Subaru names Nobuyuki Bando new U.S. plant CEO, Scott Brand COO

Subaru Corp. has assigned a new Japanese executive to oversee its Subaru of Indiana Automotive plant in Lafayette, Ind., while splitting the previous role and promoting an American executive to fill a portion of it.

Nobuyuki Bando will become chairman and CEO of Subaru's only U.S. manufacturing facility, effective April 1, succeeding Ryota Fukumizu, who will return to Japan to a leading role in the parent company's manufacturing division. Bando worked as the plant's senior coordinator for quality control from 2009 to 2013, the Japanese automaker said.

While in Indiana, Fukumizu was president and CEO. Under the new structure, Scott Brand will be president and COO of the facility, Subaru said. Brand most recently has been an executive vice president and oversaw human resources at Subaru Indiana Automotive, where he has worked since 1989. In the new role, Subaru said, Brand will be responsible for the plant's operational and administrative functions and will report to Bando.