New record in 2023 for Stellantis with a net profit of 18.6 billion euros

Europe 1 with AFP 1:55 p.m., February 15, 2024

Stellantis recorded a new record profit of 18.6 billion euros in 2023. Good sales in Europe at increased prices allowed it to achieve these results. The automobile group, resulting from the merger in 2021 of Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat-Chrysler, has sold nearly 6.4 million vehicles worldwide.

The automotive giant Stellantis recorded a new record profit in 2023 and is counting on its electric offensive to get through a year 2024 which promises to be complicated. Good sales in Europe at increased prices, in particular, enabled it to achieve a net profit of 18.6 billion euros, up 11% year-on-year, for a turnover of 189.5 billion euros. euros, up 6% over one year.

The automobile group, resulting from the merger in 2021 of Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat-Chrysler, sold nearly 6.4 million vehicles worldwide, compared to 6.1 million in 2022, which was very disrupted by problems. logistics. The average price of vehicles sold increased by 4% over one year on average. Stellantis thus regains its place as fourth world manufacturer (by volume), tied with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, and behind Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai-Kia.

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"Third engine" 

The group of 14 brands has notably seen its sales and margins increase in Europe with models such as the Fiat Ducato, the Opel Astra, or the Peugeot 2008, Jeep Avenger and Alfa Romeo Tonale SUVs. In North America, where Stellantis records most of its profits, the year 2023 was penalized by a long strike of automobile workers, for which the group estimates the shortfall at 3 billion euros in turnover. 'business.

The group's "third engine", namely its sales in Africa, the Middle East and South America, in particular, also contributed significantly to these record figures via the Fiat and Peugeot brands. Sales of the luxury brand Maserati increased slightly in 2023 with the success of its Grecale SUV. But the Trident brand's profits are being weighed down by development costs for its electric offensive, which begins this year.

The increase in net profit is notably linked to the absence of penalties (on CO2 emissions) or recalls (on airbags) which had penalized the 2022 result, explained the group's management. These good results allow the group to plan a share buyback program of three billion euros this year, and a new shareholding program for its employees. The group's management also proposed a dividend of 1.55 euros per share (+16% over one year).

2024 complicated 

“The record financial results announced today prove that we have become a new global leader in our sector,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares in a press release. “We will be able to remain extremely solid in the face of a year 2024 which promises to be eventful,” he assured. The group estimates that automobile sales in 2024, and in particular the growth of electric vehicles, risk being disrupted by "macroeconomic and political" phenomena, but also by rising wages and a "return to normal" of vehicle prices, said its financial director Natalie Knight.

The launch of dozens of new models, the improvement of logistics flows and the drop in the cost of raw materials should, however, favor the group, which still plans to achieve a double-digit operating margin, as in 2023 (12.8%). . Its global sales of electric vehicles recorded an increase of 21% in 2023. “2024 is a turning point, this is when our electric offensive arrives on the market”, particularly in North America, launched Natalie Knight.

The group already markets its economical battery-powered Citroën C3, and on Wednesday presented the small electric Ypsilon, which should relaunch the Lancia brand. Stellantis also intends to continue its offensive in utility sales, notably with the Dodge Ram pickup in the United States, in both diesel and electric versions. The group announced on Monday to strengthen its investment in the battery manufacturer ACC, whose first packs produced at the end of 2023 in Douvrin (northern France) equip the new Peugeot 3008. New battery factories are still to open in Germany, Italy, in Canada and the United States.