The president of General Motors Corp.'s (GM) European division Friday said finding an investor for it's core Opel/Vauxhall brands that has the majority of its investment backed by the state is "the most promising and innovative path to take".

GM Europe is nearly out of cash, and parent GM has said it is willing to sell a majority stake in Opel/Vauxhall as part of an effort to win EUR3.3 billion in aid from Germany and other European governments.

Finding a state-backed investor "would mean the taxpayer has no immediate contribution to the restructuring - the government would only provide guarantees for the majority of the investment made by a third party," Carl-Peter Forster said in his blog on the company's website.

Forster said this option "would keep government from having to take an equity stake in the company, a political precedent that many have been cautious about setting".

Company Web site: www.gm.com

-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512; christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com