Mubasher: General Motors (GM) on Friday said that its earnings for last year are expected to exceed earlier estimates, predicting even a stronger performance for this year.

Pretax profits are set to come in higher than the range from $5.80 to $6.20 previously projected in the third quarter of the past year, the US largest car manufacturer’s executives said in a presentation to investors.

Moreover, the auto giant expects earnings per share (EPS) to be in the range of $6.50 to $7, compared with the $5.86 estimated by Wall Street analysts.

The profit forecast comes despite a drop in sales in the US and slowing sales growth in China.

GM does not expect any further job cuts through 2020, the company’s CEO Mary Barra said.

Last year, the automobile maker said it planned to shut down five plants in North America and axe 14,000 salaried and blue-collar workers.