Stellantis shipments rise 12%, North America and Europe lead rebound

Stellantis said global shipments rose 12% from a year earlier in the first quarter to an estimated 1.4 million vehicles, extending a sales recovery that began in the second half of 2025. The latest jump was led by North America and Europe, the two regions that matter most to the company’s turnaround, while gains in South America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa also helped lift the total.

North America posted the sharpest increase among Stellantis’ biggest markets, with shipments up 17% to 379,000 vehicles. Europe followed with a 12% rise to 637,000 vehicles, underscoring a more even performance across the core regions than Stellantis showed through much of last year. South America added a 4% increase to 219,000 vehicles. Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa also contributed, with shipments rising 15% and 11%, respectively.

The regional picture was not uniformly strong. Stellantis said shipments in Gulf Cooperation Council markets were more than halved to around 3,000 vehicles, blaming the drop on broader disruption in the region. Even so, the company said the overall increase pointed to improving demand in key markets and a better product mix and distribution setup, two factors that will be central to whether the rebound can outlast a single quarter.

The shipment gains come after a punishing 2025, when Stellantis reported a net loss of 22.3 billion euros. Chief executive Antonio Filosa, appointed last year, has made the turnaround his early test, leaning on market-share recovery, tighter operational discipline and regional execution to restore investor confidence. He is set to unveil a fresh industrial plan on May 21, a date that will likely determine whether the latest shipment figures are treated as a genuine turning point or just a temporary lift.

For investors, the key question is not whether Stellantis can move more vehicles, but whether those volumes can translate into retail demand, margin recovery and stronger cash flow. That challenge sits against a difficult backdrop for global automakers, with tariffs, electrification spending, supply-chain shifts and uneven demand across geographies still shaping the industry’s next phase. For Stellantis, the first quarter was a stronger opening than many expected; the harder test is turning it into durable profitability.