GM Job Cuts May Not Affect its California JV Operations
FREMONT - 06/08/05 - General Motors has said it plans to drastically reduce its US manufacturing workforce by as many as 25,000 people by 2008, but the decision isn't expected to affect the operations at the joint venture facility it operates here with Japan's Toyota Motor Corp.
The Fremont-based New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. - or NUMMI - operates as a self-contained company so its staffing decisions are handled independently from the corporate parents, according to a GM spokesman.
More than 5,500 people work at the NUMMI facility, which has turned out some 5.8 million cars and trucks since GM and Tokyo-based Toyota formed the joint venture more than 21 years ago.
The 5.3 million square-foot manufacturing plant - located about 30 miles southeast of San Francisco - has a capacity of producing about 400,000 vehicles annually, specifically Toyota Corolla, Toyota Tacoma and Pontiac Vibe cars.
Ironically, while the California NUMMI alliance with Toyota has been successful, GM has continued to lose market share to its largest joint venture partner, according to auto industry analysts.
According to Hoover's Business Press, the company also has stakes in Isuzu Motors, Subaru, Suzuki Motor, and GM Daewoo Auto & Technology.
Detroit-headquartered GM posted a $1.1 billion loss in the first quarter of this year and its US market share has fallen to 25.4% from 27% a year ago, as customers increasingly are showing a decided preference for more fuel-efficient and more easily maintained models from Toyota, Nissan Motor Co., and a number of other Asian automakers.
The move to cut its domestic workforce is expected to save the cash-strapped company roughly $2.5 billion with about one-in-six of its US employees losing their jobs.
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