Bankrupt electric vehicle manufacturer Lordstown Motors Corp. agreed to pay $25.5 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that the firm exaggerated the demand for its electric pickup truck, Bloomberg News reported. The automaker made misleading statements about its pre-orders for the truck, called the Endurance, and misrepresented how quickly it could deliver the trucks, according to the SEC. The firm rose to prominence after former US President Donald Trump hailed it for saving auto-maker jobs. A lawyer for the Lordstown, Ohio-based company declined to comment. The automaker didn’t admit to or deny the SEC’s findings as part of the settlement. “In a highly competitive race to deliver the first mass-produced electric pickup truck to the U.S. market, Lordstown oversold true demand for the Endurance,” Mark Cave, an associate director of enforcement at the SEC, said in a statement. The company filed for bankruptcy in June 2023 and later sold the last of its assets to the company’s founder, Steve Burns. Nasdaq delisted the company’s shares last July. The $25.5 million fine will be deemed satisfied through payments the company plans to make to settle two class-action lawsuits.
