DETROIT — After years of big discounts, GM is charging customers more for its cars and trucks, and it’s helping the bottom line.
General Motors Co. said Thursday that its second-quarter profit nearly doubled to $2.5 billion. Higher pricing — mostly in North America — added $1 billion to its results. Revenue rose 19 percent.
Despite the good news, GM’s stock faltered as the market saw its worst drop in three years. Investors fretted about GM’s admission that the second half won’t be as strong as the first. GM shares fell 4 percent, to $25.99, their lowest closing price since the company’s November public stock offering.
But the earnings show how far GM has come since the days before its 2009 bankruptcy, when it cranked out too many mediocre products and was forced to offer big discounts to clear them off the lots.
The Chevrolet Cruze, for example, was the best-selling car in the U.S. in June. Buyers are paying an average of $4,300 more for it than its predecessor, the Cobalt.
GM said it earned $2.5 billion, or $1.54 a share, nearly twice the $1.3 billion, or 85 cents, it earned in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue rose almost 19 percent, to $39.4 billion.
