DETROIT — A little more than a year after its bankruptcy proceedings and less than a week after naming a new chief executive officer, General Motors has ended the industry speculation. It has filed for an initial public offering.

The automaker appears ready to largely untangle itself from the U.S. government by paying much of the bailout funds back.

GM went public Wednesday saying that it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering.

More specifically, the automaker filed Form S-1 and plans its IPO to consist of common stock to be sold by certain stockholders and the company's issuance of Series B mandatory convertible junior preferred stock.

"The amount of securities offered will be determined by market conditions and other factors at the time of the offering. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined," according to GM's statement.

Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan (representatives of the underwriters), Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, RBC Capital Markets and UBS Investment Bank will be the joint book-running managers for the offering.

When available, GM said copies of the preliminary prospectus relating to the offering can be obtained for free by visiting the SEC site at http://www.sec.gov.

Alternatively, the automaker said those interested can obtain a copy of the preliminary prospectus by contacting:

Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., Attention: Prospectus  Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10014, telephone (866) 718-1649, or by sending an e-mail to prospectus@morganstanley.com.

J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York  11717, telephone (866) 803-9204.

"A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective," GM indicated in its statement.

The IPO is expected to be one of the biggest in history.