JAPAN

More Foreign Cars Sold: Sales of imported cars, trucks and buses in April rose 45% from a year earlier to 24,254, the sixth consecutive monthly gain, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Assn. Imported cars have reached a record 8.4% of the Japanese market, the Japan Automobile Importers Assn. said. Sales of domestic autos have posted year-on-year declines since April, 1993, the data shows. Import sales were boosted by demand for Honda’s U.S.-made Accord and other new models, such as the German Mercedes-Benz C Class and the Swedish Volvo 850 station wagon, and by lowered prices on Range Rovers, Chryslers and other foreign-made vehicles.