Subaru said it will invest $400 million to expand capacity at its Indiana assembly plant by a third and add output of its Impreza compact. Production of four- and five-door versions of the Impreza will begin in 2016. The plans call for expanding the second of two lines at the Indiana factory and hiring 900 workers.Overall Subaru capacity at the plant in Lafayette, Ind., will grow to 300,000 vehicles a year.
The factory now has two lines, one dedicated to Subaru with capacity of 200,000, and a second building Toyota Camry sedans with a capacity of 100,000. About $200 million of the investment will go into building a new paint plant and $160 million will extend the line.
The move comes as Subaru earned record annual results in unit sales, revenue, operating profit and net income for the fiscal year ended March 31. The automaker is focusing on U.S. expansion, as Subaru says it needs the extra capacity in North America to keep up with booming demand for its all-wheel drive vehicles.
"Our U.S. business is advancing at faster than expected," Yasuyuki Yoshinaga said. "Sales will reach another record this year." U.S. sales reached a record 358,000 units in the fiscal year. They are expected to climb to 385,000 in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, for a fifth straight year of all-time highs and their sixth straight year of growth.
Worldwide sales hit a record 724,000 units in the fiscal year just ended. Subaru sees them rising 4 percent to 752,000 this fiscal year. Producing more cars in the North America will help Subaru reach that goal, while avoiding currency exchange risk on imports.
It currently makes the Legacy sedan and Outback and Tribeca crossovers in Indiana. But the Impreza small car, Subaru's third best-selling nameplate behind the Outback and Forester, is currently manufactured only in Japan and has to be imported. The Impreza will be produced on the existing Subaru line, in mixed production with the other models, Yoshinaga said. The expanded line will absorb spillover production of the Outback, he said. That vehicle is expected to be one of the three full-model changes Subaru plans in the next three years.
The factory now has two lines, one dedicated to Subaru with capacity of 200,000, and a second building Toyota Camry sedans with a capacity of 100,000. About $200 million of the investment will go into building a new paint plant and $160 million will extend the line.
The move comes as Subaru earned record annual results in unit sales, revenue, operating profit and net income for the fiscal year ended March 31. The automaker is focusing on U.S. expansion, as Subaru says it needs the extra capacity in North America to keep up with booming demand for its all-wheel drive vehicles.
"Our U.S. business is advancing at faster than expected," Yasuyuki Yoshinaga said. "Sales will reach another record this year." U.S. sales reached a record 358,000 units in the fiscal year. They are expected to climb to 385,000 in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, for a fifth straight year of all-time highs and their sixth straight year of growth.
Worldwide sales hit a record 724,000 units in the fiscal year just ended. Subaru sees them rising 4 percent to 752,000 this fiscal year. Producing more cars in the North America will help Subaru reach that goal, while avoiding currency exchange risk on imports.
It currently makes the Legacy sedan and Outback and Tribeca crossovers in Indiana. But the Impreza small car, Subaru's third best-selling nameplate behind the Outback and Forester, is currently manufactured only in Japan and has to be imported. The Impreza will be produced on the existing Subaru line, in mixed production with the other models, Yoshinaga said. The expanded line will absorb spillover production of the Outback, he said. That vehicle is expected to be one of the three full-model changes Subaru plans in the next three years.
