Stellantis U.S. auto sales extend freefall in third quarter
Jeep vehicles are delivered to a dealership on June 20, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
DETROIT — Stellantis’ U.S. new vehicle sales during the third quarter continued a yearslong freefall despite CEO Carlos Tavares’ actions to fix what he has called “arrogant” mistakes by the company.
The Transatlantic carmaker reported U.S. sales Tuesday of 305,294 from July through September, a 19.8% decline from the third quarter of 2023 and a 11.5% decrease from the prior three months of this year.
Stellantis was expected to be the worst sales performer of major automakers during the third quarter, and auto industry forecaster Cox Automotive had projected a sales decline of roughly 21%.
Cox and fellow forecaster Edmunds expect third-quarter sales industrywide will be down roughly 2% compared with a year earlier.
Stellantis’ disappointing sales are the latest problem this week for the carmaker, which cut its 2024 profit margin forecast and has been hit with a recall involving popular plug-in hybrid electric Jeep models due to fire risks.
This week’s issues add to disappointing financial results that came in the first half of the as the automaker has faced problems in the U.S.
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Stellantis, GM and Ford stocks in 2024.
Shares of the company on the New York Stock Exchange are off 41% this year. The stock hit a new 52-week low Tuesday and closed at $13.71, falling 2.4% for the day.
During a June investor event, Tavares said the company would correct “arrogant” mistakes made by himself and the company in the automaker’s U.S. operations that led to sales declines, bloated inventories and investor concerns.
He said the convergence of three factors led to the problems: not selling down vehicle inventory fast enough; manufacturing issues, specifically with two unnamed plants; and a lack of “sophistication in the way to go to market.”
U.S. sales for Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, have declined every year since a recent peak of 2.2 million in 2018. The company sold more than 1.5 million vehicles last year, a roughly 1% decline from 2022, when it reported a significant drop of 13% compared with the previous year.
Stellantis’ performance compares to the overall U.S. new light-duty vehicle sales market, which increased 13% last year, according to federal data.
Tavares has been on a profit-driven, cost-cutting mission since the company was formed through a merger between Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Groupe in January 2021.
He has prioritized profits and vehicle pricing over market share, leading to heavy criticism from the United Auto Workers union and Stellantis’ U.S. franchised dealers.
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