UPDATE 4-Toyota to pull out of California plant

* Plant to close by March 31

* Toyota decision follows similar move by GM

* 4,500 jobs at stake in production wind down
(Recasts; adds UAW and Feinstein statements, more details)

By David Bailey and John Crawley

DETROIT/WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp
(7203.T) has decided to end production at a California plant it
has shared with General Motors for 25 years, labor officials
and legislators said on Thursday.

The move to close the plant by March 31 puts at risk 4,200
jobs at the facility in Fremont and highlights significant
overcapacity global carmakers are facing as they try to shake a
recession-fueled sales downturn.

The decision on the venture known as New United Motor
Manufacturing Inc, or NUMMI, was part of the Japanese
automaker's plans announced earlier this week to slash
production more broadly to stem losses.

A Toyota representative declined to comment, saying that
the automaker expected to release a statement on the plant
later on Thursday.

But the United Auto Workers, which represents workers at
the facility, called the decision devastating and accused
Toyota of abandoning workers and the state.

"This is no time to close a highly successful manufacturing
facility," Jimmy Settles, a United Auto Workers vice president,
said in a statement. "California is one of the most important
markets for Toyota."

It was the only UAW facility operated by Toyota.

The decision stung even more for labor and lawmakers in
light of news this week that Toyota was the biggest beneficiary
of the $3 billion U.S. government "cash for clunkers" incentive
program designed to jump-start industry sales.

Officials say up to 35,000 supplier and other jobs in
California are indirectly related to the plant's operations.
California's unemployment rate was 11.9 percent in July,
according to the U.S. Labor Department.

California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, called it a
"sad day" and said efforts were underway to transform the site
to alternative uses. The state offered Toyota a package of tax
breaks and other business enhancements to keep it open.

Senator Dianne Feinstein said Toyota told her staff that
GM's decision to cut ties to the plant in June left Toyota
operating a facility at less than full capacity "with no demand
to justify" expanded production.

Feinstein said she was also told by Toyota the Fremont
plant was aging and could not compete with two other plants in
the South, and that production costs were too high in
California.

Feinstein said her staff has met with the Obama
administration's autos task force to discuss other
manufacturing options for the facility.

The plant had been a ground-breaking venture that brought
Toyota's "lean" manufacturing techniques to a U.S. workforce.

Toyota builds the Corolla compact car and the Tacoma pickup
truck at the NUMMI plant. It was not clear which plants would
pick up the Corolla and Tacoma output.

GM, which had built the Pontiac Vibe at the plant until
August 17, plans to wind down the Pontiac brand in its
restructuring and left its stake in the joint venture with
other assets to be liquidated in bankruptcy, in an entity known
as Motors Liquidation Co MTLQQ.PK.

(Reporting by David Bailey and Soyoung Kim in Detroit, John
Crawley in Washington, and Jim Christie in San Francisco;
Editing by Leslie Gevirtz, Gerald E. McCormick, Matthew Lewis
and Richard Chang)