NORTH AMERICA OPERATIONS IMPROVE FOR GM.(Business)

Byline: ALAN L. ADLER Associated Press

General Motors Corp. pledged Thursday that its cash-bleeding North American operations will break even before taxes next year, a stunning turnaround from multibillion-dollar losses the last two years.

However, that could still leave a substantial net loss for the corporation depending on how weak the European economy is next year, William Hoglund, executive vice president, said.

GM also said it will likely identify during the first two weeks of December seven more North American plants it plans to close.

In a presentation to more than 200 Wall Street analysts and pension fund managers, GM's top brass …