Sales by SAIC-GM-Wuling, GM's mini-vehicle joint venture

Sales by SAIC-GM-Wuling, GM's mini-vehicle joint venture Global automakers are relying increasingly on sales in China deportation and other developing countries to offset weakness in the U.S. and other traditional markets.

Thanks partly to its strong performance in China, the company forecast Wednesday that it earned up to $2.1 billion from July to September, a boost ahead of the company's Nov. 18 initial stock offering.

Despite the monthly record for GM's October sales in China, growth overall in the market has slowed in recent months, particularly with a weakening in demand for minivehicles that helped buoy the company's China sales to 1.8 million last year.

Sales by SAIC-GM-Wuling, GM's mini-vehicle joint venture, rose only 5.1 per cent over a year earlier, to 93,935 units, the company said.