IS THIS OFFICIAL? 08/27/2009 YAHOO BUSINESS

[MSAGRO]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200...hbnN0

[Kincaid]

Sure sounds that way. Ouch. California takes another economic hit.

[jake75]

To save those the bother of clicking to the story - and to make it a part of GenVibe's historical record.Aug. 27, 2009WASHINGTON – Toyota Motor Corp. plans to end production in March 2010 at a California joint venture where it has built vehicles with General Motors, the company said Thursday.The decision would mean the shutdown of the sole auto assembly plant on the West Coast if no other carmaker emerges to keep it going.Toyota's board voted early Thursday to end the company's production contract at the Fremont, Calif.-based New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., spokeswoman Cindy Knight confirmed.Toyota had said previously that it was moving toward liquidating its stake in the California facility after the plant's fate was thrown into question in June when GM announced it was withdrawing from the 50-50 joint venture. General Motors Co. emerged from bankruptcy and the company's stake in NUMMI is now part of Motors Liquidation Co. — also known as Old GM — where it will be liquidated under court supervision.The NUMMI plant, established in 1984, employs 4,600 workers. Toyota builds the Corolla compact car and the Tacoma pickup truck at the plant and until recently GM built the Pontiac Vibe station wagon there.California lawmakers have discussed with Toyota a package of financial incentives to keep the plant open. The six month period before Toyota ends production gives the state time to find another automaker or manufacturer which may want to use the facility.Japanese media outlets reported Wednesday that Toyota would slash worldwide capacity by 700,000 to 1 million vehicles and the NUMMI production was expected to be part of the global plan.Knight declined further comment but said the company planned to provide additional details on the decision later Thursday.

[Kamikaze]

They call the vibe a station wagon... that's hitting below the belt... well, how about slightly above the belt.. below would be if they called it a mini van

[bull77]

Quote, originally posted by Kamikaze »well, how about slightly above the belt.. below would be if they called it a mini van speak for yourself

[lovemyraffe]

Quote, originally posted by Kamikaze »They call the vibe a station wagon... that's hitting below the belt... well, how about slightly above the belt.. below would be if they called it a mini van I'm not sure how to classify it. It's bigger than a hatchback, smaller than a "normal" station, but if you call it a minivan, I will be hunting you down.

[ColonelPanic]

linkQuote »Opened in 1984, the NUMMI plant has 4,600 employees; it builds the Corolla compact and Tacoma pickup, and until recently also built Pontiac Vice station wagons.LOL, Vice. We have many vices here...At any rate, a gloomy picture for bay area families and communities. Lots of suppliers are going to take a hit too. So now, unfortunately the west coast gets a taste of the cascading disaster that's been happening here in the midwest for a long time with closure after closure of auto plants and the plants of associated suppliers. I read somewhere the other day that Toyota has never closed a plant. Oops. At least now they don't have to deal with the union, getting rid of them has probably been their goal since GM pulled out.

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic » At least now they don't have to deal with the union, getting rid of them has probably been their goal since GM pulled out.i'm sure it was. no way could pulling the Vibe production cause NUMMI to shut down. well there is another import NOT built in the U.S.A. which will have even less American content than it does now.

[cptnsolo77]

"Mini wagon"?I happen to like minivans. They do a better job than SUVs out there. SUVs always seemed wasted space to me.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »linkI read somewhere the other day that Toyota has never closed a plant. Oops. At least now they don't have to deal with the union, getting rid of them has probably been their goal since GM pulled out.They are not closing a Toyota plant - just pulling out of a joint venture.

[ou.grizzly]

Wonder where the Corolla and rest of the Tacoma production will come from.

[Sublimewind]

I keep hearing REM's "It's the end of the world as we know it..." going through my head... That's bad..

[Kincaid]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »...a gloomy picture for bay area families and communities.Oops. Had to edit my thread. I thought Fremont was in SoCal.And I agree about the union being a big reason they are just pulling the plug and walking away.

[MSAGRO]

It's not quite a stationwagon, yet not quite a hatchback, yet not quite an SUV.It's the way Homer described the Muppets. "Not quite a mop, yet not quite a puppet"

[Old Tele man]

...back in 2004, when we bought the wife's Vibe, it was called a Compact-Utilitiy-Vehicle (CUV), but was never-the-less listed as a Station Wagon on the AZ license registration.

[IMakeVibes]

Yep, now its official. We had our meetings today. Plan is for TMC to stop ordering vehicles from NUMMI at the end of March '10, the end of Toyota's fiscal year. No more information available at this time. Kind of a relief now that it is official and we are beginning to know what to expect. The 'news' wasn't good, but it is good to be able to move on and not have to wonder about which stories are rumors and which are true. And if Toyota sticks to what they tell us, we've got at least seven month to figure out our next steps, which I think is more than fair.

[spiffy1001]

@IMakeVibes: I work for a Fortune 200 with locations all over, I don't know what your skills are, but we are always in need of truck mechanics. Message Me privately if you want more info.

[micbarric]

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Wonder where the Corolla and rest of the Tacoma production will come from. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...P.DTL"Toyota...decided to shift the production of Tacoma trucks now made at Nummi to a plant in San Antonio, and to assign the Fremont-built Corollas to plants in Japan and in Ontario, Canada."

[jimincalif]

I am sorry to hear this, unfortunately given the biz climate in California it is not surprising. Even more unfortunate for my fellow Californians, I doubt this will be any kind of wake up call to the idiots in Sacramento who are destroying our state.Best of luck to you, IMakeVibes, and all your coworkers there at NUMMI. Hope you can find new opportunities quickly. I still have both the 03 GT and the 07 base Vibes that my kids drive. You folks do good work.

[IMakeVibes]

Thanks for the kind words jim. Most of us try to do good work and I think it shows in our vehicles and the numerous awards that plant has received over the years. You are right, not surprising at all given this crazy state we live in, the state of the economy, GM's decision, the age of the plant, the union affiliation, etc. Just a perfect situation for Toyota to make their decision, which is purely a business decision. BTW where is pm on this board? I see im, but no pm.

[spiffy1001]

I meant IM - I hope you got my response. If you change your mind you have my company name and my e-mail address. We have an opening in Oakland.

[B14CK_H4WK]

what in the hell im salty the vibe is no station wagon you can call if a hatch back, car or wagon, mini suv whatever but no station wagon or mini van. damn you news people this here is a station wagon see the quality wood lol

[ou.grizzly]

Quote, originally posted by micbarric »http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...P.DTL"Toyota...decided to shift the production of Tacoma trucks now made at Nummi to a plant in San Antonio, and to assign the Fremont-built Corollas to plants in Japan and in Ontario, Canada."Thank you for the link. This is interesting for sure. Wondering if there will be a price increase now on Corollas?

[star_deceiver]

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly » Wondering if there will be a price increase now on Corollas? The plant is now closer to where you live so I'd guess that the cost will be the same. It will cost, at most, the same but probably less to build them in San Antonio and Ontario. Since it's clearly not worthwhile to keep building them in California (Why are they moving? They got a better deal somewhere else!) so you'll see no change in price at the dealer.ICBC calls the Pontiac Vibe a hatchback... (and it costs the same to insure as the 5 year old Sunfire...)

[ou.grizzly]

Quote, originally posted by star_deceiver »The plant is now closer to where you live so I'd guess that the cost will be the same. It will cost, at most, the same but probably less to build them in San Antonio and Ontario. Since it's clearly not worthwhile to keep building them in California (Why are they moving? They got a better deal somewhere else!) so you'll see no change in price at the dealer.ICBC calls the Pontiac Vibe a hatchback... (and it costs the same to insure as the 5 year old Sunfire...) Talking about the Corollas to be built in Japan.

[star_deceiver]

Made in Japan, eh? I guess the japanese factory workers will have to make a few more left-hand drive vehicles. Maybe you'll be able to get some interesting options like a supercharger... Maybe they'll let you buy this http://www.motorauthority.com/...hp-v6

[IMakeVibes]

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Talking about the Corollas to be built in Japan. TMC Japan has always built Corollas for North America as needed. NUMMI builds approximately 60% of the Corollas sold in North America, TMMC (Canada) builds approximately 40%, and TMC Japan picks up whatever these two plants are not able to build due to high demand, parts shortages, major breakdowns, other conditions which could affect the output of either plant. Just a couple of years ago, production at NUMMI was maxed out. We were running every line full speed, the maximum amount of daily and Saturday overtime and still not keeping up with demand. I wasn't there, but apparently Canada was also maxed out during this same period. Between the two plants, they weren't able to keep up with demand, so what was left was built in Japan. I have no idea exactly what percentage of total volume is or was produced in Japan, but obviously whatever it was will soon increase, if it hasn't already.

[micbarric]

Last night on the CBS evening news they had a brief report on NUMMI's closing.Here is the video: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/w...video

[vibebuilder]

Yea, there were alot of 9 and 10hr days as well as two to three Saturdays a month.Lately, we've sorta been been plugging away, business as ususal. After the State of the Company meeting on Thursday, everything has changed. It feels like we work in a burning building. It's not chaotic, but you can feel everyone is preparing to leave.I'm glad we have 7 months.

[foreverwonder]

This type of short-sighted business decision makes me never want to buy another GM model.Quit flogging the out-of-date Daewoo crap GM and build some quality cars, like the Vibe!Nobody in the UK drives a Daewoo except those price conscious buyers who want a new car with a low purchase price. And reliability?GM probably has to license a lot of Toyota technology to build the Vibe and having rubbish Daewoo GM DAT in its midst is likely more fiscally prudent than paying residuals to Toyota, not to mention having to stock parts for a Toyota-based car at Pontiac dealers.