General Motors announced third-quarter earnings on Thursday that showed it has begun to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic quicker than expected.

GM said its net income rose almost 75% from July to October, to $4.05 billion. It reported net revenues of $35.5 billion and cash flow of $9.9 billion.

CEO Mary Barra said the automaker is "well-positioned" to respond to rising customer demand as the public continues to adjust to the health crisis.

"This year, and the third quarter, is a testament to GM's resilience," Barra said in a statement. "We entered the pandemic in a strong position and acted decisively to keep our teams safe, conserve cash and preserve liquidity, all while keeping our critical product programs on track."

GM said automotive liquidity was above target during the quarter and it repaid $5.2 billion of its revolving credit facilities.

"Sales in the United States and China are recovering faster than many people expected, and GM is benefiting from robust customer demand for our new vehicles and services, especially our full-size pickups and SUVs," said interim CFO John Stapleton.

"These strong fundamentals and the positive impact of our transformation and austerity measures are helping us to deliver solid earnings, generate significant cash and quickly repay the debt we incurred during the early days of the pandemic."

Ford and Fiat Chrysler also reported increases in demand for the third quarter.

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