Subaru
Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 3 November 2026 · 7 sources
Japanese carmaker known for all-wheel-drive SUVs and wagons.
Until Subaru traces its battery metals to the mine and its aluminium to smelters outside Xinjiang, it can't show that the people who dig and smelt them are free and fairly paid.
Also worth knowing
Forced labour was found in Subaru's supply chain in 2015, which it has only partly put right.
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Why it's graded Lacks transparency
- Not met: Meets 2 of 6 Good requirements.
- Holds the grade back: It relies on battery metals and aluminium that it can't trace to the mine or smelter. That alone means a poor grade until it takes steps to trace them.
- It isn't Harm on record: the most serious problem on its record (forced labour, last recorded in 2015) is more than 5 years old.
- Lacks transparency is still a poor grade: in supply chains like this, workers who can't be seen to be treated fairly are usually underpaid or unprotected.
Good requirements 2 of 6
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
- Met: Respects worker rights
- Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- Not met: No child or forced labour findings or links
- Met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that listMakes its products in its own factories
- Not met: Traces its battery metals to the mine and its aluminium to smelters outside Xinjiang
Red flags 3
- Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
- Red flag: Forced, slave or child labour found in or linked to its supply chain
- Red flag: Relies on battery metals and aluminium it can't trace to the mine or smelter
- Red flag: Fails its category's raw-material check (means Lacks transparency)
Stars it would earn as Good
None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Where it's made
From Subaru's own disclosure: it makes its products in its own factories. Its list covers only part of its range. The rest is shown as where cars and bikes are usually made.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | Strong protections | Close to a living wage | Low |
| ChinaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| ThailandUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| South KoreaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Close to a living wage | Low |
| GermanyUsual for the industry | Strong protections | About a living wage | Low |
| SpainUsual for the industry | Strong protections | Close to a living wage | Low |
| TürkiyeUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Very high |
| IndiaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | High |
| MexicoUsual for the industry | Regular violations | Below a living wage | Moderate |
Evidence
What we found
- Risk across the industry, not a finding about this company: battery metals, aluminium and steel link carmakers to state-imposed forced labour in Xinjiang, child and forced labour in DR Congo's cobalt mines and deadly nickel smelters in Indonesia; aluminium auto parts and lithium-ion batteries from China are on the US forced labour list.
- Owns or runs its own production
- Modern slavery statement
- Relies on battery metals such as cobalt and nickel from mines and smelters where workers, including children, face deadly collapses and explosions, and on aluminium that may come from Xinjiang, where the state forces Uyghur workers into mines and smelters that audits can't reach. It hasn't shown any steps to trace its battery metals to the mine or its aluminium to the smelter, so it's graded Lacks transparency until it does.
Research notes Subaru's Australian importer says Subaru Corporation of Japan makes its cars; the US-built Outback may also reach Australia, but no source confirms it. Subaru surveys 392 direct-material suppliers on cobalt and mica using Responsible Minerals Initiative templates, and asks Tier 1 suppliers to agree to its CSR guidelines, but publishes no smelter list, isn't an IRMA member and shows no tracing of battery metals or aluminium. It sells hybrids and an electric SUV.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Lead the Charge auto supply chain leaderboard | Not listed | Subaru isn't one of the 18 carmakers scored in the Lead the Charge 2026 auto supply chain leaderboard. View |
| Australian Modern Slavery Register | Listed | Subaru (Aust) Pty Ltd is covered by Inchcape Australia's group modern slavery statement for 2022, which says Subaru Corporation of Japan makes its vehicles and reports no battery metal or aluminium tracing. View |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Listed | The US Department of Labor's 2024 list names aluminium and aluminium auto parts from China as made with forced labour; it shows no vehicle entry for Japan, where Subaru builds its cars. View |
| US forced-labour import bans (UFLPA Entity List, CBP Withhold Release Orders) | Not listed | Subaru isn't on the UFLPA Entity List (November 2026). View |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Not listed | Subaru isn't named in the Sheffield Hallam 2022 or Bureau of Investigative Journalism 2025 reports on Xinjiang forced labour in car supply chains. View |
Confirmed issues 1
Only confirmed problems are listed, and old ones drop off after 10 to 15 years. A problem the company has fully put right no longer counts against it, and nor does one it finds and is fixing itself. How problems are counted
| Last recorded | What happened | Made amends? |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | A Reuters investigation found foreign workers, many asylum seekers and trainees, at Subaru's Gunma suppliers paid about half Japanese wages, with brokers taking up to a third of pay and trainees paying recruiters up to US$3,000 (Reuters via Human Rights First, 2015). Source · search the archive | PartlySubaru said it does not tolerate exploitation and told suppliers to treat workers fairly; it now surveys suppliers on non-Japanese workers (follow-ups found no significant issues). |
Sources and actions
Sources 7
Show all 7 sources
- Subaru Must Begin Holding Its Suppliers Accountable (Human Rights First) · search the archive · Reuters findings on foreign workers at Gunma suppliers; Subaru response
- Scorecards 2026 (Lead the Charge) · search the archive · Subaru isn't among the 18 carmakers scored
- Inchcape Australia modern slavery statement 2022 (Australian Modern Slavery Register) · search the archive · Subaru (Aust) imports vehicles made by Subaru Corporation of Japan; no raw material tracing
- List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (US Department of Labor, 2024) · search the archive · Aluminium and auto parts from China
- Subaru urges suppliers to treat workers fairly (Japan Times, 2015) · search the archive · Subaru's statement to suppliers after the investigation
- Subaru Outback's Australian future secure (CarExpert, October 2024) · search the archive · Outback built in Lafayette, Indiana; Subaru Australia said supply unaffected
Published by Subaru or its owner
- Supplier procurement approach (Subaru Corporation) · search the archive · 392-supplier cobalt and mica survey via RMI templates; CSR guidelines; no third-party audits described
Company details
- Owned by
- Subaru Corporation
- Headquarters
- Japan
- Last researched
- 3 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Subaru ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/subaru, last researched 3 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Lacks transparency means
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Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Subaru.