General Motors Corp faces a structured bankruptcy managed by the US government if the company can't meet a deadline to drastically reduce debt in the next 60 days.

GM Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson, on his second day running the largest US automaker, said that a strategic bankruptcy with government backing is less risky than traditional Chapter 11 protection, though it's still not GM's preferred method of survival.

"I think bankruptcy is a very viable option, much better than a receivership," said Ken Klee of Klee Tuchin Bogdanoff, a bankruptcy firm not involved with the automakers. "It needs to be treated as though it's in the emergency room."