Chrysler LLC, the smallest and weakest of Detroit's automakers, said it may not be able to keep its business going beyond March if it does not obtain $7 billion in bridge loans from the government this month.

In a plan sent to Congress on Tuesday to support its loan request, Chrysler said it had $9.4 billion in cash at the end of June but expects to end the year with only $2.5 billion cash on hand because of a collapse in U.S. auto sales aggravated by a financial crisis.

"We are asking you to help us bridge a chasm created by an unprecedented financial meltdown, and in doing so, preserve a critical sector of the U.S. economy," Chrysler said in a 14-page plan. "Without an immediate working capital bridge, Chrysler's liquidity could fall below the level necessary to sustain the company through the first quarter of 2009."

The plan, requested last month by congressional leaders, also emphasized Chrysler's efforts to develop and sell electric vehicles as part of a drive to improve fuel-efficiency and reduce the United States' dependence on foreign oil. Chrysler, now a private company owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP, additionally stressed its goal to build partnerships with other car companies to share development and other costs.

"Chrysler remains focused upon developing partnerships, strategic alliances or a consolidation as a fundamental element of its restructuring," it said.

According to Chrysler's internal studies, an alliance or other form of consolidation could generate cost-savings ranging from $3.5 billion to $9 billion.

"I believe that further partnerships would make the U.S. auto industry more viable in the long run," Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli said in a videotaped presentation to senior Chrysler managers.

"Chrysler is in a different situation from the other two," said Thomas Kochan, a professor of management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. "It doesn't have the resources to invest in research and development for hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles, and it's further behind the others. I think Chrysler has to find a merger partner."

Chrysler has formed joint production accords with Nissan Motor Co., Volkswagen AG and other automakers. In recent months, Cerberus discussed a possible merger of Chrysler with General Motors Corp. and the possibility of bringing Chrysler into the Renault-Nissan automotive alliance. But the talks were halted as financial conditions in the industry deteriorated dramatically.

In its plan, Chrysler said it had stepped up restructuring efforts since it was sold in August 2007 by Daimler AG, or DaimlerChrysler AG as it was then called. It has reduced its North American production capacity by nearly a third and eliminated 32,000 jobs, cutting its rolls to 55,000 employees worldwide. The company has identified $1 billion in assets to be sold.

But the company's plan requires more sacrifice from all of Chrysler's constituencies, including executives, creditors and unions, Chrysler President and Vice Chairman Jim Press said in Baltimore on Tuesday at the start of a public relations tour aimed at building support for the industry's request for federal loans.

Chrysler, GM and Ford Motor Co. requested $25 billion in bridge loans last month but congressional leaders told them to submit plans by Tuesday to back up their requests and show how they intended to become viable companies able to repay the loans. Chrysler said in its plan that it believed all of its restructuring and other initiatives "taken together, clearly demonstrate long-term viability."

Nardelli said the loans would go toward basic operations, including $8 billion in payments to suppliers during the first quarter.

Chrysler also has applied for $8.5 billion in loans under a program already authorized by Congress to help automakers produce more fuel-efficient cars to meet mileage standards that take effect starting in 2010.

Besides its plan, Chrysler gave Congress confidential reports.

During his stop in Baltimore, Press spoke to about 50 workers from AMPORTS USA, which prepares more than 200,000 Chrysler vehicles a year for export through Baltimore and other East Coast ports. Steven Rand, AMPORTS' chairman, said roughly half of the company's 400 workers at the Port of Baltimore are involved in shipping Chrysler models overseas.

"What we need is a loan -- a bridge -- to get us through a year and a half of tough times," Press said. He said Chrysler was "beginning to make progress" in turning around its business when high gas prices and the financial crisis battered the industry.