New CFO says General Motors has reasonable chance to make money in 2010

New CFO says GM has chance to make 2010 profit

DETROIT — If the economy cooperates and auto sales recover a bit, General Motors Co. has a reasonable chance of turning a full-year profit in 2010, its new chief financial officer said Wednesday.

Former Microsoft Corp. CFO Chris Liddell, at his first meeting with reporters in Detroit, said the automaker is making money in Brazil and China, in the middle in North America and struggling in Europe.

“Relative to where we were a couple of years ago, that’s enormous progress,” he said in a conference room at GM’s downtown Detroit headquarters.

He also said it’s possible that GM will sell shares to the public in the second half of 2010. But he won’t set a timetable because GM must be making money, auto sales and the economy have to recover and the financial markets must be receptive.

GM also has to be selling its cars and trucks well within a recovering market, he said.

GM exited bankruptcy protection last year and has received $52 billion in U.S. government aid. Liddell says he would like to repay the $6.7 billion loan portion of the aid before June. He would not predict how much of the remainder would be repaid from the stock offering.