en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NUMMI
2 corrections found
the factory gave the company its first manufacturing base in North America
NUMMI was not Toyota’s first North American manufacturing base. Toyota had already been manufacturing in Long Beach, California through TABC since the 1970s.
Full reasoning
Toyota’s own historical materials contradict this. Toyota says TABC in Long Beach was its first manufacturing facility in North America, with operations tracing back to 1972 and Toyota’s purchase of the operation in 1974. Toyota also separately describes NUMMI as significant because it was Toyota’s first vehicle assembly plant in the U.S.
So NUMMI was an important milestone, but not Toyota’s first manufacturing base in North America. A more accurate description would be that NUMMI was Toyota’s first U.S. vehicle assembly plant or first full-scale/automobile assembly project in the region.
2 sources
- Toyota’s First U.S. Manufacturing Facility Paves the Way Part by Part
Toyota’s first manufacturing facility in North America, TABC, Inc., has been helping to build the company’s reputation for quality... TABC, originally known as Atlas Fabricators, contracted with Toyota in 1972... Two years later, Toyota purchased the operation... making it Toyota’s first manufacturing investment in the U.S.
- Company History - Toyota USA Newsroom
NUMMI, a joint venture with GM, was significant as it marked Toyota's first vehicle assembly plant in the U.S., where the Corolla FX16 was assembled.
December 1984 (1984-12)
NUMMI was established before December 1984. Toyota said the new company was established on February 22, 1984; December 1984 was when production began.
Full reasoning
Toyota’s contemporaneous 1984 announcement says the administrative procedures establishing New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. were completed on February 22, 1984. Toyota’s corporate history then distinguishes that from December 1984, when the first Chevrolet Nova came off the production line.
That means December 1984 is a production-start milestone, not the company’s founding date.
2 sources
- FTC GRANTS FINAL APPROVAL TO TOYOTA-GM JOINT VENTURE
Based on that notice, administrative procedures for establishing the new company were completed by February 22... February 22 Administrative procedures completed for establishing new joint venture company.
- Global Website | 75 Years of Toyota | Section 3. Local Production Starts in North America | Item 2. Joint Venture with GM
Three full years after the initial approach from GM concerning the alliance, NUMMI completed its production preparations, and in December 1984, the first Chevrolet Nova came off the production line.