DETROIT — Delphi Corp. avoided a devastating strike by delaying yesterday a bid to reject its labor agreements, but the nation's largest auto supplier warned it will renew efforts to cancel its contracts in six weeks if it doesn't settle with its unions and its largest customer, General Motors Corp.

Delphi, which filed for bankruptcy in October, says its expensive U.S. labor agreements make it impossible to compete in a global economy. The company first threatened in December to ask a bankruptcy court to reject its union contracts. Yesterday was the third time Delphi delayed the filing, which also seeks to end healthcare and life insurance for retired hourly workers.

Delphi said it will try to settle with GM and its unions by March 30. If that date passes without an agreement, the company said it will file a motion with the court on or before March 31.

The United Auto Workers, which represents the majority of Delphi's 34,000 hourly workers, has threatened to strike if a judge approves Delphi's request to void its contracts. Local unions have been holding strike training sessions for the last two months.

Some Wall Street analysts said the delay gives hope that Delphi, GM and the UAW will agree to terms that will help Delphi's workers as the company reorganizes, while other analysts said it would not help. GM spun off Delphi in 1999, but the supplier remains saddled with the automaker's labor rates.

The stakes are high for GM, which buys nearly a quarter of its parts from Delphi. A Delphi strike could cost GM as much as $5 billion per month, JPMorgan analyst Himanushu Patel said.