A top Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) official said Monday that the company has not yet decided whether to shutter a plant in Fremont, Calif., now that joint venture partner General Motors Co. has walked away.
North America president Yoshimi Inaba (pictured),
speaking to reporters in Washington, said he wants to decide quickly what to do with California-based New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. Though closing the plant is an option, Inaba said the company is trying to find some other solution.
In wide-ranging comments, Inaba also praised the U.S. government's rescue of GM and Chrysler Group LLC as "necessary steps" and agreed with the automakers that they had too many dealers. Toyota, he notes, has held steady at about 1,200 dealerships since the early 1990s despite ballooning sales. The executive said that while Toyota is not currently making money in North America, it hopes to be profitable next year.
But the fate of Nummi is the most pressing issue Inaba must deal with. The plant is Toyota's only unionized facility in the U.S., leading some to speculate that the Japanese automaker would only keep it open if it can extract concessions from the United Auto Workers.
The uncertain future has led some to contemplate what to do with the Nummi site. The Oakland Tribune last week
suggested the factory could house the planned expansion of Bay Area electric vehicle startup Tesla Motors Inc., which secured $450 million in government loans earlier this year to ramp up production. -
Lou Whiteman
Lou Whiteman is a senior writer covering the automotive, transportation and industrial sectors. Follow him on Twitter @louwhiteman
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