Washington - US carmaker General Motors Corp, which will likely be in bankruptcy by the end of this month, on Monday pleaded for help from the German government to support its ailing European operations.

Chief executive Fritz Henderson said GM was prodding the government to provide more funds as it considers off-loading German subsidiary Opel and other European operations as part of a massive restructuring effort.

"We have a need for funding actually in our European business that's important and urgent," Henderson said in a conference call with reporters.

Henderson said GM is prepared to take a minority stake in its major European subsidiaries, which also include Britain's Vauxhall. Italy's Fiat Spa, which already plans to take over Chrysler, and Canadian-Austrian firm Magna are both involved in the takeover talks.

Others on GM's chopping block include Sweden's Saab and US brands Hummer, Saturn and Pontiac.

Bankruptcy is still the most likely outcome for the largest US carmaker as the company races to settle outstanding debt with its creditors and prove it can run a viable operation. Later this week GM will settle on a list of dealerships to be closed as part of that effort, Henderson said.

President Barack Obama has given GM a June 1 deadline to restructure or file for insolvency.

"It's more probable that we would need to resort to a bankruptcy process but there's still an opportunity and still a chance for it to be done outside of a court process," Henderson said.