Stellantis Suffers Another Revenue Slide – Joins Automakers Suspending Forecasts Due to Trump Tariffs

Stellantis reported Wednesday a 14% slide in revenues for the first quarter. The Euro-American automaker had previously forecast a turnaround later in the year but said during a webcast it was suspending future guidance in the face of Pres. Trump’s new auto tariffs. It joins GM and Mercedes in warning that sales and earnings could be at risk. More from Headlight.News.

Stellantis saw its numbers again turn south during the first quarter, the Euro-American automaker reporting a 14% slide in revenues, primarily due to a weak performance in the critical North American market.

The company saw revenues drop to $40.7 billion, while it delivered 1.2 million vehicles worldwide, a 9% year-over-year decrease.

Stellantis officials previously forecast a turnaround as 2025 progressed. But the automaker pulled back and said it was suspending its future guidance due to “tariff-related uncertainties.”

Tariff trouble

Stellantis is one of several manufacturers now holding back on forecasts for the full year, following General Motors’ move on Tuesday morning. Mercedes, meanwhile, pulled its earlier guidance on Wednesday, citing “volatility with regard to tariff policies” which had become “too high to reliably assess.” Volkswagen has held its prior guidance but warned the numbers might change due to the Trump trade war.

There have been widespread expectations that the Trump tariffs would set the industry back this year. Estimates for 2025 now generally range from a 1 million to 2 million drop in sales compared to the 16 million vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2024. How that will impact revenues and earnings is even less clear as most manufacturers have yet to decide how much of the cost of the new Trump tariffs will be passed onto consumers.

Adding to the confusion, the president on Tuesday signed new executive orders which the White House claimed would give some tariff relief to the auto industry. But the specific guidelines have yet to be released.

A partial release

Not only did Stellantis hold back on its full-year guidance but the automaker released only part of its first-quarter numbers. It won’t reveal full data on the first quarter until July.

Nonetheless, analysts expect the rest of the results to show a further year-over-year decline reflecting the turmoil that began shaking up the company last year, leading to the sudden resignation by CEO Carlos Tavares last November. For all of 2024, Stellantis reported a 70% downturn in net earnings.

Chairman John Elkann has been overseeing day-to-day global operations since then, with the automaker continuing its search for a replacement. It had signaled last autumn that a new CEO would be named about now. But there has been no sign that such a move is imminent.

More Financial News

• Trump Gives Some Tariff Relief to Automakers
• GM Reports Q1 Earnings
• Automakers Find Ways to Offset Tariffs

“Extreme uncertainties”

Going into 2025, industry analysts anticipated U.S. new vehicle sales would continue to recover, posting at least a modest gain over 2024 which itself brought the best numbers since the COVID pandemic began.

The current perception is far more bleak, Chief Financial Officer Doug Ostermann warning those on the Wednesday webcast that Stellantis’ performance is subject to “extreme uncertainties,” primarily due to the tariffs.

But the company faces a variety of other issues, including weak demand for some of its key products. That’s been particular true in the U.S. market where overall sales tumbled 12% during Q1 compared to demand during the first three months of 2024.

The Dodge brand took the hardest hit, sales falling 49%, reflecting uncertainty about the market reception for the brand’s new all-electric Charger Daytona muscle car. Ram and Jeep, the two largest contributors to Stellantis revenues and earnings worldwide, saw sales slip 26% and 10%, respectively. Only the Fiat and Chrysler brands were in the black, but their numbers were too small to have much an overall impact.

In Europe, Stellantis suffered an 8% decline in sales for the quarter, revenues falling 3%.

A particularly vulnerable time

Of the three “Detroit” automakers, Stellantis is the most exposed to import tariffs, analysts believe, noting that the company sources 40% of the vehicles sold in the U.S. from global production sites including Canada, Mexico and Italy.

For his part, Ostermann tried to put a good spin on the tariff situation, noting that Trump’s “tariff policies are evolving.

“And frankly, it’s a good sign, right,” he said during the webcast, “Because we have a regular dialogue with the administration, and they are modeling the tariff policies in ways — particularly the announcement that we heard yesterday — that are very beneficial to our transition.”