General Motors Corp., which is expanding sales of luxury vehicles to bolster profits, unveiled a Saab small car and Hummer prototype pickup truck, both of which it plans to show at this month's Los Angeles Auto Show.

The world's largest automaker is trying to tap into growing demand for more-profitable upscale brands by basing them on platforms of less expensive models. The 9-2X, a hatchback based on a Subaru small car, goes on sale in July. The Hummer H3T would be based on a Chevrolet, analysts said.

Consumers have shown they're willing to pay a premium for Hummer and Saab vehicles developed off existing General Motors platforms. The brands' best-selling vehicles, the Hummer H2 sport-utility vehicle and Saab 9-3, each share parts with similar Chevrolet models.

"General Motors is trying to focus on the brands that have the most potential in them," said Lincoln Merrihew, an analyst with Compete Inc. who advises automakers on buying trends. "They need to fill up the product pipeline cost effectively to leverage these brands."

U.S. sales of General Motors' Cadillac, Hummer and Saab brands rose 17 percent to about 270,000 units this year through November while total company sales fell 1.4 percent.

General Motors officials have predicted that annual sales of the Hummer eventually will surpass 100,000, up from about 35,000 in 2003, as the company adds models such as a midsize H3 as early as 2005. The H3 will be similar to the H3T prototype and will share parts with the new Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups, analysts said. The automaker builds the Colorado and Canyon at a plant in Shreveport, La.

For the Saab 9-2X, General Motors turned to the Subaru Impreza, a four-door hatchback built in Japan by Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. General Motors owns 20 percent of Fuji Heavy. The Sweden-based Saab unit has said it expects to sell at least 7,000 9-2X cars a year with prices starting below $25,000.

The Hummer H2 has a base price of $50,000, and the Saab 9-3 starts at about $26,000.

The auto show starts Dec. 29 with press previews and runs through Jan. 11.

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