Subaru to add 100 jobs as part of $75 million expansion

Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. plans to add 100 jobs at its auto plant in Lafayette by the end of 2014, the company announced Wednesday.

The new employees will be needed for a 52,000-square-foot expansion of the plant, which will allow Subaru to make more of its fast-selling Outback and Legacy vehicles. Construction on the $75 million expansion is expected to begin this summer.

Subaru already employs 3,600 at its Lafayette facility, with 600 workers added in the past three years. The plant produces nearly 171,000 cars a year. The expansion will allow production to ramp up to 180,000 vehicles annually, even without having employees work overtime

"The expansion of SIA's capacity is necessary to meet the growing demand for Subaru vehicles in the North American market," said Tom Easterday, executive vice president of SIA. "The success of the SIA-built Legacy and Outback is the result of innovative design focused on the needs of our customers, a strong reputation for quality and reliability, and consistently achieving top safety ratings."

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Subaru up to $950,000 in tax credits and up to $50,000 in training grants based on the company's job-creation plans. The city of Lafayette will consider a property-tax abatement for the plant expansion.