CEO: Bankruptcy 'probable' for GM

DETROIT, April 18 (UPI) -- A bankruptcy filing for U.S. automaker General Motors is becoming unavoidable as it runs into trouble in its restructuring efforts, the corporation's CEO says.

GM chief executive Fritz Henderson said this week bankruptcy was the "probable" outcome for the company, whose efforts to raise cash by dumping money-losing assets have so far been unsuccessful and negotiations for concessions with its bondholders and unionized workers have been slow going, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Henderson said GM has taken its parts business AC Delco off the market after it wasn't able to get enough cash for the firm, although he added that potential bidders had emerged for its Hummer truck brand, its European Opel unit and a transmission plant in Strasbourg, France, the newspaper said.

Facing a June 1 deadline to convince the Obama administration it has hope for survival or file for bankruptcy, GM has already developed strategies to cope with Chapter 11, Henderson said, including a plan to split the company in two parts: one consisting of Chevrolet and Cadillac, and the other holding liabilities, such as GM's healthcare liabilities and its money-losing Saturn brand, the Journal reported.