News

Hydrogen truck pioneer in Australia confident of fresh start

US-based manufacturer and global supplier of high-performance hydrogen fuel cell systems, Hyzon, has announced that it will be cutting ties with its burgeoning Australian operation.

Hyzon’s Melbourne-based media representative did not return a request for comment, but according to a media release from head office in the US, the company is looking at either selling up and/or a divestiture of its Europe and Australia/New Zealand businesses and subsidiaries, amongst other alternatives.

“As the company explores such strategic alternatives, it will continue to focus on cost reduction efforts and managing liquidity, including a reduction in work force or other strategic transactions and/or measures,” the statement said.

“The realignment process will allow Hyzon to focus its financial resources and investments, better position its first-to-market, single stack 200kW, fuel cell technology in its zero emissions North American Class 8 and refuse truck FCEV platforms as it prepares to launch its significant large fleet trial programs on both platforms in the US and Canada this summer.”

The publicy-listed company also announced that it has retained PJT Partners as its financial advisor to lead the ongoing capital raise efforts including via capital markets transactions, and to explore a full range of “strategic options”.

It’s no secret that Hyzon has been struggling to capture stock market investors’ interest in the US.

Earlier this year it was issued with another delisting notice from the Nasdaq stock exchange as its shares have traded at less than $1 for more than 30 consecutive business days, in contravention of the platform’s rules.

The New York-based company stated last month in its first quarter 2024 results that its losses had accumulated to US$276.87m, and that its revenue for the quarter was only US$10m — albeit up from zero in the same period a year earlier.

Meanwhile, things have been a lot rosier for the company in Australia. In early 2022, Hyzon announced a partnership wtih RACV which established a regional HQ in the Melbourne suburb of Noble Park, which includes corporate offices, showroom, assembly warehousing, and workshop.

The partnership also included a first order of hydrogen powered vehicles for RACV owned subsidiary Nationwide Group, the first order of such vehicles for a Towing company in Australia.

More recently, Hyzon Motors launched a locally-made hydrogen-powered prime mover that is set to go into pilot programs across Australia later this year, scaling production in 2025.  

An industry insider told Big Rigs that it understands the Australian business is going through an “investor process” and has an established book of business – the largest of any of the subsidiaries – that it plans on delivering.

“It looks like they’ll get picked up by a new owner, or a bunch of strategic investors.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Send this to a friend