Toyota sues over shuttered JV plant

• Source: Shanghai Daily
• [10:15 December 02 2010]
• Comments

Toyota is suing the company handling bankrupt General Motors' assets, demanding $73 million in damages from the shuttering of a joint-venture California plant.

Toyota Motor Corp spokesman Paul Nolasco Wednesday said the lawsuit was filed on November 24 for research and development costs that weren't recouped because of the shuttering of New United Motor Manufacturing Inc, or Nummi, plant in Fremont, California.

The lawsuit, filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York, targets so-called "old GM," or Motors Liquidation Co, which is separate from General Motors Co, the Detroit-based auto maker that is recovering after a US government bailout.

Separately, Nummi is demanding US$360 million from Motors Liquidation Co for costs related to investments in the plant that weren't recovered.

Nolasco said talks had been going on among Nummi, Toyota and the old GM for about a year, but were never resolved. Toyota feels the departure of GM from the joint venture unfairly left the Japanese firm to sort out what was left, he said.

Nummi was a 50-50 joint venture between Toyota and GM, which began in 1984, and was heralded in its heyday as a new partnership that crossed borders, allowing both sides to learn from each other.

After GM pulled out, Toyota stopped production at Nummi in April.

Since then, Toyota has forged a new relationship with US luxury electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc.