Prius tops charts despite recall

Toyota's Prius hybrid was Japan's top-selling car in March for an 11th straight month despite recall woes, an industry group said.

Toyota, reeling after recalls over issues that included braking problems with the Prius, sold 35,546 units of the petrol-electric vehicle in Japan last month, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.

"The recall woes did not appear to dent demand for the Prius. Despite the recall trouble, the carmaker cannot keep up with surging demand for the Prius," said Toshiki Miyake, a spokesman for the association.

Consumers were choosing the Prius with the help of tax breaks and government subsidies for environmentally friendly vehicles, Mr Miyake said.

Toyota's Prius was also the top-selling car in Japan in the fiscal year to March 2010, with sales quadrupling from a year earlier to 277,485, the association said.

The Prius, also the world's top-selling hybrid, was so popular in Japan that it has a six-month waiting list.

Toyota was fighting to regain its once-sterling reputation for quality after recalling more than eight million vehicles around the world due to acceleration problems in multiple models and braking shortcomings in the Prius.