Toyota Motor Corp. is reportedly leaning toward shuttering the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in California instead of retrofitting it to continue production now that joint-venture partner General Motors Co. has walked away.
Toyota and GM had worked together at the so-called Nummi plant since the early 1980s. It was the Japanese automaker's first foray into manufacturing in North America and the Detroit company's attempt to learn Toyota's manufacturing process. But Nummi, which is on a separate United Auto Workers contract and is based in high-cost Fremont, Calif., has been a money-loser. GM exited the venture as part of its June bankruptcy filing, leaving Toyota to decide what becomes of the plant.
Industry sources have said Toyota's North American leaders have favored closing the plant, while Japanese bosses are reluctant to close any plants. Bloomberg cited unnamed sources Tuesday
saying that Toyota has begun assessing the cost of shutting Nummi, adding the company "is likely" to close the facility.
Meanwhile officials in Fremont are bracing for a closure. But
according to the San Mateo County Times the impact of the closing wouldn't be a severe blow, at least in fiscal terms. Unlike a retailer, Nummi pays only property tax and therefore is not as lucrative to local governments as a big-box store. It provided less than 2% of the city's operating budget last year. -
Lou Whiteman
Lou Whiteman is a senior writer covering the automotive, transportation and industrial sectors. Follow him on Twitter @louwhiteman
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Juergen Lasowski
And the winners are...
Mr. Whiteman,
It's "Fremont", not "Freemont".
And it's "NUMMI" (an acronym), not "Nummi".
Have a good day.