Carmaker Stellantis pledges to tackle problems in North America as profits plunge
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares pledged action to tackle problems in North America and elsewhere after reporting a plunge in first-half earnings
MILAN — Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares pledged action to tackle problems in North America and elsewhere Thursday after reporting a plunge in first-half earnings.
U.S.-European automaker Stellantis reported net profits down by half in the first half of the year due largely to lower sales and restructuring costs.
The carmaker, which was created in 2021 from the merger of Fiat-Chrysler with PSA Peugeot, reported net profits of 5.6 billion euros ($6 billion) in the period, down 48% compared with 11 billion euros in the same period last year. Revenues in the period dropped 14% to 85 billion euros.
Tavares acknowledged that the performance “fell short of our expectations, reflecting both a challenging industry context as well as our own operational issues.” He said the issues were being addressed, and expressed hope the launch of 20 new vehicles this year would improve profits.
He pointed to North America as a place where there is “significant work to do,” including inventory management and sliding market share.
The company reported adjusted operating income of 8.5 billion euros ($9.23 billion), down 5.7 billion euros from the first half of last year. Stellantis said the drop was primarily due to decreases in North America.
Tavares also told reporters that the global auto industry is in the midst of a storm that he had predicted previously, caught between consumers looking for more affordable vehicles and demands for more capital spending to develop new electric and gas-powered vehicles.
In North America, Tavares said the company let inventory get too high, and plans to fix that in
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