Subaru has been having a hard time lately. While the company is enjoying considerable success in the US with sales predicted to grow in 2019, it's a different story in its home market of Japan. After Subaru was found guilty of falsifying emissions data in Japan, which led to a recall of 530,000 vehicles, sales dropped in the Japanese market by 16 percent.

Now, things have gone from bad to worse, as production at Subaru's Yajima factory, the company's sole factory in Japan that accounts for around 60 percent of the company's global production, has been halted after a possible defect was discovered in an electric power steering unit. With sales already struggling in Japan, this is the last thing Subaru needs right now.