DETROIT -- Moving faster than anyone could have imagined, a new government-owned General Motors debuted Friday after just 40 days in bankruptcy, its leaders promising that it's not business as usual over at the car company.  "One thing we have learned from the last 100 days is that GM can move quickly and decisively," said President and Chief Executive Frederick A. (Fritz) Henderson. The challenge now, he said, is to transfer that intensity from the triage of bankruptcy to GM's everyday operations. "People are invigorated," he said, vowing that GM's culture will change. "In the end, the only way we're going to prove it is if we perform."  Unfortunately, General Motors ( GMGMQ.PK - news - people ) is being relaunched during the worst industry sales slump in 25 years. But with structural costs that are 25% lower and fewer obligations to debt holders and unions, Henderson said he expects GM to break even on an EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) basis next year and to make a slight operating profit, with positive cash flow, in 2011. He added that GM's goal is to repay the $50 billion it borrowed from U.S. taxpayers well before the loans mature in 2015, if it can generate sufficient cash or obtain alternative financing.  The new GM, which bought the best assets of General Motors Corp. and changed its name to General Motors Co., is 60.8% owned by U.S. taxpayers, with 11.7% owned by the Canada and Ontario governments. The United Auto Workers' retiree medical benefits trust owns 17.5%, with the remaining 10% owned by the old GM, now known as Motors Liquidation. That stake, plus the remnants of what's left in the old GM--abandoned factories, machinery, real estate, even a golf course--will be used to pay off remaining creditors, including unsecured bondholders. That liquidation process is expected to take several years to complete.  GM plans a public stock offering, perhaps as early as the second quarter of 2010, which would allow the U.S. and Canadian governments, as well as the UAW trust, to begin divesting their GM holdings, but that, too, is likely to stretch over many years. Canadian leaders have indicated their desire to fully divest their GM shares by 2018. The U.S. Treasury is expected to pursue a similar timetable.  A lot will depend on the condition of U.S. equity markets and when auto sales begin to bounce back. "Investors will be looking for recovery," said GM Chief Financial Officer Ray Young. "We need to be bouncing off the cyclical low of the U.S. (auto) industry before they will be willing to make a bet on the company." Young added that GM expects auto sales to begin climbing next year, but the pace of that recovery remains uncertain.  At least GM has a cleaner balance sheet to weather difficult times. On March 31, GM was struggling under $74 billion in debt, including health care obligations to retirees. But after shedding much of its obligations in bankruptcy, the new GM begins operations with just $17 billion in net debt, plus $9 billion in preferred stock.  GM will also have fewer mouths to feed. It will focus on four core brands--Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC--and sell or close Pontiac, Hummer, Saturn and Saab. After spending billions to acquire and sustain those brands over the years, Young said any proceeds from selling them are not expected to be material to GM's results.  GM also will have a new board, headed by former AT&T ( T - news - people ) chief Edward E. Whitacre Jr., a newcomer to the auto industry who appeared with Henderson Friday at a kick-off press conference. "For 100 years, GM was one of the world's best companies. It deserves to be there again. It will be there again," Whitacre said, adding, "Most Americans want this company to succeed."  To prove GM is quicker and nimbler, Henderson said he will streamline management by eliminating one third, or 450, of GM's U.S. executive jobs and cutting the overall salaried workforce by 20% by the end of the year. Among the jobs to be eliminated are regional presidents for North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. Nick Reilly, who had been head of GM's Asia-Pacific operations, will oversee all of these regions as executive vice president of GM International Operations, based in Shanghai. Further details of the management shakeup will be announced later this month, Henderson said.  One surprise announcement was that Robert A. Lutz, GM's former product development chief, will not retire at the end of the year as planned, but will instead take on a new job as vice chairman responsible for "all creative elements of product and customer relationships." He will oversee all of GM's brands, marketing, advertising and communications to make sure GM stays focused on customers and that its messages are integrated.  Lutz, said Henderson, has "a proven track record of unleashing creativity in the design and development of GM cars and trucks. This new role allows him to take that passion a step further, applying it to other parts of GM that connect directly with customers."  Henderson said he is confident GM will not need any further government aid. "This is it. You get two chances. You don't get three. This is a precious opportunity. We're not going back."
Out of bankruptcy in record time, GM Chief Fritz Henderson vows to pay back U.S. loans sooner than required.