Alexandre
Stellantis has just presented its figures for Q1 2024. Although they are mixed, the Group remains optimistic for the rest of the year. To sum up the presentation, the group said: we have reduced old stock as we prepare for the arrival of several new products..
The Group concluded the first quarter of 2024 with a significant drop in its main sales indicators. Despite a sales down 12% to 41.7 billion euros, and deliveries down 10% to 1.335 million units sold, Stellantis is resilient, thanks in particular to growth of 8 % in the battery electric vehicle (Bev) segment and 13% for electric light commercial vehicles (Lev).
These mixed results can be attributed to a number of factors. On the revenue side, the negative impacts are not limited solely to volume reduction, but also to the unfavorable effects of exchange rates and sales mix, although partially offset by price stability. The Group explains that sales were affected by production adjustments and inventory management in anticipation of the launch of new products in the second half of 2024. This decline also compares with an exceptionally strong first quarter 2023, marked by an increase in deliveries following a period of restocking after prolonged supply constraints.
According to Natalie Knight, CFO of Stellantis, although the transition to a new generation of products based on new platforms makes annual comparisons difficult for the first quarter, there has been a marked improvement in sales momentum, with sales to end-customers exceeding deliveries to networks. "We are reducing our inventories to reinforce our already strong pricing in anticipation of the launch of new products or mid-cycle updates this year in key regions."
However, the picture is not uniform across all regions. In North America, deliveries and revenues declined 20 % and 15 % respectively. In Europe, declines are 6% for deliveries and 13 % for revenues. Conversely, the Middle East and Africa recorded impressive growthIn the United States, sales increased by 42 % in volumes and 24 % in revenues (as we have seen for the Alfa Romeo and Fiat brands in these regions). In South America, figures are also down, with deliveries and revenues down by 7 % and 2 % respectively. As detailed in another article, the Maserati brand was particularly hard hit, with deliveries down 61 % to 3,300 units and a 5 % reduction in sales to 313 million, mainly due to the performance of the Grecale and Levante models on the North American market.
However, Stellantis remains optimistic, and plans to launch 25 new models this year, including 18 electric variants. These new products should provide a solid basis for significant growth and profitability improvements in the coming years. the second half of the year. Against this backdrop, the Group reaffirms its commitment to achieving double-digit adjusted operating profit and positive net cash flow for 2024, despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties. In other words, don't expect a positive first half in 2024.
This is the beginning of the end... the policy of under-investment and cost-cutting gives the illusion of profitability in the short term, but pays dearly in the long term... Tavares will have retired, with his extravagant bonuses, by the time we deplore the field of ruins!
Rarely have I seen so much blabla and fiddling 🎻
The pricing-power policy coupled with the low-quality policy, in short, the policy of Tavares and his henchmen to gorge themselves like gorets is bringing down the group.
But it's always the same people who suffer... and it's not them.
Tavares is like Carlos Ghosn in the past: he knows how to cut costs drastically, make the same car under different brands (just like VW), but he doesn't know that Italian brands have their own specificities and that an Alfa Romeo or a Lancia can't be a Peugeot bis.
Tavarès is just a pawn in this group, or if you prefer, an employee who only does what the real directors, the Agnelli family, ask him to do. All Elkann and his assistants ask him to do is to make a profit, no matter how or what the consequences, and Tavarès simply does it.
What a line of bullshit!
The truth is that these gentlemen from Stellantis have totally screwed up their strategy, on the one hand favoring super margins to the detriment of sales, and on the other trying to impose all-electricity on consumers who don't want it!
JEEP's plunge in the USA is the result of these stupid choices.
I used to have a certain admiration for Tavares, but he's made of the same wood as Ghosn, i.e. an executive dominated by his hubris who leads his group into all kinds of disappointments.