General Motors Co GM.UL is determined to pay back taxpayers as quickly as possible, but the process could take "several years," GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson said on Thursday.
Paying back the government all at once would be "unrealistic," Akerson said in his first meeting with reporters since becoming CEO two weeks ago.
Akerson declined to comment directly on GM's plans for an IPO because of U.S. securities regulations.
The IPO could come within about two months, people involved in the process have said, and would allow the U.S. government to begin to reduce its stake in the automaker and allow GM to start to shed the stigma of a government bailout.
Akerson, a longtime telecommunications industry executive who was head of buyouts at The Carlyle Group private equity firm, said he wanted to build a "culture of speed" at GM, which has been criticized for moving too slowly to make changes.
"We need to have an attacking culture, not a defending culture," said Akerson, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and former Navy officer.
He said GM needed to anticipate more during the development process where its rivals were heading with their competing vehicles, to get ahead in quality and build sales momentum.
Akerson was named GM's fourth chief executive in an 18-month period during a shake-up in August when former CEO Ed Whitacre stepped down to clear the way for a longer-serving CEO to guide the company through its upcoming IPO.
Speaking at GM's Detroit headquarters, Akerson said he intends to steer GM through a period of potential growth and was looking for a house in the Detroit area.
