Toyota Prius Sales Inquiries in Japan Rise 1 Month After Recall

Toyota sales inquiries for its Prius hybrid vehicle in Japan jumped 45 percent from the week following a recall of the model, according to an industry survey published today.

The Prius, recalled on Feb. 10, had a daily average of 116 requests for price estimates in the week ended March 22, compared with 80 a week after Toyota recalled the model to fix a brake-software glitch, Autoc one K.K., an Internet auto dealer based in Tokyo, said in a statement.

“The impact from the recall was temporary,” Autoc one said in the statement. The model had an average 102 inquiries a day in the week before the recall, according to Autoc one.

Japan sales of the Prius surged almost six-fold in March to 35,546 units making it the country’s best-selling model that month helped by government incentives. Prius was Japan’s top selling car in the year ended March 31.

Industrywide, the number of daily average inquiries for all carmakers’ models in Japan fell to 4,698 during the week ended March 22 from 5,156 during the week ended Feb. 8, Autoc one said.