Darland expects most with GM, but the automaker will likely scale back on suppliers as it reduces its size. "GM is looking to come out of this process a more efficient company," he said.

The bankruptcy "is almost a cleansing process that will help GM understand ," said Thilo Koslowski, vice president at Gartner Inc.'s industry advisory service.

"There will certainly be some pain for vendors," said Koslowski, noting that whatever comes out of the bankruptcy "is going to be smaller than the GM we know today."

The best-case scenario for IT spending by the auto industry over the next few years is for it to be relatively flat, growing to about $10.5 billion by 2012. That growth is predicated on GM emerging from bankruptcy as a stronger company -- coupled with a general improvement in the auto business, said Joe Barkai, practice director at IDC's Manufacturing Insights.

Barkai said bankruptcy may give GM the time it needs to build new products that bring in buyers. "We are on the verge of breaking through technology barriers on a new generation of cars," he said.