Subaru Revs Up U.S. Capacity

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Good news for Lafayette, Indiana: Fuji Heavy will spend $230 million to increase the capacity of its Subaru of Indiana plant by about 30 percent, says The Nikkei [sub]. Subaru’s sole overseas plant currently works at full tilt, and about half of the 330,000 Subarus sold in the U.S. must be imported from Japan.

The Indiana plant currently makes of 170,000 Subarus, mostly Legacy and the Outback. In addition, it produces about 100,000 Camrys for Toyota. The Legacy and the Impreza compact are among the candidates for U.S. production with the added capacity.

By 2014, the capacity for Subaru models will be raised by about 30,000 units. Fuji Heavy is in negotiations to lift the capacity for Camrys to 170,000 as early as fiscal 2016.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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