TORONTO (Reuters) - General Motors Co said on Wednesday it will build the 2011 Buick Regal in Oshawa, Ontario, as part of a commitment with governments in Canada in exchange for billions in aid money.

Canada and the province of Ontario provided GM with $9.5 billion in loans earlier this year to help the company avoid liquidation during the steep downturn in the auto industry.

In exchange, the governments took 11.7 percent of the shares in the newly restructured GM and the company committed to launching five new vehicles, including hybrids, from plants in Ontario.

It also said it would maintain just under 20 percent of its U.S.-Canada production in Canada, and spend C$2.2 billion ($2.1 billion) on capital projects in the country through 2016, as well as C$1 billion on research and development.

The Regal is the third vehicle in the production commitment, following the Chevrolet Equinox and the GMC Terrain, two popular crossover utility vehicles built at GM's CAMI joint-venture plant with Suzuki Motor Corp in Ingersoll, Ontario.

The other vehicles in the commitment will be named at a later date, the company said.

North American production of the Regal, a midsized sedan based on the Opel Insignia, which was named the 2009 European car of the year, will begin early in 2011, GM said.

"The new Regal gives Buick a modern performance sedan and its production here in Oshawa is terrific news for our employees, the CAW (Canadian Auto Workers union), dealers and suppliers," Arturo Elias, president of General Motors of Canada, said in a statement.

Representatives of the CAW were not immediately available for comment.

The Oshawa plant has been running "maximum overtime" since June 2009 to keep up with demand for GM's sporty Camaro and the company said that would continue into the new year.

GM also plans to begin production of the Camaro convertible in Oshawa beginning in the first quarter of 2011.

The company has Canadian manufacturing plants in Oshawa and St. Catharines, a parts distribution plant in Woodstock, a transmission plant in Windsor, and the joint-venture plant with Suzuki in Ingersoll, all in Ontario. It employs about 9,000 people in Canada.

($1=$1.05 Canadian)

(Reporting by John McCrank; editing by Rob Wilson)