The global chip shortage helped Jeep and Peugeot owner Stellantis achieve its 2030 margin target seven years early after a profit boost from sales of their more expensive cars.
Net profits at the carmaker rose a quarter last year to €16.8bn while revenues rose 18 per cent to €179bn, despite a 2 per cent fall in vehicle sales to 6mn.
The group’s adjusted operating margin of 13 per cent was above the 11.8 per cent recorded for 2021, and higher than the 12 per cent target it had set for the end of the decade.
Carmakers globally have chosen to focus on making and marketing their more expensive models, helping drive profits across the industry as the global chip shortage constrains their supply.
The average price of a Stellantis vehicle, which includes the Ram and Dodge brands, is $53,000 in the US, giving the North American division a margin of 16.4 per cent.
Margins in every region hit record levels, rising to 9.9 per cent in Europe, 16.7 per cent in the Middle East and Africa, and 13.1 per cent in Latin America.
The figures were “more resilient than expected,” said Philippe Houchois, an auto analyst at Jefferies.
Stellantis, which was formed by the merger of Italian-American group Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA, said it would pay out a €4.2bn dividend and buy back about €1.5bn of shares.
The company also ramped up sales of electric vehicles during the year in Europe as it prepares to embark on a battery model push in the US.
Sales of electric cars rose 41 per cent to 288,000, while the number of battery-only cars in its line-up will more than double to 47 by the end of next year. The company wants to sell more than 5mn battery cars by 2030.
It will launch the first electric pick-up truck, a battery version of its best-selling Ram 1500, next year, having launched the first electric Jeep model this year.
“In addition to our record financial results, we also demonstrated the effectiveness of our electrification strategy in Europe,” said chief executive Carlos Tavares. “We now have the technology, the products, the raw materials and the full battery ecosystem to lead that same transformative journey in North America.”