![\"US](\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/tesla-fremont-factory.png?w=1000\" "\\"Tesla")
<\/figure>\nTesla is now producing more cars at its Fremont factory than when it was the NUMMI factory operated in partnership by GM and Toyota.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s only the beginning. CEO Elon Musk says it could grow production by about 50%.<\/p>\n
New United Motor Manufacturing, better known as NUMMI, has a long history \u2013 and not always a good one.<\/p>\n
Before it was NUMMI, it was a car assembly plant established in Fremont, California by General Motors way back in 1962.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, workers at the factory were \u201cconsidered the worst workforce in the automobile industry in the United States\u201d by the workers\u2019 own union representative. Employees were drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana on the job.<\/p>\n
There was a real disconnect between workers and management \u2013 such that any disciplinary attempt was met by strikes or even \u201csabotage\u201d on the assembly line, like putting coke bottles inside the door panels to create rattles.<\/p>\n
In the early 1980s, it got so out of control that \u201cnear chaos\u201d reigned at the factory.<\/p>\n
In 1982, GM closed the factory altogether, but it quickly reopened in 1984 through a partnership with Toyota and became NUMMI.<\/p>\n
Toyota implemented its own production system and continuous improvement processes \u2013 resulting in significant improvements in quality and output.<\/p>\n
Between 1984 and 2010, NUMMI produced over 8 million vehicles and peaked at a production of 428,633 vehicles in 2006. However, Toyota had many other factories in the US by 2010 and NUMMI was the only one with a unionized workforce.<\/p>\n
GM and Toyota ended up closing the factory and selling it to Tesla in 2010.<\/p>\n
The factory showed its age and it wasn\u2019t the most efficient as it was Frankensteined together as it grew over the years.<\/p>\n
But Tesla couldn\u2019t pass on the deal because of the terms, which consisted of Toyota investing $50 million in Tesla and the latter giving back $42 million to the former for the factory.<\/p>\n
Tesla basically ended up with a factory and $8 million to invest in it.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t easy. After years of headaches, sweat, and literally unfortunately some blood<\/a>, Tesla eventually managed to ramp up production of electric vehicles at the factory, where it produces its entire lineup: Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X.<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n