Confirming earlier reports, Toyota announced on Thursday that it will shutter its former joint-venture New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant by March 2010. The fate of the NUMMI plant has been up in the air since General Motors left its 50 percent stake in the Fremont, California plant in bankruptcy court.
Although Toyota has yet to release an official statement on the subject, a Toyota spokesman confirmed that the automaker’s board voted to abandon the NUMMI plant on Thursday morning. The factory will close its door next March.
The plant currently produces the Toyota Corolla and Tacoma. Corolla production will shift to Toyota’s Cambridge, Ontario plant, and Tacoma production will begin at the automaker’s San Antonio, Texas, plant.
The NUMMI plant opened in 1984 as a 50-50 joint venture between Toyota and General Motors. However, after GM announced it was closing its Pontiac division – the Pontiac Vibe was the only GM product produced at the plant – the future of the plant was cast into doubt.
The NUMMI plant currently employs 4,700 workers. NUMMI’s shuttering will mark Toyota first U.S. plant closure.
