By Poornima Gupta and Jeff Mason

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chrysler rushed to clinch deals with Fiat (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) and secured lenders on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy with a day remaining until a government-imposed restructuring deadline.

U.S. President Barack Obama said it was still uncertain whether Chrysler would complete the Fiat alliance which the White House has set as a condition for investing up to $6 billion (4 billion pounds) more in the automaker.

Three fund management companies that hold Chrysler's secured debt were holding out against the proposed terms in the automaker's debt restructuring talks as of Wednesday afternoon, people briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.

An Obama administration official added that Chrysler talks could run up to the deadline of 11:59 p.m. EDT on Thursday (4:59 a.m. on Friday British time).

"We're hoping we can get a merger where the taxpayers will put in some money to sweeten the deal but ultimately the goal is -- we get out of the business of building cars and Chrysler goes and starts creating the cars that consumers want," Obama said in a town hall-style meeting near St. Louis.

Fiat and Chrysler are prepared to complete a merger deal by Thursday that would be taken into bankruptcy court as a key element of the U.S. automaker's restructuring plan if needed, a person with direct knowledge of the preparations said.

Meanwhile, Chrysler's almost 27,000 U.S. factory workers represented by the United Auto Workers union were scheduled to conclude voting on Wednesday on a range of cost-cutting steps intended to make the automaker's wage and benefits competitive with its leanest rivals in the U.S. market.

That UAW deal, which would also give the union a 55 percent stake in a restructured Chrysler, is one of several hurdles that the automaker has been rushing to clear in recent days.