Like its competitors, Stellaris is greatly slowed down by the shortage of semiconductors. The group born of the merger between Fiat and PSA delivered 1,374,000 vehicles during the first quarter of 2022, a drop of 12% compared to 2021, a period when the market was disrupted by health measures.
But the 2022 context is even more complicated, with the continuing lack of electronic chips. Added to this are the effects of the war in Ukraine on the European market. Moreover, while Stellantis sales in North America increased by 6%, on the Old Continent they fell by 24%, from 823,000 vehicles to only 622,000. Sales also fell by 8%. in South America (where Fiat is well established).
But if the sales are down, the turnover is once more in strong progression. It increased by 12%, representing a net turnover of 41.5 billion euros. According to Richard Palmer, chief financial officer of Stellantis, the group is doing “thanks to solid net pricing, a favorable vehicle mix and positive currency effects”.
Clearly, the group continues to move upmarket, selling more large vehicles at higher prices. In order not to cut into its margins, Stellantis, like most other brands, regularly increases its prices. Richard Palmer thus declares: “we confirm our annual objective of double-digit current operating margin”.
However, there is also quite a gap between Europe and the United States. With us, sales fell by 9% to 14.6 billion euros. On the other side of the Atlantic, it increased by 30%, to 20.7 billion euros. Stellantis is clearly driven by Jeep, which launched new large models (the Grand Cherokee L, Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer). There is no lack of novelties in Europe, with in particular the good debut of the Peugeot 308, but the shortage of semiconductors really weighs down the results.
Richard Palmer hopes for the best on this point in the second half, even if it depends on each supplier and the evolution of the health crisis. China has not hesitated to reconfine major cities in recent weeks. In this regard, Stellantis remains a very small player in this key market, with only 51,000 sales.
