Chrysler said Wednesday that it expects to begin operating profitably by 2011 and repay its loans from the federal government within five years. The carmaker had $5.7 billion in cash on hand at the end of September, up from the $4 billion it had in June after emerging from bankruptcy, its chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, said. Marchionne, who also heads Chrysler's Italian partner, Fiat, said Chrysler had a break-even operating performance in September and that the company has become very 'parsimonious -- cheap' since his arrival this summer. Chrysler's chief financial officer, Richard Palmer, told reporters that a cash reserve of $4 billion to $5 billion was enough for the company to support its operations. Chrysler is 10 percent owned by the U.S. government after borrowing $12.5 billion since December to prevent the company's collapse. About $5.4 billion of the money loaned to Chrysler came in before the company's bankruptcy and is not included in the amount Chrysler plans to pay off. The government has already written off that amount as unlikely to be repaid. Palmer said a sale of Chrysler shares to the public probably would not occur before 2011. As part of its turnaround, Chrysler said it plans to begin selling at least 10 Fiat-based cars in the United States by 2013. Its recovery plan assumes the company will sell 2.8 million vehicles worldwide in 2014, more than double the 1.3 million it will probably sell this year. It calls for sales in the United States to more than double, to 2 million from about 950,000, in five years. Palmer asserted that such lofty goals are 'absolutely achievable.' Vehicles built on Fiat platforms will account for an estimated 56 percent of Chrysler's sales volume in 2014, the company said. The news came during a daylong series of presentations from Chrysler as it unveils a five-year plan to reorganize and return to profitability after its bankruptcy earlier this year. One of Chrysler's biggest problems is the relatively poor quality of many of its vehicles. Its three brands -- Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler -- were among the four that got the lowest ratings from by the magazine Consumer Reports in its annual reliability study released last week. Doug Betts, Chrysler's senior vice president for quality, said the company realizes that its cars must be more reliable in order for it to succeed. He said it had added 200 new quality engineers and has begun to take other steps in this area. 'We get it. We're not in denial,' Betts said. 'We've got an issue to deal with, both in terms of what people think about us and the reasons behind what they think.' 