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.
“The decision was made jointly by Fuji Heavy Industries and Toyota Motor Corporation, following discussions regarding production structure optimization,” Toyota said in a release. In October 2005, TMC and FHI entered a partnership agreement enabling the two companies to share resources for R&D and production, “while respecting the distinct brand identities and management styles of both companies.”
As part of this collaboration, consignment production of the Camry at Subaru Indiana Automotive began in 2007. Toyota said it will continue to collaborate with FHI on products and technology.
In a separate release, Subaru’s parent company Fuji Heavy Industries said that North America will become its “top-priority market”, while Japan and China will be “second-pillar markets.” The announcement is part of the “Prominence 2020” mid-term management vision which also targets global sales of more than 1.1 million vehicles by March 2021.
Subaru’s targets for 2020 also include focusing on SUVs, continuously launching new products, increasing overseas production up to 1.07 million units, increasing productivity by 20 percent and generating further synergies, among others.
Last year Subaru said it will invest $400 million to boost U.S. capacity by the end of 2016 to 400,000 vehicles from 300,000 this year.
By Dan Mihalascu
PHOTO GALLERY
