• $4.7 billion General Motors’ posted earnings for the 2010 fiscal year
• $7.6 billion General Motors’ posted earnings for the 2011 fiscal year source

• » What a record to break! One year removed from bankruptcy, American automaker General Motors posted record-setting earnings for the 2011 fiscal year. In recent weeks/months many investors worried that GM’s overseas operations would drag down the company’s year-end totals. GM lost a total of $747 million in European markets, with $562 million of the losses occurring in the fourth quarter alone. In South America, where the company reported $818 million in earnings for 2010, GM reported a net loss of $122 million. However, not only did the company defy global expectations, GM managed to break its former $6.7 billion earnings record, set in 1996.

• 4-9% expected increase in U.S. auto sales in 2012 source

• » Pulling out the big guns: This week’s Detroit Auto Show is a giant coming-out party for an auto industry that was struggling to keep the engine running just a couple of years ago. But, while those times are certainly not gone entirely, they’ve certainly improved in recent years, which reflects in the boldness of this year’s models. In fact Chrysler, the weakest of the the three auto companies, is actually looking like a bright spot for Fiat, whose Chief Executive, Sergio Marchionne, invested in the company at its weakest point. “He entered Chrysler at rock bottom and will now capitalize on a U.S. recovery — the timing was perfect,” said automotive analyst Philippe Barrier. But maybe you’re like us and you don’t care about the specifics of the recovery and just want to see cool new cars. Well, the Detroit Free Press has you covered.

• $100 billion the amount GM lost between 2005 and 2009, when they had to be bailed out by the feds
• $4.7 billion the amount they earned in 2010 – they’re doing the Dougie in the boardroom today source

• » It’s not all up-and-up, though: At $510 million, the company’s fourth-quarter numbers, while still profitable, paled in comparison to the rest of the year. Still though, the fact that it’s a profit is definitely Dougie-worthy, no matter how you look at it.

• I haven’t gotten any questions yet today like, ‘Will you be here next year?’
• Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne • On the company’s slow bounceback. Chrysler hasn’t had the dramatic turnaround that Ford and GM have had since the nadir of the financial crisis, but they appear to be making headway with a new generation of vehicles – particularly the newest Jeep Grand Cherokee, which has done well despite the fact that SUVs have fallen out of fashion lately. The company’s collaboration with Fiat has also helped buoy Chrysler. So, how about paying back those loans from the bailout and other sources? “We are going to repay one hundred cents on every dollar of loans we received,” Marchionne said. source

• $23.1
  billion the size of GM’s IPO, officially the biggest global IPO on record
• $49.5
  billion the amount they owe the government for their bailout source

• » What’s needed next? If the government hopes to break even on its huge investment in GM, the stock needs to hit around $50 a share. It’s currently at $33.80, but if, say, the Chevy Volt is a huge success on the market, it could definitely hit that mark.

• I don’t know where the market is going to be a year or two down the road, so I can’t make such a bold statement. Sure, I’m hopeful, and I’m not saying it can’t happen. I think the company is well positioned … so things look good for General Motors.
• GM CEO Dan Akerson • Not committing to a full repayment of the taxpayers’ money from the bailout. It sounds like a hedging of the bets, honestly. If he says it now and the stock goes south, he’s on the record offering a promise he can’t keep. For what it’s worth, though, GM’s stock is doing boffo so far in its first day of trading, already up six percent in early-morning trading. source

• $20.1
  billion the amount raised by GM’s IPO earlier today (which is amazing, and the biggest ever)
• $4.35
  billion the amount in preferred shares the company sold, far above the $4 billion anticipated
• 33%
  stake the amount of GM the government will still own after the IPO, down from 61 percent source

• 30% the increase in the total size of GM’s post-bailout IPO tomorrow
• 478M number of shares to be offered to investors; more could be offered
• $22.6B the potential size of the IPO, which would be the biggest ever source

• $2 billion in profits for GM in the third quarter alone (*golf clap*)

Three reasons why this is good news:

• one It’s shaping up to be their first profitable year since 2004 – long before we heard anything about auto industry bailouts.
• two Most of the profits came from North America, where the company has been fairly weak in recent years. (Too many SUVs.)
• three GM has an IPO coming very soon, and a solid performance like this bodes well for their return to stocks. source