The car company Stellantis is reporting a drop in profits. Things are not going well for Opel’s parent company on the North American market.
The car company Stellantis, which owns the Opel brand, is suffering from weaker US business. The company recorded a drop in profits in the first half of the year. The VW rival – with other brands such as Peugeot, Fiat, Chrysler and Jeep – made only about half as much profit in the first six months as it did a year ago, at 5.6 billion euros, the company announced in Amsterdam. Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares was dissatisfied. The share price fell by as much as 12 percent in Paris. Analysts had expected better business.
Tavares: Have operational problems
“The company’s performance in the first half of the year fell short of our expectations, reflecting both a difficult industry environment and our own operational issues,” said Tavares. There is a lot of work ahead, particularly in North America.
Depreciation at Maserati expensive
The Portuguese had already made further cuts in the European division. Special costs of 1.8 billion euros were incurred, particularly for job cuts and write-offs at Maserati. In Italy, Stellantis had agreed with unions on programs that envisaged the elimination of more than 3,000 jobs.
Decline in sales
Sales fell by 14 percent to 85 billion euros. Stellantis sold a total of 2.9 million vehicles in the first half of the year, ten percent less. Tavares also attributed this to the introduction of new models. 20 new models from various brands are to be launched in 2024.
Operating profit fell by 40 percent
The operating result adjusted for special effects suffered, with a decline of 40 percent to 8.5 billion euros, primarily due to business on the North American market. Stellantis earns the lion’s share of the profit there due to high margins and the size of the market. But business was also weaker in Europe.
Source: Stern
