Toyota to close plant for first time

Toyota will close a major car assembly plant for the first time after today’s announcement it is pulling out of a California factory joint venture it had previously run with General Motors.

Toyota Motor Corp said it will stop production at its Fremont, California-based New United Motor Manufacturing Inc (Nummi) in March 2010, and will move production to its other plants in the US, Canada and Japan.

Production of the Corolla subcompact will be moved to its Cambridge, Ontario, Canada plant, as well as Japan, and Tacoma pickups will be produced at its plant in San Antonio, Texas, it said in a statement.

The decision had been widely expected after General Motors Co said in May it was withdrawing from the 50-50 joint venture.

But hopes had been great in California that the historic joint venture launched in 1984 between two major American and Japanese carmakers could stay open.

The plant, which employs about 4,600 workers, will be closed unless another company steps in to keep it going.

Executive Vice President Atsushi Niimi said Toyota studied other options but couldn’t keep Nummi open.

“It just would not be economically viable to continue the production contract with Nummi. This is most unfortunate, and we deeply regret having to take this action,” he said.

He said Toyota carefully considered support offers from the California state government, but they weren’t enough to make it a sound business decision without GM.

He also said Toyota hopes to move Corolla production back to North America from Japan “as soon as possible.”

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger promised to work with the US and Japanese governments, GM and Toyota to support those who lose their jobs and to change the site toward other uses.

“Today is a sad day in the history of Fremont as California joins the ranks of states adversely affected by the bankruptcy of General Motors and the worldwide collapse in demand for automobiles,” he said in a statement.