Numbers jumped. Good for the stock price maybe.
Stellantis moved 1.59 million units worldwide last quarter. A 10 percent lift from last year. But look closer. The North American figure is what catches the eye. Shipments there surged 38 percent. We went from about 323 thousand vehicles to 445 thousand.
Why? Fresh metal. People want trucks.
The HEMI V8 is back on the Ram 1500. So is the TRX SRT.
They updated the Grand Wagoneer and Cherokee. Reworked the Pacifica too. Stocking dealerships ahead of summer shutdown helped the math. Also last year they didn’t have the turbo six Charger variants to sell. They had to wait for inventory to build up. That was a headwind that just evaporated.
Europe played its part too. Five percent growth. Roughly 39k extra units. The Citroen C3s and AirCross are moving. So are the Opel Fronteras and the new Fiat Panda. Even the Leapmotor brand jumped from 25k to 33k. Jeep Compass? Doing okay.
Not every region is partying though.
Middle East and Africa dropped four percent. South America slid seven percent to 253k units. Asia Pacific flatlined at 16k.
Older stuff is dying faster in Europe. Jeep Avenger. Fiat 600. Opel Mokka. Peugeot 2008. All seeing declines. The market changes tastes fast. Some of these cars feel like yesterday’s news.
So is the HEMI return the magic bullet? Probably not. But it’s loud. And loud sells in America. Meanwhile Europe keeps testing new EV concepts while the older diesels quietly fade into the rearview mirror.
