BREAKING: Toyota reportedly pulls plug on NUMMI plant
by Chris Paukert on Aug 27th 2009 at 1:57PM 
It's over. Or more to the point, it will be. Toyota Motor Corp. has reportedly announced that it will end production at Fremont, California's New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., better known as NUMMI. Despite protestations from workers and community members to the contrary, The Associated Press is reporting that Toyota's board has voted to shutter the plant effective March 2010. The plant's future had been called into question by General Motors announcing its intention to pull-out from the groundbreaking joint venture as part of its bankruptcy proceedings.
With General Motors' pullout from the facility and the production of its Pontiac Vibe along with it, Toyota has kept the factory's 4,600 workers busy assembling the Corolla and Tacoma. The move comes amidst word that the Japanese automaker has plans to cut production by up to one million units.
For its part, California officials attempted to rally an incentives package to convince Toyota to keep the plant open, but the effort to keep the plant in operation has evidently failed. With the half-year lead time before the facility's closure, lawmakers will be looking hard to find a new tenant to take over the facility.
[Source: The Associated Press via Google | Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Fritz 2:03PM (8/27/2009)
Why do "lawmakers" have anything to do with it?
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Nightcrawler 2:25PM (8/27/2009)
Have you not previously seen elected officials try to lure businesses into vacant factories in their districts? Why would this situation be any different?
Basically, their constituents look for them to do something about the loss of jobs, so they try, or at least give lip service that they will try, to find other jobs to replace them.
Tool 3:20PM (8/27/2009)
How many of these stories do we really need?
1. Toyota Considering Pulling the Plug on NUMMI
2. Toyota Likely to Pull the Plug on NUMMI
3. Toyota Reportedly Pulls the Plug on NUMMI
Jiminy Crickets already, just pull the plug.
DiRF 2:04PM (8/27/2009)
Well, I imagine Cash 4 Clunkers gave *some* extra business to that factory, with all the Corollas sold... this is one fight the UAW can't win... what are they going to do, force a strike at all the other Toyota UAW-controlled plants? Oh, wait...
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DayShifter 2:18PM (8/27/2009)
Exactly... This just my opinion, but they got out of it because of the Union. They cannot afford to set a precedence by keeping this plant. Hate to say this, but management does not want to deal with Unions.... And if I owned a company, I wouldn't either.
merlot066 2:05PM (8/27/2009)
This isn't exactly what California's budget needed right now.
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AC 2:07PM (8/27/2009)
maybe Tesla will pick it up for when the get the Model S ready for production?
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scotterotter 2:11PM (8/27/2009)
That plan seems perfect, but I don't think Tesla wants to deal with unions
alex 2:11PM (8/27/2009)
*rim shot*
that was a joke right?
mapoftazifosho 2:12PM (8/27/2009)
Yeah, Tesla needs about 500,000 square feet. NUMMI is about 5 million...
Andre 2:50PM (8/27/2009)
Tesla says that NUMMI is far too large for them. "We need about 500,000 square feet for our plant .
DarwinianReject 2:08PM (8/27/2009)
Hmmmm, so they KNOW when their time is up. Something tells me it's a REALLY bad time to buy a new Corolla or Tacoma for a little while. Disgruntled employees have shoddy workmanship.
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MFfan310 2:21PM (8/27/2009)
NUMMI isn't the only source of USDM Corollas: they are also assembled in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada and a plant in Japan.
Anyway, it's sad to see NUMMI go. Not just for Alameda County, but also for the cars and trucks they made. One of my parents drove a NUMMI-built 1988 Chevrolet Nova (GM's side of the deal; predecessor to the Geo/Chevy Prizm and Pontiac Vibe). Even after a big side dent that made it rust, it kept going and going like the Energizer Bunny for over 200,000 miles. Nothing ever went wrong with it, it got over 30 mpg, and it was super-cheap to run. I wish more of today's cars were like that little Nova.
ajkl 2:29PM (8/27/2009)
Corollas and Tacomas with a VIN beginning with 1N are made at NUMMI
Geo 2:13PM (8/27/2009)
I think it is a good move for the company. Both business-wise and media-wise. They have planned production cuts anyway, this is one of their steps of getting these cuts in place. The Unions should stop interfering with the car manufacturers ... too bad GM could not cut the UAW out of their plants long time ago.
Toyota should get back into producing quality cars ... and more appealing (I'm hoping...)
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ark 2:13PM (8/27/2009)
Yay! Another mall.
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LloydChiro 9:18PM (8/27/2009)
LOL.
Ben 2:15PM (8/27/2009)
What's a protestation? A disease? Try "protests". =]
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Phil 2:52PM (8/27/2009)
Just because your vocabulary sucks doesn't mean the writer has to dumb it down and cater to you.
Ken 2:25PM (8/27/2009)
Darn, I always wanted to go on the tour, but that isn't happening now.
I do not blame Toyota, though. Seems like a PITA for them.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the site. I cannot imagine California wanting to see this place sit empty for too long, and they will roll out some serious incentives.
As for the union issue. If they close the plant, someone could buy it, reopen it, and staff it how they wanted (yes, there could be a union push, but there are plenty of ways to work that issue!)
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