Toyota Motor Corp. may shoulder almost all the costs to shut its California joint venture plant as the owner of the former General Motors Corp.'s 50 percent stake doesn't plan to help out, including with worker severance pay.
"Motors Liquidation is not contributing at all to NUMMI's closure costs," said Tim Yost, a spokesman for Motors Liquidation Corp., the Detroit-based entity that took over discarded assets from GM as part of the carmaker's bankruptcy reorganization. "We don't believe there will be a requirement for us to do so."
Costs to close New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. may affect Toyota's earnings for the year ending March 31. Toyota, which last week forecast a net loss of ¥200 billion, said it's still in talks with the Fremont, Calif., venture known as NUMMI and Motors Liquidation and that it's too soon to estimate the expenses.