Work has temporarily stopped at three Subaru facilities after a tragedy took place at the automaker’s Yajima assembly plant in Japan.
According to reports, earlier this month a 60-year-old factory worker was killed after a 25-ton mold fell on top of him.
Automotive News has said that this worker – a 35 year veteran of the plant – had been operating a crane by himself, lifting and moving the molds with a remote control when one of them collapsed and pinned him.
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The company reportedly halted production immediately at its three plants in the region and Automotive News has reported that, more than a week later, the plants are still idled.
While the shutdown is expected to be short lived, Subaru does have an immense production hill to climb so any downtime will prove challenging to its goals.
Carscoops points out that Subaru has ambitions of growing its production specifically in Japan, and that the Yajima plant was responsible for several models, including the Impreza, Outback, Crosstrek, and Forester.
Carscoops says Subaru will focus its burgeoning EV efforts in Japan, where it will first build electrics despite the U.S. being its largest market.
Yet the priority, at this point, are safety checks, with reports adding that the company is looking to understand what led to a workplace fatality, an incident Auto News described as “rare” for the automaker. Subaru has not yet said when the plants will resume production.
