Some much needed news this morning for a company that continues to struggle and bleed red ink- A123 Systems (AONE).  Many wonder whether this company ultimately survives and that’s reflected in the stock price which plunged about 80% last year.  This morning the company has announced it will be the lithium battery supplier for Tata Motors (TTM) commercial vehicles.  Tata is India’s largest vehicle manufacturer so the news isn’t insignificant.

A123’s highly scalable and versatile batteries are designed to fit into a variety of powertrain architectures allowing Tata to deploy the battery packs across several styles of commercial hybrid vehicles and still meet performance, range and durability requirements.  The batteries will be deployed initially on transit city buses later in the year.

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“The addition of Tata Motors to our growing portfolio of blue-chip customers reinforces our position as the leading provider of lithium ion battery technology for the truck and bus segment,” said Jason Forcier, vice president of the Automotive Solutions Group at A123. “We believe that this announcement further validates the performance attributes of our Nanophosphate lithium iron phosphate technology and underscores our systems integration expertise. A123 understands the value proposition for commercial fleet hybridization, and we believe we can help Tata cost-effectively expand its portfolio of hybrid electric vehicle offerings to allow its customers to take advantage of the long-term benefits of fleet electrification.”

Shares of AONE gapped up on the news this morning, fluctuating from up 10 – 15%, but on the daily chart, the stock is still technically very weak.  If it can get back above the 50 day moving average with volume, it might have me interested, but for now I don’t care for this stock.