The strong sales outlook comes as the inventory of unsold cars was shrinking.

A big backlog of unsold cars has forced auto makers to cut production.

The company also has a substantial inventory of unsold cars.

G.M. started last month with an unusually large inventory of unsold cars.

But the dealer said his expenses had been enormous, including $70,000 in monthly interest on $7 million worth of unsold cars and trucks.

There has been plenty of bad news already, beyond the backlog of unsold cars.

Saturn cut production a month ago by 29 percent, because unsold cars were piling up on dealers' lots.

Their factories will remain closed for up to six weeks in order to reduce stocks of unsold cars.

It has been used by American automakers as a dumping ground for their unsold cars to create the appearance of sales.

Car dealers now swap unsold cars among themselves across state lines as they find customers for individual vehicles.