Workhorse Group Inc., 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.

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.

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.