SUBARU Group’s Six Priority Areas for CSR TOPIC: Resonance and Coexistence
Six Priority Areas for CSR Resonance and Coexistence Become a company that is widely trusted by,
resonates and coexists with society.
Why It Is Important to Us
At SUBARU, when it comes to our business activities, we regard customers and local communities as some of our most important stakeholders.
Over the years, SUBARU has been sustained not only by our own efforts to put the customer first but also by the efforts of many people in the communities where we do business.
SUBARU will form communities of resonance and coexistence to secure our sustainable growth as a company through routine communication, ensuring that our products and services resonate with and are trusted by our customers, and that SUBARU’s corporate activities resonate with and are trusted by the local communities in which they take place.
We will promote the SUBARU-ness of Resonance and Coexistence by sincerely addressing the views of society
We will work alongside our communities to be a SUBARU Group that is trusted by and resonates and coexists with society
Initiatives in Japan
At SUBARU, we believe that it is only with the understanding and cooperation of the local communities where our offices and plants are located that we can continue to conduct our business activities embodying SUBARU-ness. Based on this concept, we at SUBARU will contribute to local communities by maintaining daily communication and close cooperation with our customers and those in our local communities to create the society of the future.
Communication with Our Communities
The area around the Main Plant of SUBARU’s Gunma Plant, located in Ota City, Gunma Prefecture, is called “SUBARU Town.” This is not just a nickname, but the official name of the area as recognized by Ota City. This truly shows the deep relationship between Ota’s residents and SUBARU. At the Gunma Plant, we send representatives to town council member homes every month to exchange information, including explaining SUBARU’s current situation and its environmental activities. In the event of potential noise or vibration caused by construction work, we work to make neighbors aware of the situation in advance, visiting their homes to provide explanations and issuing postings in the area. Furthermore, we welcome general visitors to factory tours at the Gunma Plant, particularly as part of elementary school field trip programs. In FYE March 2022, as a countermeasure amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted online factory tours with remote participation from over 30,000 children from elementary schools in various regions, mainly Kanto. Children were able to learn about SUBARU’s automotive manufacturing through videos. These videos offered a view into our processes they could not get from an in-person tour, earning praise.
In addition, we maintain disaster supplies at our Head Office and plants as a countermeasure in the event of a disaster. Of these, we provide emergency-use food supplies that are to expire within a certain period to food banks in neighboring areas as part of our activities for community coexistence and engagement.
Employee-driven Social Contribution Initiatives
SUBARU employees engage in a variety of community engagement initiatives, one of which is regular cleanups in districts where our offices and plants are located. In FYE March 2022, due to the spread of COVID-19, these events were either canceled or held while reducing the scope with the utmost consideration for preventing the spread of the virus. At the Utsunomiya Plant, we continued our previous fiscal year’s activities, picking up garbage and conducting cleanup activities at the employee dormitory and surrounding areas. Looking ahead, as a responsible community member, we will continue with these beautification activities to help conserve local environments.
SUBARU is also involved in local road traffic safety awareness activities. In December 2021, the SUBARU baseball team, together with a professional basketball team based in Ota City, Gunma Prefecture, conducted traffic safety awareness activities with the cooperation of Tobu Railway and the Ota Police Station. At Ota Station, under the theme that walking while using a smartphone is dangerous, they greeted commuters, calling on better road safety.
Initiatives in the U.S.
Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) views sustainability of society and of our SUBARU Group as showing love and respect to our stakeholders and acting accordingly. In SOA’s vision to achieve this, The SUBARU Love Promise, they aim to become more than a car company. Here, SOA strives to earn the trust of its stakeholders by following through on its five promises, showing integrity and compassion with the goal of exceeding their expectations.
The Five Promises
Collaborative Activities in SOA’s Hometown of Camden
In the U.S. city of Camden, in western New Jersey, SOA has built positive relationships with those in the local community, growing alongside them for 30 years. Today, in addition to supporting Camden through Subaru of America Foundation, Inc., which was established in 1984, SOA is regularly engaged in volunteer activities through various partnerships as it works with the community to resolve challenges for its future. SOA is proud to be a member of this community and will continue to work to support Camden.
SOA and the SOA Foundation’s Impact in Camden in 2021
| $1,054,000 | donated to Camden charitable organizations |
|---|---|
| $5,577 | donated in matching gifts by SOA colleagues |
| 2,718 hours | volunteered by SOA employees in Camden |
Initiatives with Local NPOs
SOA and the SOA Foundation have provided support to Hopeworks for 17 years. Through this long-term partnership, they have donated grant funds for Hopeworks to expand its technical skills lectures and employment programs for the younger generations in Camden. The program is expected to place more than 100 applicants for jobs. In addition, their partnership with Girls, Inc. to provide education, support, counseling, and mentoring to girls and women aged 6–18 in Camden provides support programs to more than 2,000 women a year. Furthermore, they partner with Cathedral Kitchen, whose mission is to change lives through food. In this partnership, they support the organization’s job training program, which aims to create food service jobs for students through cooking classes and other programs.
Initiatives for Educational Institutions
In 2021, SOA and the SOA Foundation partnered with Discovery Education to support an online curriculum for teachers. During the outbreak of COVID-19, teachers took advantage of capability-building programs to incorporate new digital resources into their lessons, providing more than 7,000 Camden students with the opportunity to learn with high-quality digital content.