General Motors reports record profits

General Motors Co. reported a record annual profit, two years after the nation’s largest automaker emerged from bankruptcy with the help of a federal bailout.
G.M. said it earned a fourth quarter profit of $472 million, or 28 cents a share, which was down from $510 million, or 31 cents a share, a year ago, but it was the eighth consecutive quarterly profit for the carmaker.
For all of 2011, G.M. earned $7.6 billion, nearly all of it from North America. That was 62 percent higher than the $4.7 billion it earned a year ago and more than G.M.’s previous record of $6.7 billion in 1997.
As a result, G.M.’s 47,500 eligible hourly workers will receive profit-sharing checks in March of up to $7,000, an all-time high.
With rivals Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group already having reported profits for last year, 2011 marked the first time since 2004 that all three major U.S. automakers were profitable at the same time.
“In our first full year as a public company (after bankruptcy), we grew the top and bottom lines, advanced our global market share and made strategic investments in our brands around the world,” said Dan Akerson, chairman and CEO. “We will build on these results as we bring more new cars, crossovers and trucks to market, and make GM a far more efficient global team. This includes reducing our break-even level in Europe and South America and driving higher revenues around the world.”
Overall, G.M.’s global sales volume rose 7.6 percent to 9 million for the year, enough to allow it to recapture the global sales title it held for 77 years before it fell behind Toyota Motor Co. in 2008.