GM chief keeps his cool

Washington —Dan Akerson, the General Motors Co. CEO known for being blunt and impatient, made it through his first Capitol Hill testimony Wednesday without a hiccup.

The 63-year-old former private equity firm partner, who has run GM since September 2010, defended the Chevrolet Volt, which has been under scrutiny since a fire was reported in a car that had been crash-tested. In doing so, he won positive reviews from Republicans.

Akerson answered questions for about an hour during the hearing that, including breaks, lasted about 31/2 hours.

Akerson pushed back at times, correcting Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who chaired the hearing. Jordan said the Volt had exploded; it didn't.

Asked if the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had given the Volt a "free ride," Akerson rejected that notion. "If there's any question in anyone's mind that (NHTSA) gave us a free ride, the last two months of negative publicity and the fact that I'm sitting here doing this, I think, well, 'I'll go it alone in the future,'" he said.

Jordan said afterward he thought Akerson "did a nice job." He and other Republicans focused most of their attention on government regulators.

Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., a Chevy and Hyundai dealer, said, "This hearing is not about the Chevy Volt. This hearing is about NHTSA. What did they know and when did they know it."

Kelly said Akerson had taken the GM job using his "heart not his head," and made reference to Akerson's pay cut. In a Detroit News interview, Akerson said he gave up more than $100 million to leave the private equity firm Carlyle Group and take the helm of GM.

In preparation for the testimony, Akerson went through practice hearings on Tuesday with GM staffers playing the roles of House questioners. He went to Capitol Hill and met with three committee members.

After the hearing, Akerson politely answered questions from reporters, and even agreed to a live CNBC interview.