SOUTH BEND — It was an 11th hour "hold" on the sale of an American giant. The proposed merger between Chrysler and Fiat got stuck in neutral, with no end in sight. The question now: what lies ahead for local Chrysler dealers told to "get out of Dodge?"

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delayed Chrysler's sale of most of its assets to a group led by Italy's Fiat, but didn't say how long the deal will remain on hold. Ginsburg said in the order that the sale is "stayed pending further order," indicating that the delay may only be temporary.

A federal appeals court in New York approved the sale last Friday, but gave opponents until 4 p.m. EDT Monday to try to get the Supreme Court to intervene. Ginsburg issued her order right before the deadline.

The biggest of those opponents is in the state of Indiana, led by State Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

A trio of Indiana state pension and construction funds that include the state's Major Moves fund from the sale of the Indiana Toll Road have been fighting the sale, claiming that it unfairly favors Chrysler's unsecured stakeholders ahead of secured debt-holders like themselves.

As part of Chrysler's restructuring plan, the automaker's secured debt-holders will receive $2 billion, or about 29 cents on the dollar, for their combined $6.9 billion in debt. The Indiana funds bought their $42.5 million in debt in July 2008 for 43 cents on the dollar.

It's left the potential merger "in limbo" for the time being.

It's also left some local Chrysler dealers wondering what their future might now hold.

At least five local dealers were notified on May 14 that their franchise agreements with Chrysler would not be renewed, as part of restructuring plan that saw the automaker cut 789 of its total dealerships.

Locally, that list includes:

-Gurley Leep Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Mishawaka
-Heart City Automotive Toyota-Scion-Chrysler in Elkhart
-Sorg South Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Warsaw
-Michigan City Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Michigan City
-Siemens Jeep-Mazda in St. Joseph, MI

For many of those dealerships, the three weeks since that notification can be described pretty simply.

"The last three weeks have been kind of hectic," said Heart City Automotive Chrysler Sales Manager Bob Bertles.

Bertles spent 17 years in charge of Chrysler at Heart City.

Lately, he's been the one in charge of a "fire sale."

"We have only three vehicles left. We've done a real good job of liquidating our inventory and we've passed on a lot of great deals to the consumer with the help of the factory," Bertles said.

The story is much the same at Gurley Leep, where management says "only one or two" new Chrysler products remain on the lot.

"All our Chrysler inventory is basically gone," said Gurley Leep Chief Operating Officer Don Reese by phone from another Gurley Leep dealership in Iowa. "So, as far as the sales of new vehicles, it's pretty much done. We're dealing with it. It's not fun, but we'll make it through."

Siemens owner Eric Siemens said his St. Joseph dealership had about six more Jeeps still to move.

"That's been an ongoing process though, because we're basically our own competition. We're moving all our inventory to our Bridgman dealership, where we'll continue to sell the Jeep brand," he said.

WSBT's calls to management and owners at Sorg South were not returned Monday.

Dealers whose franchise agreements were cut last month were originally told they'd lose the ability to offer dealer incentives or rebates on June 9, making sales nearly impossible. Dealer incentives typically run between $1,000 and $8,000, depending on the manufacturer's suggested retail price of the vehicle.

Many dealers had worked diligently to sell all their remaining inventory prior to the midnight deadline Monday night.

Monday's supreme court ruling put that deadline on hold.

"That gives us a little window to pass on the savings for at least a few more days. And, as long as the window is open, we'll service and warranty the parts as well. Until we hear otherwise, it's business as usual," said Bertles.

Heart City will continue to perform non-warranty based maintenance work on all Chrysler products, no matter what happens next, Bertles added.

How long might that "limbo" last? Experts say the answer is now even more unclear.

"The Supreme Court ruling potentially means that the idea of a clean bankruptcy may not occur. And it really introduces the court into a picture here that could become pretty complicated," said Dr. David Cole, Chairman of the Ann Arbor, MI based Center for Automotive Research.

The Center, also known as CAR, is a not-for-profit spin-off from the University of Michigan's engineering department that studies trends within the automotive industry.

"If you touch the auto industry in any way, dealer, local bank, service, even consumers, then you should be very concerned about what could happen here," Cole said.

The reason? The clock is ticking. If the sale of Chrysler isn't closed by Monday, June 15, Fiat has the option of walking away from the deal.

"On one hand, this could be just a small speed bump, and not a canyon. I think we hope that's the case. If it isn't, than that could play a role in GM's bankruptcy and in Chrysler's future. Then, we're talking about hundreds of thousands of additional job losses. It might be a sufficient trigger, because of the size and scale of this industry, to move us into a national depression," Cole said.

After 17 years, it's an unthinkable position for Bertles.

The Chrysler signs have already been removed from the dealership walls, and he's made his peace.

"We're lucky to have two other great brands to turn to in the Toyota and Scion, and we'll turn the page and go on," he said.

Justice Ginsberg gave no indication in her ruling what the next step might be, or when it might come. For now, all eyes are on June 15 to see what Fiat's next move might be.

Late Monday, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne told Bloomberg reporters that the company would "be patient, and let the system work."

Responding to a question about whether Fiat would pull out of the deal after June 15, he then replied: "We never walk away. Never."

The Associated Press contributed to this report