NUMMI
Encyclopedia
New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) was an automobile
manufacturing
plant
in Fremont, California
, opened in 1984 and closed in 2010. On October 27, 2010 it reopened as a 100% Tesla Motors
-owned production facility, known as the Tesla Factory
. The plant is located in the East Industrial area of Fremont between Interstates 880 and 680.
Fremont Assembly
site that had been closed two years earlier in 1982 (GM plant since 1960). GM and Toyota reopened the factory as a joint venture
in 1984 to manufacture vehicles to be sold under both brands. GM pulled out of the venture in June 2009, and several months later Toyota announced plans to pull out by March 2010.
At 9.40am on April 1, 2010, the plant produced its last car, a black Toyota Corolla S believed to be destined for a museum in Japan. Production of Corollas in North America has been moved to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada
's assembly plant in Cambridge, Ontario
.
GM saw the joint venture as an opportunity to learn about lean manufacturing
from the Japanese company, while Toyota gained its first manufacturing base in North America and a chance to implement its production system
in an American labor environment.
Up to May 2010, NUMMI built an average of 6000 vehicles a week, or nearly eight million cars and trucks.
On May 20, 2010, it was announced that Tesla Motors
purchased a part in the NUMMI plant and will be collaborating with Toyota on the "development of electric vehicles, parts, and production system and engineering support". The plant will first be used to produce the Tesla Model S
sedan with "future vehicles" following in the coming years. The plant will be producing 20,000 vehicles a year and employ 1000 workers to start.
(UAW) Local 2244.
(1984–1988). This was followed by the Geo Prizm
(1989–1997), the Chevrolet Prizm (1998–2002) and the Hilux (1991–1995, predecessor of the Tacoma), as well as the Toyota Voltz
, the Japanese right-hand drive version of the Pontiac Vibe
. Both of the latter are based on the Toyota Matrix
.
Production of the Pontiac Vibe
hatchback
was discontinued in August 2009 as GM phased out the Pontiac brand.
Beginning in September 1988, the NUMMI plant produced the Toyota Corolla
compact car
. In 1995, it began producing the Toyota Tacoma
pickup truck
.
The choice of the Fremont plant and its workers was unusual. At the time of its closure, the Fremont employees were "considered the worst workforce in the automobile industry in the United States", according to the United Auto Workers
. Employees drank alcohol on the job, were frequently absent (enough so that the production line couldn't be started), and even committed petty acts of sabotage such as putting "Coke bottles inside the door panels, so they'd rattle and annoy the customer." In spite of the history and reputation, when NUMMI reopened the factory for production in 1984, most of the troublesome GM workforce was rehired, with some sent to Japan to learn the Toyota Production System
. Workers who made the transition identified the emphasis on quality and teamwork by Toyota management as what motivated a change in work ethic.
By December 1984, the first car, a yellow Chevrolet Nova
rolled off the assembly line. And almost right away, the NUMMI factory was producing cars with as few defects per 100 vehicles as those produced in Japan. But 15 years later, GM had still not been able to implement lean manufacturing
in the rest of the United States, though GM managers trained at NUMMI were successful in introducing the approach to its unionized factories in Brazil.
On June 29, 2009, General Motors announced that they would discontinue the joint venture with Toyota.
The announcement was made following GM CEO Fritz Henderson announcing in April that General Motors would discontinue the Pontiac Vibe production at NUMMI. The two automakers were in discussions but could not find a suitable product to be produced at the factory. “After extensive analysis, GM and Toyota could not reach an agreement on a future product plan that made sense for all parties,” GM North America President Troy Clarke said in a statement.
"Toyota’s hope was to continue the venture and we haven’t yet decided any plans at the factory,” said Hideaki Homma, Toyota’s Tokyo-based spokesman. “While we respect this decision by GM, 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.” Before GM decided to sever its stake in the NUMMI joint venture, Toyota was considering offering a version of its Prius hybrid to GM that would be built at the factory and sold as a GM model but Toyota has indicated that it was seriously considering exiting the venture also.
On August 27, 2009, Toyota announced that it would discontinue its production contract with NUMMI, shifting Tacoma production to its San Antonio, Texas
pickup plant and Corolla assembly to Cambridge, Ontario
. A total of 5,400 employees will be affected, including 4,550 UAW
hourly workers.
In November 2009, Toyota's head of U.S. sales took calls from autoworkers, saying that though it has been a difficult decision to shut down the plant, "the economics of having a plant in California so far away from the supplier lines" in the Midwest "just doesn't make business sense" for Toyota to continue running the NUMMI plant. Meanwhile, autoworkers are preparing for the shut down by refreshing skills and planning for career transitions. Federal, state, and local officials are also participating in the transition discussions.
of Major League Baseball
. It is close to the proposed site of Cisco Field, which was never formally approved.
A regional committee was formed in February 2010 to investigate the closure of the plant.
On March 10, 2010, Aurica Motors
announced a proposal to save the NUMMI automotive plant and the jobs associated with it. The company said that it intended to raise investment capital and garner federal economic stimulus funds to help retrain the workers and retool the facility for production of electrical vehicles.
The NUMMI plant ceased operations on April 1, 2010 ending the Toyota-GM joint venture. California's last automobile manufacturing plant saw its last car, a Corolla, roll off the assembly line.
On May 20, 2010, Tesla Motors
and Toyota announced a partnership to work on electric vehicle development, which included Tesla's partial purchase of the former NUMMI site, mainly consisting of the factory building. Tesla CEO Elon Musk
said the Tesla S
sedan will be built at the plant.
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
plant
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
in Fremont, California
Fremont, California
Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California. It was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Niles, Irvington, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs...
, opened in 1984 and closed in 2010. On October 27, 2010 it reopened as a 100% Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors, Inc. is a Silicon Valley-based company that designs, manufactures and sells electric cars and electric vehicle powertrain components. It was the only automaker building and selling a zero-emission sports car, the Tesla Roadster, in serial production...
-owned production facility, known as the Tesla Factory
Tesla Factory
The Tesla Factory is an automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, California owned and operated by Tesla Motors. The facility was formerly known as New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. , a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota...
. The plant is located in the East Industrial area of Fremont between Interstates 880 and 680.
Overview
NUMMI was established at the site of a former General MotorsGeneral Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
Fremont Assembly
Fremont Assembly
Fremont Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Fremont, California. It was the new site for production in the San Francisco area in 1962 with production moved from the older Oakland Assembly. Production continued through 1980 when the plant was closed...
site that had been closed two years earlier in 1982 (GM plant since 1960). GM and Toyota reopened the factory as a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
in 1984 to manufacture vehicles to be sold under both brands. GM pulled out of the venture in June 2009, and several months later Toyota announced plans to pull out by March 2010.
At 9.40am on April 1, 2010, the plant produced its last car, a black Toyota Corolla S believed to be destined for a museum in Japan. Production of Corollas in North America has been moved to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. is a Canadian automotive manufacturer and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation...
's assembly plant in Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge is a city located in Southern Ontario at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is an amalgamation of the City of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair.Galt covers the largest portion of...
.
GM saw the joint venture as an opportunity to learn about lean manufacturing
Lean manufacturing
Lean manufacturing, lean enterprise, or lean production, often simply, "Lean," is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination...
from the Japanese company, while Toyota gained its first manufacturing base in North America and a chance to implement its production system
Toyota Production System
The Toyota Production System is an integrated socio-technical system, developed by Toyota, that comprises its management philosophy and practices. The TPS organizes manufacturing and logistics for the automobile manufacturer, including interaction with suppliers and customers...
in an American labor environment.
Up to May 2010, NUMMI built an average of 6000 vehicles a week, or nearly eight million cars and trucks.
On May 20, 2010, it was announced that Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors, Inc. is a Silicon Valley-based company that designs, manufactures and sells electric cars and electric vehicle powertrain components. It was the only automaker building and selling a zero-emission sports car, the Tesla Roadster, in serial production...
purchased a part in the NUMMI plant and will be collaborating with Toyota on the "development of electric vehicles, parts, and production system and engineering support". The plant will first be used to produce the Tesla Model S
Tesla Model S
The Tesla Model S is a full-sized battery electric sedan developed by Tesla Motors. It is an electric car that was initially codenamed WhiteStar during research and preliminary development. Model S was announced in a press release on June 30, 2008...
sedan with "future vehicles" following in the coming years. The plant will be producing 20,000 vehicles a year and employ 1000 workers to start.
Facility
The plant spans the equivalent of about 88 football fields, and is configured into a main building that does the final assembly of vehicles and five other facilities:- Plastics facility fabricating bumpers, instrument panels, interior panels, and others;
- Stamping facility that fabricates all visible sheet metal parts;
- Welding facility that assembles all metallic parts into one rigid unit; and
- Two paint facilities, one for passenger vehicles and another for truck cabs.
Employees
Until the facility's closure in April 2010, 4,700 workers were employed. NUMMI employees were represented by The International, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of AmericaUnited Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
(UAW) Local 2244.
Models produced
The first model NUMMI produced was the Chevrolet NovaChevrolet Nova
The Chevrolet Chevy II/Nova is a compact automobile manufactured by the Chevrolet division of General Motors produced in four generations for the 1962 through 1979 model years. Nova was the top model in the Chevy II lineup through 1968. The Chevy II nameplate was dropped, Nova becoming the...
(1984–1988). This was followed by the Geo Prizm
Geo Prizm
The Geo/Chevrolet Prizm was a United States-market entry-level compact car produced for the 1989 through 2002 model years. Like the 1985–1988 Chevrolet Nova it replaced, the Prizm was a rebadged version of the Toyota Corolla...
(1989–1997), the Chevrolet Prizm (1998–2002) and the Hilux (1991–1995, predecessor of the Tacoma), as well as the Toyota Voltz
Toyota Voltz
The Toyota Voltz was a tall station wagon sold from 2002 to 2004. It was assembled by NUMMI in Fremont, California and marketed by Toyota in its home market of Japan, but curtailed after a disappointing sales volume of just over 10,000 units...
, the Japanese right-hand drive version of the Pontiac Vibe
Pontiac Vibe
The Pontiac Vibe is a compact hatchback car that was produced in Fremont, California, in the United States by NUMMI , a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, and marketed under General Motors' Pontiac brand...
. Both of the latter are based on the Toyota Matrix
Toyota Matrix
The Toyota Matrix, sometimes officially referred to as the Toyota Corolla Matrix, is a compact hatchback manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation in Canada, to be sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico...
.
Production of the Pontiac Vibe
Pontiac Vibe
The Pontiac Vibe is a compact hatchback car that was produced in Fremont, California, in the United States by NUMMI , a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, and marketed under General Motors' Pontiac brand...
hatchback
Hatchback
A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...
was discontinued in August 2009 as GM phased out the Pontiac brand.
Beginning in September 1988, the NUMMI plant produced the Toyota Corolla
Toyota Corolla
The Toyota Corolla is a line of subcompact and compact cars manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota, which has become very popular throughout the world since the nameplate was first introduced in 1966. In 1997, the Corolla became the best selling nameplate in the world, with over 35 million...
compact car
Compact car
A compact car , or small family car , is a classification of cars which are larger than a supermini but smaller than or equal to a mid-size car...
. In 1995, it began producing the Toyota Tacoma
Toyota Tacoma
The Toyota Tacoma is a pickup truck produced and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation since 1995. The Tacoma was a compact pickup until a model redesign in 2005 when it was reclassified to a mid-size...
pickup truck
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
.
Background
The factory which NUMMI took over was built by General Motors and operated by them from 1962 to 1982. The idea of reopening the plant emerged out of the need that GM had to build high-quality and profitable small cars and the need Toyota had to start building cars in the United States, a requirement due to the possibility of import restrictions by the U.S. Congress.The choice of the Fremont plant and its workers was unusual. At the time of its closure, the Fremont employees were "considered the worst workforce in the automobile industry in the United States", according to the United Auto Workers
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
. Employees drank alcohol on the job, were frequently absent (enough so that the production line couldn't be started), and even committed petty acts of sabotage such as putting "Coke bottles inside the door panels, so they'd rattle and annoy the customer." In spite of the history and reputation, when NUMMI reopened the factory for production in 1984, most of the troublesome GM workforce was rehired, with some sent to Japan to learn the Toyota Production System
Toyota Production System
The Toyota Production System is an integrated socio-technical system, developed by Toyota, that comprises its management philosophy and practices. The TPS organizes manufacturing and logistics for the automobile manufacturer, including interaction with suppliers and customers...
. Workers who made the transition identified the emphasis on quality and teamwork by Toyota management as what motivated a change in work ethic.
By December 1984, the first car, a yellow Chevrolet Nova
Chevrolet Nova
The Chevrolet Chevy II/Nova is a compact automobile manufactured by the Chevrolet division of General Motors produced in four generations for the 1962 through 1979 model years. Nova was the top model in the Chevy II lineup through 1968. The Chevy II nameplate was dropped, Nova becoming the...
rolled off the assembly line. And almost right away, the NUMMI factory was producing cars with as few defects per 100 vehicles as those produced in Japan. But 15 years later, GM had still not been able to implement lean manufacturing
Lean manufacturing
Lean manufacturing, lean enterprise, or lean production, often simply, "Lean," is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination...
in the rest of the United States, though GM managers trained at NUMMI were successful in introducing the approach to its unionized factories in Brazil.
Events as closure approached
Daily tours of the plant, offered free to the public, were ended on February 27, 2009.On June 29, 2009, General Motors announced that they would discontinue the joint venture with Toyota.
The announcement was made following GM CEO Fritz Henderson announcing in April that General Motors would discontinue the Pontiac Vibe production at NUMMI. The two automakers were in discussions but could not find a suitable product to be produced at the factory. “After extensive analysis, GM and Toyota could not reach an agreement on a future product plan that made sense for all parties,” GM North America President Troy Clarke said in a statement.
"Toyota’s hope was to continue the venture and we haven’t yet decided any plans at the factory,” said Hideaki Homma, Toyota’s Tokyo-based spokesman. “While we respect this decision by GM, 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.” Before GM decided to sever its stake in the NUMMI joint venture, Toyota was considering offering a version of its Prius hybrid to GM that would be built at the factory and sold as a GM model but Toyota has indicated that it was seriously considering exiting the venture also.
On August 27, 2009, Toyota announced that it would discontinue its production contract with NUMMI, shifting Tacoma production to its San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
pickup plant and Corolla assembly to Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge is a city located in Southern Ontario at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is an amalgamation of the City of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair.Galt covers the largest portion of...
. A total of 5,400 employees will be affected, including 4,550 UAW
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
hourly workers.
In November 2009, Toyota's head of U.S. sales took calls from autoworkers, saying that though it has been a difficult decision to shut down the plant, "the economics of having a plant in California so far away from the supplier lines" in the Midwest "just doesn't make business sense" for Toyota to continue running the NUMMI plant. Meanwhile, autoworkers are preparing for the shut down by refreshing skills and planning for career transitions. Federal, state, and local officials are also participating in the transition discussions.
Future of the land and facility
In January 2010, a possible use of the land was proposed: a new stadium for home games of the Oakland AthleticsOakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. It is close to the proposed site of Cisco Field, which was never formally approved.
A regional committee was formed in February 2010 to investigate the closure of the plant.
On March 10, 2010, Aurica Motors
Aurica Motors
Aurica Motors, LLC is a start-up based out of Santa Clara, California that develops a proprietary electronic power train called the Aurica Recurve for electric cars. The company has stated its intention to partner with other investors to manufacture electric cars that utilize its electronic power...
announced a proposal to save the NUMMI automotive plant and the jobs associated with it. The company said that it intended to raise investment capital and garner federal economic stimulus funds to help retrain the workers and retool the facility for production of electrical vehicles.
The NUMMI plant ceased operations on April 1, 2010 ending the Toyota-GM joint venture. California's last automobile manufacturing plant saw its last car, a Corolla, roll off the assembly line.
On May 20, 2010, Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors, Inc. is a Silicon Valley-based company that designs, manufactures and sells electric cars and electric vehicle powertrain components. It was the only automaker building and selling a zero-emission sports car, the Tesla Roadster, in serial production...
and Toyota announced a partnership to work on electric vehicle development, which included Tesla's partial purchase of the former NUMMI site, mainly consisting of the factory building. Tesla CEO Elon Musk
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is an American engineer and entrepreneur heritage best known for co-founding PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors. He is currently the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors and Chairman of SolarCity...
said the Tesla S
Tesla Model S
The Tesla Model S is a full-sized battery electric sedan developed by Tesla Motors. It is an electric car that was initially codenamed WhiteStar during research and preliminary development. Model S was announced in a press release on June 30, 2008...
sedan will be built at the plant.
See also
- CAMI AutomotiveCAMI AutomotiveCAMI Automotive, originally known as Canadian Automotive Manufacturing Inc., was an independently incorporated joint venture of automobile manufacturing in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada and formed the third step of GM's three-pronged initiative of the mid-1980s to capture and practice the Japanese...
(CAMI) — A similar joint venture in CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
between SuzukiSuzukiis a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
and General MotorsGeneral MotorsGeneral Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
from 1986 to 2009; now operating as a wholly owned GM plant. - United Australian Automobile IndustriesUnited Australian Automobile IndustriesUnited Australian Automobile Industries was a firm founded in Australia in 1989 as the result of an agreement between Holden and Toyota. For Holden, it replaced the earlier Holden-Nissan joint venture that had existed since 1983.UAAI produced three vehicles: the Holden Apollo, Holden Nova and...
(UAAI) — A similar joint venture in AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
between Toyota and GM-HoldenHoldenGM Holden Ltd is an automaker that operates in Australia, based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the U.S.-based General Motors in 1931...
from 1989 to 1996.
External links
- Official NUMMI site
- Autointell NUMMI page
- Photo Tour of NUMMI from Edmunds.comEdmunds.comEdmunds.com is a provider of automotive information via Web sites, books, and other media. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, California and maintains an office outside of Detroit, Michigan...
- JD Power Gold Plant Award for GM
- NPR's This American Life's full hour story of the creation and demise of NUMMI - episode #403 from This American LifeThis American LifeThis American Life is a weekly hour-long radio program produced by WBEZ and hosted by Ira Glass. It is distributed by Public Radio International on PRI affiliate stations and is also available as a free weekly podcast. Primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, it has also featured essays,...