Canada’s Lion Electric Lays Off 10% of Workforce
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Canadian medium- and heavy-duty electric truck and bus maker Lion Electric laid off 150 employees, or 10% of its workforce, it said Nov. 27.
The layoffs by the Montreal-based company, which operates in both Canada and the U.S., will be spread across production overhead, manufacturing, product development and administrative functions, it said.
Lion said the job cuts will speed its path to profitability.
“Although this was a very difficult decision and we are sad to part ways with valued employees, this initiative was the right thing to do for the business at this point in time,” CEO Marc Bedard said. “I am confident that the workforce remaining in place is more than capable to continue growing Lion’s leadership.”
Bedard
Lion manufactures battery-electric Class 5 to Class 8 trucks and school buses.
The company posted a net loss of $19.9 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared with a net loss of $17.2 million in the same period a year earlier, it said Nov. 7.
Revenues in the most recent quarter totaled $80.3 million, compared with $41.0 million in Q3 2022, but its cost of sales also jumped, reaching $75 million, compared with $44.8 million a year earlier.
Lion cited increased sales volumes and higher production levels, increased fixed manufacturing and inventory management system costs related to the ramp-up of future production capacity, higher raw material and commodity costs, and the impact of the continuing inflationary environment as the reasons.
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As of Nov. 6, Lion said its order book stood at 2,232 medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, consisting of 268 trucks and 1,964 buses.
At the 2023 Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in May, the company launched its battery-electric Lion5 medium-duty truck.
With Class 5 and 6 configurations, the cabover model is slated to enter production before the end of 2023, has a range of up to 200 miles and a maximum payload of 12,500 pounds.
The Lion5 is set to use Lion’s new proprietary LionBattery packs. The 800-volt battery system comprises a management system, a thermal management system and battery modules and packs.
Lion was previously a customer of Romeo Power, which U.S.-based Class 8 truck maker Nikola liquidated in July after problems with its batteries. Classes 4-6 truck manufacturer Mullen Automotive on Sept. 11 bought Romeo’s battery production assets for $3.5 million.
During Q3, Lion said it began to manufacture Lion5 units in Montreal and initial LionD school buses in Joliet, Ill. The Joliet plant opened in July.
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