Stellantis Chalks Up Big Gains in Past Year

Despite major challenges, Stellantis managed to post double-digit gains in revenue and profit in 2022 and sees strong results coming in 2023 as inflation subsides and the price of materials stabilizes.

In 2022, Stellantis’ net revenue increased 18% compared to 2021 to $168.8 billion even though deliveries of vehicles worldwide dropped 2%, reflecting strong net pricing, favorable vehicle mix and positive foreign exchange translation effects while net profit increased 26% to $15.8 billion.

The good news spread to the company’s U.S. hourly workforce of nearly 40,500 people, which will see profit-sharing checks as high as $14,760, the company noted. With this payment, U.S. hourly employees have received on average more than $74,220 in profit sharing since 2009 and $37,440 under the terms of the current labor agreement.

Transformation moving forward

CEO Carlos Tavares said Stellantis performance in its initial two years is just a glimpse of the major impact the company expects to have on mobility ecosystems in the future. “We’re not talking about transformation, we’re doing it,” he said.

“In addition to our record financial results and the focused execution of the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, we also demonstrated the effectiveness of our electrification strategy in Europe. We now have the technology, the products, the raw materials, and the full battery ecosystem to lead that same transformative journey in North America, starting with our first fully electric Ram vehicles from 2023 and Jeep from 2024,” Tavares added.

Stellantis’ adjusted operating income increased 29%to $21.9 billion, with 13% margin, which exceeds 2030 target of 12% with all segments contributing to both top and bottom-line growth. The company’s Industrial free cash flow of $10.1 billion was up 78%.

With the strong balance sheet, with Industrial available liquidity at $57.6 billion, Stellantis plans to put $1.5 billion toward the repurchase of company shares. The auto company also plans to invest approximately $700 million in its finance company in the U.S.

In addition, inflation has begun to moderate under pressure from higher interest rates and raw material prices are beginning to ease, Tavares said.

Electrification plans moving forward

While Tavares has openly expressed skepticism about the development of the demand for battery-electric vehicles, he emphasized during the conference call with analysts the company was moving ahead aggressively with its plans for electrification.

Stellantis’ electrification push accelerated with a 41% increase in global battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales year-over-year, to 288,000 vehicles in 2022.

With 23 BEVs now in market, the BEV portfolio will more than double to 47 by the end of 2024, supporting the target to have more than 75 BEVs globally and global BEV sales of 5 million by 2030. Notably, Tavares said, the Jeep brand revealed the first phase of its BEV offensive with the launch of Jeep Avenger, the first-ever fully electric Jeep SUV and now the European Car of the Year 2023. 

It also premiered the all-electric Jeep Recon and Wagoneer “S,” both intended for the North American and other major global markets. The Ram brand followed, unveiling earlier this month its highly anticipated all-new, all-electric Ram 1500 Rev production version that will be available in Q4 2024.

Stellantis is the leader in in EU30 in Commercial Vehicles BEV sales and No. 2 in EU30 for overall BEV sales with the new Fiat 500 as the No. 1 selling BEV in Italy and the Peugeot e-208 the leader in France. The company is positioned as leader in the U.S. for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle sales, with the Jeep Wrangler 4xe as the top selling PHEV in both the U.S. and Canada.

It also preparing to launch its first pure battery electric vehicle in the U.S., the Ram Pro-Mater BEV, this year. “We see we have great opportunities in North America,” Tavares said.

Tavares reiterated the company is moving ahead with the plans for the new Ram battery-electric pickup truck, Rev, which will be ready by the end of 2024. While Stellantis is trailing top competitors like Ford and General Motors, it plans to leverage its position to leapfrog the competition, he said.

“The execution machine of Stellantis is moving fast forward,” Tavares added. “Stellantis is going to be one of the big winners of this big transformation.”

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• Source: https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2023/02/stellantis-chalks-up-big-gains-in-past-year/