DETROIT -- General Motors Co. should be "solidly profitable" when demand for new cars and trucks rebounds to normal levels, a top executive said on the eve of the Detroit auto show.

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

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

Lutz's prediction followed statements last week by chairman and interim CEO Ed Whitacre Jr., who said GM could be profitable this year although it would depend on economic factors.

Looking ahead to 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.

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