Toyota bounced back strongly from its recent recall related woes to record dramatic sales increases in the US and Japan last month.
US sales rose 41 per cent year-on-year from 132,802 to 186,863, while Japanese sales rose 51 per cent.
Toyota attributed this rise to new schemes and incentives introduced in the wake of the recall crisis. These include interest-free loans and discount leases.
Don Esmond, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales, USA, said: “Toyota’s strong sales performance in March reflects our customers’ continued confidence in the safety and reliability of our vehicles and their trust in the brand.”
However, the US Department of Transportation has announced it is fining the Japanese car company $16.3m (£11m) for failing to notify regulators about the accelerator problems sooner. It alleges a delay of up to three months between discovering the problem and acting on it.
Toyota has yet to say whether it will pay the fine - the maximum allowable for a recall offence - or contest it.
Andrew Papworth
Follow us on FacebookSee all the latest Toyota reviews, news and video
