Stellantis, the world's fourth largest automaker, on Thursday reported a 14 percent fall in third-quarter revenue on a pro-forma basis after semiconductor shortages cut planned quarterly production by 30 percent or 600,000 vehicles.
Revenue amounted to 32.551 billion euros ($37.8 billion), short of analyst expectations of 33.02 billion euros in a Reuters poll.
"The level of chip shortage was probably slightly higher that what we had expected when we last spoke to the market in August," Chief Financial Officer Richard Palmer said, adding the full-year total toll of lost production would top a previous forecast of 1.4 million units.
Palmer however said the company was seeing a "moderate" improvement in chip supply in October and expected that trend to continue through the fourth quarter.
"Visibility on semiconductors continues to be a difficult subject for the industry," Palmer added.
Shipments fell 27 percent year on year on a pro-forma basis in the third quarter to 1.131 million units.
Lower volumes more than offset an improved vehicle mix and positive net pricing following recent vehicle launches, including new electrified vehicles, the company said.
Palmer said Stellantis forecasts a moderate improvement in shipments in the final quarter of this year.
"We see positive pricing across all regions," the CFO said, adding he saw good progress on post-merger synergies and cost management.
The carmaker, formed at the beginning of this year through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA, confirmed its full-year target for an adjusted operating profit margin of around 10 percent.
The forecast, which was raised in August, assumes no further deterioration in semiconductor supply and no further significant lockdowns in Europe or the United States.
Stellantis, however, revised its full-year industry growth outlook for some regions, lowering them for North America, South America and the enlarged Europe area, while improving them for the Middle East and Africa region. It kept them unchanged for India, the Asia Pacific and China.
