Washington  - Struggling carmaker General Motors Corp Tuesday said it was speeding up its restructuring efforts but could require 16 billion dollars more from the US government to stay afloat in the coming years.

In a restructuring plan submitted to the US Treasury Department, GM said it had a strategy to return to profitability in two years.

That includes cutting 47,000 jobs worldwide, including another 10,000 US jobs. GM would close more plants and sell or phase out at least three of its brands: Hummer, Saab and Saturn. German subsidiary Opel could also be on the chopping block, chief executive Rick Wagoner said.

The restructuring efforts were "significantly more aggressive" than a plan outlined in December, the result of a further deterioration of the US car market in the last month, Wagoner said.

GM sales plunged 49 per cent in January as the US automotive industry became further engulfed in the country's worst economic crisis in decades.

The company received 13.4 billion dollars from the US government in December - the final 4-billion-dollar installment was delivered Tuesday - but GM said it needed at least another 4.6 billion dollars in the short term to survive.

GM said that another 4.5 billion dollars would be necessary by 2011, but that could rise to 12 billion dollars if the sales climate deteriorates even further.

GM is also in talks with governments in Germany, Canada, Sweden, Britain and Thailand for additional money.

Chrysler LLC submitted its own restructuring plan earlier Tuesday. The smallest of the "Big Three" US carmaker has received 4 billion dollars from the US government and said it would need a further 5 billion dollars to avoid bankruptcy. (dpa)