The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into allegations leveled against Lordstown Motors by short-seller Hindenburg Research.
The Verge reports that the SEC has asked the EV startup for more information concerning the allegations. Lordstown says it is cooperating with the inquiry and added its board of directors has created a special committee to review the claims.
“We want to take a moment and acknowledge that we are aware of the short-seller’s report,” Lordstown chief executive Steve Burns said during an earnings call on Wednesday. “That is all we can say, and we cannot comment on this during the Q&A period following this call, or any follow-up questions and conversations, until the special committee has finished its review.”
Read More: Short Seller Says Lordstown’s Orders Are “Almost Entirely Fake”, Reveals Prototype Caught Fire
Hindenburg Research claims that the vast majority of reservations for the Lordstown Endurance pickup truck have been made by companies that don’t have the resources to actually buy them. The short-seller also said the company misled investors, the public, and the government about the progress of its development scheduling, revealing that an Endurance prototype was destroyed by fire just 10 minutes into a development drive.
During the earnings call, Burns added the company is ramping up development of an electric van and is still on track to begin customer deliveries of the Endurance this September.
Lordstown is targeting commercial fleet sales for the Endurance and according to Burns, it could prove to be a popular option for state and local governments.
“Everybody feels demand is not going to be our problem,” Burns said. “There is no company on planet Earth six months away from entering into mass production — not hand-building — mass production of a full-size electric pickup truck.”
We think Rivian, whose R1T Launch Edition electric pickup truck is scheduled to reach customers starting this June, would beg to differ…
