Stellantis posts record profit, pays out $4.5B to shareholders.

On Wednesday, car manufacturer Stellantis announced their full-year results, revealing that their net profit had risen 26 percent to a record-breaking $17.9 billion. In a Feb. 22 release, the company attributed their financial performance to their ability to pass on higher manufacturing costs to customers, as inflation in 2022 hit multi-decade highs. Stellantis also announced a $4.47 billion dividend payout, subject to shareholder approval.

Net revenues for Stellantis, the manufacturer of such brands as Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, rose 18 percent to $190.8 billion due to “strong net pricing, favorable vehicle mix, and positive FX translation effects”, referring to a combination of exchange rate fluctuations and hedging strategies. All of the company’s regions grew and posted record profits, with the “Third Engine” region—which includes Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and South America—seeing a 34 percent increase in net revenues.

With 23 BEVs on the European market, Stellantis sold 288,000 such vehicles in Europe, and hopes to double that number by 2024. Globally, Stellantis saw a 41 percent increase in battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales and expects to sell 5 million BEVs by 2030. To that end, the company has two gigafactories in the works in North America, and will be rolling out an electric pickup truck in 2023.

The company has been able to manage better than many carmakers to adapt to supply chain disruptions, maintaining the most abundant vehicle inventory in the U.S. auto industry for the past year. However, Stellantis still posted a decline in U.S. sales in the fourth quarter, while also cutting incentives, and their average transaction price rose to over $55,000. Jeep is Stellantis’ highest-volume brand in North America, with the Jeep Wrangler 4xe the top-selling plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in both the United States and Canada.