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Paris / Rüsselsheim (dpa) - The newly formed auto giant Stellantis with brands such as Opel, Peugeot and Fiat has made a "flying start" according to its own assessment.
It is now a matter of achieving the announced synergies of five billion euros annually, said CEO Carlos Tavares when presenting the business figures of the two merger partners Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and PSA.
One and a half months ago, the partners completed their mega-merger to become the fourth largest car manufacturer in the world against the background of corona-related losses in sales and profits.
The group has 14 brands, including Citroën, Jeep, Maserati and Alfa Romeo.
The group has strong footholds in Europe and the USA and employs around 400,000 people.
The partners jointly sold almost six million vehicles last year.
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For the current year, Tavares specified an operating return in the range of 5.5 to 7.5 percent - in the past year, the adjusted value had been a total of only 5.3 percent.
The announcement, however, assumes that there will be no longer corona lockdowns over the course of the year.
Known as a tough cost killer, Tavares had already made it clear at the beginning of the year that Fiat Chrysler (FCA) factories in Italy should become more efficient.
Due to the merger, no plants are to be closed.
Like other manufacturers, Stellantis is troubled by the shortage of semiconductor products.
The native Portuguese Tavares said, looking at the business figures of the two merger partners, Stellantis was financially healthy.
The Peugeot manufacturer PSA achieved a net profit attributable to the group of 2.2 billion euros last year - in the previous year it was 3.2 billion euros.
Due to the Corona crisis, sales fell by around 19 percent to 60.7 billion euros.
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The net profit of FCA collapsed last year in the continuing business from 2.7 billion euros to only 24 million euros.
Excluding special effects, the result slumped from 4.3 billion to just under 1.9 billion euros.
Sales amounted to 86.7 billion euros - a fifth less than in the previous year.
The subsidiary Opel-Vauxhall, which previously belonged to PSA, achieved an operating profit of 527 million euros, about half less than before (1.1 billion euros).
Under the conditions of the corona pandemic, Opel sales slumped by 35 percent more than the other PSA group brands.
The company renounced less lucrative sales, for example to rental car companies, and removed models from the General Motors era, which ended in 2017.
Tavares had rehabilitated Opel over the years, and many jobs fell by the wayside.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210303-99-671269 / 2