The board of directors of the newly-launched General Motors has ordered management to bring some new vehicles to market faster, signalling that the board intends to play a far larger role than the previous one.

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, board chairman Edward Whitacre Jr. would not identify which vehicles were to be pulled ahead, but said the board emphasized fuel efficiency as well as other areas.

"I'll tell you there were some suggestions made," said Whitacre, former CEO of telecommunications giant AT&T. "There were some changes made. This board's going to be very active. We're charged with doing well for the stockholders."

GM emerged from bankruptcy protection July 10 and is effectively under the control of the U.S. government.

Whitacre said the company can become profitable sooner than most people think, although he wouldn't give a time frame. The company is not yet profitable despite shedding debts and burdensome contracts in bankruptcy court.

"We've only been at this one month," he said. "It's a complicated financial situation at this point in time. We have an aim for when we'll cross that line."

Whitacre said the board spent much of the two-day meeting going over GM's financial statements before moving to the Milford, Mich., proving ground northwest of Detroit to drive vehicles.

After the drives, Whitacre said he is confident that GM can protect and grow its market share in the U.S. despite shedding four brands to focus on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. GM ended July with 18.9 per cent of the U.S. market, down from 20.5 per cent a year ago.

GM sticking with Volt electric car

Whitacre said GM will stick with the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car, despite members of the Obama administration's auto task force expressing reservations about the prospects of the Volt making money.

The Volt, due in showrooms late next year, can go 65 kilometres on a single charge from a home electrical outlet and has a small internal combustion engine to generate electricity beyond that.

Whitacre called the Volt a "leap in technology" that no one else has, and said the country needs to move toward electric vehicles. "I think it will be very successful," he said.

He added that the board is interested in pulling more fuel-efficient products forward.

"We're certainly going that direction of more efficient models," he said. "We're looking at reliability. We're looking at efficiency. We certainly will make a major thrust in that direction, but that's not the only direction we're going."