products that could be produced at the factory for both companies, with Toyota even offering to build a version of its Prius hybrid for GM at the factory. Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman, city officials and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger lobbied the automakers to find a product and keep NUMMI open. State officials crafted sales tax exemption on new factory equipment to preserve NUMMI. A regional committee was formed in February 2010 to investigate the closure of the plant, and the facility was appraised while operating. The talks ultimately failed and in June 2009 the GM announced that it would pull out of NUMMI. On August 27, 2009, Toyota announced that it would also discontinue production at NUMMI by March 2010, marking the first time the company had ever closed a factory. In November 2009 call with autoworkers Toyota's head of U.S. sales said that though it was a difficult decision to shut down the plant, "the economics of having a plant in California so far away from the supplier lines" in the Midwest "just doesn't make business sense" for Toyota. Autoworkers prepared for the shut down by refreshing skills and planning for career transitions. In March 2010, 90% of the workers at the plant approved a $281 million severance package from Toyota that had been negotiated by the UAW, averaging $54,000 to the plant's 4,700 employees. Production of the Corolla in North America was shifted to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada until the new Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi assembly plant could open in October 2011. Production of the Tacoma had already partially shifted to Toyota Motor Manufacturing de Baja California in 2004, and the remaining work shifted to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas. At 9:40am on April 1, 2010, the plant produced its last car, a red Toyota Corolla. NUMMI sold off equipment at an auction, with robots and tooling going to Toyota's plants in Kentucky, Texas and Mississippi. NUMMI sold some equipment to Tesla for $15 million. Reuse of the factory Ahead of the closure of NUMMI, several possible uses for the facility were proposed. In January 2010, the land was considered for a new stadium for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball. It is close to the proposed site of Cisco Field, which was never formally approved. On March 10, 2010, Aurica Motors announced that it intended to raise investment capital and garner federal economic stimulus funds to help