Not a focus only on defense at all but just information of possibly opportunity or opportunity missed. The market for product in it's current form is only so big and to miss such large long term opportunities is worth discussion especially as the company is not forthcoming with any relevant details on trials etc
Defence vehicles in most countries are exempt from normal rules regarding approvals are are approved on case by case basis. Products are assessed and approved on if they are suitable or not. Yes there are long lead times but also a long trail but upon execution of defense contracts there is specialist finance firms to finance inventory etc . Defence to ensure continuity of supply in case of conflict order/ contract often years of supply of parts in advance. This creates a base business case and economy if scale that gets ABV products into a much more affordable price range for the general markets and spreads the costs of compliance with various countries across a lot more product. Boutique suppliers are burdened with cots and compliance and undercapitalisation leading to being unable to finance at decent rates
Low usage of Military vehicles - yes for lots of them but standing still maintenance is a large cost with rusted seized brakes and applying anticorrosion spray and then removing it to put them back in service. That all adds lead time in a conflict and means they need a larger pool of vehicles. It is the old example of the US millitary going into IRAC. Every truck needed a tanker and every 10 trucks needed a truck load of maintainance spare on a fortnightly basis. When they are in service they are run hard to their limits and downtime and labor time costs a extra man which meant extra water and food - yep another truck for rations and a larger workshop base- more materials . Logistics is king in these events. Once one military has it approved and in use and efficiency is proven then it literally becomes mandatory for all the others to follow in some way to stay battle competitive logistically
In Australia even on private mine sites, private roads , due to insurance OH&S and ADR light commercial are required to comply and Australian mining companies force that compliance to their overseas sites as well. The cheapness of generic parts and long term contracts with Ford for original parts now and toyota previously make supply of external components pushing crap uphill except in the most extreme conditions and in areas where labour and parts are not logistically efficient - remote. Better transport links , air and road and better roads on site and underground are all included in models in mines now with overall maintenance in mind right down to the number of water trucks for dust reduction. Nothing is simple and the whole compliant off public road area should be important to this business and they must be a partner in build not a aftermarket discretionary add on in these sectors. You won't get in the door at the toyota or ford plant but you can get in on specialist vehicle manufactures as they use innovation as their sales pitch
This company and lack of information makes them a disappointment regardless of the underlying product and we have paid wages for years and not got a suitable return just changing business model and product. Bunch of bloody engineers so I hope it changes and the business gets some drive and scale before it becomes redundant
ABV Price at posting:
0.7¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
