

State Sens. Sean O’Brien and Michael Rulli are meeting with officials at Workhorse’s headquarters today.

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