Springtime for Detroit: Back on Road to Profit : Autos: Car and truck sales race ahead of otherwise sluggish consumer spending. The Big Three will report earnings later this month.

Combined second-quarter profits of the Big Three auto makers could reach $2 billion, according to analysts who call the industry’s recovery one of the few positive signs in a stalled economy.

The April-June period, typically the best for auto sales, could help push General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. to full-year operating profits.

All three had improved sales, gained retail market share and sold more highly profitable light trucks than low-profit economy models in the quarter, compared to the second quarter last year.

“More loaded Jeep Grand Cherokees and fewer Dodge Shadows is an extreme example of what’s going on in general,” S. G. Warburg analyst David Healy said Wednesday.

Detroit has flourished even though consumer confidence is low and Americans are spending cautiously on general merchandise.

According to First Call, a Boston-based investors service, analysts expect GM to earn $593 million, or 84 cents a share. Ford is expected to earn $637 million, or $1.30 a share.

GM and Ford both have exposure in Europe, where recession has cut earnings estimates. GM is expected to be somewhat profitable there; Ford’s prospects are iffy.

Chrysler, which mainly exports vehicles to Europe from North America, is expected to earn $502 million, or $1.44 a share, before onetime gains from selling stock in Mitsubishi Corp. and a plastics business owned by Chrysler’s Acustar parts subsidiary.

All three, beginning with Chrysler, will report their earnings late this month.

Because of restated earnings due to future retiree insurance charges, GM lost $703.2 million, or $1.18 a share, and Ford earned $387 million, or 70 cents a share, in last year’s second quarter.

Chrysler took the accounting charge for medical benefits in the first quarter, so its second-quarter 1992 earnings of $178 million, or 54 cents a share, were unaffected.

Analysts rate Chrysler highly, are warming to GM and are cautious about Ford.

The growing confidence in GM stands in contrast to a year ago, when a board-led revolt began a management shake-up that resulted in many cost-cutting programs beginning to pay off.

“We’ve had two quarters of solid evidence of the restructuring, enough data to make people comfortable,” said Wertheim Schroder & Co. analyst John Casesa. “Now people are looking for reasons to buy the stock.”

GM stock closed Wednesday at $44.625 a share, up 50 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has gained about 12% in value in recent weeks.

Casesa placed a “buy” rating on GM stock Oct. 14.