CINCINNATI, Aug. 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/
-- Workhorse Group
Inc. (NASDAQ: WKHS) ("Workhorse" or
"the Company"), an American technology company focused on
providing sustainable and cost-effective electric drone-integrated
vehicles to the last-mile delivery sector, announced today
newly-formed strategic agreements between the Company and both
Hitachi America, Ltd. ("Hitachi America") and Hitachi Capital America
Corp. ("Hitachi Capital America" or "HCA").
Under these agreements, Hitachi
America and other Hitachi Group companies ("Hitachi") 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 the Company's 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. In addition, we
believe Hitachi can help the Company drive customer orders as a
well-known and respected player in the commercial leasing and
finance industry, and we are looking forward to benefiting from
their expertise."
"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."
Kirk Mann, SVP & GM,
Transportation Finance at Hitachi Capital America, added: "We are
pleased to enter into this multi-year strategic commitment to
support increasing Workhorse's channel capacity. We will provide
the financial and distribution expertise to bring Workhorse's
C-Series delivery vehicles to end-users."
About Workhorse Group Inc.
Workhorse is a technology company focused on providing
drone-integrated electric vehicles to the last-mile delivery
sector. As an American original equipment manufacturer, we design
and build high performance, battery-electric vehicles including
trucks and aircraft. Workhorse also develops cloud-based, real-time
telematics performance monitoring systems that are fully integrated
with our vehicles and enable fleet operators to optimize energy and
route efficiency. All Workhorse vehicles are designed to make
the movement of people and goods more efficient and less harmful to
the environment. For additional information
visit workhorse.com.
About Hitachi America,
Ltd.
Hitachi America, Ltd.,
headquartered in Santa Clara, CA,
is a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501). Hitachi America – the North American regional
headquarters of Hitachi, Ltd. – and the 106 Hitachi Group companies
in North America, employ over 28,800 people as of March
2020. The company drives digital innovation across five
sectors - Mobility, Smart Life, Industry, Energy and IT - through
Lumada, Hitachi's advanced digital solution for turning data into
insights that drive digital innovation. The Hitachi Group is
focused on its Social Innovation Business, which combines
information technology (IT), operational technology (OT) and
products to deliver solutions that increase social, environmental
and economic value for its customers. For information on other
Hitachi Group companies in North
America, please visit
http://www.hitachi.us/ (the United
States), http://www.hitachi.ca/ (Canada) and
http://www.hitachi.com.mx/en (Mexico).
About Hitachi Capital America Corp.
Hitachi
Capital America provides financing and services solutions that help
businesses in the U.S. and Canada
achieve their growth objectives. Our offerings include
mobility supply chain solutions, retail and wholesale financing for
work truck dealers, vendor programs for OEMs, inventory finance
solution for technology dealers, structure finance solutions for a
variety of projects and as-a-service needs, and asset-based lending
and for a variety of businesses.
In keeping with our social innovation focus, HCA strives to
improve society by supporting the United Nations' Sustainable
Development Goals. We are proud to provide solutions that
enable energy efficiency and mobility improvements for many
business and organizations.
Three Keys Capital Advisors, LLC arranged and structured the
agreements, and advised Hitachi Capital America.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press
release includes forward-looking statements. These statements are
made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be
identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates,"
"estimates," "projects," "intends," "should," "seeks," "future,"
"continue," or the negative of such terms, or other comparable
terminology. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not
historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ
materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
include, but are not limited to: our limited operations and need to
expand in the near future to fulfill product orders; risks
associated with obtaining orders and executing upon such orders;
the ability to protect our intellectual property; the potential
lack of market acceptance of our products; potential competition;
our inability to retain key members of our management team; our
inability to raise additional capital to fund our operations and
business plan; our inability to satisfy covenants in our financing
agreements; our inability to maintain our listing of our securities
on the Nasdaq Capital Market; our inability to satisfy our customer
warranty claims; our ability to continue as a going concern; our
liquidity and other risks and uncertainties and other factors
discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our annual report on Form
10-K filed with the SEC. Workhorse expressly disclaims any
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements
contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Workhorse Media Contact:
Mike Dektas
Creative
Storm PR
513-266-3590
mike@creativestorm.com
Workhorse Investor Relations Contact:
Matt Glover and Tom Colton
Gateway Investor
Relations
949-574-3860
WKHS@gatewayir.com
Hitachi Capital America Media Contact:
Chuck McKay
203-956-3301
Hitachi America Media Contact:
Kazuko Amamoto
kazuko.amamoto@hal.hitachi.com
914-333-2994
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SOURCE Workhorse Group Inc.