It seems that Ford and GM, the two biggest auto manufacturers in North America, have been in talks about a possible merger between the two. Automotive News reports that the talks were held in July after Nissan and Renault broached a separate proposal of an alliance between Renault, Nissan and GM. This merger was urged at the behest of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who is a major share holder in GM.

No one is sure who launched the talks between Ford and GM, but a source familiar with the project says that the CFO of General Motors Fritz Henderson has discussed the alliance with Ford CFO Don Leclair.

The companies are no longer in any negotiations about the merger, so it seems as though the talks may have been in vain. GM’s spokesperson said that most incidents such as this one “don’t lead to anything” which is why they didn’t wish to comment on it. This was the same spiel being rung out by the Ford spokesman.

To complicate the issue, GM is still two-thirds of the way through a 90 day evaluation of Renault and Nissan in regards to their proposed merger.

The talks between GM and Ford indicate the bad health that the American car market is in. After all, even one of their major share holders is worried enough about the company to be urging them to consolidate with other motor giants, a bad sign in anyone's books.