DETROIT - General Motors earned its largest profit ever in 2011, two years after it nearly collapsed.
Strong sales in the United States and China helped the carmaker turn a profit of $7.6 billion, beating its old record of $6.7 billion in 1997, during the pickup and sport utility vehicle boom.
GM is a different company than it was back then. It is smaller, has less debt, and its contract with the United Auto Workers is less costly. But it took a $49.5 billion government bailout and bankruptcy protection in 2009 to cut its bloated costs. GM earned a huge profit even though US sales of cars and trucks were near a historic low of 12.8 million.
In 2012, GM expects to increase its revenue as global sales grow and it charges more for its models.
Its ongoing effort to cut costs and take advantage of its global presence are also paying off. In the fourth quarter, costs fell by $500 million. It saved $100 million by cutting some advertising agencies and media managers. It also saved $100 million by centralizing engineering.
“We will build on these results as we bring more new cars, crossovers, and trucks to market,’’ chief executive Daniel Akerson said.
GM’s stock price closed yesterday at $27.17, up $2.24.
That’s good news for the US government, which still owns 26.5 percent of the company and needs the stock price to rise significantly before it can recoup all the bailout money. The bailout and GM’s performance already are contentious issues in this year’s presidential campaign.
Still, problems emerged for GM late last year. Its fourth-quarter profit fell 8 percent and missed Wall Street expectations. Europe and South America reported losses. And US sales growth slowed.
This year, GM expects to make less money per vehicle as the mix of sales shifts to cars from trucks, which have bigger sticker prices
Still, last year was a big success for the company.
Revenue rose 11 percent to $150 billion. Its per-share profit was $4.58. GM made the bulk of its income in North America, where its pretax profit totaled $7.2 billion. International Operations, which includes Asia, made $1.9 billion before taxes, but that was down.
GM sold 9.03 million cars and trucks globally in 2011, up 7.6 percent from the year before. That helped the company reclaim the title of world’s largest automaker from Toyota Motor Corp.
GM said 47,500 blue-collar workers in the United States will get $7,000 profit-sharing checks in March. The checks are based on the company’s North American performance and are a record for the company.
The government still owns 500 million shares of GM, which it got in exchange for the $49.5 billion bailout. Through earlier stock sales and loan repayments, the government has recouped about $22.3 billion of that money. The remaining shares would have to sell for about $53 each for the government to recoup the rest.