Posted on 08/29/2009 5:06:27 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Reporting from Los Angeles and Fremont, Calif. - Toyota Motor Corp.'s decision to abandon its assembly line in Fremont marks the end of large-scale auto manufacturing in California, which over the years boasted a dozen or more plants building vehicles ranging from Studebakers to Camaro muscle cars.
The Japanese automaker said Thursday that it would end production at the plant March 31, throwing 4,700 people out of work, and return some production to Japan.
It's another hard blow for California, a state already grappling with an 11.9% unemployment rate -- its highest since World War II and the fourth-worst in the nation.
In addition to wiping out the jobs directly tied to the plant, closing the facility will send ripples through the web of suppliers that make components for the factory and through nearby stores, restaurants and bars that depend on its workers for business.
Overall, closing the plant could cost more than 40,000 jobs, according to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who has worked with other public officials to try to keep the plant open. But communications with Toyota eventually broke down, she said.
Operated as a joint venture between Toyota and the former General Motors Corp. since 1984, the plant saw its future put in doubt last month when GM pulled out of the arrangement as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.
Executives of the venture, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., told union members Thursday morning about Toyota's decision. It is the first time that Toyota has ever closed a major auto assembly plant.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I guess liberals can take solace in the following statement in the same news article :
“Shutting down the plant will be another milepost in the long erosion of California’s once-thriving auto industry — a decline that is being only partly offset by the rise of a new breed of start-up car companies specializing in such advanced technology as all-electric drivetrains.”
Perhaps there really is the intent on driving away conventional car makers to make way for green cars...
Capitalism strikes again.....
The sad thing is this — they know the cause of the problem but are doing nothing about it.
Just read these paragraphs from this same news article ...
“Analysts say those better-paying union jobs, along with other costs of doing business in California, are big reasons that California’s auto production has fled overseas or to other, lower-cost states.”
and this ...
‘”It just made sense for Toyota to pull the plug,” said Dennis Virag, president of the Automotive Consulting Group in Ann Arbor, Mich. “When you look at states like Kentucky and Tennessee, California just isn’t competitive in manufacturing with its taxes, regulations and overall cost of doing business.”
The costs apparently outweighed a package of incentives put together by state and local officials in an effort to persuade Toyota to stay in Fremont. The incentives included tax breaks, lower utility rates and publicly funded road and rail improvements around the plant, according to Feinstein.
How’s that hope and change workin out there union bozo’s?
The sad fact is a LOT of people I encounter know something is bad wrong, but are unwilling to look to God for the answers.
Jeremiah 10:14 Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; For his molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.
Jeremiah 10:15 They are worthless, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish.
Jeremiah 10:16 The portion of Jacob is not like these; For the Maker of all is He, And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The Lord of hosts is His name.
Jeremiah 10:17 Pick up your bundle from the ground, You who dwell under siege!
Jeremiah 10:18 For thus says the Lord, "Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land At this time, And will cause them distress, That they may be found."
Jeremiah 10:19 Woe is me, because of my injury! My wound is incurable. But I said, "Truly this is a sickness, And I must bear it."
Jeremiah 10:20 My tent is destroyed, And all my ropes are broken; My sons have gone from me and are no more. There is no one to stretch out my tent again Or to set up my curtains.
Jeremiah 10:21 For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the Lord; Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered.
Jeremiah 10:22 The sound of a report! Behold, it comes-- A great commotion out of the land of the north-- To make the cities of Judah A desolation, a haunt of jackals.
Jeremiah 10:23 I know, O Lord, that a man's way is not in himself; Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. Jeremiah 10:24 Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; Not with Thine anger, lest Thou bring me to nothing.
Jeremiah 10:25 Pour out Thy wrath on the nations that do not know Thee, And on the families that do not call Thy name; For they have devoured Jacob; They have devoured him and consumed him, And have laid waste his habitation.
By the way, the "shepherds" are the leaders.
You turnyourself into an anti-business state and soon you dont have any businesses.
The same can be said for the the whole US.
Too many taxes can kill business.
It is simple:
Toyota makes the Corolla in Canada and that plant could supply all North America.
Toyota moved the Tacoma to Texas to share the plant with the Tundra....if you build pickups, Texas is your largest market and you should build them there.
GM pulled out of NUMMI.
Based on this alone, there was no reason for Toyota to keep the Freemont plant open.
When you add in California’s taxes, regulations, and other business climate disadvantages and Toyota would be stupid to stay there.
.......But communications with Toyota eventually broke down, she said. ........
This event occurred right after her staffer was told to piss off and tell your boss not to ever come back
The problem is not loss of jobs, the problem is permanent loss of tax revenue. The Tax Anticipation Notes recently bought by JP Morgan just declined in value
does anybody remember a story like? ...
California decided to disallow solvent paint,
so Camaros and Firebirds had bad paint.
is this that place?
Did Toyoda give Feinstein a clue as to how irrelevent she is?
Bush’s fault?
hahahaha.
Hey Toyota! Build another One here in Texas. It would make a nice twin to the Tundra plant in San Antonio.
The state government is run by morons. They constantly beat up business and wonder where the tax base is going and why their budgets are collapsing...
Basic cause and effect that leftest just can’t put together...
The Fremont NUMMI plant was Toyota’s one and only UAW shop.
Notice how GM escapes all blame here. Why, it would almost be like blaming the government for something!
That plant had to have a huge carbon footprint. Think of the emissions savings from shutting it down.
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