After being affected by a factory strike in the fourth quarter, the automobile manufacturer General Motors expects potentially stronger profit growth for this year.

According to forecasts, GM will reduce losses in the electric and self-driving car sector and will be able to recover from the impacts of the strike. However, the Detroit automaker warned on Tuesday that there may be higher discounts in the future as factory capacity normalizes and the seller's market loses some tension.

Furthermore, a new employment contract with the United Auto Workers union will lead to higher costs and thus a decrease in profits. In the fourth quarter, GM's net profit increased by 5% to $2.1 billion.

This was primarily due to one-time expenses that had affected profitability in the previous year. However, operating income fell by 54% compared to the previous year, mainly due to the strike and losses in the electric vehicle sector.

The adjusted earnings per share, which includes one-time effects, amounted to 1.24 US dollars and thereby exceeded the average analyst estimate of 1.16 US dollars according to FactSet. The revenue remained unchanged at around 43 billion US dollars. The stocks rose by approximately 8% in pre-market trading.

The six-week strike by the United Auto Workers in the fall of last year led to a loss of 1.1 billion US dollars and reduced GM's annual operating profit by 14.6% to 12.4 billion US dollars.

Also, the losses in the field of electric vehicles amounting to 1.7 billion US dollars as well as the increased expenses for the self-driving car program Cruise burdened the result.

GM's profit in China also declined, due to increasing competition from local brands in China and price pressure. It decreased by 34% to $446 million. On Tuesday, GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson announced that the company expects a loss in the first quarter due to high inventory levels in China, but will return to profitability throughout the year.

GM expects an operating profit of $12 to $14 billion for this year. Approximately $1 billion of this is expected to be generated through cost savings at Cruise, which had scaled back its plans after an accident involving a pedestrian in San Francisco.

While GM remained profitable in its core business, the construction and sale of cars, the company had difficulties getting its future growth areas - electric and self-driving cars - on track.

Production and quality issues prevented mass production of electric vehicles last year, and demand for electric vehicles was weaker than expected across the industry. Jacobson stated that the results of the EV division will improve this year as the company ramps up factory work and introduces new models, including a battery-powered version of its impressive Cadillac Escalade SUV.

"We don't want to end up in a situation where we are so focused on increasing production that we forget about the consumers," said Jacobson. "So far, we are satisfied with the response to our models."