"The Motley Fool has written about Altair (Nasdaq: ALTI) for a number of years now, and most of the stories have tended to criticize various aspects of the company. In spite of some encouraging recent news, I would like to offer yet another reason for investors to be cautious about investing in Altair: a competitor that seems to hitting on all cylinders. The company is A123 Systems and, like Altair, it also develops lithium-ion battery technology." (bold is ours)
"Japanese vehicle brands continue to rule the roost when it comes to car reliability, according to the latest annual survey from Consumer Reports.
Toyota and Honda’s brands scored top marks overall in the magazine’s “2007 Annual Car Reliability Survey,” which was compiled from survey responses from over 1.3 million magazine subscribers. The survey results will appear in the April issue of Consumer Reports magazine, which goes on sale March 6.
Toyota, Honda, Scion, Acura and Lexus took the top five places, in order, in the Consumer Reports list of the 36 most reliable car brands for 2007. Ford’s Mercury brand was the highest-placed U.S. nameplate, ranking 10th, while General Motors’ best-ranking brand was GMC, which came in at 14th on the list. Chrysler highest ranking was for its Dodge brand, which was placed 22nd on the list.
What’s more, for the second time in the 10-year history of the annual list, all of the magazine’s top car picks were Japanese brands. In addition, 55 of the 59 used car models recommended by the magazine were Japanese, again dominated by Toyota and Honda.
The snub by the closely watched consumer publication comes at a time of crisis for the Detroit-based automakers — GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group. All three U.S. automakers are shedding jobs and closing plants in an attempt to cope with a devastating loss of market share.
“Japanese models are still the most reliable — Toyota and Honda in particular,” said Rik Paul, automotive editor for Consumer Reports. “For years, their vehicles have consistently been the least problematic and the best in terms of reliability for years".
On average, the biggest increase in reported problems for cars comes when they are between 5 and 6 years old, which is when many owners think about selling their car. This is also the point where Toyota and Honda’s models excel in terms of reliability Paul said. The average 10-year-old Toyota or Honda has the same, or fewer, problems than a 4 or 5-year-old car from any of the U.S. automakers, or Volkswagen, he said.
“What we see is if a car starts out with problems in the first couple of years it will tend to stay problematic throughout its lifetime,” Paul said. “This is where Toyota and Honda really shine — they start out well and maintain their reliability, even through 10 years of use, and so a 9-year-old Lexus can have fewer problems than a 2006 Mercedes.”
When it comes to comparing new cars by nationality, one trend stood out: European automakers continue to lag Asian and North American manufacturers when it comes to reliability.
The big Japanese and the South Korean automakers have, on average, only 11 problems per 100 vehicles, the magazine said. U.S. automakers follow with 16 problems per 100, while European manufacturers have 19 problems per 100 cars.
In fact, European automakers have consistently fared poorly in recent years in Consumer Reports’ reliability surveys. Mercedes-Benz, in particular, has seen its reliability ranking decline sharply — this year, the German luxury brand placed last in the reliability list of 36 automobile brands, its reliability level 123 percent below the average for the whole industry, said Paul."
"We need to press on with battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles"
"ordered the government today to move toward purchasing hybrid-powered vehicles and reducing the federal fleet's petroleum consumption by 2% each year through 2015.
The executive order, consolidating earlier ones while setting new goals, follows his call in the State of the Union address Tuesday night for the nation to reduce its overall use of gasoline by 20% over 10 years. (...)
His executive order is intended to put the federal government, which Bush noted operates the nation's largest automobile fleet, in the position of trying to lead by example, White House officials said.
Bush said the government was being directed to purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles, which he said could be driven 20 miles before their batteries were drained and the engines needed to switch over to more conventional power. But he said the purchases only could be made when the vehicles are commercially available.
He said, however, that the potential federal market for such cars might increase the confidence of automobile manufacturers that a market for such new technology products could be developed, thus making them more commercially viable." [bold's mine]
"Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ALTI) announced today it received a purchase order for its NanoSafe™ 35 KWh battery pack systems from California-based Phoenix Motorcars for $1,040,000 for battery pack systems scheduled for delivery in February and March 2007. In addition, the company announced it has entered into a multi-year purchase and supply agreement with Phoenix under which Phoenix has projected orders for 2007 between $16 and $42 Million for up to five hundred battery pack systems.
The initial order of battery pack systems, valued at $1,040,000, is scheduled for delivery to Phoenix in February and March 2007, and additional shipments of increasing value are planned throughout the 2007 calendar year. (...)
In consideration for a three-year exclusivity agreement within the U.S., Altairnano received a 16.6 percent ownership in the company. The three-year exclusivity agreement provides Phoenix with limited, exclusive use of Altairnano's NanoSafe battery packs in four-wheel, all-electric vehicles having a gross weight up to 6,000 pounds. Phoenix must meet minimum battery pack purchases, annually, to maintain the limited exclusivity agreement. The minimum commitment to maintain exclusivity for 2007 would provide $16 million in battery pack sales to Altairnano. Altairnano's NanoSafe battery packs manufactured for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs) are excluded from the exclusivity agreement.
Altairnano's NanoSafe 35 KWh battery pack systems enable Phoenix SUTs (...) providing power for a driving range of 135 miles and driving speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. The NanoSafe battery pack can be recharged in less than 10 minutes at fast-charge stations."
"We believe this order puts Altair on the road to profitability in 2007. We feel it also substantiates our theory that Altair has a winning battery and that it can bring in significant revenue this year. We are raising our 2007 estimates from a loss of ($0.08) on revenue of $18.8 million to a profit of $0.08 on sales of $32.9 million. We reiterate our BUY rating and $5.50 price target based on 2008 estimates.
(...) The long awaited order from Phoenix Motorcars has come through. We had been estimating that the order would be for around $15 million, but had become concerned about Phoenix's funding. It seems Phoenix has secured some funding, and we understand more is coming."
