Clean Diesel shares soar on Acura contract
Shares of Ventura-based Clean Diesel Technologies soared 74 percent higher in unusually heavy trading on the Nasdaq stock market on March 11, but the gains had very little to do with its namesake product line.
Instead, Clean Diesel said it has begun production of a new series of catalytic-emissions reduction products for the 2015 version of Honda’s gasoline-powered Acura TLX models. The TLX will become the sixth Honda platform to use CDTi products. The car manufacturer has been deploying the technology since 2001.
The news sent Clean Diesel shares soaring from $2.10 to $4.92, a 74 percent rise. The more than 19 million shares traded made it one of the volume leaders for the day on the Nasdaq and boosted its market capitalization to almost $46 million, up from the $30 million range a week earlier.
Clean Diesel’s product lines include catalytic converters for heavy-duty trucks as well as light vehicles and off road vehicles. The company’s technology dramatically reduces the amount of precious metals, particularly platinum, required for each catalytic converter, allowing manufacturers to achieve emissions reductions in a more environmentally-friendly way.
Winning the TLX contract is a “testament to CDTi’s ability to provide market-leading solutions,” Nikhil Mehta, the company’s chief financial officer, said in a statement.
Honda now uses the Clean Diesel product line on its four- and six-cylinder models of its Accord, Acura TSX and Acura RLX models, as well as its hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars. Clean Diesel was founded as a spin-out of technology from UC Santa Barbara.
