According to media reports, Subaru's three factories in Japan have resumed production. Just over a week ago, the death of a worker during work resulted in the emergency shutdown of these three factories, causing the company to lose up to 20,000 vehicles in production.
On February 26th, Subaru resumed operations at its major global production bases. The company stated that relevant measures had been taken to prevent a recurrence of the accident on February 13th, following which they restarted production. In that incident, a 60-year-old senior employee was crushed to death by a 25-ton mold.
A Subaru spokesperson declined to disclose details of the measures taken during this period to review the accident and strengthen safety protocols. However, the spokesperson stated that the decision to suspend operations was made by management, not as a result of union protests.
Following the accident, Subaru's two assembly plants and one powertrain plant in northern Tokyo suspended production for 8 days. These two assembly plants are responsible for producing major models sold in the United States.
Subaru stated that the 8-day shutdown also reflected respect for the deceased's family and colleagues. The company did not disclose the exact number of vehicles lost. However, based on Subaru's production volume of approximately 2,581 vehicles per day in Japan, as reported in December of last year, the company may have lost around 20,000 vehicles during these 8 days.
The Yajima assembly plant, where the accident occurred, is responsible for producing the Impreza compact car, as well as the Outback, Crosstrek, and Forester crossover vehicles. The nearby Main plant is responsible for producing the BRZ, Impreza, and Crosstrek, as well as the WRX sports car and the Levorg wagon sold in the Japanese market. The local Oizumi engine and transmission plant were also affected.
