General Motors profit falls

Chicago, May 3 (IANS) General Motors said its profit fell 13.8 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from last year's $1 billion.

The largest US automaker reported net income of $865 million in the first quarter, or 58 cents a share, which beat analysts' expectations, reported Xinhua.

GM earned an adjusted $1.4 billion in North America before interest and taxes in the first quarter. Company officials attributed weaker profit in North America to GM's numerous new vehicle launches and a drop in wholesale deliveries as it changes over plants. 

Meanwhile, the automaker lost $175 million in Europe in the quarter, as against a $294-million loss reported in the first quarter of 2012.

Starting from the first quarter of 2013, GM began to report revenue and profits based on the region a vehicle is sold instead of the region a vehicle is built. 

GM was the last among the US three auto giants in Detroit to report first-quarter earnings. Ford Motor Co. last week posted its first-quarter profit at $1.6 billion, up 15.4 percent; Chrysler Group LLC reported profit of $166 million in the first quarter, down 65 percent year on year.