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G.M. expects production to return to normal this year as a chip shortage eases.

After a year of production disruptions due to a global computer chip shortage, General Motors said on Tuesday that its factories will be running at a normal clip again by the second half of the year.

The automaker said that the supply of chips was improving and that it expected car and truck production to follow.

“We expect to see production improve,” Mary T. Barra, G.M.’s chief executive, said in a conference call. “We’ve said the improvements in the first quarter will pull through the year. Definitely, by the second half of this year we’ll be able to get closer to full capability.”

Along with the upbeat production outlook, G.M. reported $10 billion in profit for 2021, a 55 percent increase from 2020 and its highest total ever. Its previous record year was 2015, when the company earned $9.7 billion.

The chip shortage forced G.M. and other automakers to idle plants for weeks at time last year, limiting sales. The company sold 2.9 million vehicles in 2021, down from 3.4 million in 2020.

Despite the sales drop, the company’s 2021 revenue rose to $127 billion, from $122.5 billion. G.M. used the chips it had to produce the most popular and higher-priced models, in particular large pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, the company said.

A return to nearly full production by G.M. and other automakers could help lift the U.S. economy and create manufacturing, sales and related jobs.

In a statement, G.M. said it expected to make $9.4 billion to $10.8 billion in profit this year.

Ms. Barra expressed optimism about G.M.’s efforts to increase production of electric vehicles, one of the industry’s fastest-growing segments. The company has taken 59,000 reservations for its electric GMC Hummer and 110,000 reservations for an electric version of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.

While the Hummer has just gone into production, G.M. won’t start making the Silverado until the spring of 2023. By comparison, Ford Motor is expected to start selling an electric F-150 pickup truck in the next few months, and has said it has more than 200,000 reservations for the vehicle.

G.M. aims to produce one million electric vehicles a year by 2025 and expects a rapid increase in sales. “One million units is not enough for the steep inflection in demand for General Motors electric vehicles that we expect,” Ms. Barra said.

Last week, Tesla reported it earned $5.5 billion in 2021 as sales of its electric cars nearly doubled. Ford will report its 2021 earnings on Thursday.

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