The "good" components of General Motors (GMGMQ) exited bankruptcy Friday, creating a smaller, government-owned car company focused with fewer brands and more fuel-efficient vehicles

The action ends what was a short 40-day chapter in the life of the struggling American auto maker, which exited bankruptcy in a similar fashion as its competitor Chrysler, which was sold in pieces to the Italian maker Fiat SpA.

Sources told FOX Business that the paperwork needed to pull GM out of bankruptcy was signed in a non-ceremonial way before 7 a.m. 

The company, known officially as the General Motors Co., will begin operations next week, CEO Fritz Henderson said Friday in a press conference. 

"I think this shows that a company who was not known for quick action can indeed move very fast," Henderson said.

Weigh In: What do you think of the New GM--has it changed, or is it the same company, with the same problems? Comment below

New GM enters the auto sector a considerably smaller company. GM will have four brands -- Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC -- and will see its head count shrink from 91,000 at the end of 2008 to 64,000 by the end of this year. Almost 30 years ago, GM had upward of 400,000 employees.

While out of bankruptcy court, the company still remains well in the hands of the U.S. Government, the Canadian Government and the United Auto Workers' union, which own a combined 90% stake in new GM. The U.S. Treasury Department, also known as the American taxpayer, now owns 60.8% of GM.

Henderson said he believes that GM could take the company public as soon as next year.

In an interview with FOX Business, Henderson said that the ultimate catalyst of why GM had to enter bankruptcy was the failure of the bond exchange program in late May. Without that program, it would have been impossible for GM to repair its balance sheet without the use of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

"Our chances of keeping GM out of bankruptcy sharply diminished after that," he said.

As part of the its reemergence, the company appointed former AT&T chief Ed Whitacre as chairman of new GM. Whitacre said he took the job because "for 100 years, this company was admired by Americans and it deserves to be there again."

Bob Lutz, a longtime GM executive who had planned on retiring, will "unretire," as Henderson put it, to become head of marketing and communications for the company. Lutz will also remain in a design role at the auto maker.

There are some new ideas that GM is now considering now that is a new company, Henderson said to reporters. The company is going to partner with online auction site eBay (EBAY), where consumers can purchase cars directly from GM -- including the use of eBay's "buy it now" option.

Henderson said he plans to travel once a month to dealerships and factories to meet with customers and employees to get their input for what GM should be doing. GM is also launching a "Tell Fritz" Web site that will allow consumers to share their thoughts about cars with upper management.

While it has been publicly noted that GM will focus on the product of smaller and more fuel-efficient cars, Henderson does not believe that means the end of GM's production of its larger, more popular cars like the Chevy Suburban. 

"It's not that we're going to be forcing small vehicles upon the American consumer," Henderson said. ""Fuel efficiency can be something applied to all to all vehicles."

However while the bankruptcy court may have birthed a "new" GM, the legacy assets and problems of “old” General Motors still remain in bankruptcy. That company will continue to trade over the counter under the symbol GMGMQ until that company's bankruptcy process is complete. 

Those assets, which include brands that GM plans to shed along with pension and healthcare liabilities, will take months maybe years to be sorted out through the court.

GM Chief Financial Officer Ray Young told FOX Business that "new GM" wouldn't launch an initial-public offering for its shares until at least the second half of 2010.