GM hopes to capitalize on consumers growing trust in American fuel efficient cars by investing $257 million in Kansas and Michigan plants. GM CEO Ed Whitacre announced that $136 million would go to the Fairfax plant as the Malibu’s main production facility, and another $100 million would expand production at the Detroit facility.

The factory investments in Kansas and Michigan won’t create new jobs, but will preserve jobs at both plants. The Kansas plant, which employs 3,869 workers, builds the midsize Buick LaCrosse luxury sedan. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which has 1,048 employees, now builds the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne and is gearing up to make the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car.

Ed Whitacre appearance at the company’s Fairfax Assembly Plant was filled with even more good news as he formally announced the automaker’s early payback of $8.1 billion in government loans to the U.S. and Canada. The government payments came five years ahead of schedule, a sign that the automaker is on its way toward reducing government ownership of the company.