According to Subaru, the plant will be idled on the 15th, 18th and 25th of April. It has already been subject to idles over the past two weeks, in order to prevent certain vehicle parts from running completely out. The Lafayette plant produces the Subaru Legacy and Subaru Outback for the North American market.

Production of the Toyota Camry, which is also built in Subaru’s Indiana plant, will not be affected.

Representatives of Subaru say that employees will be able to work their full shifts, filling the time with training or maintenance duties that aren’t related to assembling vehicles, which means they won’t lose any pay.

They even made a video about it.

Enjoy!

According to representatives of Fuji, which builds Subaru vehicles, the new slogan reflects the company’s focus on safety and engineering as well as its ongoing commitment to innovations that match the changing needs of its customers.

If the numbers are anything to go by, Subaru has much to be confident about. It posted a 25% increase in October U.S. sales, and has a year-to-date gain of 23 percent – more than twice the industry advance. Two years ago, in 2008, Subaru was the only carmaker to increase American sales in a collapsing market, and last year it was one of three. It’s also on target to recover from a loss last fiscal year.

Mori unveiled the new tag line yesterday, along with a revised earnings forecast for the fiscal year which ends on March 11, 2011, in which he doubled is net income outlook to $597.7 million (50 billion yen) compared to last year’s $196.7 million net loss. Earlier predictions were for a net profit of $298.9 million.

First, Subaru has issued a recall of more than 800 of the 2010-2011 Outback and Legacy models with six-speed manual transmissions.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall was triggered by a manufacturing error. Apparently some of the manual transmissions on the affected models are missing a lubrication hole in the transfer case. Without proper lubrication of the gears, eventually, breakage will occur, which will lead to power loss, and even cause the car to crash. The recall affects models built between April 28th and June 23rd.

Beginning August 6th, Subaru dealers and owners can get their vehicles repaired. Either the dealer will drill the lubrication hole, or certain gears will be replaced at no charge.

For more information, Subaru can be contacted toll-free at 800-782-2783.

BMW has also issued a recall, for roughly 6,100 2010 and 2011 5 Series Grand Turismos, in this case for a fuel sensor that may be faulty. The sensor has a lever that may become wedged against the fuel tank, resulting in incorrect fuel readings on the instrument cluster.

Specifically, the fuel gauge in the dashboard could display a greater amount of fuel than is actually in the tank. An empty tank could result in the vehicle stalling, or increase the likelihood of an accident.

Affected vehicles were built between January 12th and July 1st.

No fix or notification date has been provided to the NHTSA, but BMW can be contacted by phone at 800-525-7417.

The NHTSA also has a general hotline for recall information: 888-327-4236.

PhotoCredit: Subaru | Click to enlarge

Subaru announced recently that they’ve joined the in-car Wi-Fi trend. A mobile internet system will be an available option in the 2011 Subaru Outback, at a cost of $499, plus a $35 activation fee, and then another $29/month on top of that. The Japanese automaker will cover the first three months of the subscription fee.

The Subaru option is not significantly different from similar systems being offered in vehicles from Chrysler and GM.

We, along with many other auto industry bloggers, including the folks at Kicking Tires, are not strong proponents of in-car Wi-Fi. For a lower installation fee, and slightly higher monthly charges ($40-60/month), both Verizon and Sprint offer mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, and unlike the in-car models, these are portable beyond the confines of one’s vehicle – you can even bring them with you on vacation or business trips and use them in rental cars or RV’s.

Nevertheless, we are glad that Subaru continues to stay even with or ahead of the trends.

Can there be a Subaru without AWD? The folks at LeftLane News are as shocked as we are, writing,

There is no doubting that all-wheel drive is one of, if not the biggest selling point that has long been a trademark quality of Subaru. For years the automaker has stood by the drivetrain setup because it preached about the added safety and performance of all-wheel drive. Although the company’s latest slogan may be, “Love. It’s what makes a Subaru, a Subaru,” many enthusiasts believe that it is all-wheel drive that makes a Subaru, a Subaru.

If Subaru does switch to RWD on the 216A sports coupe (that’s the codename for the Subaru version of the car that Toyota calls the FT-86) there will be precious little to distinguish it from Toyota’s model. Already, rumors are saying that both cars will share the same 200 HP, 2.0-liter Subaru boxer engine.

As this design year progresses, it will be interesting to watch what happens. Will Subaru end its use of AWD across the board, or simply redesign this coupe so that it’s intentionally similar to the Toyota variant? Will Subaru find the money to keep AWD.

We can only watch, and wait.

According to a report posted under the “rumors” section of Automobile Magazine‘s blog, however, there’s a possibility that we may see a shortage of Subarus by Spring.

Here’s the deal: Both the Legacy and the Outback are built in Subaru’s plant in Lafayette, Indiana, a plant that has its employees working overtime and on weekends in order to keep up with an increasing demand for all-wheel-drive vehicles. As of February 24th, the supply for those two models was enough for about ten days, and when reporters spoke with the company, COO Tom Doll said that the company’s “biggest challenge” was to keep dealers well stocked, so that they could continue to increase sales.

When asked for confirmation of the actual number of Outbacks and Legacies in stock, Phil Porter, chairman of the Subaru National Dealer Advisory Board told representatives of industry authority Automotive News that it was impossible to say, “…because we don’t have excess inventory.”

Speculation abounds, with auto-industry bloggers all offering their opinions on the actual availability of these two Subaru models. (As the driver of a ten-year-old Forester myself, I can attest to this: Subarus are absolutely worth the money, and they live up to the hype).

So what do we know for sure? Here’s a rundown:

• Current inventory of other Subaru models is at a 30-day supply, which is half the industry standard.
• The Lafayette, IN, plant is being modified for greater production capability this April.
• In January, 2010, Subaru had already realized sales that were 28% greater than January of 2009.
• Mr. Porter believes the plant refit and resulting production increase will allow the Japanese automaker to surpass last year’s record.

One other thing we know for sure: Subaru is one company to watch over the coming months.