SoCal Firms Fear Fremont Car Plant at End of Road

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Southern California auto suppliers, already battered by the downturn in car sales, are not happy about the possible closure of a joint Toyota-General Motors plant in Fremont.

The shuttering would certainly lead to further reductions in their orders, and maybe even pay cuts or layoffs.

Seven companies that have operations in the Los Angeles-Inland Empire area supply various parts to the Bay Area plant, called New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or Nummi. The plant, which employs 5,000 people, makes Toyota Corollas, Toyota Tundras and Pontiac Vibes.

“We are kind of evaluating what we will do and just watching it day to day,” said Baret Basham, sales and marketing director for Viam Manufacturing Inc., which employs 75 locally and makes more than 200,000 floor mats annually at a Santa Fe Springs factory for the three cars produced at Nummi.

During its bankruptcy process, General Motors said it would leave the plant when it halts production of Vibes. That led Toyota to consider shifting production to one of its other facilities, which would mean Fremont would close.

L.A.-area suppliers are in a holding pattern pending the outcome.

“We can’t make any kind of decision until we see what Toyota says,” Basham said.

Nummi is the last car factory left in California, where manufacturing associations and companies complain it’s become too expensive to operate a business.

“Even if it closes, we still hope to be able to still supply Toyota wherever the cars are assembled,” said Bruce Walker, president of Walker Corp., which supplies welded assemblies, metal stampings and brackets to Nummi and other Nummi suppliers. “I have faith they will make the right decision as they have in other tough times.”

Still, Walker is worried. Fifty percent of his company’s business is tied to Nummi orders, and he hopes he won’t have to cut any of his 180 employees at his Ontario factory.

Meanwhile, California legislators earlier this month proposed two bills, one in the Senate and one in the Assembly, to save the Nummi plant by offering millions in sales tax benefits and fee reductions. The Senate bill, SB 830, was co-authored by state Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood).

Toyota spokeswoman Tania Saldana Blersch said the Japanese automaker hopes to make a decision on what to do with Nummi as soon as possible, and auto suppliers said it’ll likely come sometime this week.


Looking Phat

Most solar panels are installed on the rooftops of homes, apartments and offices. But a La Crescenta-based company has begun integrating them into the design of patio covers and carports.

Phat Energy is launching a product line called the “Phatport,” a structure topped with solar energy panels that can be used as a type of shelter. Company executives said it can generate up to 20 percent more power than traditional solar panels.

“To be widely accepted, solar energy needs to be freed from rooftops where it is currently trapped, and often hidden; it must find its way into new spaces,” said Nick Tucker, Phat Energy’s chief designer, in a statement. “We want to move solar power from a technology to an aesthetic.”

The Phatport uses double-sided solar cells, newly developed by Sanyo, that can collect energy from the sunshine above, and heat and light that’s reflected from the ground. The system can be used to provide supplemental energy for a home or to charge an electric car.

The Phatport comes in two models.

The Phatport 200 is a rainproof structure that can be used as a covered patio or carport. The structure is already in production, with five installed around Southern California homes. The 200 sells for about $55,000, but the company said that most buyers will end up paying half of that thanks to government rebates.

The Phatport 1000 resembles a bus stop-style canopy that can fit in a small residential environment but can be expanded as a cover for bigger parking structures. The smallest 1000 model costs about $35,000 and the company plans to start delivering orders by the end of the year.


New Faces

Northrop Grumman Corp. has appointed Michelle Scarpella vice president of F/A-18 programs for its Strike and Surveillance Systems Division in El Segundo; she’s a 22-year veteran of the company. Anu Vij has been named to head the design of thermal oxidation units of San Dimas-based OnQuest Inc, a furnace and process technology company. Vij, 38, was previously director of operations at Pro-Environmental Inc. in Rancho Cucamonga.


Staff reporter Francisco Vara-Orta can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 241.

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