General Motors (GM) earned its highest profit ever last year. The 103-year-old company made $7.6 billion in 2011, up 62% from 2010.

Full-year revenue rose 11% to $105 billion in 2011.

North America led the way with a $7.2-billion pre-tax profit. But problems surfaced that could hurt future earnings. GM lost $700 million before taxes in Europe and lost $100 million in South America.

But the company posted a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as disappointing performance overseas offset strong results in North America.

?We obviously have work to do still and a long way to get to the objectives we ultimately want to get to,? GM CFO Dan Ammann said. ?We clearly have work to do in Europe and South America.?

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