GM plans to boost sales by expanding Buick, Chevy

DETROIT — General Motors Co.'s top sales analyst says he is confident the company can make up the sales it will lose when it sheds four of its eight U.S. brands.

GM's executive director of industry analysis, Mike DiGiovanni, said Wednesday the automaker expects to capture buyers from the four brands by expanding the Chevrolet and Buick model lineups.

The automaker has decided to phase out Pontiac and sell Hummer, Saturn and Saab. Along with Chevrolet and Buick, GM will focus on Cadillac and GMC.

DiGiovanni would not say what models would be added to the Chevrolet and Buick lineups. But he asserted the automaker's projections of maintaining an 18 to 19 percent U.S. market share are reachable.