2nd UPDATE: GM To End 25-Year Manufacturing JV With Toyota
29 Juni 2009 - 11:56PM
Dow Jones News
General Motors Corp. (GMGMQ) said it will end its 25-year
manufacturing joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) in
Fremont, Calif., dealing the Japanese auto maker another blow as it
struggles to right its U.S. operations.
Toyota, which last year posted its first annual loss in nearly
70 years, said GM's withdrawal from the venture - known as New
United Manufacturing Inc., or NUMMI - will aggravate
already-difficult business conditions.
"While we respect this decision by GM, the economic and business
environment surrounding Toyota is also extremely severe, and so
this decision by GM makes the situation even more difficult for
Toyota," the company said in a statement Monday.
The plant currently produces the Pontiac Vibe, which GM will
stop making within 60 days, as well as the Toyota Corolla car and
Tacoma compact pickup truck.
Toyota plans to continue building the Corolla and Tacoma at the
NUMMI factory, at least for now, Toyota spokesman Mike Goss
said.
"We don't know what's in store for the future," he said.
When NUMMI kicked off in 1984, a stodgy GM saw it as a chance to
absorb Toyota's revolutionary system of lean manufacturing and
streamlined business practices. At the time, Toyota was mulling
whether to begin producing vehicles in North America. It viewed the
joint venture as an opportunity to test its production system on a
U.S. workforce.
The future of the factory grew cloudy last week when GM
announced plans to discontinue the Pontiac Vibe by the end of
August. The auto maker is selling or ending four of its eight
brands and eliminating many models as it scrambles to slim down and
restructure in bankruptcy court.
Toyota vehicles account for nearly three-quarters of the plant's
overall output.
"We have enjoyed a very positive and beneficial partnership with
Toyota for the past 25 years, and we remain open to future
opportunities of mutual interest," said GM North America President
Troy Clarke.
GM's ownership interest in the venture will become part of "old
GM" to be sold off as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
-By Sharon Terlep, Dow Jones Newswires; 248-204-5532;
sharon.terlep@dowjones.com
(Kevin Kingsbury contributed to this report.)