DETROIT — The initial public stock offering by General Motors will be smaller than previously suggested, and the federal government will most likely sell a relatively small portion of its 61 percent stake in the company, according to people with knowledge of the preparations.

To fetch the highest possible price for the government, GM is planning an overall offering of stock valued at $8 billion to $10 billion, which is lower than previous internal targets, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of restrictions on public comments before an offering.

Earlier, there were suggestions the offering could rival the largest in U.S. history, when credit card giant Visa raised more than $19 billion in 2008. GM and its bankers had been pushing for the largest possible offering because it would mean higher fees for the bankers and a larger pool of investors for GM.

But the Treasury Department has made it clear to GM and its underwriters that the government is more interested in setting the highest price possible for the stock rather than maximizing the size of the offering. While both GM and the Treasury still hope to reduce the government’s stake in the company to less than 50 percent and rid the company of its Government Motors nickname, that goal may not be met, one of the people said.

The market for initial public offerings has been weak this year, causing concern by Treasury officials that the GM stock sale would struggle if it were too large.

Auto analysts are increasingly projecting that GM shares could be priced high enough for the government eventually to get back most or all of its remaining $43 billion investment in the automaker. But everyone agrees that will take years.

The offering, which is expected as early as November, will set a benchmark for the stock’s value. In order to recover all of the government’s investment, the Treasury would have to sell its 304 million shares at an average price of $133.78 a share, before any splits, according to Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Assets Relief Program of the Treasury.

GM’s stock peaked in April 2000 at $94.63 a share.

Although President Barack Obama has said he wants the government to divest as quickly as practical, the Treasury is expected to sell off its interest over at least two to three years. That would allow it to take advantage of increases in the value of its shares, assuming GM operates profitably.

“If GM continues to improve and the industry continues to improve, they have a shot at getting it all back,” said Michael Ward, an analyst with Soleil Securities.

There is considerable interest about the GM offering among potential investors, and the sale is likely to do well, Ward told members of the Society of Automotive Analysts on Thursday in Southfield, Mich.

“Wall Street is going to be in love with General Motors,” he said.

The size and the price of the stock offering have yet to be decided, the people with knowledge of the preparations said. But the Treasury intends to reserve a large portion of the stock for retail investors. As part of that push, GM plans to split the stock so that it is priced at about $20 to $25 a share, these people said.