Toyota says to halt all production in Japan until March 16

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Co (7203.T) said on Monday that it plans to suspend all production in Japan at least until March 16 following Friday's massive earthquake in northeastern Japan.

The automaker said that the planned production halt from March 14 to March 16 would reduce output by 40,000 vehicles.

Toyota has said it halted production at all of its 12 factories in Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeast coast of Japan.

Toyota made 234,045 vehicles in January in Japan, where it produces 38 percent of its cars.

Toyota's shares were trading down 7.7 percent at 3,320 yen on Monday, while the benchmark Nikkei 225 average .N225 dropped 6.1 percent.

(Reporting by Kentaro Sugiyama; Editing by Edmund Klamann)