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General Motors earned a record $7.6 billion profit last year, the highest profit in the company’s 103-year history. It sold 640,000 more cars and trucks in 2011 than it did in 2010 and took in a total of $105 billion.
Jeremy Anwyl, vice chairman of Edmunds.com, said while he is buying GM’s immediate success, he is not sold on the company’s future.
“The question for me about General Motors really is: Are they going to be able to sustain this momentum over the long haul?” Anwyl told ABC News. “If we are going to step back and say ‘Was the bankruptcy a success or was it a failure?’ it’s really too early to say. We need to let a few more years pass to see if the new GM really is a new GM.”
To date, GM has paid back $26 billion of the $49.5 billion bailout and U.S. taxpayers still own 30 percent of the company in stock.
For the workers at GM’s plant in Lake Orion, Mich., this GM is much better than the GM that halted production there in 2009. Today, the plant is up and running, turning out 800 cars a day and employing 2,200 people.
GM says 47,500 blue collar workers, many of whom took pay cuts of up to 40 percent and cuts in benefits as part of the bailout, learned today that they are receiving profit-sharing checks of up to $7,000.
GM employee Doreen Stover said her check is already spent.
“We get caught up on some bills – and get my new GM vehicle,” she said.
The company’s turnaround is because of increased sales in North America and China. In China, GM’s Buick Excelle is the most popular car on the market and one GM car or truck is sold in the country every 12 seconds.
Despite all the success, Anwyl said, the road ahead for GM will not be easy.
“GM is going to find a much more competitive market environment than they have during the last couple of years, and that is going to test their ability … to continue to sell vehicles and be able to control costs, particularly incentive costs.”
ABC News’ David Muir and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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You can thank the best President America has ever had! Obama is VERY smart and to people who say otherwise are dumb as a brick. If it was not for this President, America would be in a depression like the 1930′s. He is trying to do the best he can with a bunch of GOP’s who are moron’s. I wish he was running Canada as well. As far as that goes he can run the world and he has the brains to do it. You are very lucky to have him. He is the best leader in the world today.
Posted by: Michael | February 16, 2012, 9:05 pm 9:05 pm
True Mike, he’s a great president and his detractors are just sore losers whose time has come and gone. Progressive Is the new deal , not regressive like the GOP / SOP .
Posted by: TimeisNow | February 16, 2012, 9:37 pm 9:37 pm
Jeremy Anwyl sounds like a Republican.
Posted by: Mark J | February 16, 2012, 9:41 pm 9:41 pm
I just don’t get it. Ford does not take a dime and seems to be exceptionally strong. Did their folks receive any stimulus bonuses..no. GM has been served up billions and their future is still in doubt? From Cheat Sheet: “Analysts appear increasingly negative about GM’s results for the next quarter. The average estimate has moved down from 97 cents/share to 86 over the last 90 days.” Looks to me like poor management has been rewarded (compare to Ford) with UAW folks getting a payback (except for Ford). And now we read there is still doubt about GM’s future. Guess we will see if we have another Solyndra on our hands or if success will come.
Posted by: choppy seas | February 16, 2012, 10:06 pm 10:06 pm
Yes GM will have another great year as long as Japan has another tsunami. When I check on the availability of many autos I was interested in I found the Japanese autos were not available do to parts manufacturing disruptions do to the tsunami. So I’m betting (not hoping) that GM’s profits with drop off. A little research if you please.
Posted by: Bill | February 16, 2012, 10:19 pm 10:19 pm
This record uptick in a record bum economy ? Just wait until people get some $$ to spend. GM makes the best autos and trucks , everyone knows that . Ford ? Ha . You couldn’t give me a Ford , ( I bought a brand new Ford f150 years ago , never again though , what a P-O-S it was ) and the only reason people buy them now is because they are much less expensive than GM , and for good reason . They are made out of crappy materials and are poorly designed and constructed. Ford= Real junk for the most part ; they took over Volvo and ruined that brand in about 2 years and Jaguar to boot . They have a crappy warranty too compared to GM and Dodge . Ford is maybe doing OK but they aren’t even anywhere close to No.1 in the world like GM is ( all thanks to Mr. Obama and the Democrats and NO thanks to ANY Republican or Tea Goon )
Posted by: gmrocks | February 16, 2012, 10:39 pm 10:39 pm
Well after the jobs reports plus all the women who will vote for Obama because they are terrified the men in their church will deny them full insurance coverages, this should about wrap up the next election. Thanks for playing.
Posted by: sameagain | February 16, 2012, 10:58 pm 10:58 pm
GMROCKS… woopidy doo.. I owned a Chevy Truck and it was a piece of crap… now own a Ford truck and it has over 250,000 miles on it and if it died tomorrow, I would still say, it was the one of the best vehicles I have ever owned. Now.. am I going to preach Ford is the best? No.. because I and you know there are lemons in every batch. The next Ford I buy may be a pc of crap and the next Chevy I buy may last as long as my Ford. I voted for Obama myself, but I don’t think he saved GM… OUR TAX MONEY did, and sadly I think he screwed the **** out of a lot of Bond owners and rewarded the low-lifes that in my opinion helped to bring the company down to start with (the Union). Trust me, you want to buy a Car that is worth something, buy a Mercedes, we own 2, one I bought in 1976 and has over 345,000 on it and one we bought about 10 years ago. Excellent vehicles and they are made in a NON-UNION shop. I don’t care what I buy, I will try to buy NON-Union.
Posted by: tuesdaysgone | February 16, 2012, 11:06 pm 11:06 pm
If our government / we the people still own 30% of this company, why can’t we stop them from building a 1.1billion dollar facility in China. Just when we start to see that light at the end of the tunnel from so many U.S. companies sending our jobs overseas, now GM is using our tax dollars to build in China so we can give them more of our jobs. When will we learn our lessons. The President was right to help out the auto industry, but we need to make it harder for companies to continue to ship out future jobs. I do not care what other countries think of us, I would rather my government looked out for the American people first and foremost.
Posted by: PJ | February 16, 2012, 11:20 pm 11:20 pm
And you can “blame” Obama!!! Spin this, Republicans!
Posted by: Mshare | February 16, 2012, 11:24 pm 11:24 pm
Michael, if you believe Obama has saved America from a great depression you are as dumb as a brick. We are already in a depression, just not reported on CNN.
Although you are spot-on with your ascertation that the GOP crowd are a bunch of morons, don’t sweat the political areana, they’re all bought out and paid for by their handlers.
Posted by: KJ | February 16, 2012, 11:27 pm 11:27 pm
I like Obama. Life a lot better since he president. Other side is so mean & being mean never wins popularity contests. I don’t get how they think. Obama seems modest. All guys & the women on other side seem very stuck up & nasty. I don’t understand people who want to control everything & ruin it for the middle class & poor….like me…month to month. Better under Obama for sure. Thanks Obama you are a lifesaver in my book.
Posted by: elishpa76 | February 16, 2012, 11:46 pm 11:46 pm
GM is alive; Bin Ladin is dead.
Posted by: Steve | February 16, 2012, 11:54 pm 11:54 pm
This is a huge boost for President Obama. The GOP, rather than giving the president the credit he deserves, they still contend that the bailout was a mistake.
Posted by: NoFlyZone2 | February 16, 2012, 11:57 pm 11:57 pm
The good guys win again! Excellent. It’s weird to think that now & pretty much the past 3 years Conservatives have done everything to derail this guy, to not work with him, to try to Jedi Mind Trick us..to say how horrible he is for this country. I love it. I’m just a normal guy. GOP is so out of touch with my world. Those politicians make money from inside information on wall street. GOP is out of touch with Humanity. & that’s why they will lose this time….again I think the good guys are going to win again. Kudos GM & Obama & the United States…finally winning again.
Posted by: DFlick | February 17, 2012, 12:11 am 12:11 am
Most companies would be doing fairly well after a 52 billion dollar bailout paid by American taxpayers. But who is left holding the bag, the American taxpayers who are left with billions in unpaid debt and the unsecured creditors who got screwed by the Obama administration. All the GM workers get to keep their sweetheart pensions though, except for the white collar executives who received their payback from all of the other GM workers. Those same sweetheart pensions will be a burden on our jointly owned GM until the bitter end.
Posted by: Stuart B | February 17, 2012, 12:13 am 12:13 am
no mention of massive tax breaks that GM was granted by obama administration, would they still be profitable without them?
Posted by: darsco | February 17, 2012, 12:51 am 12:51 am
More creative accounting by Obama. There is NO WAY GM could have racked up these profits in the middle of a deep recession. NO WAY. Oh, wait – GM loaded up all their dealers with cars they didn’t want. So, now GM is counting those cars as “SOLD.” Somehow I bet these creative accounting tricks will continue right up to the election. And the only people who will believe the numbers are Obamabots.
Posted by: DoctorBob | February 17, 2012, 1:16 am 1:16 am
DOCTORROBBERY , I like the way you imagine things & then call Obama supporters Omanabots. You live in a smaller world than I do. I chose the real world, this is good news….you can pi$z on it like all GOPers, but wake up. That stuff doesn’t fly any more. That’s all the GOP has is inflated hypothetical doomsday pictures with Obama & name calling. Have you noticed they don’t mention W at all? So silent. & GOP has not come up with any other ideas besides tax cuts for the rich & burden everyone else. I pray to GOD we don’t go back to those NeoConn days. I’m just getting back to normal now after being raped by various credit card companies..So I say Obama 2012..make my day! Go Obama. Life is better with Obama. I am not an Obamabot…that’s a term for the weak minded when they are losing. Names , that’s all you got…pitiful.
Posted by: DrWright | February 17, 2012, 1:25 am 1:25 am
Who can afford to fill up ANY car with the price of gas??
Posted by: Bookin Weasel | February 17, 2012, 2:55 am 2:55 am
They owe the taxpayers 23.5 billion dollars & made 7.6 billion in profits & there giving 7,000 in profit sharing checks to employees. It is this thinking that got GM in trouble to begin with. Pay your friggin debt to society or send everyone who paid income taxes last year (those that don’t pay their share don’t get squat) a 7 grand check. WTG GM screw us again.
Posted by: Buffalo Bob | February 17, 2012, 3:14 am 3:14 am
oil companies receive massive government subsidies, make billions in profits and that’s bad. a car company receives massive government subsidies, makes billions in profits and that’s good. makes a ton of sense.
Posted by: grumpopolis | February 17, 2012, 7:08 am 7:08 am
It is good to see that GM has survived and as someone else pointed out Toyota’s tsunami loss was GM’s blessings. But I am not sure how profits are calculated. Is this the net profit after paying off all the debt or is it profit without counting the debt. I hope GM will not start blowing away the profits on bonuses but save for the times when it goes at a loss.
Posted by: Girish | February 17, 2012, 7:18 am 7:18 am
oil companies are bad because they produce a product that destroys the environment while making billions in profits, but car companies that produce the cars that create the demand for, use the product, and exacerbate the deliterious effects of the dangers posed by the product made by the oil companies, while making billions in profits, are good. who is this so hard for people to understand?
Posted by: grumpopolis | February 17, 2012, 7:24 am 7:24 am
What the right wing Republicans hate the most about this story is the $7,000 in profit sharing that will go to each worker. This just drives them crazy because most Republicans I know view workers as leeches who do nothing but draw off the talents and hard work of CEO’s and top management.
Posted by: Matt | February 17, 2012, 7:50 am 7:50 am
Matt (7:50 AM), It’s not that they get the $7k/worker, it’s that they get it while the company still owes us $25 Billion. Get it?
Posted by: newcountryman | February 17, 2012, 9:28 am 9:28 am
“…it’s that they get it while the company still owes us $25 Billion. Get it?” ———-We ( the taxpayers ) own equity in GM worth more than that currently , with the market value per GM share on the increase as well . Get it ?
Posted by: davem | February 17, 2012, 12:16 pm 12:16 pm
can anyone explain how it’s bad for oil companies to make billions in profits while taking in huge government subsidies but it’s good for a car company to take in huge government subsidies while making billions in profit?
Posted by: grumpopolis | February 17, 2012, 1:08 pm 1:08 pm
Left out of this discussion are all the former GM Dealers who were closed. They were not given any compensation for their investments in diagnostic computers, mechanic training, real estate, etc. Just cut out…while GM workers are lauded for giving up perks such as dental insurance! ji
Posted by: jimmel | February 17, 2012, 1:48 pm 1:48 pm
Grumpoplis (1:08 PM); That one is easy! Votes. And Dave the current stock price has to double to something like $55/share to recover TARP bailout money. If you’re so confident, buy some.
Posted by: newcountryman | February 17, 2012, 2:29 pm 2:29 pm
GM stock has never been more than $36/share in over 5 years. I’ll watch from the sidelines.
Posted by: newcountryman | February 17, 2012, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm
I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if some years in the future GM, like Chrysler, is majority owned by a foriegn company…like maybe in China. But by then Obama will be long gone and the historians will have to sort this all out.
Posted by: newcountryman | February 17, 2012, 3:51 pm 3:51 pm
GM is doing great, the Volt is doing great, oops they just upped the government subsidy to $10000 on the Volt. Better get one or wait a while and get a bigger discount.
Posted by: Lizzie | February 19, 2012, 11:33 am 11:33 am