Bob Lutz joins board of lightweight wheel supplier Carbon Revolution

Australian carbon-fiber wheel supplier Carbon Revolution named former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz and other veteran U.S. auto executives to its board, pending the completion of its upcoming merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

Lutz will be joined on the company's board by Burt Jordan, former vice president of global purchasing operations and supply chain sustainability for Ford Motor Co., as well as Jacqueline Dedo, previously an executive with several suppliers and co-founder of Aware Mobility, and Matti Masanovich, former CFO of Tenneco Automotive.

The appointments will be effective upon completion of the company's SPAC merger, expected to take place in October. Carbon Revolution is set to merge with Twin Ridge Capital Acquisition Corp., at which point the company's shares will be traded on the Nasdaq.

"I have full confidence they will bring to the company a high degree of additional experience, skills and insights that will be invaluable following our U.S. listing, as we pursue new growth opportunities globally," Carbon Revolution Board Chair James Douglas said in a statement about the appointments.

The company is banking on electric vehicles to spur much of its growth. It says its carbon-fiber wheels can weigh half of what standard aluminum wheels weigh, helping to boost an EV's battery range.

The wheel supplier expects Lutz's appointment to give its board a high-profile, outspoken and well-connected face as the 16-year-old company looks to expand business in the coming years.

In a news release, the company said it has been awarded 18 programs with six automakers, including GM, Ford, Renault, Ferrari and JLR, and that its order backlog has more than doubled since October 2022 to $680 million.

The company also said Monday that it entered into a structured equity facility worth up to $110 million with New York-based infrastructure investment firm Orion Infrastructure Capital. The deal brings the expected capital available to Carbon Revolution following its SPAC merger to $230 million.

In a regulatory filing Friday, Carbon Revolution revised its revenue and earnings projections for 2023 and 2024 downward, citing "updated financial, customer and operational forecasts."

It now expects revenue of $40.6 million in 2023, compared with an estimate in June of $47.4 million. It forecasts an annual loss in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $26 million, compared with its previous EBITDA loss estimate of $17.1 million.

It now anticipates revenue of $81.8 million in 2024, down from the $90.1 million it had previously expected. It forecasts an EBITDA loss of $1.9 million for the year, compared with previously expected earnings of $2.8 million.

In the filing, Carbon Revolution said it was not aware of any impact that the UAW strike was having on the company's business, though it said it was an "emerging risk in the industry."

Editor's note: Carbon Revolution said it has been awarded 18 programs with six automakers. An earlier version of this story misstated the number of programs.