Chevy Volt

Tim Lee, the new head of GM's international operations, say the markets outside North America and Europe already account for 44 percent of the Detroit carmaker's total volume.

"Just the mathematics indicate we'll have a ratio greater than 44 percent in 2010," Lee said in an interview at the Beijing motor show. "It's very important and growing."

"We are a strong contributor to the profitability of General Motors," he said.

Lee, who was appointed to the Shanghai-based post in December, oversees operations in 130 countries throughout Russia, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America – including the hot markets of China and India. All of the major markets are poised for big gains this year, he says.

Booming China

The optimistic outlook is a vivid reminder of why America's biggest automaker left its international operations largely untouched last year when it entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy, axing brands such as Pontiac, Hummer and Saab and shuttering plants in its own backyard.

Half a world away in booming China, GM's sales will finally rival U.S. volume this year.

"In 2010, it's probably a jump ball," Lee said of GM's sales tally in China versus the United States. "Add up the numbers in the first quarter, and I think we probably did outsell the U.S."

GM and its joint ventures are expecting to achieve their target of 2 million unit sales this year in China. That is four years ahead of its five-year plan, which the company announced just a year ago. Last year, GM sold a record 1.83 million vehicles in the world's top auto market.

To power growth in China, GM plans to introduce 14 new and upgraded models here between 2010 and 2011. Among those cars is the Chevrolet Volt, its upcoming extended-range hybrid.

China exceeded the United States as the world's biggest auto market last year. In the first quarter of this year alone, total vehicle sales in China jumped 72 percent to 4.61 million units.

Lee expects China's lead will only widen: "It would be hard for the U.S. to catch up."

Look to other emerging markets, and the outlook is just as bright.

Global Growth

GM sees 9 percent sales growth in Brazil, 10 percent growth in Russia and a doubling of volume in India, albeit from a small base of just 60,000 units.

The company sells only passenger cars in India and sees those sales climbing to 130,000 in 2010. Lee has challenged his local manager to win 5 percent of the local market this year.

But GM has bigger ambitions.

The company is finishing a new engine plant in India. And in December, it announced a new venture with its Chinese partner, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., or SAIC, to build and sell small cars and commercial vehicles in the Subcontinent.

Once commercial vehicles are added to GM's lineup in India, Lee predicts GM will grab 10 percent of that market in the next couple of years.

The trend is all part of GM's new motto to build where it sells. And in the area overseen by General Motors International Operations, it has production capacity in the 4 to 5 million unit range – or roughly half of GM's total global output capacity.

Expanding that international business will not only bolster GM's ability repay U.S. government loans, it will move the government-owned company closer to a public stock offering.

Says Lee: "We are very focused on the sustainability of the company and the next steps thereafter, which are obviously the concept of an IPO."