Net income for the last quarter was $900m (€674m), up 80% from $500m (€375m) for Q4 2011. Strong results were seen by GM South America, which reported a $99m (€74m) profit following a loss a year earlier while GM North America saw a profit of $1.4bn (€1.0bn), down 6.7% from $1.5bn (€1.1bn) in 2011.

However GM Europe (GME) recorded a loss of $700m (€524m), an increase of 16.7% from the loss of $600m (€449m) for 2011, and took a charge of $5.2bn (€3.9) on its assets.

For the full year net income fell 35% to $4.9bn (€3.7bn), from $7.6bn (€5.7bn).

‘We recorded another solid year in 2012 as we grew the business, delivered a third straight year of profitability and took significant actions to put the company on a solid path for future growth,’ said Dan Akerson, chairman and CEO. ‘This year our priorities will be executing flawless new vehicle launches, controlling costs and delivering more vehicles to our customers at outstanding value.’

Looking ahead, Dan Ammann, senior vice president and CFO, said: ‘Our aggressive vehicle launch cadence and focus on improving the topline, combined with rigorous cost discipline will help us continue to generate strong business results moving forward.’

The company added that the fourth quarter charge on GM Europe’s assets ‘does not reflect any change to the company’s objective to break-even in its European operations by mid-decade’.