The Lafayette Redevelopment Commission has approved tax breaks for Subaru of Indiana Automotive’s planned US$422m expansion to build the Impreza in Lafayette.
The commission endorsed the automaker’s request for 10-year tax abatements on $353m in new manufacturing equipment, $1m in IT equipment and $68m in real estate improvements at the factory, the Lafayette Journal-Courier reported.
Fuji Heavy Industries, SIA’s parent company, announced last year it would move Impreza production for North America to Lafayette from Japan. This will offset the loss of a Toyota Camry-building contract which ends in 2016.
The 850 workers who now produce Camrys will be retained and retrained to produce the Impreza as well as the Outback and Legacy models, an SIA spokesman told the Journal-Courier. The Impreza project is also adding 50 new jobs at the plant.
Specific production numbers for each model are under discussion, he said.
The manufacturer will expand the south side of its building to create additional space for the paint shop.

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