General Motors Chief Executive Fritz Henderson tooted his company’s horn plenty when he ushered in a new, post-bankruptcy era for the Detroit automaker — but he couldn’t promise that GM 2.0 would be able to pay back the billions of dollars his company got from taxpayers.

CNNMoney.com:

“Our performance over time will determine if the taxpayers are made whole,” he said.

The company hopes to beat a 2015 deadline for repaying about $6.7 billion in government loans, Henderson said.

But Treasury’s ability to recover most of the rest of the $50 billion will depend on the future market value of the government’s large equity stake. The company’s stock is not expected to trade publicly until 2010 at the earliest.

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