AUTOS

Japan’s Vehicle Exports Fall: The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Assn. said exports plunged 11.7% to 2.41 million vehicles in the first half of fiscal 1993--the biggest rate of decrease for any April-September period since World War II. The sharpest previous first-half decline since the association began compiling statistics after 1945 was 7.4% in April-September, 1987, when 3.25 million vehicles were exported, said an association official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding that the yen’s rise against the dollar made Japanese vehicles more expensive abroad, discouraging exports. Japanese exports to the United States in April-September totaled 751,660 vehicles, down 4.7%.