U.S. has no specific timetable for exiting GM, Chrysler

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official said on Wednesday there was no specific blueprint for exiting government stakes in General Motors Corp and Chrysler as senators pressed for a timetable and several expressed skepticism that taxpayers would ever see a return on their investment.

Ron Bloom, a senior member of the administration's task force overseeing the restructuring of GM and Chrysler, told a Senate Banking Committee hearing that President Barack Obama wants to get out of the auto business "as soon as practicable" but not before the two carmakers can demonstrate viability.

He also said there was a reasonable chance to recoup billions that taxpayers have sunk into the companies and that there are no plans for new assistance.

Bloom said an exit plan will depend on how GM and Chrysler perform as well as overall economic factors and industry sales, which are slumping sharply this year.

"I don't have a point estimate that judges when we can exit," Bloom said, adding that setting a timetable could disrupt markets.

"I do believe that there is a reasonable probability that we can get most of, if not all of our money back. That's the way I said it to the president and that's the way I say it to you now," Bloom said.

Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Democrat, and the panel's top Republican, Richard Shelby, raised the questions that highlighted the first formal congressional scrutiny of the administration's decision to invest heavily in Chrysler and GM as part of its plan to restructure them in bankruptcy.

"My hope is whatever we like or dislike about the present configuration, I want to see us get out of this business as quickly as we can," Dodd said.

The U.S. government has taken an 8 percent stake in Chrysler, which is exiting Chapter 11 in an alliance with Italy's Fiat SpA, and a 60 percent investment in GM, which entered Chapter 11 on June 1.

Government aid dedicated to Chrysler totals more than $12 billion while GM has received $50 billion. Billions more in taxpayer funds have been spent to help affiliated finance companies and suppliers.

Some lawmakers, mainly Republicans, were skeptical of Bloom's assessment that restructuring may pay off for taxpayers.

Senator Jim Bunning said that for taxpayers to break even on GM, its market capitalization would have to reach $70 billion or 15 percent higher than its all-time high at the height of the sport utility sales boom of the late 1990s and first half of this decade.

"It seems pretty clear to me that taxpayers will never get back their money," said Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky.

Bloom said GM's capital structure will be conservative once it is out of bankruptcy, with more room for equity and fewer deductions for debt and other liabilities.

On Ford Motor Co, Bloom said the task force believes that automaker can survive and is in regular contact with those executives. Ford, although struggling financially, has not taken any bailout money.

Ford shares ended 1 percent lower at $6.19 in trading on the New York exchange.

(Reporting by John Crawley and Mari Saito, Karey Wutkowski and Mari Saito, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Tim Dobbyn and Steve Orlofsky)