DETROIT — The top executive at General Motors Co. is having doubts about whether U.S. auto sales will recover this year as expected, even as the stock market rebounded a bit Tuesday from its huge losses.

Speaking to industry analysts about GM’s long-term financial plans Tuesday, GM CEO Dan Akerson said GM is sticking with its U.S. sales forecast of around 13 million cars and trucks for the year, but he’s not certain sales will make it that high.

“There’s a lot of turmoil in the business, and turmoil means uncertainty,” Akerson said. The company’s finances, he said, are strong enough to “power through these dips” in sales.

The statements came amid optimistic predictions for the future of GM, which has made billions just two years out of bankruptcy protection. Analysts were told that GM is looking to become more efficient in the future so it can make even stronger profits, and that it plans to raise factory capacity by 45 percent in Brazil, Russia, India and China by 2014 to take advantage of expected sales growth.

 


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