2011 Ford Transit Connect Electric Unveiled

[evmavin]

[
AZD is looking pretty hot today.

http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?c=azd.to,uu[w,a]dacayiay[df][pb50!b20][vc60][iub14!la12,26,9]

[/quote]


LOL- Penny Stock

[palmer_md]

Originally Posted by evmavin

LOL- Penny Stock

Penny Stock or not, 50% increase since early Feb is pretty good. The company seems to be somewhat stable right now. Big companies have to start somewhere. I would not invest without a little more investigation, but on the surface it does not seem too bad.

Seems a safer investment than Aptera right now (if you could).

[AZDDF.PK]

Originally Posted by palmer_md

Penny Stock or not, 50% increase since early Feb is pretty good. The company seems to be somewhat stable right now. Big companies have to start somewhere. I would not invest without a little more investigation, but on the surface it does not seem too bad.

Seems a safer investment than Aptera right now (if you could).

Always do your DD before you invest. I'm excited about this space as is obvious from my posts.

http://azuredynamics.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Hybrid systems maker poised to accelerate
Richard Blackwell

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Wednesday, Mar. 24, 2010 12:00AM EDT Last updated on Wednesday, Mar. 24, 2010 8:07AM EDT

Azure Dynamics Corp. appears to be operating in the sweet spot of the automotive world: it makes hybrid power systems for trucks and vans, dramatically cutting emissions and trimming fuel costs of vehicles that ply city streets every day.
But the company has yet to spin off any profits, and its shares have been mired below the 30-cent mark for months, far off a high of $1.60 hit half a decade ago.
That could change, however, thanks to a deal Azure signed recently to work with Ford Motor Co. on a fully electric version of Ford's globally successful Transit Connect delivery van. That potentially lucrative joint venture has investors and analysts in an optimistic mood about Azure's prospects.

The company, begun as a spinoff of research conducted at the University of British Columbia in the 1990s, has been based in Detroit since 2007, but it still has a factory in Vancouver and its stock is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Azure's hybrid drive trains are already installed in hundreds of delivery trucks and shuttle vehicles in North America. This technology sharply cuts the fuel and maintenance costs of traditional gas engines, and reduces greenhouse gases - appealing to companies with large fleets of vehicles that make stop-and-go deliveries.

In Canada, about 200 Purolator delivery trucks are powered by Azure's hybrid system, and 200 more have been ordered by the courier company.

The backlog of orders for these hybrid vehicles is growing - Azure chief executive officer Scott Harrison said sales will double this year over 2009 levels - but it's the all-electric van project with Ford that offers the greatest long-term potential.
National Bank Financial analyst Rupert Merer, who has an "outperform" rating on the stock and a 52-week target of 34 cents, said the link with Ford is central to the company's future.

"The strength of the company is their 20 years of experience in this market and the relationship with Ford," he said. "Those are really the two keys to their success."
For the stock to move higher, however, Azure will have to report improved margins, Mr. Merer said. He predicts margins will shift into positive territory this year, and hit 22 per cent in 2011 and 26 per cent in 2012, partly thanks to a new, cheaper lithium ion battery the company will source from U.S.-based Johnson Controls Inc. starting later this year.

Azure should begin reporting profits in 2012, he added.

Gary Baker, a portfolio manager with Connor Clark & Lunn Financial Group who manages the TD Canadian Small Cap Equity Fund, said the key to Azure's stock performance is how well the company executes its strategy.

The market itself looks very positive, says Mr. Baker, whose fund holds more than nine million Azure shares. "There are tailwinds behind them from a macro perspective, [because] this is technology that the world wants. The U.S. government is ramping up subsidies for electric hybrids in commercial applications and that ultimately brings the cost down."

Martin Grosskopf, a portfolio manager at Acuity Investment Management, says many investors don't yet understand how significant it is for Azure to be partnering with Ford on the electric Transit Connect vehicle.

This joint venture "makes the company even more attractive," he said. "We expect margins to improve dramatically over the next few years due to new supplier agreements and a ramp-up in volumes. Azure is probably the only pure play clean-transport company that can boast a clear early mover advantage with a highly scalable market strategy."

From an investor perspective, Mr. Grosskopf said, "the company's valuation remains very reasonable, especially compared with more speculative clean-transport companies." Acuity holds more than eight million Azure shares.

CEO Mr. Harrison said his company has proven that the technology works, and has demonstrated that it can raise money when needed - it gleaned $30-million in a successful common share offering last December.

Now it just has to demonstrate it can be financially successful - and that should soon be apparent, he said. "Dramatically improved margins" should be apparent by the end of the year, around the time the new Ford vehicle hits the market, he said.
Mr. Harrison acknowledged that the key benchmark that analysts and investors are watching for is the company's ability to generate positive cash flow.

"We have product on the road. The technology risk is behind us ... and the balance sheet risk is behind us," Mr. Harrison said. "We're down to execution."

***

At a glance
Head office: Detroit
Other offices: Vancouver, Boston, Toronto
Shares outstanding: 605 million
Market cap: $130-million Biggest shareholder: Dutch pension fund Shell Asset Management
Sales in 2009 (9 months): $4.97-million (U.S.)
Key competitor: Eaton Corp.

[palmer_md]

I hope your out by now. 50% drop in stock price today.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=AZDDF.pk&ql=1

[Grendal]

Hopefully AZZDF.PK sold off his profits. The stock was at 35 cents in October. Now it's 2 cents.

[PatQ562]

Ecolocap, alleged maker of an alleged carbon nanotube enhancement that allegedly multiplied the capacity of regular batteries, which I stumbled across in a battery thread a couple of years back, has gone from about 50 cents to 0.5 cents (less than a penny) over this period. Apparently vaporware only gets you so far.

Pat Q

[palmer_md]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/azure-...190900490.html

Hope everyone got out.

[randyd]

They are having trouble being "profitable in 2012" without Aptera's 10k units per month.