MILAN (Reuters) - Chrysler-parent Stellantis is seeking to decrease its North American inventories by 100,000 vehicles by the start of next year, and has already cut about 45,000 units in July and August, CFO Natalie Knight said on Monday.

The automaker's main focus is on "how do we get North America to a better, healthier position for 2025," Knight said at a BofA Securities virtual conference.

Stellantis earlier this year said the group's total inventories amounted to around 1.4 million units at the end of the first half of this year, when its adjusted operating profit fell 40% due to a soft business performance in North America, its profit powerhouse.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan and Nora Eckert in Detroit, editing by Gavin Jones)