GM completes government loan payments, increases Chevy Volt, Malibu focus

General Motors has made a final payment of $5.8 billion to the U.S. and Canadian governments, which complete the automaker’s $6.7 billion loan total. The automaker wired $4.7 billion to the U.S. Treasury Department and $1.1 billion to Canada.

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“I am very pleased to announce that, as of today, General Motors has repaid, in full and with interest, the loans made last July by the U.S. Treasury and Export Development Canada,” said GM chief executive Ed Whitacre, speaking at a plant in Fairfax, Kan., where GM builds Chevrolet Malibu and Buick LaCrosse sedans.

Whitacre also announced GM would make two big investments for production of the next-generation Malibu: $136 million in the Fairfax facility, which will become the primary production point for the car.

Likewise, GM has invested $121 million in its Detroit-Hamtramck plant to provide additional production at peak demand time.

GM has already begun manufacturing the Chevrolet Volt electric car in Hamtramck, where it also makes the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS large cars.

Overall, GM received $50 billion in federal funding assistance. In return, the government got $2 billion in preferred stock and 61 percent of the company’s privately held common shares.