GM rises on cut reports

General Motors Corp rose in German trading after the Wall Street Journal said the automaker may cut white-collar jobs and is considering whether to drop some of its eight brands, which include Buick, Saturn and Saab.

The Detroit-based automaker is also considering options for boosting liquidity to help it get through the economic slowdown, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the situation.

The automaker's sales in the US dropped 16 percent in the first half as record gasoline prices eroded demand for GM's TrailBlazer sport-utility vehicles and Chevrolet pickups. The carmaker's shares fell to a 54-year-low last week after Merrill Lynch & Co said GM faced the possibility of bankruptcy.