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 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 Fuji Heavy Industry'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 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, Inc. In addition to their 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. Production of the Camry at SIA is expected to gradually increase to 100,000 units per year. 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]

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 current production of the Camry, means that SIA is the only plant to have produced automobiles from Japan's two largest automakers -- Toyota and Honda.

The factory's highest production volume was 216,198 in 1998, and had employed over 9,000 people since the plant opened. SIA employed 2,813 people as of April 21, 2008.[5]

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

On September 30, 2009, the factory produced its 3 millionth vehicle, a 2010 Subaru Outback 2.5i in Steel Silver Metallic.[6]

In May 2014 Toyota has announced that production of the Camry at Subaru of Indiana Automotive’s assembly plant in Lafayette, Indiana, will cease in fall of 2016. From that moment on, production of Camry vehicles will shift to Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc., in Georgetown, Kentucky in the United States. As of April 2016, Camry production is scheduled to end on May 27th.

Current manufacture at SIA

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 SIA Outline April 21, 2008
  6. ↑ Chris Shunk. "3 millionth vehicle manufactured". Autoblog.com. Retrieved 2013-12-27.

External links

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