BYD, EuroSports Global, NIO - The age of electric vehicles!

BYD - From London, it is now off to Australia

BYD has set its course for expansion. The electric bus partnership between Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and BYD, previously active in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, is expanding to Australia. An agreement with the Australian Company Nexport has made this possible.

Nexport builds and supplies e-buses in the distant continent, also in cooperation with BYD - but with delivery from the Chinese plants until now. Under the new agreement, Nexport will assemble bodies for Alexander Dennis' Enviro family of electric buses with BYD chassis for the Australian market. Operators in Australia need flexible city buses between 9.7 and 12.5 meters in length to meet local transport climate targets. These e-buses are scheduled to hit Australian roads in early 2022, with series production set to get underway by the end of 2022. Cooperation partner Nexport sees the agreement as a significant boost for the renaissance of Australian manufacturing. For BYD, this cooperation should also pay off noticeably.

The BYD share has now taken a slight breather after its 70% rally. The Chinese markets have now also lost 25% from the high, but BYD was able to gain in the same time. The stock is a standard technology stock; nevertheless, hedge your profits at EUR 22.50 if the tech rally falters.

EuroSport Global Ltd. - Electric motorcycles are coming on strong

Brilliant acceleration figures and silent dynamics in a high-tech cockpit - that is what the e-motorcycles from Scorpio Electric Ltd., a subsidiary of Singapore-based EuroSports Global Ltd., promise. So far, e-mobility has revolved mainly around 4-wheeled motor vehicles, but now high-performance two-wheelers are also gradually entering the market. They are ideal for the lone rider in crowded Asian cities; even a parking space causes few worry lines. The city-state of Singapore has promised to increase charging capacity within city limits by a full 500% by the end of 2024. That would be a nice incentive to trade in the gasoline-powered car.

What is the general state of the e-motorcycle market? Only models that have been offered consistently for years are on the suppliers' shelves because demand is still manageable. Lighthouses here are the manufacturers Zero and Energica with a purely electric range, flanked by KTM and, get this, Harley-Davidson as the only manufacturers with electricity and gasoline in parallel in the range. BMW has taken the only electric model out of the program for 2021, and Yamaha is more likely to attack in supersport. Noble manufacturer Ducati is only just rediscovering the four-cylinder for itself, and the rest remain idly in the piston comfort zone.

One could believe that the smell of gasoline is still the closest thing to the two-wheeler fans, which is why the giant Japanese corporations are delaying their investment plans. It is a well-known fact that Japanese premium manufacturers take a little longer to develop something new, but then they do so with the economic consequence of a bulldozer. The scenario currently favors the competition because the pressure is not yet quite as high.

There is still room for innovative niche manufacturers like Scorpio Electric Ltd. Therefore, it will be interesting to see which prototypes the Company will launch in the third quarter of 2021. EuroSports Global Holding has a current market capitalization of SGD 71.5 million. With the presentation of the first products in the showrooms, the level of awareness of the Scorpio brand should rise rapidly. Therefore, it will not be possible to get in at a favorable price for a long time.

NIO - Dynamically forward and past Tesla?

The NIO share has deflated somewhat after reaching the EUR 40 mark. The Chinese market is currently consolidating very strongly, making it difficult for the Tesla competitor to get back on its feet. Technologically, experts now agree that NIO is in the starting blocks to give the US manufacturer a run for its money because NIO offers comparable performance packages at significantly lower prices. However, the brand is not yet well-known enough.

After the sought-after Chinese sedans, the Company has also succeeded in positioning itself in the high-priced SUV market. Of course, the Company is still some way from seriously standing in the way of the premium manufacturers. Still, the price difference of up to 35% makes one or the other consumer curious. The technical data speaks for itself: the NIO ET7 puts a whopping 653 hp on the road with its all-wheel drive and a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. NIO is already setting up its charging network and scoring points with its innovative battery swap concept in its own country.

The other side of the coin is NIO's valuation: its market capitalization is currently just under USD 67 billion for rolling 12-month sales of USD 3.4 billion. That means NIO is presently valued at 20 times annual sales. By comparison, BYD has a price-to-sales ratio of just 3. Conclusion: NIO is very interesting as a company, but unfortunately far too expensive as a stock.

The companies presented here all serve the emerging market of electric mobility. Build Your Dreams (BYD) is a recognized standard stock, while NIO is still more of a second-tier challenger. EuroSports Global Holding with its Scorpio subsidiary is certainly a good diversification within the sector as a motorcycle manufacturer.