At what point though?
Before or after the integration of Japanese assistance?
Listening to the podcast, it'd have you to believe that before Japan lent their hand, the plant was a debacle from nearly every stand point.

 

you are correct...

 

The Corolla has always been a well-built car, with substantially better than average reliability, whether it came from that Fremont/NUMMI plant or Japanese plants.

 

The Corolla has always had the highest of reliability for Toyota, not better than average. It's a gateway Toyota and they have to be at the top.

 

That Fremont plant and its workers (NUMMI) did make good product, but only after Toyota stepped in to help. From its opening in 1962 to its closing in 1982, Fremont was one of the worst GM plants.

But in 1984, when Toyota stepped in and sent workers (rehired after being let go when the plant closed in 1982) to Japan for training, they learned about Toyota's commitment to quality. And the rest, as they say, is history. GM learned about the Toyota Way and Toyota learned about manufacturing in North America, which they used to set up their first wholly-owned American plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, which opened in 1988 to build the Camry.

See Wikipedia.

 

I have owned a Mazda vehicle made in the USA Flat Rock Ford plant under the supervision of the Japanese and it was built amazingly well. So well that when I sold it 7 years and 100K later, the first impression of the person who purchased it was that this was a 2 year old vehicle by the looks of the fit, finish, quality of paint, engine compartment, passenger compartment, leather seats, etc., and after he test drove it, he ran to the bank and returned with cash in 30 minutes to close the deal.

 

According to the early press releases, the ES350 will be built alongside the Avalon which has good reliability and fit & finish. If they tighten up QC even more for ES production things should go smoothly. The KY plant has been in operation for quite a few years.

 

I read something different:

Source: News from TMMK

I take this to mean that the line builds only the ES, which is good. The Cambridge, Ontario plant in Canada also builds the RX on a separate line.

 

They are built in the same place. Not on the exact same actual assembly. They are pretty much the same car underneath the body and interior. They are as similar as the Land Cruiser and LX570 are.

 

What QC are you talking about? The Avalon is fine as it is. The Kentucky plant has won quality awards for Toyota.

 

The ES is built on a separate assembly line in the same Georgetown, Kentucky plant as the Camry, Avalon and Venza (is the Venza still in production?). Yes, the ES shares a platform with the Avalon (and the Camry) so it could very well have been built on the same line, alternating Camrys, Avalons and ESs.

Actually, common platform vehicles on the same assembly line no longer matters -- with flexible lines, even different platform vehicles can be made on the same line. So the RX could theoretically share the same line as the Corolla in Cambridge, but it does not.

But producing the ES on its own assembly line prevents "cross-contamination". The Lexus can share the same plant as Toyotas (ES in the same plant as Camry and Avalon, and RX in the same plant as Corolla) and thus have economies of scale, but by having its own dedicated line, it can use its own, specially-trained workers and perhaps higher-quality components and parts also. It is the next best thing to building the Lexus in its own plant (which some would like and hope for).

 

From what I recall having dedicated lines is what made for Toyotas legendary quality and reliability.

 

actually, build process between the two is not the same... Lexus vehicles are built differently to ensure even better quality. There was an article on new ES in Kentucky last year and how they are training Toyota employees to become Lexus ones - example was them retraining them for moonroof installation, different process between ES and Avalon, with much stricter tolerances than already existing strict ones for Toyota.

ES will be produced in separate buildings....

 

Hot dog! From automobile mag
"For the U.S. market, the new Lexus ES will carry on with existing engine options. The 268-hp 3.5-liter V-6 will live on, alongside the 200-hp ES hybrid's 2.5-liter four-cylinder and electric motor. Although these do not change, Lexus says the 2016 ES has a stiffer unibody structure, improving ride and handling. A new sound-deadening layer behind the dashboard further silences engine noise from inside the cockpit."

That's music to my ears

 

Better than average means better than average, Jill.......we don't need to get into semantics. Having said that, though, yes, the Corolla is often at or near the top in reliability.