Hybrid

Away from the brouhaha of the US Presidential circus, and the relentless will-they-won’t-they, and if they do, how-much-will-they-do, chatter on Central Bank policy, it’s been another iffy month for electric vehicles. Volvo Cars is the latest manufacturer to size up the reality of going all in, and has scrapped its previous goal of going 100% electric by 2030. The reason the board got all clammy is that demand is soft. Weak. Affordability, beyond the leafy lanes of the moneyed elites, is another concern. So, too, the lack of action on the wider roll-out of charging points. Whilst the board remain committed: “We are resolute in our belief that our future is electric,” so said CEO Jim Rowan, there needed to be – cue intake of breath – a re-sizing of the ambition, “…the transition to electrification will not be linear, and customers and markets are moving at different speeds.” Indeed. The winner it seems is the hybrid, the pragmatic individual’s nod to the climate emergency, and a strategy that has been a big bet for the likes of Toyota. The left-field winner of the near ubiquitous strategic swerve across the auto C-suite then, could well be the Platinum Group Metals, where roughly 65% of what’s dug up, is used in the catalytic converters for internal combustion engines. And what’s more, analysts write that PGM loading is set to increase per vehicle in coming years. No way? And now, per Volvo Cars, there may not only be more needed per vehicle, there may also be a whole load more vehicles. The same analysts write that just eight companies control 90% of global output suggesting, with shares in the dog bowl and trading at multi year lows, there might be something to go for. Money can often to make more money by buying dislocation, distress, and neglect. The PGM complex ticks all three.