Subaru says it plans to spend $140 million on expanding an Indiana factory where it expects to add some 1,200 jobs in the next two years.
Gov. Mike Pence announced Monday Subaru of Indiana Automotive has expansion plans and as many as 1,204 jobs will be created by 2017. “Subaru chose Indiana as the home for its only assembly plant outside Japan, and now the company is choosing Indiana once more”.
Subaru of Indiana Automotive vice president Tom Easterday says the project will allow the factory to boost production to meet growing demand.
The move will increase staffing at the plant, which now employs over 3,800 Hoosiers, by more than 30 percent, according to Easterday.
SIA plans to increase capacity by almost 100,000 units annually by investing $140.2 million to upgrade its facility on State Road 38 East. New machinery and equipment will also be purchased to support the expansion. Subaru’s Outback and Legacy and the Toyota Camry are now produced at the plant.
The announcement is in line with the revelation made by Subaru CEO Yasuyuki Yoshinaga, who said that the company would start production of a seven-seat SUV at the Lafayette plant after 2017, which will be sold in the North American market. “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….”
Talks among the company, state and local government officials, and economic development representatives had been in the works for months, Pence said.
A Japanese automobile company is getting set to expand its business in 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. He said those meetings across Japan have strengthened our economic ties with our statewide companies and sparked job creation. 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. These incentives are performance-based, meaning until employees are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city and the county may consider additional incentives.