• President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that GM would sell its Lordstown assembly factory in Ohio to Workhorse, an electric-truck maker.
• The Ohio factory had become a political issue in a state that was critical to Trump’s 2016 election.
• GM said it would provide additional details at a later time.

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President Donald Trump appeared to scoop General Motors on Wednesday with news that the carmaker would sell its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant to the electric-truck maker Workhorse.

GM didn’t dispute the president’s announcement when contacted by Business Insider, saying it would provide additional details at a later time.

Lordstown Assembly was one of several facilities that were “unallocated” last year – auto-industry parlance for ending production, with no new vehicles planned for the factory.

The plant had been building the Cruze sedan, but amid flagging demand for four-doors in the US market, GM has reduced the workforce to a single shift.

“GREAT NEWS FOR OHIO!” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “Just spoke to Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, who informed me that, subject to a UAW agreement etc., GM will be selling their beautiful Lordstown Plant to Workhorse, where they plan to build Electric Trucks.”

Trump added that GM would spend $US700 million in the state, which was critical for the president’s election is 2016.

Workhorse is an Ohio-based manufacturer of electric delivery trucks and drones. The company has been financially challenged, according to reports, so it’s unclear how a purchase of the Lordstown factory would be financed.

GM and the other two major US automakers, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, are entering negotiations with the United Auto Workers on a new contract later this year. For that reason, GM was unable to officially shutter the plant.

The automaker had, however, sought to offer relocation to workers who would be out of a job with the factory deprived of a vehicle to build.

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