Last year, Stellantis NV notched record-high profit and revenue results, but this year, not so much.

On Thursday, the maker of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram, as well as other brands sold around the world, said its net profit tumbled by almost half in the first six months of the year to $6.1 billion (5.6 billion euro) compared to the same period in 2023, as net revenues sunk 14% to $92.2 billion (85 billion euro).

A leading problem right now for the transatlantic company? Its sputtering U.S. market. Bloated vehicle inventories and holes in the product lineup have hurt the automaker, whose U.S. sales were down 21% in the second quarter. Concerned dealers have in recent months pointed to high sticker prices, insufficient incentives, older vehicle stock and issues with marketing.

CEO Carlos Tavares said Thursday he's taking a hands-on approach to put the North American market — a critical profit engine for Stellantis — back on track. Last week, he said he met in-person with American dealers, and he plans to return in August, using some of his usual vacation time to meet with his U.S. teams "to find the appropriate answers."

"It's an understatement to say that H1 2024 results were disappointing and humbling," Tavares said on a call with investors.

He said there had been a "perfect convergence of several headwinds" that struck the company just as it invested heavily in a blitz to release more than 20 new vehicles worldwide this year. Stellantis racked up too many expenses in certain areas, such as research and development, has dealt with operational issues, including at some factories, and also struggled to find the right marketing tactics to sell more vehicles, especially in the United States.

Long known for his aggressive cost-cutting, Tavares said more "cost-saving actions" are planned for the second half of 2024. Executives didn't discuss how much they were able to save in the first half through their cost-trimming efforts, but they said the second-half cuts would be $542 million (500 million euros) above the first six months.

The CEO also said Thursday that he wouldn't hesitate to find further savings by chopping underperforming brands in the company's 14-member portfolio, according to Reuters: "If they don't make money," he said, "we'll shut them down."

Stellantis' challenges aren't isolated to the United States. Adjusted operating income was down 45% in Europe compared to a year earlier. Other regions, including South America, the Middle East and Africa, and China, India and the Asia Pacific, also faced at least a somewhat rocky six months.

But many of the American problems have been especially tough to diagnose and fix, Tavares said. Elevated inventory levels in Europe have come down in recent months to around 65 days of supply. Yet in the profit-rich United States, Tavares said the company has so far "failed" to resolve the problem, and at the end of June, Stellantis brands averaged 94 days.

"Their profits are off 50%; our profits are off drastically," said Ralph Mahalak Jr., who owns Stellantis dealerships in Michigan, Ohio and Florida. "Our market share is down significantly from a year ago. But the thing you've got to keep in mind is we've got a lot less models to offer today than we did a year ago. That's certainly a problem for us."

A "product blitz" coming soon will boost sales and help fill some of those gaps in Stellantis' lineup, Tavares said. In the United States, that includes vehicles like the electrified Ram 1500 pickups, electric Jeep SUVs, new gas and electric versions of the Dodge Charger, and others. The company also plans to bring back the Jeep Cherokee next year, filling a gap in a top-selling SUV segment, as well as a small Jeep electric SUV that Tavares pledges will cost $25,000 and arrive in 2026.

"Any time you bring new models and products to the market, you generate buzz and attention, and that can't be bad," Erin Keating, an executive analyst at Cox Automotive, said in an email. "But if pricing stays out of whack and customer demand slows, it may be too little, too late, considering the inventory of outgoing model years that may be building up on the lots."

Tavares told reporters in a briefing there may be some room to cut vehicle prices as long as Stellantis can compensate by making cost reductions on the production side. But he said the larger problem has been a weak North American marketing strategy. The company also must ensure shoppers can easily see what incentives are offered on certain vehicles when they first begin their research so they're not quickly scared away by a relatively high sticker price.

Elevated Stellantis vehicle prices have been a consistent concern for dealers. In the second quarter, Stellantis, on average, sold its U.S. vehicles for $57,569, more than 18% higher than the industry average, according to Cox. Its average transaction prices were slightly higher than during the same period in 2023.

Mahalak said he could use more help moving cars off his lots: "We definitely need more incentives from Carlos Tavares and the executives in Paris." He added that company leaders need to "put their foot back on the accelerator" to help dealers regain their sales volumes from a year or two ago.

Stellantis' U.S. factories also must start running more smoothly, according to Tavares. Too many issues with vehicles are being fixed after they've left the assembly line, he said, with one prominent facility, the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, which makes the Ram 1500 pickup, especially struggling.

Other problems have included Stellantis plants shutting down due to parts shortages, the CEO said. In some cases those stoppages have been due to recent monetary disputes between the company and several of its suppliers.

"I see a lot of operational flaws in my company, which to a certain extent gives me hope and confidence on the fact that I can improve the situation, at least on those flaws," Tavares said. "Perhaps other ones will appear, perhaps new headwinds will come up. But on the things I see and the things I touch, I believe we can do a better job. So that's the positive."

He noted that, on the bright side, Stellantis remained "highly profitable" even in what was a disappointing overall first half, and it is executing a new product rollout that would not have been possible for either Fiat Chrysler Automobiles or Groupe PSA prior to their merger to create the current company in 2021.

Stellantis on Thursday confirmed its 2024 financial guidance, which included a double-digit adjusted operating income and positive industrial free cash flow. The company said those cash flows were near zero in the first half, but would improve in the second half.

The company's stock price fell more than 7% on Thursday following the earnings release.

Both General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. reported at least somewhat better quarterly results earlier this week. GM beat Wall Street expectations and raised key financial targets, while Ford saw net income slide by 5.3% in the quarter due to warranty problems but said it expected to bounce back in the second half.

Ford's stock dropped 18.4% on Thursday after it released its results Wednesday afternoon. GM stock, meanwhile, was down about 5%.

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