GM’s Q4 profit

Stronger pricing and increased sales in North America drove General Motors' net profit to $7.6 billion last year, even as the worsening picture in Europe hurt its fourth-quarter results.

Net income for the October-December period fell 7 percent from the year-earlier period to $472 million, the automaker said today. A $562 million loss in Europe — the steepest of the year there — weighed on the automaker's bottom line. North American earnings nearly doubled in the quarter.

The results magnified the pressure on GM to stem the red ink at Opel, its European unit. The losses there came despite a restructuring begun more than two years ago that resulted in $900 million in restructuring costs through Sept. 30, including 5,800 job cuts, according to a regulatory filing.