The US automaker General Motors Corp. has launched negotiations with US federal government and governments of three states to determine where the bankrupt automaker will build a new small car, the automaker said in a statement on Wednesday.

GM expects to decide within weeks where it will build the vehicle. The company has to choose one among the Orion Township plant in Michigan state and facilities in Spring Hill in Tennessee state and Janesville in Wisconsin state.

"Given the importance of this small car program, and in an effort to move quickly to identify the plant, GM leadership has begun discussions regarding selection criteria with federal and state government officials from Michigan, Tennessee and Wisconsin," GM said.

The automaker said late last month that it would build a small car in the United States at an idled union plant.

GM did not identify the plant but said it would produce 160,000small cars a year.

Sources of the company said the new small car appears to be an effort on GM's part to compete with Ford Motor Co.'s new Fiesta subcompact as well as to meet strict new mileage standards.

About 67 percent of GM cars and trucks sold in the United States are built in the country and the new plant announcement will boost that level beyond 70 percent by 2013, the company said.

GM, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy for court protection on June 1, has unveiled a list of 14 plants that will be closed in coming months as part of its court-ordered restructuring.

(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2009)