GM Ending Manufacturing Deal With Toyota

NEW YORK (AP) -- General Motors Corp. said Monday is ending its joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp. at a Fremont, Calif., manufacturing plant as it continues to shrink its operations under bankruptcy protection.

The Detroit automaker said it was unable to reach an agreement with Toyota about a new product plan at the facility. The plant, called New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or Nummi, currently products the Pontiac Vibe for GM and the Corolla and Tacoma for Toyota.

GM announced it was phasing out the Pontiac brand earlier this year. The facility will cease production of GM vehicles in August, the company said.

"There are no future GM vehicles planned for the joint venture at this time," said Troy Clarke, president of GM North America, in a statement. "We have enjoyed a very positive and beneficial partnership with Toyota for the past 25 years and we remain open to future opportunities."

Toyota spokesman Mike Goss said in a statement that the Japanese automaker is disappointed to see the partnership end.

"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," Goss said in an e-mail.

Goss said Toyota was considering alternatives for the plant and declined to comment further.

GM, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month, is laying off employees, closing dealerships, shuttering factories and shedding four of its eight brands as part of a vast reorganization effort. The automaker said its stake in Nummi will become part of the "Old GM" that will be liquidated under bankruptcy.

On Tuesday, a New York bankruptcy court is scheduled to rule on the proposed sale of GM's desirable assets -- also called the "New GM" -- to a new company that will be majority-owned by the U.S. government.

GM's announcement brings to a close a 25-year partnership between the Detroit automaker and its biggest rival, which GM had sought so it could learn more about Toyota's more efficient production methods.

The Vibe station wagon has been a poor seller for GM recently. Sales rose 25 percent in the down market in 2008, but have tumbled 47 percent for the first five months of this year.

Talkback! Manufacturing.net is pleased to provide you an opportunity to share your opinions on any of the news stories or articles on our site. We reserve the right to edit/remove comments.
Viewing 16 User Comments	Add a Comment
What did GM learn at NUMMI? 6/29/2009 4:41:00 PM Hopefully they learned that Toyota isn't sucessful because of their production methods alone. They design quality into the product, and design small cars that Americans want to drive. Wuality isn;t just reliabiltiy and reduing manfuacturing and assembly defects, it's in how the cars were desgned and how they functioned. It took GM 20 years to learn that. New porducts liek hte new Malibu finally show GM understands the market. But I think it's too little, too late. They are going down, and taking US tax dollars with them.
Way to go GM! 6/29/2009 5:12:00 PM Probably one of the best small cars that GM has made (because it is based on a Toyota design), the Vibe is phased out. Way to shoot yourself in the foot, GM! Let's get some of those China Built crap-boxes to replace the Vibe. I won't be buying any stock in the new GM any time soon if this are the kinds of decisions that are being made.
Excuse,excuse, excuses...! 6/29/2009 5:29:00 PM So now GM turned its back on Toyota? Vibe can not sells not just of Toyota. Matrix is selling like hot cakes. Anyway, they always look for someone blame on.. Also they think they can do better. I think they wer joint Toyota maybe just sneak behind Toyota's secrets.
to be replaced with the Pelosi-Waxman 3 door sedan 6/29/2009 5:54:00 PM The Vibe will be supplanted by the Pelosi-Waxman sedan. Something not mentioned in the article was if this was a UAW facility. I would presume not.
A sad day. 6/29/2009 6:26:00 PM GM was going to learn frm Nummi it was going to learn from Saturn and its clean sheet approach down in Spring Hill. But it plans to get out of both, what did it learn? That an old dog can not learn new tricks?
Running Government Motors 6/29/2009 6:46:00 PM This is what happens when you the government run things. A better decision would have been to sell GM manufacturing assets to Toyoda like the Chrysler Fiat deal. I expect GM to become a second tier auto provider.
Revised headline 6/29/2009 7:34:00 PM New headline should read"GM Ending Manufacturing Deal With Toyota, Big Party Tonight at Toyota HQ"
Goodby GM 6/29/2009 8:13:00 PM I currently own 4 pontiacs, one GMC, 2 Toyotas...This was my joint venture..Good by Government Motors.
Gm going down 6/29/2009 10:29:00 PM It is a shame that the 3 major US automakers are working so hard to put themselves out of business. Instead of being worried about their big bonuses perhaps those big guys should get on the floor and learn about cars and people. The Vibe was one of their better cars. All it needed for the Northern sales was to give it more ground clearance for the snow and maybe better efficiency. Do those big guys have their head up their ass or what. I drove one for a year and it was great except for the low ground clearance and it does not get the gas mileage of a Prius.
GM Ending Manufacturing Deal With Toyota 6/30/2009 7:41:00 AM This is proof that GM still "doesn't get it". It's all about quality a quality design followed by a quality built product and backed by quality service. If they haven't learned that by now, they're hopeless. I hate to see tax dollars being wasted on another Titantic, but I'm afraid that's what's happening before our eyes.
GM ENDING DEAL WITH TOYOTA 6/30/2009 1:39:00 PM Just one thing to say about GM DEX-A-COOL IT it took you down
GM unable to overcome inertia 7/1/2009 11:06:00 AM GM drove to and off the cliff fueled by inertia fostered by so many years of GM bureaucracy more concerned about retaining or growing their positions than anything to do with manufacturing automobiles. GM's relationship with Toyota is one casualty of a desperate attempt at reorganization with its own objectives.
to all GM bashers 7/2/2009 6:24:00 AM Please show up on our doorstop in Detroit and 'show us how it's done'. I fear most of the people bashing GM have no clue what it's like to work in the current auto industry and how tought it is.
Vibe VS Matrix 7/6/2009 3:55:00 PM I think the posters comparing the Vibe & the Matrix may be on to something: the Vibe is for all intents and purposes a Matrix in GM drag. If they raised it up a bit and added switchable 4WD, (and kept the gas mileage reasonable in the 2WD mode) you would have a valid contender for Subaru's market share (as long as the build quality is there and the tuner parts can be had...) This is definitely suicidal behavior. Now watch Toyota take over the Vibe line to pump out more Matrii and bury GM that much deeper. I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it looks like a no-brainer to me!
Ford is Better than Toyota or GM 7/6/2009 3:57:00 PM Both vehicles built at Nummi Toyota and Pontiac verisons were both junk. The thought that Toyota is better is proven perfectly here. The near identical car with completely different reviews, that is until they find out they were near identical. I bought a Camry, which also has let me down. Our Ford is the same Model year and with more miles than the Toyota. The Toyota has spent more time in shop and is boring to drive with some very expensive repairs. Two weeks ago we spent $750 to fix the Toyota so it would stop unlocking itself.
I imagine that most here are not 7/21/2009 8:40:00 AM just GM bashers. I have owned Ford products almost exclusively and can tell you that neither Ford's design nor their execution even approaches good. The post regarding the Toyota that locks itself illustrates an industry-wide symptom of a larger problem. ALL car makers load their cars up with a LOT of high-profit CRAP that most people don't need or want. These options are the ones that are usually the first to go on the fritz and the most expensive to fix. A couple of years ago, I was seriously considering a Chrysler 300, but found that you could not option the 3.5L V-6 without also paying and additional $1500 for a leather interior. This sort of "packaging" borders on sheer insanity. As for the post wanting to be "shown how it's done", I would be happy to assume directorship of product development at Ford or Chrysler. I fear, however, that they are not really interested in designing AND building quality into their vehicles.

Subscribe | About Us | Feedback