WASHINGTON - Dealer advocates are questioning whether a federal audit that challenged dealership cuts by General Motors and Chrysler was delayed until after arbitration hearings were completed, Automotive News reported.

The report by the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program was released Sunday, after the last of more than 100 dealer arbitration hearings was completed Wednesday, July 14. The federal audit began a year ago.

Two dealer advocates said they had had extensive contacts with audit staff, which suggested that the report was on the verge of being released at least six months ago. A third advocate said an auditor told him in May that a draft was being circulated within the administration.

The U.S. Treasury Department's brief response to the draft was sent Friday, July 16.

“This seems like too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence,” said Tammy Darvish, a co-leader of the Committee to Restore Dealer Rights, a rejected-dealer group.

Dealer lawyers said the 33-page report would have provided ammunition for them to use in seeking reinstatement for rejected dealerships.

The inspector general's office said today that the timing of its report was a coincidence and that no decision was made to withhold the report until after arbitrations were completed.

“It's impossible for a deadline to have been breached on this because we didn't set a deadline for it,” Kris Belisle, a spokeswoman for the inspector general, said in an e-mail. “We will sometimes predict a rough time frame, but always with the understanding that nothing is firm. We did not release this report earlier for the simple reason that it was not yet ready.”

Belisle declined to comment on dealer contacts with audit staff.