US analysts believe American taxpayers will recoup almost all their investment in the USD50bn rescue of General Motors that saw the automaker return to Wall Street last week.

GM’s much-heralded IPO could garner up to USD23bn, while buoyant trading in New York, saw the manufacturer’s stock touch US$36 after floating at US$33 last week.

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“The loss on this thing will be minimal,” IHS Automotive senior economist George Magliano told just-auto from the US.

“I’m not sure about full repayment but close to it – it is a bailout not a handout – this will take a monkey off their back.”

Magliano also welcomed GM’s new leadership team’s approach – in the guise of CEO Dan Akerson – that has recently seen consecutive quarters of robust growth.

The IHS analyst cautioned however, against GM falling back “into the old traps” maintaining the future was positive if the manufacturer remained lean and less bureaucratic. “The pitfall is the fallback into the old Detroit mentality,” he said.

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Magliano also praised the way the Obama administration had handled the crisis at GM, with one report predicting last week the loans had saved perhaps more than a million jobs in the US.

“I was reluctant, but the way it worked was the federal government got behind them [GM] and Obama got behind them – and that is the way it has to be done – we thought this whole industry would be a mess,” he said.

“The whole industry looks much more profitable. GM could be right there on top of the pack.”

Magliano’s optimism was echoed this week with news the US government has received more than US$250bn from its Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

The US put US$49.5bn into GM last year and the funds provided under TARP are credited by government officials with saving the company from collapse.