Subaru of Indiana Automotive
Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (SIA) is a car assembly plant in Lafayette, Indiana. It started as Subaru-Isuzu Automotive, a joint venture between Subaru Corporation and Isuzu Motors. Today it is a wholly owned Subaru subsidiary that builds the Ascent, Crosstrek, Legacy, and Outback. SIA is Subaru’s only manufacturing plant outside Asia and accounts for about half of Subaru’s vehicles sold in North America.
The venture was formed on May 29, 1986, to build cars at a new plant near Lafayette. The plant opened in late 1988 and began producing the Legacy and Isuzu Pickup on September 11, 1989, with an initial capacity of about 240,000 vehicles per year. Indiana provided $86 million in incentives to attract Subaru after losing a previous plant to Illinois. Subaru also planned to export Legacys to Taiwan.
As Isuzu’s sales declined, Subaru bought Isuzu’s stake on January 1, 2003 and renamed the plant Subaru of Indiana Automotive. In addition to Subarus, the plant produced Isuzu Rodeo and Honda Passport badge-engineered models, and later Isuzu Amigo and Axiom until 2004. From 2007 to 2016, under contract with Toyota, SIA built the Camry to support rising Subaru production.
SIA has been recognized for safety, quality, and environmental efforts. It became the first U.S. auto maker to achieve zero-landfill status on May 4, 2004. In 2019, the plant celebrated milestones: the 4 millionth Subaru built, 10 years as a zero-landfill site, 30 years of production, and its 6 millionth vehicle overall. For 2020–21, SIA expected production to reach about 410,000 vehicles.
Tours: Free guided tours are offered on Mondays and Wednesdays, except during the summer and winter shutdowns.
Key facts: Headquarters in Lafayette, Indiana; Chairman and CEO Fumiaki Hayata; about 5,900 employees (2020); website subaru-sia.com.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:18 (CET).