The popularity of diesel cars spiked with the promise of clean emissions. That was until 2015, when Volkswagen admitted to lying about its diesel cars’ emissions.
As Real Wealth Strategist Editor Matt Badiali explained:
In 2015, scientists caught German carmaker Volkswagen cheating on pollution emission tests. It turned out that, no matter how hard they tried, Volkswagen engineers couldn’t make diesel cars perform well and meet emissions standards at the same time.
So they cheated. They built sophisticated software designed to put the cars “to sleep” when testing. That lowered the emissions to acceptable limits … but only during the tests.
The result was a massive backlash against diesel vehicles. In 2016, diesel vehicles sales fell to their lowest volume in seven years.
Since then, the reputation and popularity of diesel cars fell. In the U.S., automakers pulled diesel cars off lots. Western Europe once sold more diesel cars than gasoline cars … but no longer.
Analysts from JPMorgan Chase predict that diesel sales in Europe could fall to 30% of total car sales by 2020.
Platinum plays a critical role in diesel cars. Diesel catalytic converters need five to 10 times the amount of platinum as those on gas-powered cars. Diesel catalytic converters make up a third of the metal’s global use.
Platinum converts harmful gases, such as carbon monoxide, into less harmful gases, like carbon dioxide.
Diesel’s dirty reputation is likely to be a stiff headwind for platinum prices. And the analysts at the giant Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada mining conference confirmed that.
The three-to-five-year price forecast was not bullish. The average price was around $1,010 per ounce.
That’s only about 7% above the current price …
Good investing,
Anthony Planas
Internal Analyst, Banyan Hill Publishing