(August 27, 2009) Toyota Motor Corp. plans to close its oldest U.S. auto plant, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., a venture that once symbolized Toyota's zeal to learn the art of automaking in America, Automotive News reported Thursday.

Toyota's board has decided to shut the Fremont, Calif., plant in March, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the decision but were not authorized to speak on the record, Reuters reported.

The plant builds the Toyota Corolla and Tacoma.

Toyota has never closed an American factory and has spent the past 25 years carefully avoiding the political and public image stigma of plant closings and worker layoffs.

The move will mean that Toyota will rely on its Corolla assembly plant in Cambridge, Ontario, to fill all dealer orders for one of the market's most resilient models. The Corolla was the biggest seller under the just-completed federal cash-for-clunker stimulus program.

A more challenging issue will be where to move production of the Tacoma pickup. Toyota builds some Tacomas at a small plant in Tijuana, Mexico. But it also has been struggling with excess plant capacity at its big San Antonio plant, which builds only the full-sized Tundra.

The decision to close NUMMI was largely thrust onto Toyota when partner General Motors walked away from the 50-50 joint-venture during bankruptcy this summer. Toyota and GM opened the plant in 1984 to share resources on a small car based on a Toyota platform.