Analysis of Maserati’s 2023 Results
Stellantis reported their 2023 results last week. As part of the Stellantis group, Maserati’s numbers were included in the reporting. Maserati is only brand within the group for which Stellantis breaks out even a limited amount of financial information on. Based on that limited information, I have pulled together a brief anaylsis on Maserati’s 2023.
A Short History
For Maserati, its current era started in 1993 when Fiat acquired Maserati. In 1999 Ferrari (which at the time was 90% owned by Fiat) took full ownership and control of Maserati. Under Ferrari’s ownership, Maserati’s factories were modernized, and a range of new, vastly improved models powered by Ferrari supplied engines were developed. These models included the Coupe, Spider, GranSport, GranTurismo, Quattroporte Gen 5, and MC12 hypercar. It was also during this era that Maserati reentered the US market. The era of Ferrari’s direct control of Maserati however was short, and in 2005 Fiat resumed direct control of Maserati. Fiat later acquired Chrysler, becoming FCA and the merged in 2021 with Peugeot to form Stellantis. Today, Maserati is one of 14 major global car brands within Stellantis.
Starting with a very high level overview of Stellantis’ results as the overall health of the parent company is critical to being able to both fund & support Maserati’s ambitions:
- Stellantis Full Year Key Results: The key numbers for Stellantis in 2023 were 6,175K cars sold, (up 5.7% vs 2022), Net Revenues of €189,544 million (+5.5%), and net profit of €18,625 million (+11%). Net profit growing at twice the rate of revenue is the sign of a well run business that has its costs well under control. Industrial Free Cash Flow was €12,858 million, up €2,039 million (+19%). In addition, Stellantis finished 2023 with €61,610 million of Liquidity.
Looking at the high level numbers, it’s not a surprise that Stellantis leads all major car manufacturers in delivering total shareholder return over the last 2 years. Seems that Chairman John Elkann (who is also the Executive Chairman of Ferrari) has the golden touch in both the mass and luxury automobile markets.
- Maserati Full Year Key Results: The key numbers for Maserati in 2023 were 26,600 cars sold, (up 2.7% vs 2022), Net Revenues of €2,335 million (+0.6%), and operating income of €141 million (-29.9%). The drop in operating income is mainly due to increase in depreciation & amortization of R&D costs related to the launch of new models.
- Portfolio: Maserati launched three new models in 2023, the mid engine MC20 Cielo (convertible) supercar, the Gen 2 GranTurismo, and the mid size Grecale SUV. The MC20 coupe, Levante SUV, and Quattroporte & Ghilbi sedans filled out Maserati’s 2023 lineup. 2023 was also the last year of Ferrari’s engine supply agreement with Maserati so going forward, most Maserati models will be powered by either Maserati’s bespoke Nettuno V6 twin turbo or the Folgore EV system.
- Product Mix & Profitability: While Stellantis does not provide any geographic or model sales data for Maserati. However, in combing through the fine print, they do indicate that the Grecale & new GranTurismo have had a positive impact on volume while the MC20 has helped with mix. Unfavorable foreign currency translation for the US Dollar, Chinese RMB & Japanese Yen were listed as drags on revenue which is an indication that these are all quite sizeable markets for Maserati.
- Future Models: The two current sedans, the Ghilbi & Quattroporte are slated for discontinuation shortly and I expect they will be replaced by a new Quattroporte Gen 7 in 2025. The same holds for the Levante. An unrestrained track only version of the MC20 (MCXtrema) was first shown last August and I would expect deliveries to start later this year.
Summary
Maserati’s journey over the last several decades has taken it from the edge of the abyss in the early 90’s, to survival under FIAT, rebirth as part of the Ferrari empire, to treading water for a decade, and now finally to a new beginning as Stellantis’ luxury brand. In 2019, Maserati produced 19k cars, in 2020 (COVID) it was 17k, in 2021 it rose to 24k, in 2022 to 25.9k and in 2023 up to 26.6k. This shows solid healthy multiyear growth on par with other well performing luxury car companies. Stellantis certainly has the financial and engineering resources needed to nurture a successful Maserati. The portfolio today is easily Maserati’s strongest in its history and with a new Quattroporte and Levante coming in 2025, it will only get stronger.
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February 2024