Toyota Prius sales fall for 1st time in 17 months

TOKYO: An auto industry group says sales in Japan of Toyota's Prius hybrid dropped for the first time in 17 months even as it ranked as the nation's top-selling car in September.

The Japan Automobile Dealers Association said on Wednesday that sales of the gasoline-electric hybrid car slumped as the government ended tax breaks and subsidies for environmentally friendly cars.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's No. 1 automaker, sold 27,249 Prius cars in September, down 14.2 percent from a year earlier. The figure marked the first year-on-year fall in 17 months.

It was the 17th straight month in which the Prius was the top-selling car in Japan.