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Marque plans first EV factory

Subaru predicts operating profit to more than double in the current financial year.
Posted on 17 May, 2022
Marque plans first EV factory

Subaru has announced it will build a dedicated electric vehicle (EV) factory in Japan in the latter part of this decade.

The Japanese marque’s plans come as part of a ¥250 billion (NZ$3.1b) investment over the next five years to bolster electrification of its model range.

It says it will launch a mixed-production line of petrol and electric vehicles around 2025 before opening an EV-only production line in the new factory after 2027, reports Reuters. 

Tomomi Nakamura, Subaru’s chief executive officer, says cars produced in the new factory will be exported overseas but he did not reveal specifics about production capability.

“The market for EVs has been changing very rapidly over the past year,” he adds.

The factory announcement came on the same day the company began accepting orders for its first mass-produced EV, the Solterra, pictured.

Subaru also reported an operating profit of ¥90.45b for the year ended March 2022, which was a 12 per cent drop from the previous year. 

However, it predicts a recovery in the current financial year and forecasts global sales to increase 28.1 per cent to 940,000 units and operating profit to more than double to ¥200b.