General Motors (GM) expects its sales in China this year to exceed 1.6 million vehicles, AP reported, citing GM’s China CEO. "We have now exceeded 1.3 million units with three months to go so we will probably exceed 1.6 million," CEO Kevin Wale wrote in an online exchange with reporters. The company’s 55% surge in growth in the first nine months of the year were helped by tax cuts and subsidies for small, fuel-efficient cars. The rise in demand has helped China to become the world’s leading auto market, with 9.66 million vehicles sold in the first nine months of 2009, up 34% year-on-year. China’s auto sales are forecast to soar to 12.6 million units this year, up 35% from 2008.