Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement said Wednesday that Chrysler LLC (C.XX) has made progress with its restructuring plan and that he'll have something to announce "fairly soon."

"The situation is coming in for a landing," Clement said after a meeting of the Conservative caucus. "We'll have something to say in the immediate future."

The U.S. and Canadian governments have given the company until Thursday to come up with a plan to qualify for government aid. They rejected both Chrysler and General Motors Corp.'s (GM) previous plans for not going far enough.

Clement said the government wants "root and branch" restructuring of Chrysler, including a workable alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA (F.MI), and deals with its labor union and bondholders. Chrysler Canada struck a deal with the Canadian Auto workers over the weekend, resolving a key issue in the plan.

"Clearly we've made some progress," Clement said. "It's either close or the wheels come off, one of the two. I think right now we're on the track of, we're close."

He said he was "quite impressed with Fiat" and described its top executive, Sergio Marchionne, as an "excellent CEO" with "excellent plans for the alliance".

If it comes to pass, Marchionne will do a "good job for Canada as well as for the company worldwide," he said.

Clement said the Canadian government won't extend the Thursday deadline. GM's deadline expires at the end of May.

-Nirmala Menon, Dow Jones Newswires; 613-237-0668; nirmala.menon@dowjones.com
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