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Stellantis is counting on new products, including the reintroduction of a combustion-engine Fiat 500 minicar and the next-generation Jeep Compass compact SUV, to win back lost market share in Europe, CEO Antonio Filosa said.
The automaker’s market share in Europe (the EU, U.K. and EFTA countries) fell to 13.6 percent in the third quarter, a low point for Stellantis since it was created in 2021 after the merger of PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Its European market share in 2021 was 20.2 percent.
Sales were up 4.5 percent in the quarter to 423,517, according to figures from the ACEA lobbying group, in a market that was up 7.4 percent.
“We intend to win back the market share we lost,” Filosa told analysts on Oct. 30 in a call to discuss third-quarter vehicle sales and revenue. He did not cite specific sales or market-share targets.
Fiat 500 hybrid, Jeep Compass, Smart Car models from Citroen, Fiat and Opel seen as key
The recovery will be driven by three main new products, he said:
Production of the mild hybrid version of the Fiat 500 will start at the end of November. Filosa said he expects robust sales, mainly in Italy where there is significant pent-up demand after the original ICE 500 went out of production in mid-2024. It will also help Stellantis’ margins because it will be more profitable than the 500e BEV from which it is derived, he said.A “quicker ramp-up” of four small cars — the Citroen C3 and C3 Aircross, Fiat Grande Panda and Opel Frontera — underpinned by Stellantis’ Smart Car platform, following software and other delays. Smart Car production grew by 57,000 in the third quarter from the same period in 2024 and the overall order book for the four models reached 120,000, Filosa said.Production of the new-generation Jeep Compass compact SUV started in late October in the Melfi plant in Italy. The Compass will be “our strong player in the compact SUV segment,” the largest in Europe, Filosa said.
Filosa said Stellantis has made “solid progress” in the third quarter in Europe despite a “tough” environment. Among the headwinds are tougher CO2 emissions targets for 2025-27, he said. Stellantis has warned that emissions targets for commercial vans could result in significant losses.
CFO Joao Laranjo, who started in the post in early October, also cited a consumer backlash against higher prices as a headwind.
La dirigenza di Stellantis cerca di spargere un pò di ottimismo sul teatro europeo dove ci sono fortissime preoccupazioni. In 4 anni la quota di Stellantis è passata da 20,2% al 13,6%. Un crollo senza pari tra i grandi gruppi. Secondo Filosa i nuovi modelli, in particolare 500 ibrida, Compass, C3 aircross, Frontera, aiuteranno a riconquistare quote di mercato. Le stesse parole sono state dette da Tavares circa un anno fa.
Analyst Martino De Ambroggi of Equita said the backlash could continue in the next several quarters. A report from Bernstein said Stellantis’ average sales price is expected to fall by 1.2 percent in the second half of 2025, and by an additional 0.7 percent each in 2026 and 2027.
Stellantis has excess capacity in Europe, and the group has paused some production in plants in France, Italy, Germany and Spain to avoid an inventory buildup. Under Filosa, it has also cut products and investment in Europe, stopping production of half of Maserati models and postponing the renewal of the Alfa Romeo Giulia midsize sedan and Stelvio midsize SUV by two years.
The Citroen C3, based on Stellantis' low-cost Smart Car platform, was slow to ramp up after its launch last year (CITROEN)€1.4 billion write-off in the first half of 2025; more charges expected
Platform impairments and program cancellations weighed on Stellantis’ first half results, with a write-off of €1.4 billion in investments. More such charges will come both in the second half of 2025 and in 2026, Laranjo told analysts.
At the same time, Stellantis’ new leadership is facing pressure from governments and unions to sustain production in Italy and France. Filosa recently affirmed Stellantis’ commitment to its Italian manufacturing operation and pledged to hire 400 additional workers to bolster production of the Fiat 500 mild hybrid at its Mirafiori plant in Turin.
Stellantis’ European operations, however, will have to compete with North America for investments, Filosa said. “Since I took the CEO role, I made clear that the U.S. market is a key priority for our success,” he said.
Filosa was head of the group’s North America region before becoming CEO in June this year.
Product and financial plans will be unveiled at an investor meeting in 2026. The meeting was due to take place in the first quarter, but Stellantis recently said it would be held in the first half.
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