Workhorse Group Inc. announced newly-formed strategic agreements between the company and both Hitachi America, Ltd. and Hitachi Capital America Corp.

Under these agreements, Hitachi America and other Hitachi Group companies will provide an operational assessment of Workhorse's manufacturing, operational, and supply chain capabilities, benchmark to best-in-class standards, and provide recommendations to Workhorse that support increased production requirements. 

Hitachi will leverage its smart manufacturing, data-driven digital solutions and electric vehicle (EV) technologies, powered by Hitachi's rapid-solution-delivery platform, Lumada. In addition, Hitachi Capital America will assist in developing a national dealer network and will support Workhorse's sales with vehicle financing options for both dealers and customers, including dealer floor-plan programs.

"This alliance with Hitachi comes at an ideal time for Workhorse as we value their best in class innovation and experience in ramping up production and enabling us in providing a complete solution to our customers," said Workhorse CEO Duane Hughes. "With Hitachi's innovation and invaluable expertise in EV technology, smart factory automation and digital technologies, Workhorse is primed to build on our early leadership position as the only last-mile EV distributor selling vehicles for commercial use across the country."

Hitachi said it can help Workhorse drive customer orders as a well-known and respected player in the commercial leasing and finance industry.

"We are excited to partner with Workhorse to help accelerate the roll out of their EV solutions and meet growing customer demand in North America," said Hicham Abdessamad, Chief Executive, Hitachi Global Social Innovation Business and Chairman, Hitachi America, Ltd. "Hitachi is uniquely positioned in the growing commercial EV market with a set of innovative technologies and solutions to enable production capacity at scale, a reliable charging network infrastructure and a digital platform for intelligent vehicle routing and energy optimization. The Workhorse partnership is a strong testament to Hitachi's long-term commitment to Social Innovation."