NUMMI shuts down

[Dave W]

The final day of NUMMI

It's been more than 25 years since it was the original GM plant, and that was a different era. Still, this struck me:

Workers said the quality of the vehicles didn't wane, even during the final days of production.

That was in sharp contrast to the last day or two of the former GM plant in Fremont, said Larry Silberman, a Hayward resident who worked for 25 years at NUMMI and 25 years at its predecessor, the GM factory. Silberman was there on the final day for each of the two factories.

"When General Motors closed the plant, the workers trashed the last cars," Silberman said. "Here at NUMMI, we kept the quality high to the end."

[the mojo hobo]

Actually, it was the first GM - Toyota joint venture plant. The first American made Toyotas. I was working at a Toyota dealer at the time it started up. /they made Toyota Corollas and Chevy Novas there. The Nova at that time was a  copy of a Jananese market 5 door Corolla. The build quility of the NUMMI cars was comparable to the Japanese cars, but we did get at least one Corolla that was equipped with Chevy wheel covers.

[Denis]

I heard an interview with former employees of the original plant and the crap they did was unbelievable. The workers interviewed would bring thermoses full of screwdrivers and drink on the job all day. They'd put Coke bottles in the doors of the cars so that the future owners would always have rattles in their cars. It was friggin' crazy and shameful. Those guys laughed about it but they probably did a lot to shoot down the quality and reputation of American cars back then.

[Dave W]

Actually, it was the first GM - Toyota joint venture plant. The first American made Toyotas. I was working at a Toyota dealer at the time it started up. /they made Toyota Corollas and Chevy Novas there. The Nova at that time was a  copy of a Jananese market 5 door Corolla. The build quility of the NUMMI cars was comparable to the Japanese cars, but we did get at least one Corolla that was equipped with Chevy wheel covers.

Yep, and later the Geo/Chevy Prizm. IIRC the Novas and Prizms were a few hundred dollars less expensive than the Corollas. But the perception of quality differences between Toyota and GM meant that the Corolla nameplate sold better. That, and many GM dealers didn't seem motivated to sell the Prizm.

[Pilgrim]

Classic case of the workers helping to put themselves out of work.