GM's Earnings Fell for 2012

Profits dropped 36 percent over 2011

General Motors Co. profits grew substantially in the fourth quarter, but for all of 2012, the company made less money than it did the year before.

GM said its fourth-quarter profit grew 89% to $892 million from the same period a year earlier. For the entire year, profits sank 36% to $4.9 billion as earnings in North America leveled and losses in recession-plagued Europe mounted. Sales rose to $39.3 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $38 billion in the same period a year earlier.

"It was a modest miss but not terribly far off from where [investor] expectations were," said Peter Nesvold, an analyst with Jefferies & Co.