DETROIT  After General Motors won a $13.4 billion lifeline from the Treasury Department in December, it focused on meeting a deadline, set for next Tuesday, to produce a plan to show it would be a viable business over the long term.

But, with less than a week to go, the person whom the company needs to impress most with its plan  a federal car czar  has not been appointed.

G.M. is not waiting to take the more drastic steps it deems necessary to reorganize and shrink.

The automaker said on Tuesday that it would cut 10,000 salaried jobs, or 14 percent of its white-collar work force, by the end of this year. These are the first large cuts in staff in its vast international operations.

The move follows a recent buyout offer to all of G.M.’s hourly workers in the United States. The company is also studying options for possibly selling its Hummer and Saab divisions, and either eliminating or significantly downsizing its Saturn and Pontiac brands.