GM to Stop Making Chevrolet Prizm

General Motors Corp. will discontinue the Chevrolet Prizm compact car built at its joint-venture factory in Fremont with Toyota Motor Corp. and begin producing a new Pontiac for the U.S. and Japan, a plant executive said.

The New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. factory will stop building the Prizm after the 2002 model year to begin producing the Pontiac and a new-model Toyota Corolla, said John Mufich, general manager of information management at NUMMI.

GM makes about 45,000 Prizms each year at the Fremont plant, which is California’s last remaining auto factory. Chevrolet spokesman Tom Pyden said the auto maker hasn’t announced the discontinuation of the Prizm. “Sales of the Prizm are going very well and it’s in our product plan through at least the 2002 model year,” Pyden said. Prizm sales rose 12% to 44,749 in the first 10 months of this year.

The new Pontiac will be a small “lifestyle vehicle” that will be built in both left- and right-side steering versions to accommodate drivers in either the U.S. or Japan, Mufich said.