General Motors Co.'s new CEO, Daniel Akerson, held a 45-minute town hall meeting, originating in Detroit and webcast worldwide to the automaker's facilities, urging employees to go on the offense, The Detroit News reported.

Sitting alongside the company's chairman and Akerson's predecessor as CEO, Edward Whitacre Jr., the new GM boss answered employees' questions, but avoided any talk of the company's planned public stock offering this fall -- under the watchful eye of the company's top lawyer.

"We need to be on the attack," Akerson said, according to two employees who watched the event on an internal telecast.

Akerson said the company has improved its balance sheet since its 2009 bankruptcy filing, but now needs to do more.

"The only way to become a great company is to get better," he said.

The two executives sat in high-backed chairs in the discussion, which was held at the company's Renaissance Center headquarters in Detroit. It was moderated by Selim Bingol, the company's chief spokesman.

Akerson, a GM director since July 2009, took over from Whitacre Sept. 1. Whitacre will stay on as chairman until Dec. 31, when Akerson will assume that title as well.

Akerson left private equity firm Carlyle Group as a managing director last month.

He told the GM employees that he helped manage a $167 billion portfolio of investments at Carlyle. Those investments include Allison Transmission, Hertz and Dunkin' Donuts.

GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson confirmed the essence of Akerson's comments and that the meeting took place.

"The purpose was to introduce Dan to employees ... to have him talk about who he is and who he'll be as a leader," Wilkinson said.

He called it "an opportunity (for Akerson) to connect with employees and get a sense of him as a person," and said the CEO's message was that the company "is back, the ship's been righted ... and now it's time for GM to compete."

The Akerson-Whitacre employee town hall came on an important day in the life of GM's product line.

In Lordstown, Ohio this morning, the first Chevrolet Cruze compact car rolled off the assembly line.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland pressed an inked thumbprint against the roofline of a red Cruze, signifying that the all-new compact was a world-class vehicle produced in the state he leads.

Strickland and GM North America President Mark Reuss drove the red Cruze off the end of the assembly line, followed by white and blue models driven by members of the Cruze launch team that includes United Auto Workers locals 1112 and 1714.

"The rebirth of the U.S. economy starts in Lordstown, Ohio with the Chevrolet Cruze," Reuss told a crowd of about 2,000 plant workers and several hundred community members who turned out to see the ceremonial start of production. "The Cruze is the finest compact car."