The world-wide economy may be in the shitter right now and the US automakers may be struggling to stay afloat (see bailout article for more details). but there is a little good news for troubled companies such as General Motors. According to sales records, General Motors sold over 8 million vehicles worldwide in 2008. Does 8 million vehicles sold sound like the company is doing badly? To answer this we need to look at where these sales came from.

Sales abroad jumped up in several segments inlcuding Latin America, Africa and Asian regions. Growth in these regions was at about 3% from last year helping to reduce the sting of a -21% in North America and -7% in Europe. Growth in key segments such as Africa andthe Middle East is good news for GM as the populations there are young and GM execs feel there are a lot of untapped car buyers to be had. Despite a dismal short-term future forecast, at least things have the potential to improve in the future. Big_Blocker out.