WRAPUP 8-GM files for bankruptcy, urges quick action

* GM files third-largest U.S. bankruptcy ever

* U.S. government would own 60 percent of 'New GM'

* GM out of the Dow; "no longer suitable" for NYSE listing

* Judge approves access to $15 bln in DIP Financing (For Reuters coverage on autos, click [ID:nCARS1]) (Adds details on court approval, Hummer)

By Kevin Krolicki and John Crawley

DETROIT/WASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp GM.N filed for bankruptcy on Monday as the Obama administration took the first steps to try to revive a failed icon of American industry by extending unprecedented federal funding and oversight.

The bankruptcy filing was the third-largest in U.S. history and the largest ever in U.S. manufacturing. [ID:nN31435926]

The decision to push GM into a fast-track bankruptcy and provide $30 billion of additional taxpayer funds to restructure the automaker is a huge gamble for the Obama administration.

But in a sign of progress in the government's high-stakes effort, a bankruptcy judge approved the sale of substantially all of U.S. automaker Chrysler's assets to a group led by Italy's Fiat SpA (FIA.MI).

In the wake of its widely anticipated bankruptcy filing, GM stock -- once considered a rock-solid blue chip -- was being removed from the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI and delisted by the New York Stock Exchange.

"This is proof that GM has failed," said automotive historian Bob Elton. "They have been failing for years but have covered it up. Now they've come to the end of the line."

Chrysler's bankruptcy, also financed by the U.S. Treasury, has been widely seen as a test run for the much bigger and more complex reorganization of GM.

President Barack Obama said on Monday he was confident GM could emerge quickly from bankruptcy, saying the government had been thrust into a reluctant position as controlling shareholder.

"Our goal is to get GM back on its feet, take a hands off approach and get out quickly," Obama said. [ID:nN01474860]

The administration's ambitious plan for GM is for a quick sale process that would allow a much smaller company to emerge from court protection in as little as 60-90 days.

In bankruptcy, GM will be divided in two: a leaner "New GM" and "Old GM" -- which will include excess plants and equipment that will eventually be liquidated under court protection.