General Motors plans to invest $257 million in plant expansions in Kansas and Michigan this year.

A news report at Manufacturing.Net states the car maker will increase production at the Fairfax production site with a $136 million investment, and spend another $100 million at a Detroit plant.

The company also announced today it has paid back $8.1 billion in federal loans five years earlier than required by U.S. and Canadian governments.

While the factory expansions will not create new jobs, the investments will help retain production jobs.

Last year the automaker closed 14 factories and axed 65,000 blue-collar jobs.