Torc Us Through 2005

BJ
Both are now on pre-production trial and I think that there is the possibility of production royalties from Lexus in 2005.

Bodgit
At the 22nd July 2004 AGM, RJ informed all present that "there is a strong possibility that TRK could become a cash generative business even before the automotive royalties begin to flow" That suggests either that we have a couple of years to wait before those automotive royalties begin or something dramatic and rapid will be happening with the off highway / agricultural and automotive consultancy income streams. I wonder which??

Crystalclear
I'm not sure how Basildon John reconciles his ideas with Ms Joyce's: one option is that things have changed. I do usually say take the later news as being a replacement for older news, especially on points which contracdict each other, so maybe BJ sees a decent chance of automotive royalties before being cash generative.

I can understand how Bodgit views things. I think there were statements made in the past about offhighway building up to 50,000 units so I don't think there is a great chance of something dramatic and rapid. I would say Bodgit understands things better than most - its not a case of lost the plot as far as I am concerned.



Ratters! That's a new name to me. Antonov seem to be dependent on the formal signing of things between MG Rover and Shanghai Automotive (SAIC), and The Independent gave January 2005 as a date for putting pen to paper in Longbridge. With that, there is the potential for the partnership to make up to a million transmissions per annum in a few years time, 200,000 by Rover and 800,000 by SAIC - assuming SAIC don't push the cheaper transmissions onto their other partners GM and Volkswagen.

Without a signed SAIC Rover deal, Rover will be lucky to make enough Antonov transmissions for Antonov to break even, and Antonov's market capitalization, about half of Torotrak's, might be on dodgy ground. I was at the supermarket today, and they've opened an MG Rover + Hyundai dealership inside. MG Rover should be racing against Alesi, Frentzen and Hakkinnen in a few months time -
I think they had if I understand correctly. (I wonder why?) Antonov have hired Peter Kox, a 2003 Le Mans winner as a test driver. Generally, there seems to be more tangible things happening around Antonov than around Torotrak at the moment.