Toyota's Prius tops Japan's March auto sales despite recall woes (AS-Japan-Toyota)

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

Toyota Motor Corp., reeling after recalls over issues that included braking problems with the Prius, sold 35,546 units of the gas-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 automaker 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, 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, has been so popular in Japan that it has a six-month waiting list.

Toyota has been fighting to regain its once-sterling reputation for quality after recalling more than 8 million vehicles around the world due to acceleration problems in multiple models and braking shortcomings in the Prius.