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Technology Stocks : Ballard Power -world leader zero-emission PEM fuel cells -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Panita who wrote (2927)	7/22/1998 1:09:00 AM
From: Sid Turtlman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5827

I think the chances are near zero that Daimler would drop Ballard at this point. Even if for some reason Daimler had second thoughts at this early a stage, the idea of working on fuel cell powered cars is too useful as tool to fend off the demands of the Green party for it to be abandoned now. In any event, the various companies are still at a very early stage in the development process, where it should still be easy to cut costs and be on target. Only toward the end, should the last few halving of costs not happen, might DB take a walk. Ford could be a different story. I heard a press conference with CEO Trottman (sp?) of Ford a few months ago, soon after the announcement of Daimler buying Chrysler. A reporter asked him whether that event would affect Ford's willingness to work with Daimler on fuel cells, and he answered that was something management of Ford would have to think about. The implication was that he didn't mind sinking a lot of money into a research project whose co-beneficiary was a company, DB, with a product line that doesn't compete head to head with Ford. But he clearly wasn't happy with the idea of Chrysler reaping the benefits of his investment. But the chances of Ford dropping out so soon are minimal, IMO. Ford also likes advertising about its work on fuel cells so the public won't feel guilty buying Explorers. Even if Ford now believes its deal with Ballard is a mistake, it would be a public embarrassment to drop out now. Even in the unlikely event that Ford did drop out, it would be entirely for competitive reasons versus Chrysler, not because of any serious doubts about the technology so soon. As I have said all along, there is a substantial probability that one or both companies will eventually drop out because of doubts about the economic viability of project, but that won't happen for at least another year yet, IMO.