As I often remind people about the last GM I (will ever) own, “if these idiots (not Oshawa assembly now, their assembly quality is just fine) would have quit the nickel and diming on the parts quality, the vehicle might have actually been durable and I would have PAID that extra $50 they ’saved’ to get that durability.”

Failed GM parts?
Blockheater (how DO you do that?)
HVAC control module
Hub (abs) – multiple
Multifunction switch
Catalyst
Rocker arm mounting bolts (ripped out of head)
and more.

“Toyota Spending $500 Million on Indiana Plant Revamp”

What I found interesting in the article is this comment from Mike Goss, a spokesman for Toyota’s North American manufacturing unit in Erlanger, Kentucky:

“This is really our only investment this year, since Mississippi is idled,” Goss said.

So, if this the ONLY investment Toyota is going to make in the near term, does that say anything about NUMMI’s chances for survival?

Could the handwriting be on the wall now…

To TC88 and molly29: With all due respect, this is an open forum for discussion and you just have to expect that comments will come from both ends of the spectrum. Our prayers to the both of you, your families, and your co-workers at NUMMI.

In Canada at the Cambridge, Ontario; the plant that also makes the Canadian-market Corolla, all Matrixes and non-hybrid Lexus RXs.

OTOH Ford’s incessant trumpeting about how much better they’re doing than Toyota provides great cover for the “wounded” Toyota to close the plant.

Local governments can file Chapter 9. http://www.uscourts.gov/bankruptcycourts/bankruptcybasics/chapter9.html States and the federal government cannot use Chapter 9.

For a state, the equivalent of filing bankruptcy would be to default on its bonds and to stop paying its bills. That would not be a good thing.

Given what I’ve heard about Tijuana lately, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be building anything there.

BTW, where’s our bankrupcy lawyer? I want to know if a state can actually declare bankrupcy. Sorry, I hate to go off subject, but the solvency of several states has come up several times in our discussions of car plants.

If the Feds will hand Fiat $7B to import that little 500 go-kart, Penske should be able to nick a cool billion to say a few hundred UAW jobs.

The issue with NUMMI is that it doesn’t build anything that couldn’t also be built at a plant elsewhere in the NAFTA zone. As long as those plants can accomodate the demand, it still might not be worth keeping NUMMI around.

Anyone know utilization figures for the Tijuana and Cambridge?

Close the plant. It’s not cost effective, it’s very existence was politically motivated, the Matrix is not their biggest seller (although a decent small car) and what’s another 5000 unemployed in a state that is going under tomorrow.

The Matrix is build at a Canadian plant, not NUMMI. Now, the Vibe is a rebadged Matrix, but both are also basically station wagon versions of the Corolla, which is built at NUMMI and is a big seller for Toyota.

+1

I put “half” in quotes since approximately 85% of all product made at the plant has a Toyota badge on it, and the one GM product (the Pontiac Vibe) made there has a Toyota engine, transmission, and platform. It functions as a straight Toyota plant that makes some rebadged vehicles on the side for GM, despite the actual 50/50 ownership split.

Toyota made a series of mistakes recently in building new less-flexible factories. EG, their Texas Tundra plant.

Nummi, although high labor cost, is set up already to build the bread-and-butter vehicles that makes Toyota Toyota: The Corolla and the Taco.

I’d expect the NUMMI plant to keep operating, as long as the UAW doesn’t get too agressive.

If Toyota has no interest in maintaining a symbiotic relationship with GM, that should be very easy to do. Just say ‘GM abandoned NUMMI’ often enough and it will stick. For Toyota, this is a gift.

If Toyota was as singularly fixated on unions as are some of you who post here, it would have never done the NUMMI deal in the first place.

Assuming that Toyota handles this as it tends to handle everything else, their main emphasis will be on ensuring that the plant is well managed and that it continues to improve its process to ensure a low defects rate. I would expect them to delay the opening of a new plant before shutting down an old one.

Close the plant. It’s not cost effective, it’s very existence was politically motivated, the Matrix is not their biggest seller (although a decent small car) and what’s another 5000 unemployed in a state that is going under tomorrow.

Expect Toyota to let everyone know their partner bailed out and sold the factory out from under them. Toyota will walk away and GM will get ALL of the blame.

PR shouldn’t matter, most people usually forget the fact that “Toyota laid off 5000 workers” except for those who got laid off. Numbers (cost) are more important to a corporation, and if Toyota wants to stay afloat, it is necessary for them to chop off unnecessary extras.

What I don’t understand about the whole recession is:

1.) Cars are still being sold, its not like there are 0 sales. Why are companies struggling if they are selling less? Shouldn’t they be able to adjust according to need?

2.) May sound absolutely insensitive: Does anyone else look at a recession as a way to increase efficiency by eradicating (Bankruptcy, lay-offs, ceasing production, whatever you want to call it) unnecessary things? Just like GM had Pontiac and Hummer, did we really need those two brands? Do we really need a fancy-cake bakery? Or thirty slightly-different types of the same thing (Food, Cars, TV, etc.)