Subaru Bringing Transmissions, Parts to Indiana

In an effort to build more things where they’re needed, Subaru of Indiana Automotive will spend $158 million expanding its Lafayette plant. Construction begins this summer.

The cash covers a standalone service parts facility and an add-on to the existing plant, home to the Ascent, Outback, Legacy, and Impreza. That addition will see the automaker’s only non-Japanese facility build the transmissions needed to serve a growing market.

As you’ve read here, Subaru expects to spend 2020 selling.

“We’re proud to continue investing in Indiana,” said Scott Brand, SIA’s senior VP of administration and quality, in a statement. “We also appreciate the tremendous support these plans have received from the state, Tippecanoe County and the city of Lafayette.”

The addition is expected to create 350 jobs in the Hoosier state.

Continuing a trend of huge yearly sales climbs, Subaru’s U.S. volume topped 700,000 vehicles in 2019 — a volume bump of nearly 3 percent over 2018, and a 223-percent increase from a decade prior. This year, Subaru again hopes to top its latest record in its largest market.

Built in 1989, the Lafayette plant has added models and jobs over the years; its workforce now stands at roughly 6,000. Plant output for 2020 is projected at 410,000 vehicles.

Bringing parts and transmissions to the U.S. is part of Subaru’s effort to silence the gripes about supply issues and quality that plagued the automaker over the past couple of years. Given its relatively small production footprint and growing North American demand, the automaker quickly sells most of the vehicles it makes. There isn’t much room for error when problems crop up in the supply chain.

[Image: Matthew Guy/TTAC]