Don’t move. Don’t sell your house.
Last Sunday we posted a discussion titled Lordstown Motors Accused of ‘FAKE Orders, Undisclosed Production Hurdles’.
A quick recap:
The gist of last Sunday’s article is that LMC claims that it has over 100,000 pre-order reservations for it’s all electric Endurance pickup. A company called Hindenburg Research, says that the orders are “almost entirely fake” and that there is “no genuine demand” for the truck. The report said Lordstown Motors used the “fictitious demand to fuel financing rounds and to confer an aura of credibility on the company.”
While LMC says it will be producing vehicles by this September, Hindenburg estimates that LMC is 3-4 years away from production.
The report also documented that an Endurance prototype pickup caught fire and burned down to the ground.
Lordstown Motors Chief Executive Steve Burns, who has been described as a “con man”, or a “PT Barnum” figure by former senior employees said, “We will be sharing a full and thorough statement in the coming days, and when we do, we will absolutely be refuting the Hindenburg Research report.”
So far there has been no statement.
Since that discussion there have been two headlines that have caught my eye.
The first one reads “SEC looking into LMC.” (Lordstown Motors Corp)
LORDSTOWN — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked for information from electric truck startup Lordstown Motors Corp. in light of a stinging short-sellers report last week that accuses the company of misleading investors.
Company founder and CEO Steve Burns briefly acknowledged Friday’s report by New York City-based Hindenburg Research during the company’s first-ever earnings conference call Wednesday, saying Lordstown Motors’ board of directors has formed a special committee to review the matter.
He said the company is cooperating with the SEC inquiry but declined to comment further until the special committee finished its review.
The second one reads “Investor sues Lordstown Motors”
LORDSTOWN — An investor in Lordstown Motors Corp. alleges in a federal lawsuit the electric truck upstart gave misleading and false information about preorders for its Endurance pickup and September launch date.
The lawsuit filed in Youngstown comes on the heels of the company’s first-ever earnings call Wednesday, during which its founder and CEO Steve Burns revealed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Lordstown Motors.
That inquiry follows a biting short-sellers report published March 12 by New York City-based Hindenburg Research — known for short selling stocks — that characterized Lordstown Motors as a mirage with no sellable product.
Listen to CEO Steve Burns try to explain the fake 100,000 “pre-orders”.
