Canoo can’t stay afloat, files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy

It was an ignominious ending for Canoo Inc., the electric vehicle manufacturer that once eyed Northwest Arkansas for operations and a corporate headquarters.

In mid-January, Canoo filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which involves selling off assets to settle up with creditors and closing the doors. It’s different than a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which involves reorganizing debt to keep operations intact for improved conditions.

When it filed for Chapter 7, Canoo immediately ceased operations and laid off its remaining workforce, which was scattered in Michigan, Oklahoma and Texas. The microbus-inspired cargo van manufacturer declared assets of $126 million and debts of $164 million.

Canoo was a promising startup in 2020. Originally founded in California, it aimed to produce commercial electric vehicles such as vans for fleet, vehicle rental and ride sharing services. At one point, Walmart had signed an agreement to buy 4,500 delivery vehicles, but it never came to fruition.

The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal reported in 2022 that Canoo signed a 10-year, $17.1 million lease to occupy a new 270,000-square-foot industrial building at 4700 S.W. Regional Airport Blvd. in Bentonville. Those details were revealed at the time in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and indicated the building’s use as an advanced industrialization facility.

There was even the news that the company would relocate its corporate headquarters to a separate facility in Bentonville.

That never happened. Canoo did move its headquarters from Torrance, Calif., to Justin, Texas, and had a manufacturing operation in Oklahoma City, but the Arkansas side of the equation never floated any closer to the surface of its promise.