Workhorse Discontinues C1000 Program; Announces Future Plans

Workhorse Group Inc., a technology company that provides drone-integrated electric vehicles for the last-mile delivery sector, announced a business update on Dec. 28.

According to its announcement, the company is discontinuing the C1000 program, effective immediately. It will be fully focused on advancing its product roadmap for the W4 CC, W750, and W56 vehicles. Its statement said that: "After thorough engineering review, durability testing, and careful consideration, the company determined the increasing time, cost, and resources being devoted to the C1000 are better allocated on the development and production of other vehicles and products. As a result, the company expects to record a non-cash inventory write-off of approximately $10 million plus disposal costs."

Further, its W4 CC vehicles that were previously delayed in ports are now beginning to be shipped to Workhorse facilities. The company said it is working expeditiously to deliver the vehicles to customers.

Workhorse also received notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the previously disclosed investigation of the company has concluded, and the SEC does not intend to recommend any enforcement action against the company at this time. According to a Nov. 2021 Reuters report, the investigation was related to trading in the company's securities leading up to the award of a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) contract. Earlier that year, Workhorse challenged a decision by the USPS to award a multibillion-dollar, 10-year contract to Oshkosh Defense to manufacture a new generation of postal delivery vehicles. Workhorse's finance chief Steve Schrader also left the company in September 2021.

“We are pleased to conclude 2022 with legacy issues behind us and are looking ahead to 2023 fully focused on executing our commercial vehicle product roadmaps and advancing our Aero and Stables & Stalls businesses,” said CEO Rick Dauch. “We are on track with our plans to ramp up production and deliveries across our W4 CC, W750, and W56 in 2023 and beyond. The conversations we’ve had with customers over the last several weeks have reinforced that demand for our vehicles is strong. We remain confident in our ability to win in the EV market and create value for our customers, our communities and our shareholders.”

The company also reaffirmed its revised guidance range for 2022, which includes manufacturing and delivering approximately 25 to 100 vehicles and generating between $5 million and $15 million in revenue. Workhorse continues to expect to generate significant revenue growth in 2023 as it ramps up production of its products.