General Motors announced on Thursday a more confident forecast for U.S. industry sales this year and said it expects to end January with higher sales compared with a year ago.

GM projects the industry would sell 11.5 million to 12 million vehicles nationwide this year, up from the previous projection of 11 million to 12 million sales, according to Mike DiGiovanni, executive director of global market and industry analysis.

The Detroit automaker strengthened its forecast because of signs that the economy is strengthening, he said.

“Clearly the U.S. and global economies are continuing to strengthen,” he told journalists on Thursday.

GM’s total U.S. sales will be up “double-digit” in January over a year ago, and the company also will see an increase in market share, he said.

GM sold 128,198 vehicles in January 2009 in the U.S., down 48.9% compared with that month in 2008.

“We think this will be the fourth month in a row that our four brands … have increased retail sales year over year, which is really good news,” he said.

He also said GM expects fleet sales to be up over December but calls it in a reasonable range.

Official January results for GM and other automakers are expected to be released on Feb. 2.

With Toyota suspending U.S. sales of eight models because of issues related to sticking accelerator pedals, GM has begun a marketing campaign aimed at luring Toyota and Lexus customers to GM.

Industry analyst Brian Johnson of Barclays Capital said in a note that GM could see a temporary market share boost of 2.4%.