Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA) broke ground on the company’s $158 million expansion in the state. The project is still on track despite the economic slowdown caused by COVID-19.
The Lafayette manufacturing facility is the company’s only one located outside of Asia.
The expansion, announced in February, will create space for the automotive manufacturer to assemble transmissions in-house rather than ship already finished ones, reducing import costs. It will also increase service part production.
SIA hasn’t been immune to the financial impacts from the pandemic, shutting down for a short time this spring.
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However, Scott Brand, SIA senior vice president of administration and quality control, said he believes the pandemic won’t change the direction of the project.
“So we think the economy will stabilize, we think we’ll get back onto our growth curve and it’ll actually happen in a very advantageous time for us to have transmission production here in the plant,” said Brand.
Brand said the transmission facility is expected to be complete in 2021 and up and running in 2023. In total, the expansion is expected to add 350 new jobs.
Contact reporter Samantha at shorton@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @SamHorton5.