GM earns $2.8B in Q2, raises full-year forecast

DETROIT — General Motors on Wednesday posted second-quarter net income of $2.8 billion, largely on strong North America results, and said the rest of the year would be more profitable than previously expected even as the global microchip shortage continues to hamper production.

GM earned $2.9 billion in North America, compared with a $101 million loss a year earlier.

The automaker now expects to earn as much as $13.5 billion in adjusted earnings this year, compared with a previous forecast of $10 billion to $11 billion, CEO Mary Barra said in a letter to shareholders.

GM’s $2.8 billion in net income compares with a $758 million loss during the second quarter of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic sharply cut production. Its earnings last quarter were dragged down by $1.3 billion in warranty and recall costs, including $800 million related to the Chevrolet Bolt EV.

Global revenue more than doubled to $34.2 billion, from $16.8 billion a year earlier.

GM’s adjusted margin climbed to 12 percent, compared with 3.2 percent a year earlier. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes swung to $4.2 billion, compared with a $536 million loss a year earlier.

Several plants in North America have taken spurts of downtime during the quarter, including the automaker’s full-size pickup plants in Flint, Mich., Fort Wayne, Ind., and Silao, Mexico. Those plants are now scheduled to go back offline next week, GM said Tuesday.

Until last month, GM had kept production of its lucrative pickup line humming amid the chip shortage, even building some pickups without certain fuel management modules.

The automaker earned $15 million in the second quarter from international regions, excluding China, compared with a $270 million loss a year earlier. China equity income rose to $3 million, compared with $2 million a year earlier.

Earnings from GM Financial increased to $1.6 billion, compared with $226 million a year earlier.

Ford Motor Co. last month also posted net income in the second quarter, though overall profit fell by about half.