DETROIT - General Motors Co. -- laying the foundation for an initial public offering as early as this fall -- told analysts today it will introduce 70 new or upgraded models in international markets by 2014, Automotive News reported.

New product launches and robust demand in emerging markets are crucial to the automaker's growth, GM executives said.

Nearly half of the growth in global automotive sales through 2014 will come in Brazil, Russia, India and China, analysts forecast. Those markets accounted for 74 percent of GM's sales last year.

And in the first quarter, international markets accounted for 52 percent of GM's sales volume.

"Nobody can top our position in the world," GM Chairman Ed Whitacre told analysts. "And we are maintaining a balance sheet that supports and grows the business rather than constrains it."

GM is on track this year to be the first automaker to sell more than 2 million vehicles in China, now the world's biggest market, said Tim Lee, head of GM's international operations.

Chinese new vehicle sales will rise 20 percent this year to 16.5 million.