YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Foxconn plans to cease production of electric, self-driving tractors at its Lordstown plant for California manufacturer Monarch Tractor, according to a report by the online news publication TechCrunch.
Last week, Foxconn announced that it had sold the plant to Crescent Dune LLC, an affiliate of the Japanese investment firm SoftBank, for $375 million, presumably to manufacture AI data center components instead of EVs.
Monarch CEO Praveen Penmetsa said on his LinkedIn page that the production halt is limited to the Lordstown plant, and that the company had built up inventory to satisfy customer demand before the factory was sold.
“In the coming weeks, we will be sharing more about our plans to introduce more Monarch-enabled products in the market through new manufacturing partnerships,” Penmetsa said in response to a TechCrunch reporter.
Foxconn started producing MK-V EV tractors for Monarch in 2023, and the first five of the vehicles rolled out of the plant in April of that year. In 2024, however, the company was forced to lay off employees because of weakening demand in the California wine industry.
Foxconn’s other contract manufacturing customers and potential customers included Lordstown Motors, which filed bankruptcy in 2024 after minimal production of the Lordstown Endurance EV pickup. Two other prospective customers were Fisker Inc. and a small California startup called IndiEV, both of which have gone out of business.
Pictured at top: The first Monarch MK-V tractors built at Foxconn’s plant in Lordstown are seen in April 2023.