NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors, Nissan and Renault said Friday they will work on a confidential review of the potential benefits of an alliance between the three automakers.

The review is expected to take about 90 days, the companies said in a joint statement issued after GM (Charts) CEO Rick Wagoner and Nissan and Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn met in Detroit for what the companies called an "exploratory discussion" about a possible alliance.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner is under tremendous pressure to turn around the world's largest, and deeply troubled, automaker.

"We had a good discussion today, and are looking forward to having our teams work together to explore our ideas," Wagoner and Ghosn said in the three-paragraph statement.

"It is important to let our teams work on this review without distraction and, therefore, we will not be providing further public comments about it at this time."

The companies said that following the review, they will consider whether further talks were worthwhile.

GM officials were not immediately available for additional comment.

While the statement provided no details of what was discussed at Friday's meeting, Ghosn said in an interview on Thursday that he doesn't want the top job at GM even if a three-way alliance is struck.

"This is not my objective," he said. "It's not a substitution of management that we're talking about." (Full story).

The alliance was first suggested by Kirk Kerkorian, GM's largest individual shareholder who owns a 9.9 percent stake.

A number of industry analysts said Friday that they think an alliance is unlikely. But they also said there are risks for GM in just holding talks with its potential partners, no matter what direction they go. (Full story).

GM, the world's largest automaker, is already taking steps to get back on track after it lost $10.6 billion last year. The company is cutting 30,000 hourly workers, closing a dozen plants and facilities and selling a stake in its GMAC finance unit.

But perhaps the biggest challenge facing GM is its need to develop new cars and light trucks that will attract buyers without resorting to big incentives. GM has seen its share of the U.S. market slide in recent years, as automakers like Toyota and Honda have gained.

Ghosn, 52, was executive vice president of Renault for just over two years when he was named chief operating officer of Nissan in June 1999 at the start of the Nissan-Renault alliance. He was named CEO in of Nissan two years later, and CEO of Renault in April 2005.

Nissan was seen at the brink of bankruptcy when Ghosn, 52, joined the company but it has become profitable.

GM's credit rating has been cut to junk bond status due to a risk of bankruptcy, although company executives have repeatedly denied plans to file Chapter 11.

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