DETROIT — General Motors Co. reported third-quarter earnings of $1.38 billion Thursday, nearly doubling its $698 million profit from the period a year earlier as margins improved in its core North American operations.
For most of the year, GM has been grappling with about $4 billion in costs associated with safety recalls.
The performance exceeded analysts’ expectations, despite special charges that included reducing the value of assets in the troubled Russian car market. The company appeared to benefit from improving sales of newer models in North America and China.
Mary T. Barra, GM’s chief executive, called the results very solid and said the company was succeeding despite turmoil hurting overseas markets.
“Despite industry challenges in Russia and South America, our earnings were on plan as we continue to execute our customer-focused strategy,” Barra said.
GM, the nation’s largest automaker, reported revenue of $39.3 billion, up slightly from about $39 billion in the third quarter of 2013.
In North America, the company said it had pretax profit of $2.45 billion, compared with $2.19 billion in the period a year earlier.
Results were mixed in international markets. The company’s chronic problems in Europe continued, as its losses increased to $387 million from a $238 million loss in the period a year earlier. And it posted a $32 million loss in South America, where it had a pretax profit of $284 million in the third quarter of 2013.
GM’s pretax profit fell to $259 million in its international division, which includes China, from $323 million in the period a year earlier.
GM could face more costs related to the legal fallout from its recall of millions of small cars equipped with faulty ignition switches. A compensation fund administered by lawyer Kenneth Feinberg has linked the defect to 29 deaths and 27 serious injuries.
But the financial toll of the recall, and a blitz of subsequent safety actions on other models, appears to be waning.
At the same time, GM expects to benefit from the introduction of several new products in the fourth quarter, including midsize pickup trucks in the United States.
“Strong performance in North America, where we achieved a 9.5 percent margin, anchored our overall results,” said Chuck Stevens, GM’s chief financial officer. “We remain focused on flawlessly launching key vehicles globally in the coming months.”
Barra told analysts in a conference that GM has a large upside for vehicle sales and development of its brands. But she acknowledged that the company still had work to do to rebuild its reputation after recalling about 30 million vehicles this year.
“I know there’s a ‘show me’ attitude out there, and believe me, that is a powerful motivator for me and for our team,” she said.
She added that GM had repaired about 1.2 million of the 2.6 million small cars that were recalled this year for defective ignition switches, which can cause the vehicles to suddenly lose power and disable air bags.
“We have enough parts to repair all the impacted vehicles,” Barra said.
GM said it expects its margins in North America will continue to improve in the fourth quarter, and reiterated its previous target of achieving profitability in Europe by 2016.
In the third quarter, the company sold 2.45 million vehicles, an increase from 2.4 million in the same period a year earlier.