Stellantis vehicle shipments rise 10% in the second quarter, led by North America

MILAN, July 13 (Reuters) - Stellantis said on Monday preliminary second-quarter vehicle shipments rose 10% from a year earlier to nearly 1.6 million units, driven by strong growth in North America, its most important market.

Reviving sales is central to CEO Antonio Filosa's turnaround plan for the automaker, which has seen customer defections in key markets in recent years due to higher vehicle prices, a heavy focus on electric vehicles, quality issues and growing competition from Chinese manufacturers.

Filosa in May unveiled a €60 billion ($68 billion) new business plan to 2030 focused on new model launches, brand portfolio reorganisation and new partnerships in technology and manufacturing.

NEW MODEL ROLLOUT SUPPORTS SALES GROWTH IN NORTH AMERICA

In North America, Stellantis vehicle shipments rose 38% in the second quarter to 445,000 units, supported by new or refreshed models, including the Ram 1500 8-cylinder light-duty truck and its high-performance, off-road TRX SRT version, and refreshed Jeep's Grand Wagoneer and Grand Cherokee and Chrysler Pacifica.    

The result, however, also reflected preparations for the planned summer production shutdown, the automaker said in a statement.

Milan-listed shares in the automaker were flat in early trading at €4.84, in line with the Italian blue chip index.

Stellantis shares last week dipped to €4.59, their lowest since the automaker was created in early 2021 from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA.

The drop also underscored wider investor concerns about the auto industry, amid an escalating crisis at Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, over a far-reaching restructuring programme opposed by labour representatives.

Stellantis will report full second-quarter results on July 30.

SLOWER GROWTH IN EUROPE

In its Enlarged Europe region, the group's other most important market, Stellantis shipments rose 5% in the second quarter to 762,000 units, "supported by higher industry volumes". The figure includes some 33,000 vehicles of Chinese partner Leapmotor, which Stellantis distributes and sells in the region.

Demand in Europe was particularly strong for budget models, such as the Citroen C3 and C3 Aircross, Opel Frontera and Fiat Panda, Stellantis said.

Growth in North America and Europe was partially offset by lower volumes in the Middle East and Africa region, "largely due to the regional conflict", and in South America, weighed by a weaker performance of the Argentine market.($1 = 0.8772 euros)

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Cristina Carlevaro, Louise Heavens and Keith Weir)