Verifying long-held rumors, Subaru announced it will build an all-new, three-row family crossover at its Indiana plant in 2018. The new crossover will be larger than the now-dead Tribeca, which is the only vehicle in Subaru’s lineup since 2007 that could even remotely be called a misstep.
Even without a significant footprint in the three-row crossover market, Subaru has seen its sales triple since 2007. It has been one of the fastest growing companies in U.S. sales, breaking records and blowing its own targets out of the water seven years in a row. It expects to finish 2015 with over 550,000 units sold.
Subaru’s U.S. production facility in Lafayette, Indiana (which also made the Tribeca) will take on the extra load. This year’s volume at the Indiana plant will total about 228,000 units, but capacity will grow even further when the new Impreza sedan and hatchback is added in late 2016.
“We are delighted to be bringing even more Subaru manufacturing to the U.S.,” said executive vice president Tom Easterday, in a statement. “The new model will also result in increased investment at SIA and at several of our suppliers across the country.”
If Subaru’s new crossover proves as successful as the current Outback, Forester, and XV Crosstrek models, the company will have a sales dream team on its hands.
