Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc.

Coordinates: 40°22′38″N 86°47′57″W / 40.377136°N 86.799175°W / 40.377136; -86.799175

Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc.

Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (SIA) is an automobile assembly plant in Lafayette, Indiana which began as a joint venture between Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI)) subsidiary Subaru and Isuzu Motors Ltd. After Isuzu withdrew from the venture, SIA continued to manufacture Subaru models, and later began manufacturing the Toyota Camry.

The plant, which is Subaru Corporations's sole overseas plant,[1] was the subject of the 1995 book "On The Line at Subaru-Isuzu" by Laurie Graham, about plant working conditions. The facility is located at 5500 State Road 38 E. — also known as the Bataan Memorial Highway.

History

Subaru and Isuzu had formed a joint venture, Subaru-Isuzu Automotive Inc., on March 17, 1987 to share production facilities at a new plant in Lafayette, Indiana.[2] The plant was completed on December 31, 1988 and began producing the Subaru Legacy and Isuzu P'up in 1989. The factory was given $98 million in state and local tax incentives when it opened, and these remain in place.

After Isuzu suffered severely dwindling sales by 2002, Subaru dissolved their joint agreement with Isuzu.[2] On December 20, 2002, Subaru purchased Isuzu's interest in the venture for $1.00[2] and Subaru then renamed the facility Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. In addition to its Subaru production, the company continued to produce the Isuzu Rodeo and Honda Passport badge engineered twins plus the Isuzu Axiom through to July 2004.

Isuzu ended non-commercial vehicle sales in the United States in 2009.[3] General Motors divested its stake in FHI in 2005 (part to Toyota, part to open market).

New minority shareholder Toyota Motor Corporation began producing 30,000 to 40,000 Camrys per year at the plant in 2007 to meet excess demand then satisfied by imports from Japan. Most North American-market Camrys are assembled at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky. Camry production at SIA officially began March 9, 2007, with the first Camry built by SIA rolling off the assembly line on April 20, 2007[4] and ended May 27 2016. From that moment on, production of Camry vehicles was consolidated to Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc., in Georgetown, Kentucky in the United States.

As a result of Isuzu's former corporate agreement with Honda, the plant used to produce the Passport, a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo. The production Passport, along with that of the Camry, means that SIA was the only plant to have produced automobiles from Japan's two largest automakers -- Toyota and Honda.

As popularity of Subaru cars increase in the United States the factory's production volume increased as well. It is projected to produce 342,000 vehicles in FY2017 (from April 2016 to March 2017). SIA employed 4,673 people as of April 1, 2016. [5]

The plant offers guided tours free of charge on Mondays and Wednesdays except during its summer shutdown.

On May 4, 2004 the factory became the first Zero Landfill manufacturer in the United States.[6]

On September 30, 2009, the factory produced its 3 millionth vehicle, a 2010 Subaru Outback 2.5i in Steel Silver Metallic.[7]

On December 9, 2016, the 5 millionth vehicle was produced at SIA, a blue Subaru Outback. [8]

Current manufacture at SIA

  • Subaru Legacy (September 8, 1989; March 25, 1994 (22C); May 17, 1999 (66L); February 27, 2004 (21Z); May 25, 2009 (EZ5); 2014 (BF4)
  • Subaru Outback (May 17, 1999 (66L); February 27, 2004 (21Z); May 25, 2009 (EZ5); 2014 (BF4)
  • Subaru Impreza (November 11, 2016 (HR3))
  • Subaru Ascent (May 7, 2018 (TR8))

Past manufacture at SIA

References

  1. ↑ "High-riding Subaru boosts profit projections, increases Indiana production". Left Lane News, Andrew Ganz, May 7, 2010. As a result, Subaru’s parent, Fuji Heavy Industries, has forecast a 57 percent increase in annual operating profit for its current financial year – and it will boost production at its sole overseas assembly plant in Lafayette, Indiana.
  2. 1 2 3 "Dissolution of SIA Joint Venture and Production Consignment". Press Release, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., Isuzu Motors Limited, December 20, 2002.
  3. ↑ Fuji Heavy Industries and Isuzu Motors Signed Agreements on Dissolution of SIA Joint Venture and Production Consignment Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. Press Release December 20, 2002
  4. ↑ Fuji Heavy Industries Starts Producing Toyota Camry in U.S. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. Press Release April 21, 2007
  5. ↑ SIA Outline Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. Outline of Production Facility April 1, 2016
  6. ↑ Guynup, Sharon. "The Zero-Waste Factory". Scientific American. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  7. ↑ Chris Shunk. "3 millionth vehicle manufactured". Autoblog.com. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
  8. ↑ Media Oakes. "Subaru of Indiana Automotive Celebrates 5 Millionth Vehicle". prlog.org. Retrieved September 12, 2016.


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