General Motors Reports Big Bump In Second Quarter Earnings

DETROIT (WWJ) - General Motors earned nearly $1.2 billion in the second quarter, a large increase from last year, when the company was reeling from the ignition switch recall.

"The first two quarters of the year were strong as we fully capitalized on a robust North American Industry and maintained our strength in China, despite challenging conditions in that market," said GM CEO Mary Barra.

GM earned $2.8 billion in North America, and essentially broke even in the tough European market.

The company had a slight profit, $300 million in its international operations, including China. It lost $100 million in South America.

The strong performance in North America was built on strong sales of new products, particularly trucks, which have higher profit margins.

"We said our goal was to improve our earnings and margins this year, and we are on plan," said Barra. "Consistent with that, we believe our results in the second half of the year will be even better than the first half, and we're confident we will meet our 2016 targets."

While GM's net revenue fell slightly to $38.2 billion, the company says that was mostly due to changing exchange rates. Taking those into account, the revenue was about $900 million higher than the second quarter of last year.

"Our plan is generating results and giving us momentum," said Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens. "Record margins in North America and strong margins in China produced a second quarter that demonstrates the earnings power of this company. We expect continued strong performance in these key markets."