General Motors should be "solidly profitable" when demand for new cars and trucks rebounds to normal levels, a top executive said leading up to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Bob Lutz, GM's vice-chairman, said during a speech to the Society of Automotive Analysts on Sunday that the U.S. automaker had made strides only months after it restructured through more than $50 billion US in federal aid and a government-led bankruptcy.

"I think we are finally in a position where, from a financial structure, we should be [profitable]," Lutz said. "Anything remotely resembling normal industry demand, we should be solidly profitable."

General Motors is pinning hopes on the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, a compact car. (General Motors/Associated Press)Lutz's prediction followed statements last week by chairman and interim CEO Ed Whitacre Jr., who said GM could be profitable this year depending on economic factors.

2010 outlook

For 2010, analysts at the annual outlook conference described an industry in the middle of massive structural changes marked by government intervention, new competition from India and China, and technological innovation that could fundamentally alter vehicles.

John Casesa, managing partner with Casesa Shapiro Group, said that while the landscape for the industry had shifted rapidly in the past year, companies that have restructured to break even at U.S. annual sales of 10 million to 11 million vehicles could post sharp profits when sales levels return.

U.S. sales fell about 20 per cent in 2009 to 10.4 million vehicles, GM's worst performance in nearly three decades. GM is predicting U.S. sales of about 11 million to 12 million vehicles in 2010, Lutz said, raising hopes it could approach profitability.

Outlining GM's product lineup, Lutz said the company has high hopes for the Chevrolet Cruze, a compact car scheduled to be released later this year that gets 40 miles per gallon. The Cruze could reach annual global sales of nearly one million units a year, he said.

Lutz also said GM would build a production version of the Cadillac Converj, a luxury version of the Chevrolet Volt, the automaker's highly anticipated extended range plug-in hybrid to be released later this year. Lutz said the Converj is at least two years away from production.

The North American International Auto Show opens to the media Monday and to the public on Saturday, running to Jan. 24.