does tanfield have 2 good businesses ( smith electrics and upright)which are good value for the medium to long term hold ?

From a poster on another BB:-

The only things I might add,
-RS stressed that people didn't fully understand the power of the relationship with Ford.If sales took off he expected assembly to move to Ford premises.
-RS again stressed the importance of government incentives to drive sales.Sales of 2000+ would reduce cost (as Mal.said) of vehicle by 50%
-The ugly USPS van was inside,for 'assessment' I was told.
-In a separate line for assembly of Edisons were 1-10 marked for Sainsbury.
-4 LTI taxis were inside (they've been there for ages.)
-The upright guy conducting part of the inside tour said orders had improved a bit lately.

As far as the Electric taxis are concerned, I recently spoke to a representative of Manganeze Bronze who told me that "this project is ongoing and I believe we are still trying to obtain funding".

Smith Electric will make first all-electric aerial-bucket truck.

Kansas City-based Smith Electric Vehicles U.S. Corp. announced Thursday that it has teamed up with Altec Industries Inc. to introduce Americas first all-electric utility truck with an aerial device.

The truck will be unveiled Monday at the Electric Utility Fleet Managers Conference in Williamsburg, Va., Smith Electric Vehicles U.S. said in a release.



I can't find any reference to this announcement on any of TAN/SEV's websites but anyway, the full article is at:-

http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/othercities/kansascity/stories/2009/06/15/daily38.html?s=industry

A nice picture of the SEV US shiny new utility truck with an aerial platform:-
http://www.khl.com/magazines/access-international/detail/item39546/SEV-&-Altec/

A NORTH-EAST consortium, including Nissan, in Sunderland, and Smith Electric Vehicles, part of the North-East based Tanfield Group, will today receive Government funding to put a fleet of electric or low carbon vehicles on Britains roads in the next year.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/4453119.Group_gets_funding_for_electric_car_fleet/


http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/10m-injection-fuels-electric-car.5391314.jp

There is a further announcement due tomorrow with regard to funding for electric commercial vehicles.

RNS today:
Electric Passenger Vehicle Development & Trial

"... The Company will be eligible to receive 1.6m in Government funding towards a total project cost of 3.2m to develop and trial a total of 16 vehicles as part of the Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator Programme - a scheme funded and administered by the Government's Technology Strategy Board ...
Darren Kell, CEO of Tanfield, said: 'This funding will support our plans to transfer leading edge electric vehicle technology from our vans and trucks into passenger vehicles. This project opens up a raft of exciting possibilities for us..."

Interesting. ;-))

Hmm! What could be very, very interesting is a possible link between SEV and Ford in producing an electric powered Focus :-
http://fwd.five.tv/news/electric-ford-trials-to-begin-in-2010

"The electric Focus will use the technology from Fords Tourneo Connect battery electric vehicle concept. Developed in conjunction with Smith Electric Vehicles, it uses a 21kWh lithium ion phosphate battery to drive a 50kW permanent magnet motor, while drive is sent to the wheels via a single-speed transmission."

Beginning trials in 2010.

I think the CEO is right in saying: "This project opens up a raft of exciting possibilities for us..."

- I'm happy to wait for this to fiilter through to the sp.

RNS number 2 today......good content!

RNS Number : 4228U
Tanfield Group PLC
24 June 2009



The Tanfield Group PLC
('Tanfield', or 'the Company')

24 June 2009

Tanfield Named as Preferred Supplier in Government Electric Van Programme

Tanfield is pleased to announce that it will be part of the UK Government's Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme ('LCVPP'), administered by the Department for Transport ('DfT').

The LCVPP will provide subsidies for select public sector bodies to procure electric and low carbon vans.

Tanfield, a key supplier of the electric vans included in this project will supply the Smith Edison, a vehicle already in production at Tanfield's Washington production facility, which is based on the popular Ford Transit panel van.

The DfT will provide grant funding towards the procurement of the vehicles, covering the incremental cost of the low carbon option compared with a conventional vehicle.

The first phase of the LCVPP will see a total of four suppliers deliver a maximum of 150 electric vans to 12 public sector bodies, including the Royal Mail, HMRC, Government Car & Despatch Agency, Metropolitan Police, Environment Agency, Transport for London and six consortia of local authorities.

The DfT is collating the requirements of the participating end users and will shortly inform each supplier of the number of vehicles it will be producing for phase one.

If the first phase of the programme is successful, the DfT will look at the opportunity to expand the trials into the wider public sector.

Darren Kell, CEO of Tanfield, said: 'This programme gives us the opportunity to strengthen existing customer relationships and expand our end user base.

'We will be working hard to ensure that this first phase is a success, so that the DfT rolls out a wider subsidy programme to the public sector as a whole.'

Tanfield will provide an update on the LCVPP phase one vehicle production orders as soon as these are formally notified.

TW of T1ps has poted a sell note today.

That makes it a firm buy then! ;O)

My thoughts as well !.. how many times has TW tipped a share and it's tanked!

You may well be right TW doesn't appear to like TAN's management as he says they have disappointed investors too many times.

Er, I'm not sure that TW should be shouting too much.
Tanfields management is typical of many UK-stock companies - - - - richly rewarded to perform just sufficiently to keep the company afloat . . . . sadly it needs only a small "shock" to make them flip themselves into Basket Cases.
I have a small holding in Tan, based on the assumption that their business is "real" ( that is they supply goods that customers want) - and- should pick-up in the hoped-for UK Recovery, . . . . . . . . whenever that is.

"RS stressed that people didn't fully understand the power of the relationship with Ford." I think that speaks voulmes: as I have said before, I don't think Ford would hook up with TAN/SEV if they were not confident in the technology of the company. SEV's vehicles are tested, approved and have been in service for many years. I'm sure that Ford will have assessed all the current ev manufacturers' products and capabilities and would not have come to a decision lightly that TAN/SEV would fit in with their needs in the advancement of their own evs. Ford will also use other manufacturers in addition to TAN/SEV for sure. There is a long way to go before the battery vehicles can be said to be the best thing since sliced bread but taking into consideration what is being thrown at the technology now, do not be surprised if you see announcements of more orders for the vehicles than even the most optimistic of those in the industry could hope for. Battery technology will move ahead in leaps and bounds imo now that there will be an increased demand. Patience is required!

Switched into ROs this morning @ 82p (sold TAN).
Already ROS is going in the right direction... it's looking good for pos+ news soon
Onwards & upwards!


Might go back into TAN later in the yr when situation becomes clearer!

Down 10% on relatively low volume.