Jeep maker Stellantis delivers 12% fewer cars in 2024

Paris: Global automaker Stellantis reported Thursday a stinging 12 percent drop in the number of vehicles it sold last year, with its key North American market plunging by a quarter.

The maker of Jeep, Peugeot and Fiat cars said its fourth quarter shipments of vehicles fell by nine percent as dealers focused on reducing inventories and due to a gap in its offer as it switches to new models.

"The normalisation of the US dealer inventory puts the Company in a strong position to support the arrival of new products in 2025 from Jeep, Ram and Dodge," Stellantis said in a statement.


However, the annual and fourth-quarter drop of 28 percent contrasted with gains reported by US automakers GM and Ford in North America.

In Europe, Stellantis's largest market where it also has the Citroen and Opel brands, it shipped six percent fewer cars in the fourth quarter. That was an improvement from the 17 percent third quarter thanks to the launch of the electrified version of Citroen's compact C3 and updated SUVs.

Elsewhere in the world, Stellantis sales rose by five percent overall as a drop in China and India were offset by increases in South America, the Middle East and Africa.

The product of a 2021 merger by the Fiat-Chrysler and Peugeot-Citroen group, Stellantis enjoyed a couple of years of record profits as it ruthlessly cut costs and kept prices high.

But its hard-driving CEO Carlos Tavares resigned last year as sales fell amid quality concerns in addition to the trouble its Western rivals are facing in China and with electric vehicles.

Stellantis's French rival Renault reported Thursday it shipped 1.3 percent more vehicles in 2024, while German automaker Volkswagen has said its deliveries dropped by 2.3 percent last year.