MILAN (Reuters) – Stellantis said on Wednesday it was suspending its guidance for a moderate recovery this year, after a profit drop in 2024, due to the uncertain impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
The move is “due to evolving tariff policies, as well as the difficulty (in) predicting possible impacts on market volumes and the competitive landscape,” the automaker said in a statement.
It follows a similar decision by rival General Motors, which on Tuesday pulled its annual forecast despite strong quarterly results, amid uncertainties triggered by Trump’s global trade war.
Presenting its 2024 full-year results in February, Stellantis had given 2025 guidance for a mid-single digit adjusted operating profit (AOI) margin, positive revenue growth and a positive free cash flow generation.
Last year the group suffered a 64% fall in its AOI and burnt more than 6 billion euros ($6.83 billion) in cash, mostly weighed down by a slump in its U.S. business. Poor results led to the ousting of CEO Carlos Tavares in December.
Forecasts, however, were based on the assumption of no changes to tariffs and global trade, a scenario which instead materialised in the U.S. at the beginning of April.
On Tuesday, however, Trump softened the blow of his auto tariffs through measures mixing credits with relief from other levies on parts and materials.
In the first quarter, Stellantis’ net revenues fell 14% year-on-year to 35.8 billion euros. That compared with an analysts’ forecast of 35.4 billion euro from a Reuters poll.
($1 = 0.8783 euros)
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan and Gilles Guillaume in Paris; editing by Alvise Armellini)
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