The company has operations in the US, Europe, Canada, Mexico, Germany, the UK, Australia, Spain, and Brazil. Although the market was forecast to decline in this area, it actually rose to a historical high of 16.9 million units. In 1986, sales of these products hit a record 16.1 million units. This year should yield impressive results, too, given that the US economy is still expanding and demand from Asian nations has begun to return. Some forecasts say sales of light vehicles could reach 17.7 million units in 2000.
Consumers have money to spend, and they're spending it in abundance at the nation's retailers.
Wal-Mart Stores now operates discount stores and supercenters in all 50 states. In fact, Wal-Mart de Mexico also ranked high on World Trade's Latin America list. The group is the second largest by weight in the Mexican Stock Exchange in terms of market capitalization. However, this segment makes up only a small portion of the company's overall sales. Since 1995, sales of GE Capital Services have become increasingly important to General Electric Company.