Time is pressing but there is sufficient to examine options for possible help to General Motors Corp.'s (GM) German Opel unit, German Economic Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said Tuesday, adding he will talk with the U.S. government about possible options during his visit.

"We don't have an awful lot of time, but we have sufficient to conduct this examination," said zu Guttenberg after a meeting with his fellow economics ministers from Germany's 16 states. "I will of course talk with my American colleague at the (U.S.) Treasury about possible models."

Zu Guttenberg is due to travel to the U.S. on Sunday and meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and GM officials.

GM Europe Chief Executive Carl-Peter Forster last week presented the company's restructuring plan for Opel to the German government and said GM needs EUR3.3 billion ($4.17 billion) in aid across its European operations.

The German government has called the plan inadequate.

GM posted a 2008 global loss of $30.9 billion. The government is looking at different ideas being mooted and we are already engaged in the search for investors in our role as a supportive player, zu Guttenberg said.

He added that the government is active in searching for ways to help Opel but nothing can be decided before fundamental outstanding issues about Opel's future have been answered.

He said he will have a substantial package of questions with him for his trip to the U.S., such as to how to safeguard jobs, whether the restructuring plan will be a viable in the long-term and whether it can be certain that any possible money that the German government might give to Opel doesn't end up in Detroit.

Asked whether he regards Opel as "system relevant" to Germany's economy, zu Guttenberg said he sees the term adequately used when talking about the financial sector but not Opel.

He also said that considerations about amending German insolvency law isn't targeted at Opel and family owned Schaeffler Group, which is in trouble to fund the takeover of Continental AG. Instead, his ministry is working on a "restructuring model" for the financial sector.

"I will soon, in the next days consult the justice ministry about a first draft," zu Guttenberg said.

Web sites: www.bundesregierung.de; www.gm.co

-By Andrea Thomas, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 (0)30 - 2888 410; andrea.thomas@dowjones.com