11:01 am, April 30, 2024
Stellantis has reported a difficult start to 2024 with revenues and shipments both down in the first quarter of the year.
The international conglomerate saw its net revenue decline 12% year-on-year to €41.7bn (£35.65bn) in the three months to the end of March.
The outfit, whose brand’s includes the likes of Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Jeep, also experienced a 10% dip in consolidated shipments to 1.335m units.
In its European markets, including the UK, shipments fell 6% to 615,000 against a net revenue of €16.1bn (£1.76bn), which was 13% down.
Bosses have blamed the decreased volumes on a slump in sales of the Peugeot 3008, Opel Mokka and Fiat 500.
However, they insist things were not all bad with global BEV and LEV sales increasing by 8% and 13% respectively.
Stellantis is now planning to release a swathe of new EVs, which it hopes will help to drive a sales increase.
Commenting on the results, Natalie Knight, Stellantis CFO, said: ‘While Q1 2024 year-over-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.
‘We are reducing inventories to reinforce our strong relative pricing ahead of our new or mid-cycle product launches this year in key regions.
‘During Q1 2024, we have introduced four new models out of our full-year launch plan of 25 models, including 18 BEV nameplates, which we believe sets the stage for materially improved growth and profitability in the second half of the year.’
The results come just days after Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares hit out at the UK’s ‘terrible’ ZEV mandate.
In a briefing with national newspaper journalists, the 65-year-old even threatened to slash Stellantis’s presence in the UK unless changes are made.
He added that the outfit would not ‘support an red ink business’ and even refused to rule out pulling some models from sale altogether.
‘I’m not going to sell cars at a loss,’ he said. ‘It’s very simple. The ZEV mandate is [forcing] carmakers to have a growing EV sales mix every year.
‘The problem is the natural demand of the market today in the UK on EVs is half of the mandate.’
