GM sees strong growth in Brazil, Chile this year

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co <GM.N> forecasts strong sales growth in Brazil and Chile this year, marking the largest U.S. automaker's high hopes for a region it placed a new focus on last year.

"We're not thinking about new plants yet," the Colombian-born executive said.

The company plans to sell 700,000 vehicles in Brazil this year, up from 657,000 last year. In Chile, it aims to sell 50,000 vehicles this year, up from 47,000 last year.

GM named South America last year as its fourth tier of regional management, putting it on par with North America, Europe and the rest of the world in the largest U.S. automaker's structure.

The unit, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is the company's third-largest market after China and the United States.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman; writing by Scott Malone and Andre Grenon)