LORDSTOWN, Ohio — The rollercoaster continues for a northeast Ohio community whose fate has long-since been tied to the success of the auto plant in town.

This week, Lordstown Motors announced it’s putting the production of its electric pickup truck, the Endurance, on hold while it tries to resolve safety issues with some of its parts.

What You Need To Know

  • Lordstown Motors announced on Thursday that the company would be halting production and distribtuion of the Endurance, its all-electric pickup truck
  • The auto company, based in Trumbull County, cited performance and quality issues with certain components that could cause a loss of propulsion while driving
  • Lordstown Motors was founded in 2019, and moved into the former Genemral Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio
  • Residents of Lordstown, a village of around 3000 residents, said the company's production setback has them worries, but are remaining optimisti

 


The announcement comes just a few years after the company moved in, replacing the once-thriving General Motors plant in Trumbull County.

“When we lost all those jobs and people moved away, it kind of scared everybody”, said Denny Valot, Jr., co-owner of Lordstown Comeback, a pizzeria/convenience store a few minutes away from the Lordstown Motors auto plant.

Valot Jr. jokes he and co-owner Brian Gibson named their business the Comeback because “it’s so good you’ll comeback for more.”

But the real reason behind the name is a deeper one and a tribute to the strength and resiliency of the area.

“The reason we called it the Comeback is that everything was coming back to Lordstown, because when we lost General Motors a lot of companies were coming back,” Valot Jr. said.

One of those companies was Lordstown Motors.

The automobile company was founded in 2019, focusing on the production of electric vehicles.

Valot Jr. called the presence of the company in a village of just more than 3,000 residents a “huge deal.”

Valot Jr. and other residents of Lordstown said they never want to live through the fear they went through following the closure of the area’s former General Motors facility.

But he admits he has some worries creeping once again into the back of his mind after the recent pause on production at Lordstown Motors. Yet, Valot Jr. said he’s remaining optimistic that this is simply a minor setback for the auto company.

“There’s always flip flops with new businesses,” he said. “Sometimes you have to halt things to get things right and make sure that it’s perfect.”

Lordstown Motors said a team is looking at the root cause of these production issues and that fixing the problems could mean redesigning some parts.