Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> may keep aggressive discounts available for U.S. consumers beyond this month after unprecedented incentives sent its U.S. sales sharply higher in early March, an executive said on Friday.

Toyota's U.S. sales surged by 40 percent in the first 10 days of March compared to the year-earlier period after the automaker offered zero-percent financing and other incentives, Don Esmond, senior vice president of Toyota U.S. sales, told Reuters in an interview.

Esmond said Toyota would evaluate March sales results and reaction from dealers and consumers before deciding whether to extend the discounts, which the company called its most far-reaching sales program in history.

We will continue to keep our dealers competitive, Esmond said. He spoke to Reuters by telephone after meeting with the company's dealers in Cleveland, Ohio.

Esmond said Toyota expects to regain most of its U.S. market share lost in the past two months in the wake of a damaging series of recalls that have tarnished its reputation for quality.

(Reporting by Soyoung Kim; Editing by Derek Caney)

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