US officials who visited Detroit yesterday to meet with senior managers at General Motors and Chrysler stressed that President Barack Obama understands the urgency of the companies’ situation.

But an official said the Obama administration’s auto task force also told the companies that a “fundamental restructuring” will be needed for the industry.

The members, led by Wall Street financier Steven Rattner and steelworkers union official Ron Bloom, traveled first to GM’s tech center in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Mich., and then drove to Chrysler’s Warren Truck plant.

GM and Chrysler are living on a total of $17.4 billion in government loans, and the task force is trying to determine if they will get more money. The companies have requested a total of $39 billion as they try to survive the worst US auto-sales downturn in 27 years.

The automakers were eager to show off new products in an effort to prove they can become viable despite billions of dollars in losses.