Subaru halts Japan car output on defective part\, shares slide

Japanese car maker Subaru has put the brakes on production after it discovered a suspected defect in a power-steering component The country's sixth largest automaker said its only factory in Japan could be closed for almost two weeks to resolve the issue.

The plant, which accounts for 60 percent of global production, has been closed since January 16.

Shares plunged almost seven percent on Wednesday .... Before recovering some ground on an assurance that production would restart on Monday.

Subaru says it doesn't know the cause of the defect yet, nor the impact the production halt will have ... but it comes at a worrisome time.

A day before the production stoppage, Subaru said it planned to build 650,000 vehicles in Japan and 1.03 million globally this year - and has forecast a record 1.08 million for next year.

But the company is on track to report a drop in annual earnings for the third year in a row.

Sales growth in the U.S. is stagnant And it faces fresh recalls in Japan due to inspection cheating.

It is investigating whether its plant in the U.S. - which accounts for more than 60 per cent of global sales - has been affected,