Toyota blames costs, not UAW, for NUMMI pullout

C. E. White · 2009-09-01T14:33:26+00:00

Toyota blames costs, not UAW, for NUMMI pulloutHans GreimelAutomotive NewsAugust 28, 2009 - 9:52 am ETTOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. says it plans to shut its California factory because of high labor and logistics costs, not because the UAW represents workers there."The UAW presence does not have a direct impact on the decision," Executive Vice President Atsushi Niimi said in conference call today after the automaker said it will end production at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont, Calif., on March 31, 2010. The plant builds the Toyota Corolla and Tacoma.Niimi also said Toyota will seek to boost Corolla output in North America. NUMMI's closure leaves Toyota with only one North American plant, in Cambridge, Ontario, that builds the Corolla."California is a high-cost location," Niimi said.He said California's higher-than-average cost of living, not the union, dictates higher labor costs there. Expenses are driven higher by the huge distance between the NUMMI plant and the Midwest, where most of Toyota's suppliers have set up factories.NUMMI is Toyota's only UAW-represented auto plant, with a union work force of more than 4,000 people.NUMMI's workers may apply for jobs at other Toyota plants but won't be given special preference, Niimi said. This is the first closure of an American plant in Toyota's history.Wanted: More CorollasToyota will shift production of Tacoma pickups from NUMMI to its truck factory in San Antonio. NUMMI's output of Corollas will be replaced by cars from Canada and Japan to meet near-term demand.Niimi could not say how many Corollas would be shipped from Japan rather than sourced from Canada. But Toyota wants more Corolla production in North America as soon as possible, he said.The NUMMI closure lops off about 400,000 units from Toyota's total global capacity of 10 million vehicles, Niimi said. Trimming capacity is a top priority for Toyota, which has about 3 million units more than it currently needs.The NUMMI capacity figure includes...

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80 Knight 17 years ago

First, there is no need for name-calling. Not even kids on my soccer team do that. OF course, being in first and second grade, they are smarter than Mike.

Second, the market is not "ever growing." The market has been shrinking each year since 2006.

Further, if GM cars are so great, there is no reason why they should have a smaller market share, unless they can't keep up with demand. Yet, with all the plant closings, that is hardly the case.

Jeff =================================================

Be serious Jeff. Yes, Mike is an idiot, but in this case, he is right. Regardless of market share, GM still sells more vehicles then *any* other auto maker in the USA. GM also sells more vehicles now with its small market share, then it did when it had almost half of the market years ago. As for "greatness", some of you ToyoNuts think Toyota builds vehicles directly from God, so tell me, why don't they have the highest market share in the USA, and why don't they sell more vehicles then GM?

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Jeff 17 years ago

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First, I don't think Toyota builds cars directly from God.

Second, Toyota sold twice as many cars in 1978 (it highest selling year ever) than last year. In fact, the last time GM had a year with as few sales as last year was 1959. So, no, GM did not sell more cars per year recently compared with the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s.

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Jeff

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edspyhill01 17 years ago

Crappy stereos and too much road noise in the cabin.

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PerfectReign 17 years ago

On Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:24:50 -0400, Mike fired up the etcha-a-sketch and scratched out:

And unfortunately, many morons bought their cars/trucks with cash obtained from refinancing their over-valued homes.

Now look where we are...

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80 Knight 17 years ago

First, I don't think Toyota builds cars directly from God.

Second, Toyota sold twice as many cars in 1978 (it highest selling year ever) than last year. In fact, the last time GM had a year with as few sales as last year was 1959. So, no, GM did not sell more cars per year recently compared with the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s.

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Jeff =============================================

GM sells more vehicles in the USA *now* then any other manufacturer, that is my point.

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Jeff 17 years ago

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You also said, "GM also sells more vehicles now with its small market share, then it did when it had almost half of the market years ago."

GM sold fewer cars last year than any other year since before man has been going into space. I was pointing out that GM is selling fewer cars, despite the larger total size of the market.

Jeff

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dbu'' 17 years ago

and now want somebody else to bail them out. To hell with that.

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Mike 17 years ago

That is one Jap car one sees on occasion, as well as a RX7, but even they are rare. The fact is Jap cars of the day rusted away and parts are expensive IF you can find parts.

The type of buyer that buy Jap cars are not the type to keep them, anymore they would keep their refrigerator or washing machine.

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