General Motors is studying whether to drop both the Pontiac and the GMC truck brands in an effort to improve its financial position and avoid looming bankruptcy, according to published reports and industry experts.

It also appears the Chrysler-Fiat deal under which Fiat would acquire a 20 percent interest in Chrysler has hit a serious roadblock with less than two weeks to go before the U.S. government will decide to refuse any further financial assistance and allow Chrysler to go into bankruptcy.

No agreement has been reached with Chrysler's autoworkers, and Fiat officials say that without wage concessions, the potential deal is dead. If that happens, it is likely Chrysler would be broken up and its various parts be put up for sale by potential investors.

"There's no sense in being optimistic," Fiat SpA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said in published interviews yesterday. "There's a lot to resolve. The situation with the Canadian and American unions has not reached the point where there are the conditions necessary to form a solid industrial base."

The idea to drop Pontiac and GMC evidently is not GM's. The move to drop the brands apparently is coming from the Obama administration's automobile industry task force.

One big issue reportedly is how to find a way to reduce the number of GM's dealerships more quickly and dramatically than earlier believed to be possible, from about 6,200 to about 4,100.

The change in the brands' fate appears to have come quickly. Just last week, at a media event at the New York International Auto Show, GM unveiled two new products for GMC: the Terrain, a small, luxury crossover, and the Yukon Denali Hybrid. Analysts don't believe the Detroit automaker would have gone to the trouble and expense to do the introductions if it were considering eliminating the brands.

Yet, Jack Nerad, editorial director of Kelley Blue Book, who attended the show, said "I guess this is less of a surprise based on what I have heard coming out of the task force, and what GM says the task force has asked them to do.

"Essentially, GM has been asked to make faster and deeper cuts than what was in their original survival plan -- and this newest development is certainly both."

The Post-Gazette reported last month that the end of the road could be near for the two brands, after President Barack Obama wondered aloud in a speech if GM had really consolidated enough brands in an effort to stay alive.

That suggestion upset some dealers who weren't interested in giving up those brands, and analysts say GM likely would have plenty of lawsuits from unhappy dealers on its hands if it dumps the brands. Such legal actions could drag out a bankruptcy or restructuring process even further.

"A lot depends on how quickly they can wind things down," Mr. Nerad said. "If they are dropping several thousands of dealers, that's several thousands of negotiations that have to take place. That's not easy."

Mr. Nerad recalled shutting down the Oldsmobile brand wasn't easy. "It became quite litigious," he said.

"If I'm the GMC/Pontiac dealership in, say, Des Moines -- and I saw GM putting me out of business because the brands that my family has sold for generations are being eliminated -- I might well have a tendency to sue that ongoing entity [GM]."

Meanwhile, several groups are showing interest in taking over the Saturn brand, which the big automaker has said it will either sell or close as part of its restructuring plan.

Among the interested parties is Black Oak Partners, a private equity firm in Oklahoma City that might sell GM products through Saturn's dealership network and then add some models, presumably from other carmakers, to the mix.

GM confirmed the private equity group's interest in a prepared statement addressing the Saturn discussions. "Over approximately the past 60 days, a subcommittee of Saturn retailers has been studying the feasibility of the sale or spinoff options, and has identified some parties that are potentially interested in a purchase or spinoff of Saturn."

The statement added, "We are not at liberty to discuss any other interested party." The company said it was too early to talk about what the eventual outcome may be.

The biggest difficulty that Saturn dealers clearly would face is finding new products to sell. GM has committed to the brand through 2012, but new products would be needed to keep the lineup fresh.

It costs billions of dollars to develop new cars, let alone produce them, analysts say, and it's hard to imagine where a dealer group would get the resources or products to do that. The most likely scenario would be that an overseas car company would acquire the Saturn brand and finance new models to be sold here.

As for Chrysler, talks with the firm's Canadian union aren't expected to get under way again until Monday, leaving only a little over a week to work toward an agreement for concessions.

"I think there's a lot of trouble surrounding the talks, and much of the trouble stems from what appears to be union reluctance to offer concessions that Fiat expects or requires," Mr. Nerad said.

"You can certainly see some of this as a negotiating ploy. But certainly Chrysler hasn't been put in a good negotiation position by being given only 30 days to reach a settlement."