CHICAGO, April 29 (Xinhua) -- General Motors Company (GM) raked in a net income of 2.61 U.S. billion dollars in the first quarter of 2017, up 34 percent year on year in a record high, the U.S. automaker announced on its website Friday
GM attributed its outstanding financial performance to the brisk sales of profitable trucks and SUVs, the strong performance in China and the growth of its finance arm GM Financial.
The company's earnings per share was at 1.70 dollars, higher than analysts' projection of 1.48 dollars a share, as against the 1.26 dollars a share in the first quarter of 2016. The automaker was confident that its earnings per share in 2017 will be at least as good as its record performance in 2016.
The company's first-quarter performance forebodes another strong year in 2017, the Detroit News quoted GM Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens as saying. "We're executing our plan and it's delivering results."
GM's revenue in North America reached 29.3 billion dollars in the first quarter, up 10.7 percent year on year. To be specific, GM's U.S. sales rose 0.9 percent to 689,521 units, with crossover sales jumping up 16 percent and trucks 3 percent year on year.
GM earned 504 million dollars from its joint ventures in China in the same period, down slightly from 518 million dollars in the same period of 2016. It sold 913,442 vehicles in China, down 5.2 percent.
