AUTO INDUSTRY Global sales help GM stay on track,

GM expects a big jump in earnings within two years.
DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. is on track to achieve its second-quarter and full-year financial targets, helped in part by stronger-than-expected global automotive sales so far this year, GM chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner said Monday.
GM's European division, however, continues to pose challenges, and the automaker said it expected to lose money in Europe again this year after initially forecasting at least break-even results.
Wagoner and other GM executives, speaking at their midyear meeting with Wall Street analysts, said the company was poised to meet its goal of earning $2 to $2.25 a share in the second quarter and $7 a share for all of 2004, excluding special items.
Report scheduled
GM is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings July 21.
For now, the consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts is for GM to earn $2.21 a share in the second quarter and $7.16 for the year, according to Thomson First Call.
"Longer term, we continue to work toward our goal of achieving earnings of $10 per share by 2006," said GM vice chairman and chief financial officer John Devine.
Wagoner said he was encouraged by predictions that the global industry was on pace to top 61 million sales this year, which would be a new record. He said GM expects worldwide volume to increase by 10 million to 12 million units over the next five or six years, the majority of the growth coming in emerging markets such as China, Korea, India and Poland.
Detroit-based GM said last week it plans to spend $3 billion in China over the next three years, an investment that will more than double its vehicle assembly capacity to 1.3 million units. GM plans to introduce 20 new vehicles in China during that time.
Wagoner said GM was on track to meet its goal of generating $5 billion in cash this year, but he wasn't satisfied with profits in some regions. He said GM's operations in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa were performing a little better than expected, North America and Asia Pacific were "on track" and Europe is "a bit rougher than we expected."
Specifically, GM North America is on pace to hit its earnings target of $1 billion to $1.4 billion this year. GM Asia Pacific is on track to earn between $700 million and $800 million. In the Latin America/Africa/Mid-East region, GM said it expects to narrow losses further than its earlier goal of a loss of $100 million to $200 million.