Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (FSYS)

[Democritus_of_Abdera]

GM plans to introduce bi-fuel engines soon...

In an interview with Fareed Zakaria yesterday, GM’s CEO, Dan Akerson, stated that GM will be soon introducing bi-fuel (CNG/gasoline) engines (presumably for retail customers)... This plays to FSYS’s strength and I am very encouraged by the revelation.... Note, however, that Landi Renzo’s US subsidiary (BayTech) also offers certified engines for GM vehicles.... so, it is not clear how much direct GM business FSYS will get.

See: http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/31/this-week-on-gps-imf-chief-christine-lagarde-and-gm-ceo-dan-akerson/ at about 15 minutes into the July 31, 2011 (02:20 pm ET) interview...

Fareed Zakaria GPS @1430
So you caused some alarm, ...or some alarm bells to go off when you said something to the effect that the most efficient thing for the government to do if it wants to encourage us to move to a new generation of cars and wean ourselves off of foreign oil would be to have a gas tax. Tell us why you think that would be a good idea.

Dan Akerson (GM CEO)
What we need, more aptly, is a pragmatic National Energy Policy that is market based. And then we will start to allocate resources more efficiently. We want to be part of the solution that helps us become less dependent on Foreign oil, Foreign imports. So we’ve looked at a variety of technologies that we are starting to employ today. We have the Volt which was not a step forward, but was a leap forward in the electrification of the car. Soon we will be introducing bi-fuel engines that can burn both compressed natural gas and liquid gasoline. We’re looking at hydrogen fuel cells, which have no carbon emissions, zero . They are very expensive now but we have, in just the last two years, reduced the price of that technology by $100K. The car is still too expensive and probably won’t be practical until the 2020+ period. And there is the issue of infrastructure, but there are a number of different ways to attack a goal, to address an ambition/aspiration. And that aspiration should be a pragmatic National Energy Policy. And there are many variables , many options and alternatives . This is one of many and it is not the only one.

see: http://www.ngvglobal.com/baytech-obtains-2010-epa-and-carb-certifications-for-cng-and-bi-fuel-medium-and-hd-engines-0321 ) as documentation of BayTech’s bifuel certification for GM engines.

see #msg-64521198 documenting FSYS has EPA and CARB certification for GM engines.