Subaru expansion creating more than 1200 jobs

Company executives and Governor Mike Pence announced the development Monday, just days after the Governor and Indiana business representatives returned from a trade mission to Japan.

Subaru of Indiana Automotive said today it is planning a $140.2 million expansion in Lafayette that will create more than 1,200 jobs by 2017. “Subaru chose Indiana as the home for its only assembly plant outside Japan, and now the company is choosing Indiana once more”.

On Wednesday, Pence held a news conference in Tokyo to announce a $40.6 million expansion of the Indiana Packers Corp. pork-processing plant in Delphi.

SIA now produces about 300,000 cars each year. Subaru’s Outback and Legacy and the Toyota Camry are now produced at the plant.

A Japanese automobile company is getting set to expand its business in Indiana.

Subaru announced it will invest more than $140 million to increase production capacity by almost 100,000 units annually.

The hiring and investments will “enable SIA to build more Subarus to help meet the growing demand”, said Tom Easterday, Subaru of Indiana executive vice president, in a statement. The existing facility in Lafayette will get new machinery and equipment to handle the production increase.

The company’s expansion is also expected to spur growth of its direct material suppliers as well, including 28 located across Indiana.

“As I talk about our new demand-based workforce development focus, and as I brag about our community college and higher education systems, you can tell all of that resonates with leaders that are looking at our state”, he said. The incentives are performance-based, and the company is not eligible to claim the incentives until Hoosiers are hired. The city of Lafayette and Tippecanoe County will consider additional incentives at the request of the Greater Lafayette Commerce.

Yoshinaga did not specify how the new SUV would boost production at the plant or how many jobs could be added.

Talks among the company, state and local government officials, and economic development representatives had been in the works for months, Pence said.