GM Expects First European Profit in 2016 After Years of Losses

General Motors announced Wednesday that it expects to report its first profit in Europe in 2016 in more than a decade. It also expects to hit targeted North American operating margins this year, according to Reuters.

Projections were reported just two days after its rival, Ford Motor Co, disappointed investors with its current financial outlook, according to Reuters.

Previously, GM said it would reach those targets by mid-decade, but it offered the more specific timetable and outlined other forecasts, during its investor meeting at the company's test track right outside Detroit.

Investors aren't so sure that GM will be able to keep its promises.

"GM is still very much in a 'show me' status with the investment community," Gabelli & Co analyst Brian Sponheimer said, according to Reuters. "That it has the confidence to target a profitable Europe is promising, but solid execution by this unproven management team will ultimately win over investors."

GM's stock is down more than 20 percent this year and trades below its autumn 2010 initial public offering price of $33, according to Reuters.

Analysts and investors alike also worry that GM is at the peak of its product cycle, having launched new versions of its full-size pickup trucks and SUVs.

GM President Dan Ammann recently said those views are "sadly mistaken," pointing to plans to offer new or refreshed models at a rate of about 30 to 50 percent of the automaker's annual volume through 2019, according to Reuters.

"We have an absolute onslaught of product that is coming at us," he said, according to Reuters. "This is not the end. It's just the very beginning."

Ford cut its profit outlook for 2014, on account of higher recall costs in North America and steeper losses in Russia and South America.

GM has not provided an update for its overall 2014 financial results, though analysts believe the company faces the same market pressures hurting Ford, according to Reuters.

In July, GM said that it was running "on or ahead" of pace for its previously disclosed plan to report modestly better 2014 operating earnings. GM's operating profit was $8.6 billion in 2013.