DETROIT -

General Motors has pushed its streak of profitable quarters to six with the most recently completed period, and the company’s top boss stressed during a conference call Thursday the continued importance of three fundamentals to GM’s success.

In wrapping up his opening remarks during the call, GM chairman and chief executive officer Dan Akerson boiled it down to a trio of factors that “positions us well to deliver long-term sustainable growth for General Motors.”

He emphasized that the automaker remains confident that such success can be achieved through combining the “new business model focusing on building great products that drive higher share and that we can sell at higher prices,” being the automaker with the most opportunity to capitalize on global growth and having a much lower risk profile.

As for the most recently completed period, GM pulled in net income of $2.5 billion, an 89-percent hike compared to the $1.3 billion generated a year ago.

“In summary, we had a solid quarter,” Akerson said. “Each region posted a profit. Our cash flow was strong. And most importantly, our fuel-efficient vehicles continued to perform well in the marketplace and we have more coming.”

He did emphasize, however, that there is “more work to do.”

Sharing more results, quarterly revenue was $39.4 billion, up $6.2 billion year-over-year. EBIT adjusted climbed from $2 billion to $3 billion.

The automaker sold 2.32 million vehicles globally during the quarter, compared to 2.22 million in the first quarter and 2.16 million sales in the year-ago period.

Global market share came in at 12.2 percent, up from 11.4 percent in the prior quarter and 11.6 percent in the second quarter of 2010.

In North America, GM sold 784,000 units, compared to 684,000 in the first quarter and 716,000 sales in the year-ago period.

North American market share was 19.1 percent, with a 20-percent share in the U.S.

“GM’s investments in fuel economy, design and quality are paying off around the world as our global market share growth and financial results bear out,” Akerson said. “Our progress has been steady, and we’re preparing to launch more new products this year, including the Chevrolet Sonic in North America, the Opel/Vauxhall Zafira in Europe and the Baojun 630 in China to keep the momentum going.”

Continuing along to share more global results, automotive net cash from operating activities was at $5.0 billion, up from $3.8 billion a year ago. Automotive free cash flow totaled $3.8 billion, compared to $2.8 billion in the second quarter of 2010.

Breaking down the results by region, EBIT adjusted for GM North America came in at $2.2 billion, up $0.6 billion year-over-year. Meanwhile, GM Europe’s total came in at $0.1 billion, a $0.3 billion year-over-year gain.

GM International Operations pulled in $0.6 billion in EBIT adjusted, a $0.1 billion year-over-year hike, while GM South America’s total fell to $0.1 billion, a $0.1 billion drop.

Moving along, GM’s total automotive liquidity at quarter’s end came in at $39.7 billion, with automotive cash and marketable securities climbing from $30.6 billion to $33.8 billion between the ends of the first and second quarters.

Looking forward, GM is anticipating a moderate decline in second-half EBIT adjusted as compared to the first six months of the year, but it believes there will be a gain in full-year EBIT adjusted.

“Our earnings and cash flow are solid, and we’re going to keep working on the fundamentals of strong brands, great products and operating leverage to create profitable growth around the world,” stated Dan Ammann, senior vice president and chief financial officer.

During Thursday’s call, GM’s CFO for North America Chuck Stevens also touched on pricing and incentives.

 He explained that the second half will have some “wait and see”  dynamics when it comes to incentives, largely hinging on what the Japanese brands and others do when supply comes back up, “but the base vehicle pricing will be improved in the second half of the year.”