DETROIT -- The reformation of General Motors is in high gear, according to The Associated Press.

The automaker said Friday that it plans to reopen a shuttered U.S. factory to build subcompact cars that will be the smallest vehicles GM has ever produced here. An element of the company's shift from hulking SUVs to more gas-sipping microcars, the move comes as GM's prepares to announce the fate of the poster child for gas guzzlers, the Hummer brand.

Meanwhile, as expected, the United Auto Workers ratified a package of concessions designed to reduce the automaker's labor costs.