Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Atradius NV, an Amsterdam-based insurer, eliminated some of its coverage in the auto industry, a week after General Motors Corp. said it may run out of operating cash by the end of the year.

Atradius, which insures partsmakers doing scheduled business, wouldn't comment on individual companies. The company joined Euler Hermes ACI, and Coface pulled coverage on business that suppliers have booked with GM and Ford Motor Co., the Financial Times reported today.

``The current economic environment is extremely difficult, and car manufacturers are among those being hit by the financial slowdown,'' Brett Halsey, the Baltimore-based regional director for Atradius Trade Credit Insurance Inc., said in an e-mailed statement. The company is ``pulling back cover in some cases as an absolute last resort,'' he said.

The biggest concern for creditors is the cash crunch faced by the major automakers as global credit dried up, said Tony Clary, an Owings Mills, Maryland-based manager who oversees the auto industry for trade credit insurance firm Euler Hermes. The company is based in Paris.

``If a manufacturer filed bankruptcy then customers are going to flee from that manufacturer,'' he said. ``There is no strategic benefit for them to consider bankruptcy.''

Clary declined to comment on specific company coverage. Nathalie Ott, a spokeswoman for Puteaux, France-based Coface, also declined to comment.

Auto suppliers sometimes buy insurance on scheduled business with carmakers, Clary said. If an automaker declared bankruptcy those receivables may not be paid.

GM, Ford and Chrysler LLC, owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP, have been lobbying the government for federal aid as U.S. auto sales fell 15 percent this year through October.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Ortolani in Southfield, Michigan, at aortolani1bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 14, 2008 15:40 EST