Big News: Toyota and Tesla to Build Cars at NUMMI

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Surprising news today from California… from the WSJ. Toyota and Tesla are partnering up!

Tesla Motors Inc. said it is partnering with Toyota Motors Inc. to make electric cars at a recently shuttered auto plant in Fremont, Calif., in a deal the two companies said also involves Toyota putting $50 million into Tesla.

The cars will be made at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., known as Nummi, a joint venture between General Motors Co. and Toyota in Fremont that had closed earlier this year, Tesla officials said in a statement.

CEO Akio Toyoda said:

“By partnering with Tesla, my hope is that all Toyota employees will recall that ‘venture business spirit' and take on the challenges of the future,” Toyota President Akio Toyoda said in a statement. Toyota said it plans to introduce electric vehicles in 2012.

I hate to be so cynical, but I think GM also expected Ross Perot and EDS to bring a venture business spirit into GM and, instead, GM had a negative impact on EDS!

It does raise the issue of culture… our friend Pete Abilla of the Shmula blog tweeted:

In the blog post he linked to (“Tesla Motors is not Toyota: A Contrast in Disrespect and Respect of People“), Pete criticized Tesla for short-term thinking and for firing employees via a blog post (or at least making them aware of the Detroit office shutdown that way).

Micki Maynard, from the NY Times, tweeted:

And we had this exchange:

To the readers — what do you think? Reactions? Predictions? Will the UAW be involved?

It will be interesting to see what happens!


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Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker, and podcaster with experience in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. Mark's new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.

5 COMMENTS

  1. […] I was able to tour the NUMMI factory in 2005, which I really enjoyed (see my series of blog posts here). NUMMI was, of course, a joint venture between Toyota and GM (as John Shook talked about recently at the Lean Startup conference). NUMMI was shuttered a few years back when GM pulled out of the partnership, but the building was purchased and re-opened by Tesla. […]

  2. The past 14 years have shown that Musk has NOT bought into TPS. Far from it. I know people who have worked in Fremont who said Elon was VERY dismissive of TPS. Toyota sold their stake in Tesla…

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