By Jessica Hodgson and Marietta Cauchi
LONDON--General Motors Co. (GM) Thursday said it has halted
production and closed an assembly plant outside of Cairo, Egypt,
amid a military crackdown in the country that has left more than
500 people dead.
"The safety and security of our employees is of paramount
importance to us," GM said in a statement via its U.K. media
office. "We will continue to monitor the situation closely."
The carmaker said it employs more than 1,400 people in Egypt,
though it wasn't immediately able to confirm how many are based at
the affected plant. The GM factory is in the 6th October City area
on the outskirts of Cairo, where GM assembles light trucks,
passenger cars and minibuses.
GM is the latest of several global companies to have temporarily
stopped or scaled back operations or taken other precautions amid a
worsening security situation in Egypt following deadly clashes
between the military and supporters of the ousted president,
Mohammed Morsi.
Swedish home appliance maker Electrolux AB (ELUX-B.SK) said
earlier Thursday it has halted production in its Egyptian
operations in the region. Dutch brewer Heineken N.V. (HEIA.AE),
which operates in Egypt under its Al Ahram Beverages Company (ABC)
subsidiary, said its main brewery in Cairo is running at limited
capacity. Swedish mobile network provider Ericsson (ERIC), which
supplies telecom equipment to Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat Egypt
among others, said it has imposed travel restrictions for its 700
staff in Egypt, of whom approximately 60 are expatriates.
(Sven Grundberg in Stockholm contributed to this article.)
Write to Jessica Hodgson at Jessica.hodgson@wsj.com