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Stellantis NV on Wednesday said revenue increased 14% to $52 billion (47.2 billion euro) in the first quarter of 2023 from last year as global shipments increased 7% and inventories recovered from the ongoing global microchip shortage.
Shipments totaled 1.476 million vehicles in the first quarter. In its largest region, North America, revenue rose 10% year-over-year to $25.105 billion (22.772 billion euro), and shipments increased 6% to 509,000 vehicles, despite Stellantis posting a 9% decrease in U.S. sales year-over-year.
Improvement in fulfilled semiconductor orders increased shipments, though the end of production of the previous generation of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and a now-resolved stop sale on Ram’s heavy-duty trucks because of a fire risk hurt sales.
“We’re seeing slowly but surely improvements in U.S. and North America share as we improve inventory levels and also the mix of inventory,” Richard Palmer, chief financial officer, said during a virtual briefing early Wednesday. “The April market was pretty good, so demand is strong.”
Global new vehicle inventory was at a total 1.302 million vehicles at the end of March, reflecting a return to normal inventory levels, according to the automaker. That mostly came from the 384,000 vehicles in the company’s inventory as the automaker battles challenges with outbound transportation.
Palmer characterized a 1.3-million vehicle inventory as “reasonably placed.” Dealership inventories were up mostly in North America, but he said that is warranted as the automaker heads into the spring selling season.
“Short term, pricing should be relatively stable, too,” he said, “but clearly that depends on order intake, and we’ll see how that performance (goes) coming into the spring season here and going into the second half.”
Unlike its Detroit rivals, Stellantis, which is domiciled in the Netherlands, only reports earnings for the first and second halves of the year. Results for the first half of 2023 are scheduled to be reported on July 26.
The first-quarter results come after the automaker announced it would offer buyouts to 31,000 hourly workers in the United States and Canada and to 2,500 U.S. salaried workers. The company, however, already has issued temporary layoffs to hundreds of autoworkers at its assembly plants in the meantime.
“We made a consistent (decision) with the ongoing management of our cost base that we have globally,” Palmer said about the buyouts. “So, nothing particularly unusual or material to our normal restructuring activity that we have had since the merger. I don’t see any big change in our financial performance or significant savings from these actions.
“They’re the normal, ongoing activity to make sure that we’re as efficient and competitive as you can be and in all of our parts. I don’t think we need to get into any details, because the numbers in the scheme of things are normal to our management of the cost base.”
Stellantis has projected a steady annual $5.7 billion (5 billion euro) in savings from the 2021 merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and French automaker Groupe PSA that created Stellantis.
In Stellantis’ other financial engine, Europe, revenue grew 10%. Revenues also rose 20% in South America, increased 55% in the Middle East and Africa and 5% in Asia. For the Maserati luxury brand, revenues were up 65% as it ramped up production of the new Grecale SUV and GranTurismo sports car.
The automaker also noted all-electric vehicle sales were up 22% year-over-year in the first quarter, thought it has yet to launch a full EV in North America. The Ram ProMaster will be the first later this year in Saltillo, Mexico — one of nine battery-electric launches this year. Stellantis last quarter also unveiled the Ram 1500 REV pickup truck, which will begin production at the end of 2024.
The world’s fourth-largest automaker by volume also confirmed its forecast for an adjusted operating income margin in the double digits for 2023 and a positive industrial-free cash flow. The U.S. and Europe in the first three months of the year did better than a mid-double digit margin, Palmer noted, but suggested it was too early to change that guidance.
Stellantis’ report joins positive results from its crosstown rivals. Ford Motor Co. said it generated $41.5 billion in revenue, up 20% year-over-year, in the first three months of the year and made net income of $1.8 billion. General Motors Co.’s profit was $2.4 billion on $40 billion in revenue, an 11% increase in revenue.
The results come after Stellantis last month announced it has named Natalie Knight, CFO of global food retailer Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV, as its next chief financial officer to take over from Palmer effective July 10 at the latest.
“Individual choices are made,” Palmer said. “I’ve been here for 20 years, pretty much precisely. So, I think it’s a reasonable timeframe to go and do something different. And I think the company is in great shape. So, I think the timing is right.”
bnoble@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @BreanaCNoble
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