than-expected quarterly profit Thursday as weakness in South America and Russia limited demand and the automaker's tax rate was higher than expected. However, first-quarter profit jumped nearly eight times above a year ago on strong U.S. demand for pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and because the company did not need to set aside a huge amount of money to pay for recalls. Profit rose to $945 million from $125 million in the same period a year ago. The 2014 first-quarter results included losses related to recalls, including those from a defective ignition switch linked to dozens of fatalities. Revenue fell 4.5 percent to $35.7 billion. Sales were hurt by lower volume in Brazil and Russia as well as the impact of weakening currencies in South America due to the strong U.S. dollar. GM said in March it would close a Russian factory and discontinue its Opel brand there due to weak demand. Both the profit and revenue figures missed Wall Street expectations. In the United States, where GM earns most of its money, low gasoline prices have caused pickup and SUV sales to soar. The company sold nearly 200,000 pickups, the best first quarter for the vehicles in eight years. It also sold almost 55,000 big SUVs, the best first-quarter period in seven years.
