According to the statistics provided by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association, the Prius hybrid from Toyota Motor Corp was the 'best-selling' car in Japan for the month of May.

The Prius hybrid notched the top-rank slot from the Honda Motor's new Insight, which was the first hybrid car to be ranked the Japan's best-selling car in April. The top rank by Prius, new model of which hit the market last month, substantiates the persistently-strong demand for low-emission cars - in the midst of the otherwise dwindling auto sales - with Toyota and Honda are locked in a scuffle of sorts in the hybrid cars' category!

The data from the dealers' group that ranked Japan's top 30 cars, excluding 660cc minivehicles, revealed that Prius has sold 10,915 cars in May, while Honda's Fit compact sales figures stood second at 8,859 cars, and the Insight ranking third with 8,183 cars sold during the month.

The Japan Automobile Dealers' Association said that the Prius' sales figures for the month are a notable leap from the same month year-before figures of 5,079 vehicles.

Prius' gain can largely be attributed to the launch of its new model in Japan on May 18. Toyota has priced the new base model at Y2.05 million, which is 12 percent lower than the Y2.33 million price of Prius' earlier model.