The Stellantis group, owner of the Fiat, Jeep, Peugeot and Citroën brands, forecasts a 10% increase in sales of light vehicles in 2022, reaching 2.4 million units sold.
“It will surely be a better year than this one. In general, my point of view is 360 degrees optimistic, but, of course, without launching rockets”, said on Friday (10) the president of the group in South America, Antonio Filosa.
In the caution account are the volatilities brought about by the election year, exchange rate fluctuations and the price of inputs, which may have an effect on final prices.
“Not just inflation, but the entire cost structure. We have to see what will happen with steel, with plastic resins. Everything needs to be considered,” he says. “What the automaker can do is accelerate efficiency.”
Difficulties with the supply of semiconductor chips have not yet been overcome, but the executive says he sees more favorable conditions for normalization.
In early October, 1,800 workers at the Fiat factory in Betim (MG) entered a lay-off (temporary suspension of employment contracts), with a duration of three months. In the second (6), 970 returned to the production line.
Filosa said that the call was made because the company saw conditions to resume production, but understands that the problems in the distribution chain have not yet been resolved. “There are clear signs of balance. It will not balance perfectly. We see producers trying to increase supply on a daily basis.”
In April, Fiat interrupted the second production shift at the plant in Minas Gerais for ten days. A month earlier, in March, part of the team was on collective vacation, also as a measure to adjust the availability of parts to the production pace. The main model manufactured at the unit is the Strada pickup truck.
Filosa does not detail how much the Stellantis brands stopped producing due to the breakage of semiconductor chains. Anfavea (association of assemblers) has been monthly reviewing its production expectations and sees low inventories.
According to the executive, however, the group’s losses with the chip crisis were smaller than those of its competitors. “We have a positive view of our performance. We gained from 2% to 2.5% of market share [fatia de mercado], for having more regularity in production and we don’t want to lose just because others are going to resume production.”
Fiat is the market leader in Brazil, and the Strada pickup truck is the automaker’s main sales driver. In 2021, according to the executive, the year was good – he does not say whether the operation made a profit. “Last year was breakeven [equilíbrio nas contas], this year was better”.
For him, the launches made by the companies in the group this year are “seeds” for a good year in business. This week, Fiat announced the Nova Strada with automatic transmission. In October, the Pulse utility vehicle arrived in stores.
Filosa also said he sees a potential market in Brazil for hybrid vehicles, powered by the combination of ethanol and electricity. The use of fuel produced from sugarcane is seen as advantageous due to the distribution structure that, according to him, “abounds in Brazil, is everywhere and reaches all places.”
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