By — Jason Breslow Jason Breslow Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/the-last-1500-employees-at Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter NUMMI Car Plant Closes in California Nation Apr 1, 2010 12:04 PM EDT The last 1,500 employees at the West Coast’s only car plant will be out of a job by day’s end Thursday when a 26-year experiment in auto-making officially comes to a close. The New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. plant, otherwise known as NUMMI, opened in 1984 as a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota. The aim was to see whether U.S. workers could adapt to Japanese management practices, and whether Japanese companies could in turn successfully operate in an American environment. The venture came to an end after GM entered bankruptcy last year and announced it would be pulling out of the venture. Shortly thereafter, Toyota said it would halt production at NUMMI. Already, 3,200 employees at the Fremont, California plant have been let go; all remaining workers will be escorted from the plant after the last vehicle rolls off the assembly line today. The NewsHour’s Spencer Michels reported on the NUMMI closing back in February. Here’s the video: We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Jason Breslow Jason Breslow
The last 1,500 employees at the West Coast’s only car plant will be out of a job by day’s end Thursday when a 26-year experiment in auto-making officially comes to a close. The New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. plant, otherwise known as NUMMI, opened in 1984 as a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota. The aim was to see whether U.S. workers could adapt to Japanese management practices, and whether Japanese companies could in turn successfully operate in an American environment. The venture came to an end after GM entered bankruptcy last year and announced it would be pulling out of the venture. Shortly thereafter, Toyota said it would halt production at NUMMI. Already, 3,200 employees at the Fremont, California plant have been let go; all remaining workers will be escorted from the plant after the last vehicle rolls off the assembly line today. The NewsHour’s Spencer Michels reported on the NUMMI closing back in February. Here’s the video: We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now