Sources close to the discussions said Ford ended its talks with GM last month. The talks involved the highest executives at both companies and ended when William Ford Jr., Ford's executive chairman, and its chief executive officer, Alan Mulally, decided the company would be more likely to turn around on its own.

All three U.S. carmakers have suffered catastrophic drops in sales, revenue and profits. Both Ford and GM sold about 1 million fewer vehicles last year than they did in 2002.

GM reported a second-quarter loss of $15.5 billion.

"These are not normal times," said David Cole, who heads the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. "The biggest problem is cash and whether these companies will have enough to survive this downturn."