GM Generali

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

General Motors Corp. (GM) announced it will end its 25-year manufacturing joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) in Fremont, Calif., saying the two companies couldn't come to an agreement on what future product would be made at the facility.

The plant currently produces the Pontiac Vibe, which GM will stop making within 60 days, and the Toyota Corolla.

For GM, the joint venture was an opportunity to see first-hand Toyota's revolutionary system of lean manufacturing, streamlined business practices that have since been widely adopted throughout the world. Toyota, then considering whether to begin producing vehicles in North America, wanted an opportunity to test its production system on a U.S. workforce.

The factory's future became uncertain as GM moved to shutter plants and cut out all but the most essential functions as it raced to restructure under government watch. Pontiac is among four brands GM is shedding in bankruptcy court and the only one that will be wound down rather than sold to another company.

Toyota had been accounting for nearly three-quarters of the plant's output.

"We have enjoyed a very positive and beneficial partnership with Toyota for the past 25 years, and we remain open to future opportunities of mutual interest," said GM North America President Troy Clarke.

GM's ownership interest in the venture will become joint assets in the portion of GM being sold as part of bankruptcy proceedings.

-By Kevin Kingsbury, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2354; kevin.kingsbury@dowjones.com

(Sharon Terlep contributed to this report.)