Subaru plans $140M expansion of Indiana factory

The Indiana facility is the lone plant that the company has outside its home country Japan, and it plans to upgrade its existing campus at 5500 State Road 38 East with new machinery and equipment to support the expansion.

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 move will increase staffing at the plant, which now employs over 3,800 Hoosiers, by more than 30 percent, according to Easterday.

Subaru announced it will invest more than $140 million to increase production capacity by almost 100,000 units annually. Subaru’s Outback and Legacy and the Toyota Camry are now produced at the plant.

“It’s an announcement about our associates and the quality that they build into every vehicle”, he said.

The announcement comes shortly after Governor Mike Pence’s economic development trip to Japan, in which he met with Fuji Heavy Industries, which owns SIA.

Another expansion will create 1,200 new jobs at the Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. “To see a global company like this that could grow anywhere renew their commitment again and again to the people of Indiana is mostly a credit to the team here at SIA…. Last week, executives at Subaru’s parent company told us they are choosing…Indiana because of the long-term relationships we’ve developed and the business climate we’ve built – two things that we’ll keep doing to make sure Indiana remains a state that works”.

Gov. Pence joined Subaru executives on Monday to announce expanded operations in Indiana.

Subaru’s expansion is also expected to spur growth of its direct material suppliers as well, including 28 located across Indiana. In May, Yoshinaga said the facility could raise production to 394,000 vehicles by the end of 2016, up from about 365,000 in 2014. “It’s a testament to our skilled workforce, positive business environment, quality of life and the company’s confidence in continued success here”.

Once again, the collaboration among the state, Tippecanoe County and the city of Lafayette paid off, said Jody Hamilton, director of economic development for Greater Lafayette Commerce.