The company that bought Lordstown’s former General Motors plant expects to start producing an electric pickup truck there within the next year.
Steve Burns, CEO of Lordstown Motors Corp., says that production will start with about 400 workers. He hopes to eventually offer as many jobs as GM did at the height of production for the Chevy Cruze, when around 4,500 people worked the plant’s three shifts.
"We’re not buying a giant plant like this just to use a little corner of it, so our goal is to fully engage the plant and have it three shifts and cranking vehicles," Burns said.
Burns said it’s unusual for most startups to use a union workforce, but he’s open to the idea. He said United Auto Workers members are extremely talented, and he anticipates working with the union.
Burns, who founded the Cincinnati-based Workhorse Group, formed Lordstown Motors just a few months ago. He plans to produce an electric pickup truck marketed to commercial customers, such as utility companies and municipal governments.
GM announced the official sale of the Lordstown plant in early November, months after President Trump broke the news of the potential purchase on Twitter.
The Lordstown plant closed in early 2019 as part of a larger company restructuring. At the time, 1,700 employees worked at the factory, with some transfering to other GM locations.
