Stellantis first-quarter revenue, shipments fall amid transition to new vehicle lines
Stellantis NV on Tuesday said its first-quarter revenue decreased 12% to $44.7 billion in comparison with last year as the company transitions to making a number of nextgeneration vehicles to be built on new platforms.
Vehicle shipments reached about 1.3 million units in the first quarter, down 10% from the same three-month period a year ago.
For North America, a major financial engine for Stellantis, revenue declined 15% to $20.7 billion, while shipments were down 20% to 407,000 total vehicles as the company rolls out new vehicles this year such as a refreshed Ram 1500 and an all-new electric Dodge Charger.
“While Q1 2024 yearover-year shipments and net revenues comparisons were difficult due to transitions in our next-generation product portfolio manufactured on new platforms, we are delivering clear improvements in key commercial dynamics with customer sales outpacing shipments,” Stellantis Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight said in a statement. “We are reducing inventories to reinforce our strong relative pricing ahead of our new or mid-cycle product launches this year in key regions.”
The company plans to launch 25 new models this year, including 18 electric vehicles, which Knight said would translate into better growth and profitability metrics in the second half of
2024.
The company’s U.S. sales especially struggled in the first quarter, down 10% year-over-year — a contrast with a majority of other automakers, which posted gains. Its Ram and Dodge brands faced especially steep sales drop-offs in those results, which the company posted earlier this month.
However, worldwide first-quarter vehicle sales stood at 1.5 million, about the same as last year, and sales in both the Middle East and Africa, and in Europe, ticked up significantly, the company noted.
Globally, inventory stood at almost 1.4 million vehicles at the end of March, which the automaker said reflected an improvement since the end of last year.
In Europe, the company’s other big financial engine alongside North America, revenue decreased 13%. In South America, it was down 2%, while in the Middle East and Africa it was up 24%, and in Asia, it was down 46%.
Unlike its Detroit rivals, Stellantis, headquartered in Amsterdam, only reports earnings for the first and second halves of each year. Full results for the first half of 2024 are scheduled for July 25. Through all of 2023, the company posted record net profits worldwide of $20 billion.
In the United States, the company has continued to trim both its whitecollar and manufacturingemployee headcounts in recent months, and has said more layoffs at its plants are coming as it conducts ongoing “operational reviews.” The company has said it’s working to maintain a competitive advantage amid the electric-vehicle transition and as it looks to slash its carbon footprint in half by 2030.