GM's new CFO had some good news to share – automaker has reasonable chance of being profitable in 2010

And might start selling shares to the public this year

In his first public comments since being hired in December, CFO Chris Liddell told reporters about GM's efforts to prepare for IPO

Also discussed instituting fresh-start accounting and repaying government's $50B investment

Get-together at GM's Renaissance Center headquarters was coming-out party of sorts for Liddell, a 51-year-old New Zealand native

Has passion for high-performance sports cars - before leaving Microsoft Corp. as CFO, he drove a Ferrari to work and has owned Porsches

GM might launch IPO of company stock later this year, but conditions have to be right

Economy, financial markets, and vehicle sales have to improve, and GM must be profitable before that happens

Liddell noted that GM operations in Brazil and China are profitable, but Europe remains "challenging"

North America is somewhere in the middle, he said

Viewed by many as CEO-in-waiting, Liddell was Whitacre's first major hire

Liddell says it's too early to speculate if he'll succeed Whitacre