Cowen Comments on Nov. U.S. EV Sales; Down 2% from Oct. (TSLA) (GM)

Cowen and Company analysts Jeffrey Osborne and Thomas Boyes offered the following update on November 2014 u.S. electric vehicle sales:

Our work suggests 9,340 EVs were sold in November, down 2% from 9,553 in October, in the U.S. EVs this month made up 0.72% of SAAR, down 30bps from the prior month, with hybrids at 2.40% for the month, also down 30bps from the prior month. Nickelbased batteries slightly increased while lithium-based batteries declined by 4.7%. The best-selling vehicles domestically were Nissan Leaf (2,687), Chevy Volt (1,336), Tesla Model S (~1,200) and BMW i3 (816), with Ford Fusion Energi (752) inching upward since dropping by almost 50% since August. We reiterate that Polypore's involvement with Samsung SDI in the BMW i-series has gone from zero presence in the market 6 months ago to the 4th best-selling EV platform, with 5,079 vehicles sold since May.

Monthly News Flow Recap

• Nissan Leaf continues to top peers, with domestic sales up 34% y/y. YTD sales topped 27k breaking the annual record, with global sales hitting 50k. One third of domestic sales are in Georgia (see subsequent pages for more on Georgia). Management noted it expects to reach a 240+ mile range in the next model.
• Chevy Volt domestic sales have continued a gradual decline, down 30% y/y. YTD, though, domestic sales are down 16%. Various sources attribute the continuousdecline to the wait for the next-gen model, which will have a greater range. While the company did continue the first-gen Volt's factory operations, new inventory nonetheless dropped by ~1,000 in the U.S., according to the company.
• BMW has noted that it intends to create plug-in hybrid versions of all its models, with an electric Mini in the works (see subsequent pages for more on BMW).
• Bosch has made some forecasts that support our bullish view on the long-term trend in vehicle electrification, anticipating 113 mn total vehicles will be sold globally by 2020, of which: 6.5 mn hybrids, 3 mn plug-in hybrids, and 2.5 mn electric - collectively over 10% of total vehicle sales. Bosch find in Japan one in five new cars now are hybrid powertrains. Beyond electrification, the company sees increased adoption of turbocharging as well as diesel and CNG vehicles in isolated markets.
• Audi is ramping up production of the new A3 e-tron in Ingolstadt, Germany. Production began in September with a pace of 30 cars / day, currently up to 50 cars / day. The bulk of the assembly work is already integrated into the traditional A3 line. Deliveries into the U.S. will begin in early 2015 according to our conversations with Audi dealers in the Northeast.
  

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