The New Subaru Forester Will Be Made in America

Both gas and hybrid versions are going to be assembled at the Indiana factory.

By: Adrian Padeanu

May 14, 2024 at 5:01am ET

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It's that time of the year when Japanese automakers are releasing details about how they performed in the previous fiscal year, which ended on March 31. Usually, companies also make some major announcements, such as Mazda's confirmation of a next-generation CX-5 hybrid. Subaru has some important news to share as well–production of the new Forester is coming to United States.

The sixth-generation model will be assembled in Indiana at the factory in Lafayette. Production capacity won't be a concern because the Legacy sedan is going away after the 2025 model year. Subaru also intends to produce a hybrid version of the Forester at the same site from 2026. It'll continue to make the Forester domestically at the factory in Ōta located in the Gunma Prefecture in Japan.

2025 Subaru Forester

The electrified variant is going to feature Toyota's hybrid know-how, but we're being told it'll be a "Subaru distinctive HEV [hybrid-electric vehicle] featuring the horizontally opposed engine." It won't be the first hybrid Subie with Toyota technology since the Crosstrek plug-in hybrid received hardware from the Prius Prime in 2019.

Subaru promises this "next-generation hybrid" will also be adopted by the Crosstrek around the same time, so in 2026. The smaller crossover is already built at the two factories in the United States and Japan.

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As reported by our sister site InsideEVs, Subaru also plans to roll out three electric SUVs with Toyota's help. The EV trio announced in the same document prepared for investors will join the Solterra, which has been twinned with the bZ4X. One of the new models will be assembled by Toyota in the US. Another is going to be manufactured by Subaru at its Yajima plant in Japan.

All three electric SUVs will be on sale by the end of 2026. These will later be joined by additional electric vehicles developed in-house by Subaru and set to come out by 2028.