08:47 AM EST, 01/09/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Quebec electric-vehicle maker Lion Electric Co. ( LEVGQ ) (LEV.TO, LEV) wants to pause building trucks and focus instead on school buses as part of a restructuring plan that would return all manufacturing operations to the province, The Canadian Press has reported.

The report noted the struggling company, which entered creditor protection last month and is seeking a buyer, has halted operations and laid off most of its workers.

But it said a pitch distributed to potential buyers says the business could be profitable if it produces 550 electric buses a year at its manufacturing plant in St-Jerome, Que., northeast of Montreal. That would represent about one-fifth of the plant's capacity of 2,500 vehicles a year.

A report filed in Quebec Superior Court on Friday says 136 potential buyers have been approached since Lion Electric ( LEVGQ ) obtained protection from its creditors on Dec. 19, as well as 11 firms that could be interested in acquiring company assets on a piecemeal basis.

The company went through several rounds of layoffs in 2024 and shut down production at a plant in Illinois in December. It announced further layoffs last week and said its remaining 160 workers would focus on helping clients with the maintenance of school buses and trucks.

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