Toyota and its new partner, Subaru maker Fuji Heavy, have agreed to make Toyota vehicles at Fuji’s plant in Indiana, both sides reportedly said on Tuesday.
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According to the Associated Press (AP), the two car makers said the decision was finalised when company presidents met on Monday but such details as job additions, what model will be manufactured, vehicle numbers and when production will start in Lafayette still need to be worked out.
Earlier reports suggested Toyota may use the extra US capacity to build more of the Camry, its top-selling model in that market.
AP noted that, last October, General Motors said it was ending its alliance with Fuji and selling its entire 20% stake in the car maker. Toyota at the same time bought an 8.7% stake for about $315 million to become the new top shareholder.
The Indiana plant now makes about 100,000 vehicles a year at the plant, according to The Associated Press. Models built there include the Outback station wagon, Legacy sedan Baja (a slow-selling Outback pickup truck spin-off) and recently launched B9 Tribeca sport-utility.
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By GlobalDataAP noted that analysts have said that Toyota vehicle production at the US Subaru plant will likely be about 100,000 vehicles, but it wasn’t clear if Toyota models would replace Subaru models or if they would boost the total factory output.
The Associated Press added that, in Monday’s meeting, Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe and Fuji president Kyoji Takenaka also agreed that Fuji will send engineers to Toyota to work together on technology to develop vehicles, but the number of engineers and areas of cooperation are still undecided, a Fuji spokesman said on condition of anonymity, based on company policy.
A Toyota spokeswoman, who also requested anonymity, also confirmed the deal to AP and said that the model that will be made there will be for the US market.
Fuji has its own hybrid technology, although Toyota leads the world automakers in that technology, and Fuji also has jet aircraft operations that may be of interest to Toyota, which has been carrying out aviation research, the Associated Press noted, adding that Toyota officials have said that the cooperation with Fuji being discussed so far is only in cars.
