Before we start down the path of bread crumbs that lead to what seems to be proof that Workhorse got the contract to replace the remaining 140,000 Gruman LLV US Mail trucks we need to first understand a bit of the background. In 2015 the USPS sent out a RFI for replacement of the Grumman LLV US Mail trucks that deliver mail in the USA to 30 prequalified bidders. That list was cut to 15 prequalified bidders and teams. Six bidders/teams were selected to receive contracts to submit prototypes of their bid. VT Hackney and Workhorse (Then called Amp Electric) were both on the list and decided to team up for their bid with VT Hackney providing the All-in-one Composite body/frame for the truck and Workhorse providing everything else. The contract was originally set to be awarded in 2017 and still had not been awarded as of Q4 2019. In Dec. 2019 Workhorse paid VT Hackney $7 million for the Intellectual Property (design) and Engineering/Equipment (molds) for the body of the truck and the right to continue on as a sole bidder for the contract. The next stepVT Hackney was a self described custom body maker and prototyper. They could help you design an auto body and make a few prototypes for you but that was basically where their capability ends. They do not produce anything in volume. As their parent company ST Engineering is based in Singapore, Workhorse continuing on with the bid without them also made Workhorse an All American bidder. Workhorse was in the same situation with their Electric Last Mile Delivery Step Vans. After years of success with their Aluminium body Electric vans, they had collaborated with UPS to design exactly what they wanted and worked with a company called Prefix Corp. to design a new Composite body series that cut the weight of the empty truck by 4000 lbs. Prefix Corp was also a self described Custom body maker and low volume producer who could make a few prototypes but could not produce anything in volume. Workhorse set out to find a vendor for Volume production of Composite Truck Bodies and signed a Volume Production contract with TPI Composites in Q4 of 2019. Coming togetherIn the Q4 2019 Earnings Call TPI Composites said "We executed an agreement with Workhorse to develop and produce a prototype chassis and cab structure for a purpose-built electric delivery vehicle, and continued to gain ground on our target of $500 million of annual diversified markets revenue over time." They are working toward $500 million in annual revenue from their transportation segment which is primarily just Workhorse. https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2020/02/28/tpi-composites-inc-tpic-q4-2019-earnings-call-tran.aspx The setupIn their Q1 2020 Earnings call TPI Composites said "Workhorse, for example, as a company is working on some other things that you might be referring to. But this is the first passenger automotive production tooling contract that we've received" William E. Siwek -- President Yes. So yes, this is the first thing that we've announced publicly related to a passenger EV. That's correct. Steven C. Lockard -- Chief Executive Officer and Director Yes. This is a passenger ground-based electric vehicle. And we thought we heard you say air vehicle, maybe we misunderstood. But and Workhorse, for example, as a company is working on some other things that you might be referring to. But this is the first passenger automotive production tooling contract that we've received, if you will, as Bill described. We do have, in our development portfolio, additional passenger EV programs, one with General Motors, which was a development program. It's been made public some time ago. But this is the first passenger EV production tooling contract. That's true." Workhorse is their First and Only EV Production Contract. Notice that they refer to the C-1000 as a " passenger EV" That will be important later. They say that they are setting up a production line in their Rhode Island factory specifically for Workhorse. https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2020/05/09/tpi-composites-inc-tpic-q1-2020-earnings-call-tran.aspx The Smoking GunSo we know from Q4 2019 and Q1 2020 That workhorse is their first and only EV Production customer. And we know that they have referred to the C-1000 as a passenger EV.
And now in the Q2 2020 Earnings call The NDA that prevents all BIdders on the NGDV contract along with their vendors and subcontractors from talking about anything to do with the usps contract now comes into play. If TPIC had added a second EV production customer and doubled their customer base they would be shouting it from the rooftops... that would be huge for them.. remember... they want to get to $500 million annual revenue from this segment and Workhorse basically is their transportation segment in the USA at this point. By the same token if they were now building a Second model for their one and only customer that they were allowed to talk about... they would be talking that up too. Again, that would be a huge gain for them. They would say something like "We are now building a second model EV for workhorse that should double our revenue in the USA transportation market. " or something to that effect. But here is what was said in Q2 2020 "As it relates to the transportation side of our business, we continue to produce commercial delivery vehicles for Workhorse during the quarter and expect to ramp our production throughout the remainder of 2020 to enable us to meet Workhorse's volume requirements for 2021 and beyond. We've begun producing parts from the production tooling we talked about last quarter and expect to ramp our volume by the end of the year to meet volume needs of that new passenger electric vehicle platform in 2021. A question about the electric vehicle business. As you know, one of your R&D partners, Workhorse, just signed a deal or, I guess, a follow-on deal with Lordstown, which is going public. I'm curious if you're anticipating any advancement on your relationship in terms of getting more kind of meaningful revenue uplift of... William E. Siwek -- President and Chief Executive Officer, Director Yes. We continue to work very closely with Workhorse and their team. As I mentioned, we're continuing to build the C1000 bodies for them, and we are ramping our production to meet their production needs for the back half of this year and into 2021 and beyond. And we would as we do with all of our customers, we would hope to deliver for them and execute with the opportunity with them to expand the relationship beyond what we're doing today." https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2020/08/07/tpi-composites-inc-tpic-q2-2020-earnings-call-tran.aspx and then the smoking gun due to the NDA preventing them talking about what they are doing.... https://seekingalpha.com/article/4367273-tpi-composites-performing-well-in-uncertain-times Transportation Segment 2Q20 Highlights:
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