It's my way or the highway

US President Barack Obama believes a quick, negotiated bankruptcy is the most likely way for General Motors Corp to restructure and become a competitive automaker, people familiar with the matter said.

Obama also is prepared to let Chrysler LLC go bankrupt and be sold off piecemeal if the third-largest US automaker can't form an alliance with Fiat SpA, said members of Congress who were briefed on the GM and Chrysler situation before the president said two days ago that the automakers' viability plans were insufficient.

The president gave GM 60 days to come up with deeper cost and debt reductions than the biggest US automaker proposed in its plan submitted last month. The "quick and surgical" bankruptcy his administration said was also an option appears to be inevitable, said the members of Congress and two other people familiar with the matter. Obama personally signed off on asking GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner to step down, which he did on March 29, they said.