daniel akerson

Given the sluggish recovery and a strapped consumer, you'd expect to see corporate America trudging along, not racing for glory. In fact, the Fortune 500 are thriving as a group.

Nearly 70 top executives at three companies bailed out by the taxpayers during the 2008 financial crisis -- AIG, Ally Financial and GM -- were ordered to take pay 10% cuts by the federal government, and the CEOs had their pay frozen at 2011 levels.

When GM CEO Daniel Akerson recently compared one of his company's cars to a can of Diet Coke, investors and, no doubt, employees cringed. After all, the belief that cars were no more than expensive consumer products is what caused GM's downfall and subsequent bankruptcy in 2009.

Or will it disappoint? Investors -- and taxpayers -- will be watching on Thursday, when GM posts its latest earnings. Despite analyst expectations of a full-year profit, the automaker has warned that fourth-quarter results will fall "significantly" from previous periods.

Back in 2009, General Motors applied to the Department of Energy for $14.4 billion in loans to help it manufacture more fuel-efficient vehicles. Today, with the automaker making big strides in turning around its business, GM said it no longer needs or wants the money.

Now that General Motors is on better financial footing and the automaker's initial public offering of stock is behind it, CEO Daniel Akerson is reportedly seeking to have government restrictions on executive pay eased.

Following General Motors' historic return as a publicly traded company Thursday, President Obama said the U.S. government, despite the many critics, is on track to more than recoup the nearly $50 billion it invested in the Detroit automaker.

Considering where the iconic carmaker has been in recent years, the pending IPO -- and robust investor demand for shares -- is a remarkably positive step. But GM still has plenty of problem spots that will need fixing if this historic event is to have lasting meaning.

Buoyed by stronger demand for pickups and crossover, GM said today that October sales increased 3.5% compared to a year ago. Excluding its discontinued brands, sales of Buick, Cadillac, GMC and Chevrolet models rose 13% for the month.

General Motors plans to invest $190 million in its Lansing Grand River assembly plant where it will build a new Cadillac model, resulting in 600 new jobs and the addition of a second shift.