Car giant General Motors has reported better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by strong trading in North America and a reduced loss in Europe.

GM said net income for the third quarter was $757m (£471m), down from $1.5bn a year earlier.

However, the figure was hit by one-off items, and after stripping these out the underlying profit was ahead of analysts' forecasts.

Earnings in North America rose to $2.2bn, from $1.7bn a year earlier.

GM's European operations recorded a loss of $0.2bn, although this was an improvement on the $0.5bn loss seen in the third quarter of 2012.

"We made gains in the third quarter as we improved our North American margins and increased our global share on the strength of our Chevrolet brand," said Dan Akerson, GM's chairman and chief executive.

(Source: BBC)