Stellantis N.V. (STLAM) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

We're very happy to be able to be with all of you here and to start punctual at 12. And thank you for all of you who are here present with us. It makes it more warm as an atmosphere before we're opening up in the virtual setting to who is following us in many different parts of the world. And being here with Carlos and our colleagues is very positive because it also shows how, in the last 2 years, with all the adversities we faced, we can finally go back to some level of normality. So being 12, it's time to officially start. And ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, good morning and good afternoon to all of you in Amsterdam or connected remotely from all over the world. It's good to be with all of you for our first in-person Annual General Meeting since the creation of Stellantis 2 years ago. At that point, we had no way of knowing what Stellantis would be today. Beginning our journey as a new company, we had the ambition of leading the way the world moves and of daring forward. We've just seen a quick glance in our opening video. We're still young, but we are already beginning to fulfill our promise. At a pivotal time for our industry, we have gained significant momentum on electrification, software development and vertical integration. We have continued to innovate as we redefine and expand mobility for people everywhere. And we have done this in times of major disruption in the face of cumulative crisis that have caused exceptional uncertainties. I am proud of the way Carlos, the leadership team and their colleagues have delivered great results last year, managing through the turbulence with creativity and resilience. We are among the top 3 in our industry by revenue and margin. And we are #1 in absolute operating profit, which reached EUR 23.2 billion in 2022. In this challenging operating environment, we are leveraging our scale and synergies while deploying one of our biggest competitive advantages: our diversity. With more than 160 nationalities, we are among the most diverse company in the world. We unite people and ideas across borders and cultures with industrial operations in nearly 30 countries and customers in more than 130 markets, delivering products and services across our 14 iconic brands and our 2 mobility services. In addition to Europe and North America, where we have our roots to which we are committed, we are also building what we call our third engine. This third engine consists of South America, Africa/Middle East, India and Asia Pacific. Here are just a few steps we took to driving progress over there. We announced the doubling of our industrial capacity in Morocco. We committed to growing and strengthening our industrial activity in India. We continued our market leadership in Brazil, Argentina and Chile. And early this year, we announced an expansion of our business in Turkey with Tofas. In 2022, we also continued our focus on our ESG commitments. We increased the percentage of women in leadership positions, moving closer to our 30% goal in 2025. Women of Stellantis, the company's first global business resource group, marked its first anniversary, increasing membership by 67% and country representation by 42. We continued to nurture our colleagues, signing more than 500 collective agreements and organizing important upskilling and reskilling programs. All this gives us confidence in our vision and in our ability to execute it. I'd like to take this opportunity now to thank all Stellantis employees for their enthusiasm and passion in moving our company forward. As I said last year, we are a meritocratic culture. We acknowledge the commitment of our people and their contribution in achieving the ambitious goals we set. This year, our 272,000 employees worldwide solved problems and delivered results, again proving their ability to overcome the challenges of uncertainty. That's why they benefited from a record EUR 2 billion compensation linked to full year 2022 results. And we now have more than 60,000 employees who are direct shareholders in Stellantis, owners like you of our company. We aim to encourage and facilitate employee shareholding through annual world share plans for employees with acquisition of shares by employees under preferential conditions and company contribution with the objective of multiplying the number of employee shareholders of our company from 1.42% today to 5% employee shareholding by 2030. Our people are truly the reason behind our strong performance and current momentum, and I sincerely want to thank them. In 2022, we also continued to reduce our carbon footprint. We are focused on implementing our decarbonization strategy through sustainable products and services. Our work to promote the circular economy impetus move forward with the inauguration of our first circular economy hub in our historical -- historic Italian plant of Mirafiori. Another key element of our decarbonization work is our battery electric vehicle leadership, where we had a 41% increase in global sales year-over-year in Europe. We're picking up pace in the electrification race with 23 EV models already on the market and new iconic products to come, like the Ram 1500 that Carlos unveiled last week at the New York Auto Show. By the end of next year, we will have 47 battery electric vehicles on the market for our customers. To complement this, we are strengthening our global electrification ecosystem with 5 gigafactories while continuing to innovate with the very best partners across industries. Also, we are excited by our investment in Archer Aviation, a leading developer of electric air taxis, contributing up to $150 million to help them ramp up and scale Midnight, the electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft designed for high-demand urban flights. We expect this partnership to act as a broader accelerant as it helps extend our advantage in innovation even further. Finally, our focus on helping new generations reach their potential continues to drive us. For our first Stellantis Student Awards, we recognized more than 600 students, children of our employees from 20 different countries around the world with a monetary award for their dedication to continuous learning and education. The Stellantis foundation went on working with world-class organizations and grassroots nonprofit, empowering people through access to education and to mobility. What's more, in 2022, we aligned the foundation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This is another important and exciting step in our journey within the communities we live and work because it continues to prove one of our values: we care about the future. As I look at 2023 and beyond, I am encouraged by what I see. Our transformation to a sustainable mobility tech company and our solid financials gives us the agility we need to seize the opportunities that once would have been out of reach and now are possible for Stellantis. I believe we have the right team and right strategy in place to continue leading the way the world moves. And I believe our ability to bring clean, safe and affordable mobility has never mattered more. Thank you to all of you for your continued support. And thank you, Carlos, for this year, incredible results. And now over to you to share them with our shareholders.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, John. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome. I would like to tell you that I'm excited to share with you a few thoughts about our business in 2022 and of course, share with you the excitement of the potential that we have ahead of us. It is an understatement to say that 2022 was a challenging year: on the first half, significant headwinds coming from semiconductor supply shortages; on the second half, significant headwinds coming from inflation and also some outbound logistics issues that we had in our company. Overall, despite all of those challenges and those headwinds, your employees, your management could deliver a record performance, not only in profit margin with a 13.0% profit margin that compares to 11.8% in the previous year but also a very significant positive industrial free cash flow of EUR 10.8 billion, which represents an improvement of 78% against the previous year. In our global BEV sales, we are now showing the full potential of our technology. With 23 BEV models on sale last year, we could increase our volumes by 41% on the pure BEV sales using only the European engine as the BEV sales in North America will start this year in 2023. So only with the European engine, last year, we were able to increase our sales by 41%, which demonstrates the power of our product portfolio and the power of our technology. We are #1 in terms of LCV, commercial vehicle sales, BEV sales in Europe. We are, overall, #2 in Europe on BEV sales. And as the Chairman mentioned, we are now introducing the Ram pickup truck BEV in the U.S. And we expect that, that will come to the market by late '24. This year, in '23, we start our U.S. offensive with the ProMaster EV version that we will start selling by the second half of this year. If we look at our LCV business, the commercial vehicle business, we are an unquestionable leader in Europe and also in South America, around 30% market share on both markets. It is also quite clear that our merger between former FCA and the former PSA is now a bottom-up-driven merger, which is telling us a lot about the merit of our people, the merit of our employees who perfectly understand why this merger makes sense to ensure the sustainability of the company. And this is very visible by the very rewarding amount of net synergies, EUR 7.1 billion of net synergies, far ahead of our commitment to you when you decided the merger of the 2 companies. We are far ahead of our commitment, and this is because there is a strong bottom-up contribution from our people. And they understand that this merger makes sense, and they are rewarding us with enormous amount of ideas. And all of those ideas are generating additional synergies against what we were forecasting previously. So a very rewarding year, strong headwinds, as I mentioned, but also a very significant record results, and I would like to join here, the Chairman, to express to all of our employees and to yourselves, our sincere appreciation for the support and what has been delivered. If we have a look now at North America, more specifically, we can see that we delivered a record margin of 16.4%. That is a record in our Stellantis 2-year life. Our market share was slightly down on the basis of some supply issues at 10.7%. We are still managing our pricing power in a very efficient way as we are protecting the highest average transaction price of the industry in the U.S. market, which demonstrates the discipline of the company and the appeal of our models: #1 in plug-in hybrid sales in the U.S, #1 with the Wrangler 4xe model in plug-in hybrid sales. So demonstrating that the 4xe strategy on the plug-in hybrid technology in the U.S. is now working very well and finding a very good response from the market. Last, but not least, in terms of Inflation Reduction Act, our models are well positioned to ensure that our final customers will benefit from those subsidies. And as you know, those subsidies are needed to accelerate the pace towards zero-emission mobility in the future. If we move now to Europe. Europe also achieved a record margin, with a 9.9% AOI margin, up 80 basis points against the previous year despite, as for North America, some supply shortages through the year. We are #2 in overall BEV sales with a very significant growth path. And we are #1 with the Fiat 500e BEV sales in Italy and #1 in France with the Peugeot e-208. Again, our electrification is ongoing, and we are only now moving in Europe, starting in the U.S. this year 2023. Our European market share in pure LEV sales, which is a combination of PHEV and BEV, is now at 15.7%, up 170 basis points against previous year, again, showing that our electrified sales are growing at the right pace. Total market share at 19.7%, down 240 basis points on the back of the outbound logistics challenges that affected our sales in Q4 of 2022. We are progressing also with our distribution model. As you know, we are moving to a retailer model where we want to put much more focus on the customer and on customer journey, the way they order, they evaluate, they select and they receive the products that we manufacture for them. So our new retailer model is now on track. We have selected 3 markets to start by mid-'23. As you have seen in the media, we have signed agreements with dealer associations, which means that we have now a good alignment and a good understanding that to make our customers happier, we need to be focusing more on them. And this is the purpose of the retailer model, is to make sure that the customer journey becomes seamless and more enjoyable for our customers. We also delivered on our commitments in terms of electrified manufacturing and technology. We are now making, on production, electric motors in our Trémery plant in France, which is going to be a big component of the electric power trains, not only the batteries but also the electric motors. And we are now not only engineering but also manufacturing high-volume, those electric motors in our plant of Trémery in France. This is good news. And it is delivering on our commitments made to you in the past. If we look at the rest of the world, after North America and Europe, which, as you know, are the 2 major business engines of the company, we are now building the third engine, as it was mentioned by the Chairman. Middle East and Africa is at a record AOI margin of 16.7%, even higher than North America with no less than doubling the amount of profit against the previous year and with a market share that is increasing, which means that there is a huge value creation in Africa/Middle East right now on our business. We are also improving our sourcing in this region for the sales in this region. This is better for the business model, but it's also much better, of course, for the carbon footprint of distribution, sourcing in the region for the region, which is, generally speaking, our strategy. We always try to source in the region, what we sell in the region at a high level. Most of the time is above 80%. Here, we are now executing a plan where, in the midterm, we'll be at 70% of sourcing in the region for the regional sales, which is also going to contribute to reducing our carbon footprint. In South America, we continue to be leading. We lead in the region with a 23.2% market share. We lead in the Mercosur with more than 30% market share. And we lead as the #1 brand with Fiat also in this region with a record AOI of 13.1%, improving 480 basis points against the previous year. So you see, again, here a significant value creation with a very strong lead as we are more than 10 points ahead of the #2 in the automotive ranking of this region. Last but not least, China and Asia Pacific -- India and Asia Pacific, record margin also in Asia. We improved significantly to 14.5%. Our profit amount improved 48%. And we are now starting our Jeep direct sales in China, selling our CBU, most successful Jeeps directly to the customers in the Chinese market. We have also started the production of a very important product, which is the first product made on our smart car platform, which is a very cost-competitive electrified platform that we are now using for the Citroën E-C3. This car has been launched as an ICE and now has been also launched as an electric vehicle. It is the first expression of what an affordable, clean and safe mobility represents as it is affordable by the pricing. It is clean as it is electric. And it is, of course, safe like everything we do. That's a very good starting point, and you will hear more about this program, the smart car platform program, in the months to come. So overall, here, we have the third engine of the company already contributing to EUR 3.8 billion of profit and aiming at catching up with Europe within 2 to 3 years, which means that within 2 to 3 years, our company will have 3 major engines: North America, Europe and the overseas that we call internally, the overseas club. So these are for the regions. If we have a look at our software strategy, as you know, it's a key part of our Dare Forward 2030. Not only we are progressing on the 3 software platforms, the STLA Brain, the STLA SmartCockpit and the STLA AutoDrive. We are progressing as we presented in the Dare Forward 2030 plan. We have now more than 1,500 software engineers. We are on track to achieve the 4,500 that we want to have by 2024. We graduated more than 700 software engineers and data engineers, which means we are on plan to train and educate those people. We have also started all the road testing on the different stacks that I have just mentioned and that we are now moving forward to deliver those software platforms by 2024. If I look at the partnerships with tech companies, those partnerships have been made public. We have significant collaboration with Amazon, with Foxconn and with Qualcomm. All of this is part of our technological development as we want our company to become an automotive tech company within the time window of our plan. It is also very important to notice that our software-based business growth has been 25% in '22 against '21. And we are on track to deliver, by 2030, the EUR 30 billion -- EUR 20 billion net revenue that were committed in the Dare Forward plan. So on track on growing those software-based new businesses, on track to develop the 3 software platforms and on track to make the appropriate deals with tech companies that support our Stellantis one in the areas where their expertise is the best in the world. If I keep moving on the electrification to demonstrate that not only we grew our BEV sales by 41%, as you can see here. But more importantly, in a company that has 90 models, 9-0, we will be this year, in 2023, selling 32 BEV models and next year, 2024, 47 BEV models, which means that by next year, half of our model portfolio across the 14 brands will be electrified, on track to deliver the 75-plus models by 2030. So the ramp-up of our model BEV offering across the different regions is now being executed as planned. And it is fair to say that with this 2023 year, we'll start seeing the results of the BEV offensive in the U.S. market. If we look at the gigafactories, not only we have made all the necessary deals with 5 gigafactories across the world, which will protect a supply of 400 gigawatt hours by 2030, which is a very significant number, as you can imagine, we are now on track on the execution. The first gigafactory will be inaugurated in H1 2023. And this is now perfectly set. That means that we'll be making the samples -- the final samples of those battery cells by the end of this year. And we will be producing those cells on mass production from next year. That is what is visible here, with the first gigafactory plant in Douvrin. Then it will be Kaiserslautern and Termoli. And we have made 2 strategic partnerships with LG in Canada, in our Windsor plant and Samsung in the U.S. in Kokomo. So 5 gigafactories in execution to deliver 400 gigawatt hours of sourcing capacity in the future. But that is not enough, as you know. We cannot only focus on the battery cells. We also need to focus on the supply of the raw materials that will support the 400 gigawatt hours of battery cell supply. And we have significantly progressed with the companies you see on this slide, securing the raw material supply to ensure that there will be a significant potential to support the 75-plus BEV models that we'll bring to the market between 2021 and 2030. So we are making everything consistent, including on the systems that we need to add to the batteries like the electric motors, as I mentioned, the electrified transmissions, also making deals to develop and accelerate the development of fuel cells. We have taken a share in the company, which is expert in the fuel cell stacks called Symbio. And we are now 1 of the 3 major shareholders of that company. And we have also continued to collaborate with Factorial, which is a start-up specialized in solid-state batteries, possibly for after 2026 introduction in the market. This is to demonstrate that not only our BEV sales growth rate of 41% is demonstrating through the European business that we have the right technology but to demonstrate that on a 360-degree approach, we are now executing the plan that was committed to you on the gigafactories, on the electrified components, electrified transmissions, electric motors and also the next generation of battery chemistries. This is what I wanted to share with you on the major highlights of 2022. And I would like now to comment some of the financial numbers so that we focus a little bit more on the actual results from a financial perspective. 2022 in terms of consolidated shipments was stable, 0 minus -- minus 2% against 2021. But we were able not only to protect our pricing power through the brand equity of what we sell and through the appeal of the models that we sell. And that was giving us a rewarding 18% of net revenue improvement against '21, getting very close to EUR 180 billion of net revenue. So 18% up in net revenues with, let's say, a stable consolidated shipments. As I mentioned in the introduction, our AOI margin was a record level at 13.0% compared to 11.8% on the previous year, pro forma, of course. And our industrial free cash flow was up 78% to EUR 10.8 billion, which demonstrates that our company, in a world where interest rates are now very high, is able to generate significant amount of cash to fund the development and, most importantly, the technology development of our future mobility. It is also very important to see that the industrial available liquidity remains very strong at EUR 61 billion, reasonably stable against the previous year. So the company is able to protect a very sound financial situation with very rewarding positive free cash flows at a record AOI margin at the end of the day. If we look at the net profit, the net profit was up 26%, which is also significant. And this is seen here. You see that not only we have made a record year, but I think that the company has enormous amount of potential. If you look at these results from inside of the company, we would say that many things we have done could have been done even better. And we recognize, as sportsmen and sportswomen we represent, we think that we can fix many things that we did not do perfectly well in '22. And that represents, of course, moving forward, an opportunity to do even better despite all the challenges that we have around us, geopolitical challenges, regulatory challenges. Many, many things can happen, as you know well. So net profit up 26%. AOI, adjusted operating income, up 29%. Net revenue, up 18% with a record AOI margin over the year. This is what we could say about the pure financial numbers. In terms of industry outlook for 2023, to make it simple, there is a moderate growth in our perspective. It is fair to say that we may be surprised by the consumers with better growth numbers than these ones because we see that the value of a freedom of mobility has significantly increased after COVID. People have realized that protecting their freedom of mobility with a safe, clean and affordable solutions was, in fact, important in life, and we see that there is significant demand still out there. Sometimes, pent-up demand is still visible, which is a good thing for the industry, good thing for our company. I must say that our order book remains very strong, which means it is up to us to improve the way we bring those products to the consumers and make sure that their customer journey is even more enjoyable, make sure that we continue to progress as we did strongly on quality in '22, and we'll continue to do so for the next years. Our guidance is unchanged as we continue to optimize the way we go to market. If we step back and look at the strategic plan and the way we are moving towards the 2030 goals of Dare Forward. First, I would like to confirm that we are on track to become a carbon-neutral corporation by 2038. It is a very important commitment not only to you, our shareholders, but also to the next generations. And this is important for you to recognize. We confirm that this commitment is on track to be delivered. If we then zoom in 2030, it is important to remind ourselves that the commitment on the care pillar is to reduce the carbon emissions by 50% and the carbon footprint by 50% against '21 because that's our reference for the plan. So against '21, we are on track to reduce by 50% in 2030. And actually, in 2022 only, we reduced already by 11%, which means that we are perfectly on track to be meeting the minus 50% goal by 2030 against 2021. That's the first point. Second point is, in terms of pure quality, we reduced the number of defects per vehicle by 30%, which is a very significant step. And I see that we have now a very good momentum inside of the company, inside of manufacturing footprint. We -- everybody understands that the first condition for sustainability is happy customers. And we are working very, very hard on quality, and we are being very demanding on ourselves, but the results are visible: 30% reduction on the per unit defects on each of our vehicles. As it was mentioned, our leadership positions held by women are getting higher and higher, 27%, very close to the target that we have set for ourselves of 30% by 2025. So on track. And we have now aligned all of our HR processes with our diversity and inclusion commitments. This has been done 100% across the company across the 2 families as you may imagine. That was the care pillar. So on track, namely on the environmental commitments and quality commitments and diversity commitments. For the tech pillar, as you know, we prepare ourselves to be 100% BEV sales in Europe by 2030 and 50% BEV sales in the U.S., which means that in terms of number of models, in terms of supply capacity on batteries, on motors, on transmissions, we make sure that we can reach those levels, 100% sales BEV by 2030 in Europe and 50% sales BEV in the U.S. by 2030. As it was mentioned, 41% BEV sales growth in '22. We had 23 models in the market. Right now, in 2023, we are at 32. Next year, at 47, which means roughly half of our model portfolio will be electric by next year. We are a front-runner on hydrogen fuel-based vehicles. We are selling LCVs, fuel cell-based LCVs. And we are continuously reducing the cost of those technologies to make sure that we make them affordable. And we are developing the 3 world-class software and AI partnerships. And we are accelerating on that path with the acquisition of a start-up called aiMotive that will bring us much more software engineering capability for the ADAS systems. In terms of using our investment venture capital entity to make deals or to invest in start-ups, we made 10 significant deals in 2022, and 3 projects will be launched in '23. As it regards to the value pillar, we continue to make sure that each of our business is properly framed with a dedicated P&L and a dedicated accountability from a leader of that P&L. We have delivered on our commitments in the way we reshaped our sales finance businesses, mostly in Europe. We have launched our sales finance activities in the U.S. market. And we have now 7 accretive businesses prioritized to complement our core activities, and I would like to enhance and highlight the accretive qualification. They are accretive, which means they are pulling our AOI margin up. Based on all of those new businesses, most of them are software-based. You can also see through the numbers I present to you that all our regions -- each and all of our regions are improving their AOI margins, which means that the way our teams and our executives are leading their activities is creating the value that we expect. And last but not least, outside of the 2 engines, Europe and North America, our net revenues could grow by 34%, which means that our overseas club is a significant profitable growth engine for the future, which will, of course, protect the sustainability of our company. To conclude, I just would like to share with you 3 ideas, quite simple. We are one Stellantis. We are one company. We are managing this company not with OldCo, NewCo but with OneCo. It's important that we all understand this. It is OneCo moving in the same direction at the same pace. And the destination is the one that is set by the Dare Forward 2030 plan. So it's visible. It is documented. You have all the numbers, all the milestones. You know where we are going in 2030. And this OneCo is now moving. And again, I would like to express to all of our employees, my sincere appreciation. They have been extraordinary. Sometimes, they have been moving. They are doing a great, great job in some circumstances, which I would qualify of challenging, not to say more, but they have been doing for all of us and all of you, from my perspective, a terrific job. So one Stellantis moving at the same pace to the same vision destination described by Dare Forward. The best measurement of this support from our people is the number -- the amount of synergies, EUR 7.1 billion of synergies, net cash synergies in only 1 year, which is very much bottom-up driven, much more than top-down driven, which means that they get it, they understand why Stellantis is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and they are rewarding us with this number of proposals. Second idea is that we are fast forward on the execution of Dare Forward 2030. The best example is the 41% BEV sales in Europe only in '22, starting the BEV offensive in the U.S. this year in '23 and having half of our model portfolio BEV by end of next year, which means that we are moving very, very fast. This is also quite clear. And you can see it. If I just take the example of the Jeep Avenger that was presented in Europe, first-ever pure BEV Jeep and, for the first presentation of this car in Europe, awarded Car of the Year. So the first-ever pure EV Jeep, the Jeep Avenger, has been awarded Car of the Year in Europe, which demonstrates that our technology is now recognized as being mature and meeting the expectations of our customers, even though, of course, we continue to work to improve different metrics of that technology. Last but not least, Stellantis is more than ever an all-weather company, a very resilient company. And the best way to express this is not only the fact that we continue to develop new businesses, accretive business, very often a software-based, but also the overseas club, which means that our company is not in a shrinking strategy. We are a global automaker, part of the top 3 in the world. We have a profitable growth strategy. It's not a shrinking strategy. And we are using our scale to accelerate on the path towards a carbon-neutral corporation. We are using our scale to develop faster, at a wider spread, new technologies that will lead us to that carbon neutrality by 2038. And we are doing this with a breakeven point, which is 40% of our net revenue, 40%, which perfectly demonstrates that we are an all-weather company. Breakeven point at 40% is the benchmark of the worldwide automotive industry, which demonstrates that we can face a lot of headwinds. And with our scale and our strategy, which is not a shrinking strategy, we are using our technological power or financing power to accelerate on the path towards zero mobility -- zero-emission mobility by 2030 and, of course, carbon neutral by 2038. This is what I wanted to share with you. I would like to end this presentation to tell you that we took the initiative of a Freedom of Mobility Forum this year to discuss with different stakeholders. It was a very lively discussion, sometimes, a little bit controversial, which was fine, to understand what are the expectations of the societies in which we operate. We understand that our mission and the reason why we exist is to deliver safe, clean and affordable mobility. This is where we are putting, if not most, the totality of our efforts. This is where we are. And because we understand that the best way to deliver on that promise is to be in a recurrent manner, a profitable company, that's what we are doing for all the stakeholders of the societies in which we operate. Of course, the presentation last week of the Ram 1500 BEV pickup truck was a rewarding one, not only because it's our first Ram electric pickup truck but because of the performances that we have been working on. And as you know, those performances created a shock among our competitors, starting with the autonomy of this brand-new BEV pickup truck with 500 miles of autonomy, which is the benchmark of the industry. And all of this means that we are very aggressive in the way we develop our technology to make sure that our models will be the most appealing ones in the market so that we can, through the appeal, accelerate the shift towards zero-emission mobility. This is what I wanted to share with you. Thank you for your attention. I'll give it back to the Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Carlos, and I'm sure that our shareholders and who is listening today are as excited as we are of what we have achieved. So now we need to move on to the formalities of the meeting. Unfortunately, because of prior commitments, the other members of our Board are not able to attend the meeting. Mr. Giorgio Fossati, the Secretary of the Board is appointed as Secretary of this Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Thank you. Notarial minutes will be made of this meeting. The civil law notary, Mr. [ Derek John Smith ] of Freshfields Amsterdam, is present at this meeting for this purpose. Thank you. I also welcome [ Mr. Yvon Salland ], Mr. Oscar Jonker and Mr. Alessandro Davi, all representative of Ernst & Young, the company's external auditors, who are present at the shareholders meeting and are available to answer any questions relating to their audit report on the company's 2022 annual accounts. Thank you. The meeting is being publicly broadcasted live on Stellantis website for those wishing to follow the meeting remotely. I thank all of those who are connected via the webcast. The meeting will be held in English. There are headphones available for simultaneous translation from English into Dutch, French or Italian for those who would like to use them. The convocation for the meeting was published on the company's website on 2 March 2023. I note that the meeting has been convened in accordance with the legal and statutory requirements. I kindly request you to switch off your mobile phones and similar equipment during the meeting since the use of audio/video recording devices by shareholders is not allowed. In the interest of a smooth course of the meeting, I invite everyone wishing to speak in relation to the items on the agenda to reserve time to speak at the shareholders' assistance table and to specify the issue they wish to discuss. I kindly request those of you who wish to address the meeting to use one of the microphones in the meeting room and, as soon as I have granted permission to address the meeting, to state your name clearly and, if applicable, also the name of the person or company that you are representing. Shareholders who will be called to speak at the microphone must be concise and strictly relevant to the agenda being discussed. Any speeches, which become a mere disturbance or interference for the other participants or which are offensive or improper are not going to be allowed. Since the meeting is held in English, questions should be posed preferably in English. Response will be an English. Question may also be in Dutch, French and Italian, but our responses will be in English. As Chairman of the meeting, I'm responsible for managing the meeting and keeping the order of the meeting. In order to ensure that all shareholders are given a chance to participate in the discussions, I reserve the right to limit the time that our shareholder addresses the meeting. As a guideline, I consider appropriate a maximum of 5 minutes for each speaker for each agenda item, during which time any voting declaration should be made. In the interest of an orderly course of proceeding, I reserve the right to deny a shareholder the right to continue to speak if such a shareholder does not limit his time to 5 minutes or if questions do not relate to the agenda item being discussed or do not relate to the business of our company. Voting during this meeting will take place electronically. The voting results will be displayed on the screen upon close of the vote and will be subsequently be published on the company's website after the meeting in compliance with the applicable laws and regulation. Agenda items will be discussed in accordance with the order of the agenda of the meeting. Agendas of items will be discussed in sequence. If any relation to agendas of item questions arise, I will park such questions until I have closed the discussions on the last subitem of that agenda, unless such questions can immediately be answered by me or Mr. Tavares. But preferably, we would like to group them in order to be able to give you a most complete response. Voting on subitems will be deferred until after I have closed the discussion of the last agenda subitem or, if any, the last-part questions. May I please ask you to insert your smart card into your voting device with the chip facing you. You will see your name appear in the display. If this is not the case, please raise your hand so the hostess can assist you. You can keep the smart card inserted in the voting device for the entire duration of the meeting. When you will be requested to vote, you have to press the button of your choice. The page on our back should be clear, one, if you would like to vote for the proposal; two, if you would like to vote against the proposal; three, if you would like to obtain from the proposal. Please see the voting instructions that have been handed out also at the entrance of the meeting room. If you're a holder of special voting shares and should you wish to exercise a split vote or, generally, should you wish to exercise a split vote on your holdings, please go to the shareholders' assistance table, which is on our right-hand side and on the left side of the audience, and they will help you to exercise your split vote. The voting device must be returned to the hostesses at the entrance of meeting room whenever you leave temporarily and at the end of the meeting. Thank you. Furthermore, I inform you that some journalists will observe the proceedings in a room reserved for them. And we say hello to them. As to the number of shares issued and related voting rights, I note that the information relating to the attendance list and the information regarding the number of votes that may be cast at this meeting are the following. As at the record date for this Annual General Meeting, the issued common shares capital comprised 3,213,454,239 common shares, of which [ 3,144,398,695 ] common shares were outstanding with an equal number of voting right exercisable. In addition, the [indiscernible] special share capital compromises 179,790 Class A special voting shares, of which 69,282 Class A special voting shares are outstanding with an equal number of voting right exercisable, while all the issued 280,622 Class B special voting shares are owned by the company, and therefore, no voting rights are exercisable by Class B special voting shares. As a consequence, the total number of voting rights, which could be exercised at the AGM amounts to 3,144,397,977. No votes may be cast on shares held by the company itself or by any of its subsidiaries. According to the attendance list, 70.79% of all outstanding shares in the capital of the company are present or represented at this meeting. The total number of voting rights at this meeting amounts to 2,226,017,075. In total, 2,225,990,483 votes have been cast by the use of electronic means of communication prior to the meeting. These voting instructions have been processed by entering the voting instruction for each individual agenda item into the electronic voting system. Votes already cast by use of electronic means will be included in the voting results. As a further set out in the company's Article of Association, no person acting alone or in concert together with votes exercisable by affiliates of such person or pursuant to proxies or other arrangements conferring the right to vote may be able to exercise directly or indirectly voting rights on shares at a general meeting reaching or exceeding 30% of the votes that could be cast at that general meeting of the company. The maximum voting threshold for this meeting is 669,480,599. This threshold has been published on Stellantis website on April 7, 2023, in accordance with the company's Articles of Association. Now that I have addressed all formalities, I will turn to item 2 of the agenda. The Annual Report for 2022 was made available on the company's website and at the company's office from March 2, 2023. I will now spend a few moments providing a brief summary and explanation of all 7 agenda subitems of this agenda item 2. The first 2 agenda subitems will not be voted upon as they are discussions item only. The third and the fourth agenda subitems are advisory voting items. The last 3 agendas subitems of the agenda item 2 are voting items. The first subitem, 2a, concerns the report of the Board of Directors for the financial year 2022, which is contained in the company's annual report and has been addressed as part of our CEO's presentation. Subitem 2b concerns the policy on additions to reserves and on dividend and is a nonvoting item for discussion only. Company's dividend policy contemplates an annual ordinary dividend to be distributed by the company to the holders of common shares, targeting a payout ratio of 25% to 30% of the company's net profit for the relevant prior financial year. The actual level of dividend to be distributed by the company will be determined by the Board of Directors in its sole discretion. The company is thus proposing to the shareholders to approve EUR 4.2 billion distribution of common share under agenda item 2f. I will further elaborate on that when we come to agenda item 2f. Subitem 2c concerns the 2022 Remuneration Report, excluding premerger legacy matters. The results of the voting will be regarded as an advisory, nonbinding vote with respect to the Remuneration Report for 2022, excluding premerger legacy matters. Pursuant to Dutch law, the Remuneration Report for 2022 must explain how the voting by the shareholders in the previous Annual General Meeting have been taken into account. Following the advisory voting on the 2022 Remuneration Report at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of 2022, which was positive for 47.9%, the company and the Remuneration Committee engaged in an extent -- in a shareholder outreach over the course of 2 rounds throughout '22 and '22 -- and '23. In response to the '22 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders vote and based on the constructive feedback received, our Board, upon proposal of the Remuneration Committee, decided to make changes in our company's remuneration practice and disclosures. Such changes include changes in the TSR metric for long-term incentive compensation, which will not allow for any vesting payout for below medium performance effective with the company's 2023 long-term incentive grant, improvement of overall disclosure and transparency, financing clarity on targets, how they are set and how performance drives outcomes. In addition, as included in the following agenda item #5, it is proposed to amend paragraph 6 of the remuneration policy on which I will further elaborate when we come to agenda item 5. The advisory vote on this agenda item does not include the dedicated section of the Remuneration Report 2022 with the heading Pre-merger Legacy Matters - Remuneration to Former Executive Directors of FCA N.V. that report on the payment made in the financial year 2022 and fulfillment of an agreement entered into between the former Chief Executive Officer of FCA N.V., Mr. Michael Manley and FCA N.V. prior to the merger. As further detailed in the Remuneration Report 2022, that section of the Remuneration Report 2022 is tabled for a separate advisory vote under the following agenda item. The Remuneration Report for 2022 is contained in the company's annual report. It is proposed to the General Meeting of Shareholders to cast a favorable advisory vote. Subitem 2d concerned, as mentioned, a dedicated section of the Remuneration Report 2022 with the heading, Pre-merger Legacy Matters - Remuneration to the Former Executive Director of FCA N.V., which reports on the payment made in the financial year 2022 in fulfillment of an agreement entered into between the former Chief Executive Officer of FCA, Mr. Michael Manley, and FCA N.V. prior to the merger, as further detailed in the remuneration report. No decision was made in 2022 by the Stellantis matter -- regarding this matter. The company regards this matter as a legacy matter and submits it to the separate advisory vote to allow for more clear and specific feedback from the shareholders on the different matters reported. It is proposed to the General Meeting of Shareholders to cast a favorable advisory vote. Subitem 2e concerns the adoption of the company's 2022 annual accounts. This is a voting item. The company's 2022 annual accounts have been drawn up by Board and audited by Ernst & Young Accountants LLP, the Netherlands, who have issued an unqualified opinion. The external auditors are available to answer any questions relating to their Board reports on the fairness of 2022 annual account. The Board proposes to the shareholders' meeting to adopt the 2022 annual account. I'd like to thank our auditors. Subitem 2f concerns the 2022 dividend. This is a voting item. The proposed dividend entails a payment to the holders of common shares of EUR 1.34 per outstanding common shares equal to the payout ratio of approximately 25% of the company's net profit. This will result in an aggregate dividend payment of approximately EUR 4.2 billion. Upon approval by the General Meeting of Shareholders, the expected calendar dates for the common shares listed on New York Stock Exchange, Euronext Milan and Euronext Paris will be as follows: date April 24, '23; record date April 25, '23; and payment date, May 4, 2023. The Board proposes to the shareholders to approve the dividend distribution of EUR 4.2 billion in aggregate on common shares. The final item, subitem 2g concerns both the granting of discharge from liability of the Executive Directors in respect to the performance of their management duties in the financial year 2022 and the Nonexecutive Directors of the Board for the performance of their nonexecutive duties in the financial year 2022. This is a voting item. The Board proposes to the general meeting to grant the inquiry discharge. Now that we have dealt with all subsections of agenda item 2, it is time to address the questions. In this respect, I refer to the guidelines that we explained at the beginning of the meeting and consider appropriate a maximum as -- of 5 minutes for each speaker for each agenda item, during which time any voting declaration should be made. I would like to invite Mr. Bram van Liere to make his question.

Mr. Tavares, fellow shareholders, our planet is in peril. Climate change is threatening the lives of millions of people on this earth. According to the IPCC, we need to curb emissions by at least 45% in 2030 to stop dangerous climate change and stay within a 1.5-degree scenario. My name is Bram van Liere, and I work for Milieudefensie. We won the climate case against Shell, and the judge ruled that Shell and, therefore, companies like Shell, like Stellantis, have a legal duty to reduce their emissions. The climate crisis index shows that Stellantis is capable of fulfilling this obligation as it does so for their European activities. So I have one simple question: is Stellantis going to curb our emissions in absolute terms over the entire value chains, that is Scope 1, 2 and 3 with 2019 as a base year, predecessor companies included, obviously, by at least 45% in the year 2030? Thank you.

Thank you for your very clear question. And I'd like to ask [ Mr. Manuel Gast ].

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders and representatives of Stellantis, my name is [ Manuel Gast ]. I stand here today to emphasize the urgency of addressing the climate change and the crucial role Stellantis can play in it. Our planet is at a critical moment. It is essential that companies like Stellantis take responsibility and take concrete steps to reduce their carbon emissions. As a leading company in the automotive industry, as you stated yourself, Stellantis has a climate obligation to set ambitious goals and work towards a sustainable future. And therefore, I'm asking Stellantis to commit to reducing their CO2 emissions throughout the chain, Scope 1, 2 and 3, by at least 45% in absolute terms by 2030 compared to 2019. We have already seen how Stellantis has taken steps to reduce their environmental impact, such as investing in electrical vehicles and developing sustainable production processes. It is essential that Stellantis goes further and acts forcefully. We are asking Stellantis to look beyond its direct operations and engage the entire supply chain to reduce carbon emission throughout the whole company. This means partnering with suppliers and promoting sustainable practices throughout the value chain. By committing to this ambitious goal, Stellantis can help address climate change, enhance their reputation as a sustainable and forward-thinking company and set an example for other companies to follow. I ask you to rise to this challenge and work together to create a greener, more sustainable future. What does Stellantis need to commit to this goal?

Thank you very much to both of you for your questions, which are encouraging to what we believe in and that our CEO, Carlos Tavares, will address directly.

Well, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to both of you. First of all, I would like to share with you the fact that I'm the father of 3 and the grandfather of 4. And I completely share not only your ambition, your concern and the responsibility that we have to fix it. So no divergence at all. We are adding both of our concerns, focus and energy to fix it. There is absolutely a perfect alignment on that front. On the -- and of course, I'm doing it for my grandkids. So I don't need further encouragement than doing it from my grandkids, but obviously, I'm aligned with what you said. When we talk about 50% by 2030 against 2019, actually, our goal is to be minus 50% against 2021, which is our reference here. So it should be even more stringent than what you were requesting. So that should be okay. Minus 50% in 2030 against 2021 should be better than minus 20% against 2019 normally. So I think the pace is -- the pace aligned with what you are requesting. The way we have set our objectives is that we have always made them consistent with the Paris Agreement with the 1.5-degree scenario. So we set our objectives in consistency with the 1.5-degree Paris Agreement scenario. We also make sure that our approach is consistent with the SBTi recommendations. And of course, we make sure that when we compute our carbon footprint, we are using validated greenhouse gas protocols consistent with the ISO norm 14064 so that there is no discussion on the way we calculate that. Now back to the core of your question, can we do more? The answer is we can always do more. And we can try to do more, and we can have more ideas, yours and ours to do even more. At this stage, we have already made clear road maps. I'm not talking about setting objectives. I'm talking about describing the things we need to do to achieve those objectives. So we are not in the planning phase. We are in the execution phase. We are well in the execution phase. To give you an example, we are going to cut the greenhouse gas emissions of industrial sites by 75%, including real estate. By 2025, which is very soon, 50% of the energy that we are going to use in our plants is going to be produced in the plants from renewable sources. So we are taking care of the autonomy of our plants by 50% of our needs. And at the same time, the 50% energy that we are going to produce in our plants is going to be produced from renewable sources. This is what is, right now, ongoing. I already commented the fact that we will, by the end of next year, be at 50% of our full model offering at 50% of electric vehicles, which is demonstrating that we are moving very fast on that front. And I share with you the fact that 11% of CO2 emission reduction had already been achieved in '22 against '21. So overall, if the question is, is Stellantis setting a reference case, a benchmark or an example for the rest of the industry, the only thing I could share with you is the fact that to the best of my knowledge -- but please, if you have other information, please feel free to contradict me. To the best of my knowledge, among all the big corporations that are in the business of mobility across the world, from a similar size as ours, we are the ones that will be carbon-neutral the fastest by 2038. This is what I have read from all the commitments made by all of our competitors. We are the #1 in speed to achieve carbon neutrality. Most of them, they don't commit on carbon neutrality as a corporation. They commit only on the mobility device emission reduction. We take it as a corporation, which, as you know, is much more challenging, specifically if we talk about the suppliers. And as you pointed out, and you are right to point that matter, it's going to be the most difficult part is to convince the rest of the stakeholders to move as fast as they should, at least at the same speed as we do to achieve the carbon neutrality. So if there is an area where we can, of course, align all of our energies is to bring along with us the supplier base across the world to make sure that they are going to support the same dynamics and the same speed because as you pointed out, this is a matter of speed. This is not a matter of what we should do. We know what we need to do. We have road maps for each of those components, but we need to go fast. And of course, if we go fast and if we accelerate as we are the head of the train, we need to make sure that all the wagons will be following us at the same speed. That's my answer to you. Thank you.

Can I respond to that?

Of course.

Thank you. Yes, I think you have set very ambitious goal, so I compliment you with that. However, there's one small detail that I saw in your plans. You have -- as you said, the plans to reduce the carbon emissions by 50%. But from my knowledge, this is not a 50% reduction in Scope 1, 2 and 3 throughout the entire supply chain -- throughout the whole company. So that's our problem. Then if you say we're going to cut our emissions with 50% but there is like a little note that says it's actually not in absolute terms, then we're not on the same page. So...

You mean your encouragement? You encourage us to think about Scope 1, 2 and 3, right?

No.

You're encouraging us.

My comment is that your own plans of 50% reduction from -- as a baseline from 2021 to 2030, your plans is to reduce emissions by 50%, but this is not an absolute reduction in the entire value chain from Scope 1, 2 and 3. What's your comment on that? Is this an absolute reduction on Scope 1, 2 and 3? Or is this a relative reduction? Or...

It is very clear that we need to encourage the supply chain to follow us at the same speed. At the same time, as you may understand, we cannot commit on things we do not control, right? So we can encourage.

Then why do you say 50%, if you...

Because those are the things we control.

No, not really. It's 50% reduction, but actually not in Scope 3. So -- well, that is the biggest CO2 emitting factor. So it's kind of like we put a big sign with 50% reduction. But actually, we don't control our chain, so we can't really do a lot about it.

That's why we are transparent to you.

Not really. Like I had to look into these numbers. You presented like a big 50% number reduction. But when I look at your website, it's set in small letters as well as on page in small letters. Yes, Scope 3, not really a 50% absolute...

So you are criticizing the small letters.

I'm criticizing the image you give and like the -- yes.

Okay. So I understand that we need to move faster on the Scope 3.

Yes. That's the most important part is Scope 3.

Right. We don't disagree with that. We do not disagree with that. We just say that those companies are companies we do not control. So we can encourage them. We can support them. We can bring all of our expertise for them to go faster. But of course, we cannot dictate the behaviors of people that have their independent course of business, which is not exactly our scope of business immediately. So I agree with you on the fact that we should go faster on Scope 3 and very open to work on that. If you want to contribute to that work, you are welcome, very supportive of that. It's a fact that those companies are independent companies, sometimes in different regions of the world. So we have to convince them also because we are not going to dictate to them what their behavior should be, but we can encourage them to move along with us at the same pace as we do. That's a good thing. And if we give them the example that we, as a big corporation, we can move as fast as we do, then they will be convinced that they can move with us at the same pace.

Okay. For now, I have to take your answer as a no. I hope to see a more clear perspective on this next year.

Very good.

I think it's very -- this has been a very positive conversation. And I don't know if you want to have a...

I would like to ask a further -- basically refer to my previous question because it was a basic yes or no question. And I've heard very good things from you, Mr. Tavares, Mr. Chair, and I'm very glad to hear that and do not doubt your commitments. However, the question was, are you going to achieve those results in the end? Are you going to cut the emissions of the [indiscernible]?

The answer is yes.

The answer is yes. Thank you very much.

So thank you. And the summary is that we are on the right path. And our commitment, as Carlos Tavares said, is not only there, but it's really all the organization, one Stellantis, behind it. And I think the definitions, as always, are in a world which is changing, being set. And what we can control, as Carlos mentioned, we are determined to act upon. What we can control as we define scope targets, Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3, is going to require more cooperation. And that's why we are grateful to interventions like yours to raising the awareness of which we, as a company, believe is a key and important part of our future. So let's go to our voting. We now turn to 2 relevant advisory voting subitems and the 3 relevant voting subitems of agenda item 2. First here, we'll put item 2c on the agenda of the advisory vote in relation of the Remuneration Report 2022, excluding premerger legacy matters. I request the operator to activate the voting system. The voting device will now display the voting options. I declare the resolution open. Please cast your voting by expressing the button of your choice. [Voting]

We established that the general meeting advises for in relation to the remuneration report, excluding premerger legacy matters. Secondly, I will put item 2d of the agenda to the advisory vote in relation to the remuneration report on the premerger legacy matters. I declare the resolution open. Please cast your voting by pressing the button of your choice. [Voting]

I now declare the voting of the subitem closed. I establish that the general meeting advises for in relation to the remuneration report on premerger legacy matters. I will put item 2e. I will put item 2e of the agenda concerning the adoption of company's 2022 annual accounts. This is a binding voting item. Please cast your voting by pressing the button of your choice. [Voting]

[indiscernible]

2d?

Yes, this is still 2d. Should we close?

I establish that the general meeting advises for in relation to the remuneration report on premerger legacy matters. I will put item 2e of the agenda concerning the adoption of the company's 2022 annual accounts. This is a binding voting item. Please cast your voting by pressing the button of your choice. [Voting]

I note that the proposal has been approved, and that the -- I note that the proposal has been approved and that the company's 2022 annual accounts have been adopted by the meeting. I will put item 2f of the agenda concerning the adoption of the company's 2022 dividend. This is a binding voting item. Please cast your voting by pressing the button of your choice. [Voting]

I note that the proposal has been approved and that the company's 2022 dividend has been adopted by the meeting. Lastly, I will put item 2g of the agenda to vote, the granting of discharge from liability of the Executive Directors and the Nonexecutive Directors of the Board. This is a binding voting item. Please cast your voting by pressing the button of your choice. [Voting]

I note that the proposal has been approved and that the granting of discharge from liability of the Executive Directors and the Nonexecutive Directors of the Board has been adopted by the meeting.

I now move on the next item on the agenda. Agenda item 3 relates to the appointment of Mr. Benoît Ribadeau-Dumas as Nonexecutive Director of Stellantis. On January 18, 2023, Mr. Andrea Agnelli, a Nonexecutive Director of Stellantis, nominated by EXOR and me, and appointed on January 4, 2021, for the term of office of 4 years beginning on January 17, 2021, announced his resignation from his position as member of the Board of Directors of Stellantis. The resignation will become effective at the closing of the today's General Meeting of Shareholders. EXOR nominated Mr. Benoît Ribadeau-Dumas as the successor Nonexecutive Director for appointment at the General Meeting of Shareholders pursuant to and in accordance with Article 19.3 of the company's Articles of Association. The appointment of Mr. Benoît Ribadeau-Dumas as Nonexecutive Director, will be for a period of 2 years provided, however, that unless he resigns at an earlier date, the term and -- of office shall lapse immediately after the close of the first Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held after 2 years have lapsed since his last appointment unless the nomination is overruled in accordance with the company's articles of Association. Mr. Ribadeau-Dumas shall be appointed as Nonexecutive Director. Being no questions, please cast your voting by pressing the button of your choice according to the voting instructions shown on the screen. [Voting]

I establish that the proposal has been approved, and that Mr. Benoît Ribadeau-Dumas has been appointed as Nonexecutive Director for a period of 2 years, provided, however, that unless he resigns at an earlier date, the terms of office shall lapse immediately after the close of the first Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held after 2 years have lapsed since his appointment. Agenda item 4 comprises 2 subitems, which are both voting items and relate to the appointment of independent auditors. Shareholders who have reserved time on any of the subitems of this agenda item 4 will be invited to speak, and there will be opportunity for discussion, questions and observations after both agenda subitems have been briefly explained by me. A, I will now spend a few moments providing a brief summary and explanation of agenda subitem A. Pursuant to Article 27 of the company's Article of Association, the General Meeting of Shareholders has the authority to appoint independent auditor that will conduct the audit of the financial statements. The Audit Committee has reviewed the performance of the independent auditor and the effectiveness of the audit. Based on such review, the Audit Committee has recommended the reappointment of Ernst & Young Accountants LLP as the company's independent auditors for the financial year 2023. The Board of Directors concurs with the Audit Committee's recommendation and submits to the shareholders a proposal to reappoint Ernst & Young Accountants LLP as the company's independent auditor for the financial year 2023. Subitem 4b relates to the appointment of the company's independent auditor for the financial year 2024. Under applicable laws and regulation on December 31, 2023, Ernst & Young Accountants LLP will have reached the maximum term of permitted renewals as the company's independent auditor. Therefore, due 2022, the Audit Committee concluded the process for the selection of the independent auditor for the financial year starting from January 1, 2024. As the Board of Directors wishes to ensure an efficient and effective statutory audit of the company and consolidated financial statements, a competitive selection process started in early 2022. The Audit Committee led the process and the assessment evaluating the participating audit firms based on certain predefined selection criteria, including the skills and experience of the audit team, level of innovation and audit approach and competitiveness of the audit fee. After careful consideration by the Audit Committee and taking into account the profile of the independent auditor and the requirement in relation to independence and after evaluation of the quality of the proposal received from 2 short-listed tenderers, Deloitte Accountants B.V. was determined as the preferred candidate in terms of quality and pricing. As such, the Audit Committee has recommended the appointment of Deloitte Accountants B.V. as the company's independent auditor, starting with the financial year 2024. The Board of Directors concurs with the Audit Committee recommendations and submits to the shareholders a proposal to appoint Deloitte as the company's independent auditor of the financial year 2024. There are no questions. Before voting, I would like very much to thank Ernst & Young for all the work they have done with us over the years. Thank you. There being no further questions, I will now proceed to voting on the relevant resolutions. One, I will put Item 4a on the agenda -- of the agenda to the vote. The proposal regards the appointment of Ernst & Young Accountants LLP as the company's independent auditors for the financial year 2023. Please cast your voting by pressing the button of your choice according to the voting instructions shown on the screen. [Voting]

I note that the proposal has been adopted by the meeting. I will now put Item 4b of the agenda to the vote. This proposal concerns the appointment of Deloitte Accountants B.V. as the company's independent auditors for the financial year 2024. Please cast your voting by pressing the button of your choice according to the voting instructions shown on the screen. [Voting]

I will now move -- I note that the proposal has been adopted by the meeting. Thank you very much, and we look forward working with Deloitte in the future. I will now move on to the following item on the agenda. The agenda item 5, as earlier touched upon, relates to the amendment of the company's remuneration policy, which is proposed to the General Meeting of Shareholders upon recommendation of our Remuneration Committee of the Board of Directors. The current remuneration policy was last amended in 2021, with 87% vote in favor. We have decided, as a company, through the recommendation of our Remuneration Committee, engaging with our shareholders over the last year in response to the 2022 Annual General Meeting and the feedback we have received to make sure that our remuneration practices and disclosures were aligned. The Board decided upon recommendation of the Remuneration Committee to propose to our shareholders to amend the paragraph 6 of the remuneration policy to provide for equity awards under the company's long-term incentive plan to consist only of performance share units, PSUs, for the Executive Directors beginning with the 2023 grant, very much aligned with what we had discussed last year that we, as Stellantis, are a performance-oriented organization. And this reinforces our alignment and our belief in performance and rewarding it. The objective of the remuneration policy is to provide a compensation structure that allows Stellantis to attract and retain the most highly qualified executives and colleagues and motivate them to achieve business and financial goals that create value for all of you, our shareholders and all of our stakeholders in a manner consistent with what we believe in as our purpose and our values. The Board of Directors submits to all the shareholders the proposal to amend paragraph 6 of the remuneration policy. If adopted, the revised remuneration policy of the Board of Directors will apply as of April 13, 2023, pursuant to Article 19.11 of the company's Article of Association. The amendment of the remuneration policy of the Board of Directors requires an absolute majority of the votes cast. Not having questions, then I will put the item 5 to vote. Please vote -- please cast your voting by pressing the button of your choice according to the voting instruction shown on the screen. [Voting]

I note that the proposal has been adopted by the meeting in a largely positive vote, which includes our reference shareholders, the founding families of our company, our employee representatives, our institutional and retail investors, which reflects, as I mentioned before, the adherence to the principle of a meritocratic culture, which I highlighted last year at our AGM. Our remuneration report reflects our beliefs, and these changes reinforce them of rewarding performance based on the achievement of ambitious goals, financial but also ESG-related. And this is an opportunity to emphasize based on the questions we had today from our shareholders, how we are, Carlos, our leadership team, our colleagues, one Stellantis, committed to carbon neutrality by 2038, which puts us ahead of all our competitors. And I'm personally very proud that these principles and our record results rewarded all of our employees with additional variable compensation of EUR 2 billion across the world, which is an increase of more than 10% to previous years and for which I would like to thank our shareholders for their absolute commitment to our future and to our culture. I will now spend a few moments providing a brief summary and explanation of the 2 agendas subitems of this agenda item 6. After I have briefly explained these 2 agenda subitems, shareholders who have reserved time on any or both items will be invited to speak. And there will be the opportunity for discussion, questions and observations. Both the agendas subitems of this agenda item 6 are voting items. Voting on those subitems will take place after I will have closed the discussion on this agenda item. Under agenda subitem 6, and it is proposed to designate the Board of Directors, the corporate body authorized to issue common shares in the company's capital and to grant rights to subscribe for common shares in the company's capital. This proposal extends existing authorization of the Board of Directors as per the date it lapses up to and including October 12, '24 being the date 18 months from the date of today. The new authorization is limited to 10% of the currently issued common shares for general corporate purpose and can be used for any and all purposes. The proposed authorization will allow the Board to be flexible and to respond quickly to circumstances that require the issuance of common shares. If approved, the authorization granted will succeed the current authorization of the Board of Directors to issue common shares and to grant rights to subscribe to common shares in the company's capital. Under agenda subitem 6b, it is proposed to designate the Board of Directors as the corporate body authorized to limit or to exclude preemption rights in connection with the issue of and/or the granting of rights to subscribe for common shares in the company's capital. This proposal concerns the extension of the authorization of the Board of Directors as per the date the existing authorization lapses up to and including October 12, '24, being the date 18 months from the date of today. The proposed authorization, in combination with the authorization under agenda item 6a, will enable the Board of Directors to be flexible and to respond quickly to circumstances that require an issuance of common shares with or without limited preempted right. The authorization is limited to the percentages of the capital as described under agenda item 6a. Being represented at this meeting more than 1/2 of the issued share capital, resolutions on agenda items 6a and 6b are adopted with the majority of the votes cast. If this agenda subitem is adopted, the authorization granted will succeed the current authorization of the Board of Directors to exclude or limit preemptive rights with respect to common shares. There being no further questions or no question on the agenda's item 6, I will put the relevant resolutions to the vote. I will put item 6a of the agenda to the vote. [Voting]

I know that the proposal has been adopted by the meeting. I will put Item 6b on the agenda of the vote. Please cast your voting by pressing the button of your choice according to the voting instruction shown on the screen. [Voting]

I note that the proposal has been adopted by the meeting. Let us move on the next agenda item. The Board of Directors proposes that the General Meeting of Shareholders delegates the authority to acquire common shares in the company's capital to the Board of Directors either through purchase on a stock exchange through a public tender offer, an offer for exchange or otherwise at any time during the period of 18 months from the date of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and, therefore, up to and including October 12, '24, up to a maximum number of shares equal to 10% of the issued common shares of the company as determined on this date. The prices applicable shall be within the margin stated in the explanatory notes to the agenda. This delegation of authority does not impose an obligation on the company to acquire some common shares but gives the Board the right to acquire common shares in the capital of the company with sufficient flexibility and discretion for the Board to give effect to such acquisition if and when it considers it to be appropriate. The adoption of this proposal by the General Meeting of Shareholders will replace the current authorization of the Board of Directors to repurchase common shares in the company's capital. No questions. I will close the discussion on -- and I will turn to the relevant vote. And now the... [Voting]

I now -- I note that the proposal has been adopted by the meeting. Under the last agenda item, it is proposed to the General Meeting of Shareholders to cancel 62 -- 69,125,054 (sic) [ 69,125,544 ] common shares in the share capital of the company held by the company in its own capital, resulting in a reduction of the company's issued common shares. On September 15, 2022, following the execution of the share repurchase agreement between company and General Motors Companies, 69,125,544 common shares that GM was entitled to acquire upon the exercise of equity warrants originally issued by Peugeot S.A. in 2017 were issued and subsequently repurchased by the company. Purpose of the cancellation of the repurchased common shares is to optimize our capital structure. The cancellation of the common shares shall be effected with you, observance of the provisions of the Dutch Civil Code and the company's Article of Association. There are no questions, so I will turn to the relevant vote. Please cast your voting by pressing the button of your choice according to the voting instructions shown on the screen. [Voting]

I note that the proposal has been adopted by the meeting. We have come to the end of this meeting. I would like to thank you all for your presence here. I would like to thank you all for your support and your encouragement, and we very much look forward to see you next year. As we say in the Netherlands, [Foreign Language].