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Toyota’s Prius hybrid was Japan’s top-selling car last month for an 11th straight month despite global recall woes, an industry group said yesterday.

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, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said.

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 chose 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 that ended in March, with sales quadrupling from a year earlier to 277,485, the association said.

The Prius, now in its third generation since its 1997 introduction, is the best-selling gas-electric hybrid in the world, with a total of 1.7 million units sold worldwide, Toyota said. It is 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 worldwide, including more than 6 million in the US alone, owing to acceleration problems in multiple models and braking shortcomings in the Prius.

In Washington, the US government accused Toyota of hiding a “dangerous defect” and proposed a record US$16.4 million fine on Monday for failing to quickly alert regulators to safety problems in gas pedals on popular models such as the Camry and Corolla.

The proposed fine, announced by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is the most the government could levy for the sticking gas pedals that have led Toyota to recall millions of vehicles.

There could be further penalties under continuing federal investigations. The Japanese automaker faces private lawsuits seeking many millions more.

Documents obtained from the automaker show that Toyota knew of the problem with the sticking gas pedals in late September but did not issue a recall until late January, LaHood said. The sticking pedals involved 2.3 million vehicles.

“We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations,” LaHood said in a statement. “Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from US officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families.”

Toyota did not say whether it would pay the fine. The automaker has two weeks to accept or contest the penalty.

The company faces 138 potential class-action lawsuits over falling vehicle values and nearly 100 personal injury and wrongful death cases in federal courts nationwide. If Toyota pays the fines, the admission could hurt it in courtrooms. Battling the government over the penalties could undermine the automaker’s attempts to move on from the recalls, however.

“It may be easier to pay it than to let this keep dragging on and drawing more attention to themselves,” said Jessica Caldwell, a senior analyst with auto research site Edmunds.com.

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