PRYOR, Okla. — Leadership of electric vehicle manufacturer Canoo warned shareholders Tuesday night it may go out business before it produces a single car at its proposed factory in Pryor.

Canoo leadership said it was experiencing cashflow problems and warned shareholders it could go out of business before the end of the year. The company said its future was “doubtful”.

The comment came in Canoo’s 2022 Q1 earnings statement:

“... as of the date of this announcement, we are reporting that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

The company was celebrated earlier this year as a great new business setting up shop at the Mid-America Industrial Park in Pryor, especially since electric vehicle maker Tesla chose to build its new factory in Austin, Texas instead of in Oklahoma. The State of Oklahoma is slated to give the company $15 Million in funds over the next four years for building its factory and hiring Oklahomans in tech jobs.

Canoo leadership said in its call with shareholders and analysts that it was moving forward with its plans in Oklahoma and Arkansas as planned at this time, and it was producing about a dozen vehicles each month as it begins to market its vehicles to companies, industries, and commercial buyers looking to modernize their fleets in addition to carrying out a new contract by NASA.

The mega micro factory is in the early stages of construction in Pryor, and it is set to open next year.

FOX23 reached out to state government officials who on and off the record asked us to insist that no taxpayer funds have been paid out to Canoo yet, and those incentives won’t begin until Oklahomans are hired and cars are coming off the assembly line.

“The Oklahoma Department of Commerce said it was following the financial statements of Canoo executives, but they were certain the project will continue as planned at this time,” Oklahoma Commerce Executive Director Brent Kisling said in a statement to FOX23. “The Oklahoma Department of Commerce remains optimistic on Canoo’s ongoing progress in Oklahoma in light of today’s announcement. All state incentive offerings protect Oklahoma taxpayers by ensuring that they are performance based and result in a net economic benefit to the state. To date, no payments have been made to Canoo. We continue to see positive momentum in our automotive recruiting efforts and remain steadfast in our pursuit of jobs and economic prosperity for all Oklahomans.”

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