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• Management shake-up comes amid Lordstown’s effort to ramp up production of its pickup truck
Electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors Corp (NASDAQ: RIDE) on Tuesday said its president, an automobile industry veteran Edward Hightower, will lead the company as its new CEO, effective immediately, in a management shake-up to ramp up efforts to start production of its pickup truck.
Hightower, who has experience at Ford Motor and General Motors, will succeed Daniel Ninivaggi, who moves into a strategic role as the company’s executive chairman.
The new CEO will continue to lead Lordstown’s joint venture with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn, which bought the EV maker’s Ohio factory for $230 million in May.
The joint venture plans to design and develop EVs, which will be manufactured by Foxconn.
“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,” Ninivaggi said in a statement.
Ninivaggi joined Lordstown in August 2021 after the founder, Steve Burns, was forced to resign amid allegations of misleading investors.
Ninivaggi led an overhaul of Lordstown’s production plan for the company’s pickup truck, Endurance, and sold its factory to Foxconn in exchange for much-needed capital.
He will focus on “corporate strategy, strategic partnerships, and capital raising” in his new role, the company said.
Shares of Lordstown jumped more than 6% in the morning trading session after the announcement.
Picture Credit: Bloomberg
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