US official sees GM selling shares before Chrysler

General Motors Co is on track to sell shares in an initial public offering as soon as 2010, before Chrysler , the the Obama administration's autos task force said on Wednesday.

I don't think Chrysler's IPO is a 2010 event. I think it is a little further off, Ron Bloom told reporters at an industry conference organized by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

It will be the board's judgment. But if you ask me as we sit here today, if I had to hypothesize, I would say it would be a little later, Bloom said.

Chrysler has kept a low-profile since emerging from bankruptcy in June, but Bloom said the administration was satisfied the No. 3 automaker would emerge as a faster-moving competitor through its alliance with Fiat Spa.

Chrysler is doing what you hoped they would be doing. There's a whole new management team, Bloom said. They are going about the business of reinventing a car company. Car companies don't change overnight.

The Obama administration guided Chrysler and General Motors through fast-track bankruptcies in recent months and financed their restructuring with over $60 billion in funding.

Nearly $20 billion of the $50 billion extended to GM was pre-bankruptcy bailout funding that dated to the Bush administration. The balance included loans and other aid for court restructuring and exit financing. GM sought Chapter 11 protection in June.

Chrysler received more than $3 billion in bankruptcy financing and roughly $6 billion in loans for operations post- Chapter 11. Chrysler received more than $4 billion in bailout financing before seeking court protection in April.

The U.S. Treasury took a majority stake in GM and has outlined a more aggressive timetable for a share sale there, while it holds an 8 percent stake in Chrysler.

Chrysler is 55 percent owned by a trust fund affiliated with the United Auto Workers union. Fiat owns 20 percent and has taken management control of Chrysler.

The U.S. government holds a nearly 61 percent stake in GM and officials have repeatedly said an initial public offering of shares in the largest U.S. automaker could come as soon as 2010.

GM Chairman Ed Whitacre said on Wednesday an initial offering of GM's shares could come as soon as next year. (Reporting by Kevin Krolicki; Additional reporting by John Crawley in Washington; Editing by Toni Reinhold)