Paris/Milan (Reuters) -Stellantis announced on Wednesday suspend its financial recovery objectives for 2025 due to uncertainties linked to American customs duties, after a first quarter marked by a 14% drop in turnover.

The automaker born from the merger between PSA and FCA, which notes a start of commercial recovery called to become more visible from the second quarter, however intends to play prudence “due to the evolution of customs tariffs, as well as the difficulty in providing the potential impacts on the market and the competitive landscape”.

General Motors, Tuesday, and Mercedes-Benz on Wednesday.

“Although the results of the first quarter of 2025 are lower than those of the previous year, other key performance indicators reflect the first progress of our commercial recovery offensive,” said financial director Doug Ostermann, quoted in a statement. “North America is only in its infancy, with an improvement in control of retail, while we see a sequential improvement on the market share” in Europe.

In the first quarter, the group’s net turnover at the 14 brands emerged at 35.8 billion euros, against 35.4 billion expected by analysts according to a reuters consensus.

“Difficult to find positive indicators,” comments Philippe Houchois, analyst at Jefferies, in a note.

The Stellantis action has nevertheless opened up in Milan after the publication, going back from its lowest in the wake of the announcement the day before the evening of a reduction in American customs duties.

Citroen C3, Jeep and Ram

In 2024 Stellantis experienced a dark year marked by a degradation of his financial performance and sales, by the brutal departure of its general manager Carlos Tavares and by a fall in his stock market.

The group, which always plans to complete the process of appointing a new permanent general director in the first half of the half, hit the same time on a rebound in its performance in 2025, with a return of positive growth in its turnover, a free industrial cash flow and a common operating margin. This was divided by two last year at 5.5% while it had so far posted two-digit profitability.

In a presentation posted on its website, Stellantis announced that it had temporarily suspended its imports of European vehicles in April in April in response to the surcharge decided by President Donald Trump, and set for priority in May and June to calibrate production and employment in order to limit the impact of customs duties, and to re-examine its investment projects.

The group recorded in the first quarter of an improvement on its market share in Europe in relation to the fourth quarter, carried out by new features such as the Citroën C3, and has become a European leader in hybrid by adding its different brands.

He plans to continue this momentum in 2025 with the new C3 Aircross, Opel Frontera and Fiat Grande Panda, especially since Doug Ostermann noted a better execution of the product plan after the delivery delays recorded in 2024 because of the implementation of new models.

In the United States, the sequential improvement in retail sales is attributable to the JEEP Grand Cherokee and Compass SUVs, as well as to the RAM 1500 and 2500 pick-ups. Stellantis recorded its highest level of orders for almost two years.

To compensate for uncertainties on the American market, Stellantis also counts on its “third engine”, Latin America where the group is the leader, and the Middle East-Africa region, where volumes should increase in the medium term.

(Report Gilles Guillaume and Giulio Piovaccari, edited by Kate Entringer and Augustin Turpin)

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