Jeep automobiles are delivered to a dealership on June 20, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Photographs
DETROIT — Stellantis‘ U.S. new automobile gross sales continued a yearslong free fall through the third quarter, regardless of CEO Carlos Tavares’ makes an attempt to appropriate what he has referred to as “arrogant” errors.
The trans-Atlantic carmaker reported U.S. gross sales Wednesday of 305,294 from July via September, a 19.8% decline from the third quarter of 2023 and an 11.5% lower from the prior three months of this yr.
Stellantis was anticipated to be the worst gross sales performer of main automakers through the third quarter. Auto trade forecaster Cox Automotive had projected a gross sales decline of roughly 21% for the carmaker.
Cox and fellow forecaster Edmunds anticipate third-quarter gross sales industrywide will be down roughly 2% in contrast with a yr earlier.
Nonetheless, Stellantis mentioned its initiatives to spice up gross sales and proper previous errors are beginning to repay. The automaker cited a market share improve through the third quarter from 7.2% to eight% in addition to an 11.6% discount in its U.S. automobile stock.
“We continue to take the necessary actions to drive sales and prepare our dealer network and consumers for the arrival of 2025 models,” Matt Thompson, Stellantis head of U.S. retail gross sales, mentioned in a launch.
All of Stellantis’ manufacturers apart from its area of interest Fiat unit skilled gross sales declines within the third quarter, led by greater than 40% reductions for Chrysler and Dodge. Its Ram truck model recorded a roughly 19% fall, whereas Jeep was off about 6% yr over yr.
Stellantis, GM and Ford shares in 2024.
Stellantis’ third-quarter gross sales are the most recent downside this week for the carmaker, which lower its 2024 revenue margin forecast and has been hit with a recall involving standard plug-in hybrid electrical Jeep fashions as a consequence of hearth dangers.
Shares of the corporate on the New York Inventory Alternate are off 41% this yr. The inventory hit a brand new 52-week low Tuesday and closed at $13.71, falling 2.4% for the day.
Throughout a June investor occasion, Tavares mentioned the corporate would appropriate “arrogant” errors made by himself and the corporate within the automaker’s U.S. operations that led to gross sales declines, bloated inventories and investor considerations.
He mentioned the convergence of three elements led to the issues: not promoting down automobile stock quick sufficient; manufacturing points, particularly with two unnamed crops; and a scarcity of “sophistication in the way to go to market.”
U.S. gross sales for Stellantis, previously Fiat Chrysler, have declined yearly since a current peak of two.2 million in 2018. The corporate offered greater than 1.5 million automobiles final yr, a roughly 1% decline from 2022, when it reported a big drop of 13% in contrast with the earlier yr.
Stellantis’ efficiency compares with the general U.S. new light-duty automobile gross sales market, which elevated 13% final yr, based on federal knowledge.
Tavares has been on a profit-driven, cost-cutting mission because the firm was fashioned via a merger between Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Groupe in January 2021.
He has prioritized earnings and automobile pricing over market share, main to heavy criticism from the United Auto Staff union and Stellantis’ U.S. franchised sellers.
Correction: Stellantis reported U.S. gross sales Wednesday. An earlier model misstated the day.
