So What About NUMMI?
By SCOTT MCGREW
Updated 8:30 AM PST, Mon, Jun 1, 2009
General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday as part of the Obama administration's plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government.
GM's bankruptcy filing is the fourth-largest in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company. The company said it has $172.81 billion in debt and $82.29 billion in assets.
The biggest Bay Area connection to the filing is the NUMMI plant in Fremont.
Though NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing) is safe from the direct effects of a bankruptcy, it is not safe from the economy as a whole.
The factory is a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, and thus GM cannot close the facility unilaterally.
Reuters is reporting this morning Toyota may be interested in buying General Motors' share of the factory.
NUMMI manufactures the Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, the Toyota Corolla sedan and the Pontiac Vibe.
Obviously Vibe manufacturing will go away, because Pontiac as a brand is going away.
NUMMI employs about 5,400 people.
The question, is what NUMMI will do once it discontinues the Vibe production line. A NUMMI spokesperson told the Mercury News "nothing definitive has been decided about the Fremont facility."
GM this morning did announce a number of plant closures and never mentioned NUMMI by name.
Certainly we're better off than plants in the Mid-West.
Not only can Fremont say it's split its bets between two companies, Toyota and GM, but the NUMMI plant is a model of efficiency.
GM actually sends young executives to Fremont to learn management techniques.
First Published: Jun 1, 2009 8:13 AM PST
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