Subaru to add 1,200 jobs by 2017 in $140 million Lafayette plant expansion

Tom Easterday, SIA executive vice president, announced the company will invest $140 million to expand the plant and increase production capacity by 100,000 vehicles a year. SIA has already begun hiring the 1,200 new employees needed to meet that production goal, and it aims to complete the hiring burst by 2017. The average wage will be $17 an hour.

The move will increase staffing at the plant, which currently employs over 3,800 Hoosiers, by more than 30 percent, according to Easterday.

"Last month Subaru sales in the U.S. hit an all-time record of 52,697 units," Easterday said. "As Subaru sales have grown, so has SIA. ... The decision to grow Subaru's presence in Indiana is truly a show of confidence by our parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, in our associates, our community and our state."

Company executives and Governor Mike Pence announced the development Monday, just days after the Governor and Indiana business representatives returned from a trade mission to Japan.

"Subaru has kept its promise to the people of Indiana now for more than a quarter of a century, and this is one more statement of them fulfilling that promise," Pence said. "To see a global company like this that could grow anywhere renew their commitment again and again to the people of Indiana is mostly a credit to the team here at SIA. ... When Subaru has said yes again to Indiana, they are saying yes to the hardworking people of Indiana."

Subaru sales in North America have increasingly reached new records in the recent years. One of three Subaru plants worldwide, SIA is the only production facility located outside of Japan. In 2014, the Lafayette plant manufactured 286,000 vehicles.