May 26, 2021: -Shares of Lordstown Motors tumbled over 9% during after-hours trading after the company slashed its production guidance for the year and said it would need to raise additional capital.

On Monday, Lordstown CEO Steve Burns said that the company has “encountered some challenges” as it prepares to start producing its Endurance electric pickup truck in September.

According to a release for its first-quarter earnings, Lordstown expects to produce half the number of vehicles it previously forecast for this year.

On Monday with investors, Burns said that the production cut, from around 2,200 vehicles to 1,000 vehicles in this year, is based on the company not receiving any additional funding. He said if the company gets funding, it could reinstate its previous production guidance.

Lordstown also said its projected expenses would be between $335 million and $350 million, up from between $220 million and $235 million. It also lessens its forecast for year-end liquidity from around $200 million to between $50 million and $75 million in cash and cash equivalents.

“We secured several critical parts and equipment in advance, so we are in a position to ramp the Endurance, but we need additional capital to execute on our plans,” he said.

 “We believe we have several opportunities to raise capital in various forms and have begun those discussions,” he added.

The changes are the blow to Ohio-based Lordstown. Shares of the aspiring automaker tumbled in the previous week after Wolfe Research downgraded the stock to underperform with a $1 price target after the debut of the Ford F-150 electric pickup, a competitor to the Lordstown Endurance.

Burns said without naming Ford, EV pickups are more mainstream following a “watershed moment” in the previous week. He said Lordstown continues to have a first-mover advantage. Ford’s electric F-150 is expected to go into production next spring.

“We are on par with somebody like that at this point, and we’re getting to market faster,” he said.

“We want as many people buying our vehicle while we’re the only game in town. We want to be on version 2.0 after somebody comes out with version 1.0,” he added.

Lordstown confirmed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had requested information regarding claims by short-seller Hindenburg Research that it misled investors in march.

The company plans to produce the Endurance at General Motors’ former Lordstown Assembly plant in Ohio. In 2019, Lordstown Motors purchased the plant.