Investor Alert – Nissan Is Quietly Developing a Green Image That Could Rival Toyota’s
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
Toyota’s financial performance has benefited enormously in recent years from what many call the company’s green “halo,” attributed largely to its trailblazing hybrid model, the Prius. In consumer surveys on both sides of the Atlantic, Toyota ranks in the top five of companies with a “green” public image. (See A New Reason Why GE, BP, Tesco, Ford and Other Firms may Soon Be Seen as Undervalued.) But Toyota may soon have to share its halo with another Japanese automaker, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., which is quietly building a green image of its own that consumers and investors may well reward before long. (Nissan, which is 44%-owned by France’s Renault, trades ADRS on NASDAQ.)
Like other automakers, Nissan has suffered recently as investors contemplate the impact of a global recession on car and truck sales, and no amount of greening will be able to offset the effects of a broad economic slowdown. But Nissan has essentially come out of nowhere in the race to introduce plug-in hybrid vehicles and the lithium-ion batteries expected to go in them, positioning the company to wear a bright green halo as vehicular transportation becomes increasingly electrified over the next few years.
As EnergyTechStocks.com reports today in Part 2 of its Special Report on companies investors should follow, Follow the Money: 5 Firms Grabbing Big Bucks That Belong on Investors’ Radar Screens: #2 Project Better Place thanks to a San Mateo, Calif. start-up called Project Better Place, a joint Nissan-Renault plug-in hybrid model is about to hit the streets in both Israel and Denmark, and could be on streets in more than a dozen other countries including China and the U.S.
Consumer acceptance should develop quickly not only for Nissan’s plug-in car but also for the long-lasting battery under its hood, which is to be made by Automotive Energy Supply Co. (AESC), a joint venture involving Nissan and NEC Corp. Batteries will be crucial to plug-ins’ long-term success, and with Toyota reportedly still having trouble getting its lithium-ion battery to perform properly, Nissan could jump ahead of its rival in this energy efficiency sweepstakes.
At the same time, Nissan should benefit by being an established car manufacturer. More than a dozen electric vehicle manufacturing firms are expected to jockey for market position as the plug-in market develops starting within 18 or so months, but most are unknown, whereas Nissan will be an established name, perhaps the only established name among plug-in developers. The other possible well-known entrant would be General Motors. As with anything brand new, U.S. consumers may gravitate to a name they know, which in this case will be a car company already doing well outside the U.S.
