The shortage of chips cost Stellantis nearly a third of QXNUMX production in volume, or the beauty of 600 thousand cars. But, thanks to the greater offer concentrated on the most profitable segments, the loss in terms of revenue is reduced by half, to around 14%. And so, explains the chief financial officer Richard PalmerThanks to the combination of recent vehicle launches that include new electrified offerings, the group can confirm full-year guidance, despite continued low visibility on component sourcing. Palmer himself admits that he was too optimistic about the chip crisis in August. Therefore he does the incantations when he says that “in October the situation shows signs of improvement”. The stock of new vehicles (689 units as at 30 September) contributes to making the forecast credible, capable of at least partially protecting the company led by Carlos Tavares from new production shocks. Barring nasty surprises, however, the operating margin at the end of the year will be around 10%.
The damage caused byabsence of semiconductors and other problems in the production chain, were in any case heavy: in volumes, the deliveries of the third quarter were down on component shortages by 27% compared to the third quarter of 2020 and by 30% on projected production. In figures, i Net revenues they stopped at 32,6 billion euros, down 14%.
Compared to the first half year, the shares of North America are revised to +5% from +10%, to +15% those of South America, to +15% those of Europe. Forecasts for India and China unchanged at +10%.
This, in a nutshell, is the situation at the end of one of the most complex quarters for the four-wheel industry. The stock market, where it rose by 0,4% in mid-morning, shows that it appreciates the result of have defended profitability on the main market, North America, where the market share grew to 11,5%, and to have maintained the leadership in South America (24,4%). To report the growth of Maserati to 2,4% on an annual basis pending the transfer of production to Mirafiori in line with the desire, already at the basis of the reorganization of Melfi, to increase the productivity of the Italian plants.
The most relevant note of the quarter concerns the acceleration of electrification strategy with the announcement of numerous strategic partnerships in America and Europe, especially in batteries. The group will invest 30 billion euros on electricity, a plan which provides, among other things, for the construction of four flexible platforms capable of supporting the annual production of up to two million cars. Finally, the acquisition of First Investors Financel, adds a note from the group, "marks an important step forward for the creation of a captive financial services company in the United States".
Almost simultaneously with the Stellantis numbers arriving from the quarterly approved by the board in Amsterdam, i Volkswagen accounts from which partly similar costs and therapies emerge. Car deliveries of the Wolfburg-based giant show a drop of 24%, revenues of only 12% thanks to the decision to concentrate the chips available on luxury models, from Porsche to Audi, to the detriment of the more popular models. According to the unions, in the Wolfsburg plant alone, there is a backlog of 110 Golfs.
However, the exchanges are much more severe with Volkswagen than with Stellantis. Stock falls 3% plentiful. And US investors will not like the cancellation of the trip to the US by CEO Herbert Diess who had to give up meetings with analysts to attend the summit called by the unions, ill-disposed towards the boss since he predicted a cut of 30 jobs with the 'electric.
