“The fact that G.M. can be profitable at this level of sales is very, very positive,” said Charles Moore, senior managing director of Conway MacKenzie, a corporate turnaround consulting firm in Birmingham, Mich. “There’s still uncertainty in the economy, which could cause a blip in sales, but based on all of the indicators at this point, one would expect that they should be able to be profitable for the full year.”

G.M. last turned an annual profit in 2004, when automakers sold almost 17 million vehicles in the United States. This year, most analysts expect sales of fewer than 12 million.

“We used to be breaking even in the middle of the cycle,” Christopher P. Liddell, G.M.’s chief financial officer, said. “Now we’re breaking even at the bottom of the cycle.”

Given how quickly G.M. went from bankruptcy to profits, Mr. Liddell said he was trying to keep expectations for the company from rising too high, lest it fall into its previous habit of promising more than it could deliver. But he did not dissuade predictions that the automaker would continue to be profitable, saying he sees “nothing that I’m significantly concerned about” standing in the way.

Now G.M. is focused on increasing its profits through higher sales, he said, rather than through additional deep cuts.