A bankruptcy judge said Friday he will rule on Monday on whether Chrysler LLC can go forward with its plan to sell most of the company to a group led by Italy's Fiat.

Judge Arthur Gonzalez of federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan heard 11 hours of testimony and closing arguments in the case and said he would issue an opinion on the proposed sale "sometime Monday."

With court approval, a newly reorganized Chrysler could emerge from bankruptcy as early as next week, about a month after seeking protection, an extraordinarily short period of time for a reorganization.

Chrysler, one of the top three US automakers, filed for bankruptcy on April 30. It has been seeking approval for its sale to an entity owned by Fiat, the United Auto Workers union, and the US and Canadian governments.

Fiat, the only bidder for Chrysler's assets, is looking for a 20 percent stake in Chrysler.

The sale was opposed by some of the 789 car dealers whose contracts Chrysler wants to terminate in what it calls a needed cost-cutting measure.

A group of Indiana state pension and construction funds also filed objections, saying that as secured lenders they should not be forced to take a large loss on their investment.

Chrysler has been struggling to stay afloat in the past seven months despite receiving US$4.9 billion from the American and Canadian governments. In its court filings, Chrysler listed assets of US$39.3 billion and liabilities of US$55.2 billion.

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2009)