Lordstown Motors Corp. is trying to clarify what exactly its "binding" orders actually means.
Earlier this week, shares in the company jumped after President Rick Schmidt told a news conference hosted by the Detroit-based Automotive Press Association that the company had "firm" and "binding" orders on an unspecified number of vehicles.
But maybe those orders weren't so "binding."
On Thursday, the company filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission that said while some fleet management companies have expressed interest in obtaining the company's new electric Endurance truck via purchase agreements, "they do not commit the counterparties to purchase vehicles."
"Although these vehicle purchase agreements provide us with a significant indicator of demand for the Endurance, these agreements do not represent binding purchase orders or other firm purchase commitments," the filing said. "To date, we have engaged in limited marketing activities and we have no binding purchase orders or commitments from customers."
Shares in Lordstown Motors (Nasdaq: RIDE) fell more than 4% Thursday after the filing.
The company also postponed its annual shareholder meeting from Thursday until Aug. 19.
Also on Thursday, the company said it hired John Whitcomb as its new vice president, global commercial operations, who will be responsible for "driving the company’s overall go-to-market strategy ahead of the start of production of the Lordstown Endurance in late-September 2021."
On Sunday, Steve Burns, founder, chief executive officer and chairman, and Julio Rodriguez, chief financial officer, resigned. The company had been accused of misleading investors and said it was running low on funding. Burns and Rodriguez were replaced by Angela Strand, who was appointed executive chairwoman until a permanent CEO is named. Becky Roof was named interim CFO.
