It was revealed a few days ago that General Motors was considering bringing small cars from China to the U.S. in order to bolster its sales in the segment.

Currently, the carmaker is looking to sell around 17,300 Chinese-made vehicles in the U.S. by 2011 and over 50,000 units by 2014. Until now, however, it was uncertain just what type of vehicles the carmaker would be bringing to U.S. showrooms.

Speaking with the Detroit media, a senior market analyst in Shanghai predicted that GM would likely bring Chinese-built versions of the Chevrolet Spark and next-generation Aveo, as well as another small car called the Lova. Under such a plan, the cars would be produced by GM's partners in China, Shanghai Auto Industry Corporation (SAIC) and Liuzhou Wuling Auto.

While the predictions about these cars comes from a reputed market intelligence company, other analysts are not quite so sure about GM's overall plans to import cars from China, however. One analyst from a Shanghai-based company stated that GM's "export aspirations are a marketing tactic, not a real solid opportunity", but that they were "certainly a possibility in the future."

Furthermore, the news has angered local unions which believe that taking government support but then outsourcing jobs to China is an underhanded move. However, remaining competitive is GM's ultimate long term goal, and should it pursue Chinese imports then it will likely be the first major carmaker in the U.S to do so.