International automaker Stellantis on Tuesday reported a 12% decline in income within the first quarter, citing decrease gross sales and overseas trade results, whilst internet pricing held agency.

Shares of Stellantis had been down 2% on the Tuesday market open on the outcomes.

Chief Monetary Officer Natalie Knight stated year-over-year cargo and internet income comparisons had been tough because of the firm’s transition to a “subsequent technology product portfolio manufactured on new platforms.”

The Netherlands-based firm, whose manufacturers embody Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Peugeot, Citroën and Maserati, plans to launch a complete of 25 new fashions this 12 months, together with 18 battery-electric autos (BEVs).

The corporate debuted 4 fashions within the first quarter, with Knight saying this had set “the stage for materially improved development and profitability within the second half of the 12 months.”

Consolidated shipments fell by 10% to 1.335 million items within the quarter, which the corporate stated mirrored manufacturing actions and stock administration to organize for the “new product wave” within the second half.

Like many within the auto trade, Stellantis is juggling its formidable dedication to the electrical transition — pledging that BEVs will account for 100% of its gross sales in Europe and 50% of these within the U.S. by the top of the last decade — with provide chain challenges and questions over shopper demand and the readiness of charging infrastructure.

Mamta Valechha, analyst at Quilter Cheviot, stated in an emailed notice out Tuesday that Stellantis’s shortfall of round 4% in opposition to market expectations for volumes set a “sobering tone for the quarter.”

Nevertheless, Valechha added that the corporate’s manufacturing decline got here in relative to a manufacturing rebound final 12 months. The output fall was additionally not simply resulting from market pressures, however marked a “strategic selection,” as the carmaker manages stock as a way to safeguard costs forward of its slate of recent product launches, the analyst flagged.

“Wanting forward, Stellantis stays optimistic, projecting a ‘materially improved development and profitability within the second half of the 12 months.’ This forward-looking assertion is bolstered by the corporate’s reaffirmation of a double-digit Adjusted Working Earnings margin and a optimistic industrial free money circulate for the complete 12 months, regardless of the prevailing macroeconomic uncertainties,” Valechha stated.