The new gig for the next chief financial officer of the maker of Jeep SUVs, Ram pickup trucks and other vehicles will be somewhat of a homecoming.
Natalie Knight takes over at Stellantis NV from Richard Palmer on Monday. After 31 years — 28 of which were spent in Europe — the Seattle native will return to the United States to be based in Auburn Hills as she looks at how Stellantis can double its sales, maintain double-digit margins while transitioning to a sustainable tech mobility company and grow international investor interest in the transatlantic automaker whose share price on the New York Stock Exchange closed Thursday at $17.36.
The CFO of Dutch multinational grocer Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV carries with her a reputation for candid communication and eliminating expenses, according to analysts. Knight says she has a record of continuous improvements for customers and a low breakeven point, experience with companies with more brands than what can be counted on two hands and is passionate about growth.
“I think you will hear though from analysts as well is that I’m a very-close-to-the-business CFO, that I really find my passion in, ‘How do I make the business better?'” Knight said during a virtual roundtable Thursday. “This is a business that’s underestimated today. People value us for our profitability. But we also have a big growth ambition, and that’s one of the things I want to play a part of is, ‘How do I help the organization be even more courageous and thoughtful about where those growth opportunities can come from?'”
Stellantis posted a 13% adjusted operating income margin in 2022 with a $17.9 billion net profit, up 26%. Knight and CEO Carlos Tavares will share first-half financial results for 2023 on July 26. The company’s Dare Forward strategy calls for it to grow revenue to $327 billion by 2030, consistently post mid-double-digit margins and achieve net-zero carbon emission by 2038.
Knight hasn’t worked in the auto industry before. And she’s not afraid to say she has some learning to do about the industry and the shift to EVs, though she spent her time in the United States driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV.
She has worked in six countries and six industries ranging from foreign services to banking to chemicals with BASF SE to apparel retailer Adidas AG. She says she’s worked for companies that are customer-centric, agile and adaptable. She’s worked with sustainable financing tools.
Ahold Delhaize posted a 13.5% increase in net income last year. It has 19 brands; Stellantis has 14 vehicle brands.
Knight also has worked with labor unions. Strikes in Belgium by Delhaize employees this spring followed a move to turn the grocery-store chain’s 128 locations into franchises as a part of a $4.4 billion multi-year cost-cutting measure. In May, Albert Heijn distribution workers negotiated a 10% wage increase following an 11-day strike. Stellantis’ contracts with the United Auto Workers in the United States and Unifor in Canada are set to expire in September.
“What I believe is really essential as we look at the future is how do we work together as one collective group in the U.S., but also the other regions to ensure that we’re really successful going forward?” Knight said. “That requires listening a lot to what are the challenges that are out there, and this is a time where we need to collaborate, and we need to listen, but it’s also a time where I think everyone understands we’re entering a more challenging economic period. And we’re also going to really have to, as a group, see what do we need together to be successful going forward.”
Tavares has emphasized that EVs are 40% more expensive to produce than their internal combustion engines. And to preserve the ability of customers to purchase those vehicles to maintain production levels and profitability, the CEO has said the automaker must absorb those added costs.
Knight isn’t a stranger to finding savings, Clément Genelot, analyst at French capital market company Bryan, Garnier & Co., previously said in an email: “Globally speaking, Ms. Knight has a cost-cutting and strict capital allocation profile. She also used to be quite transparent when it comes to financial communication.”
Ahold Delhaize’s “save for the customer” iniative sought to eliminate $1.1 billion in costs each year to pass onto customers, workers and sustainability efforts, Knight said.
“Every year you have to come up with new things,” she said. “There’s not just one formula you put it in, and you make that happen every year. And that’s something I really admire about Stellantis, as well, which is there’s no sitting on our laurels. It’s about, ‘How do you continue to drive the very best?'”
Although she will travel globally in her new role, she looks forward to being closer to family in the United States and to her daughter, who will begin at New York University in the fall. Her future residency in Michigan indicates a continuing importance to the parent company of the U.S. market, Stellantis’ largest region, and efforts to drum up support among U.S. investors by demystifying the company and its story. She has 15 years of experience in investor relations.
“When I look at the U.S. team on the ground,” Knight said, “it’s definitely a place where I see a lot of hungry people. And it’s fun to be in those spots in the business where you really feel like people are looking for the performance management, and those things are going to help us go to the next level.”
bnoble@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @BreanaCNoble