JAPAN

Car Exports to Europe Boost October Gain: Japan’s vehicle exports in October registered their biggest gain in 20 months, the result of a 50.8% surge in sales to Western Europe, a trade association said. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Assn. said total exports of cars, trucks and buses rose 4.0% from last October to 364,439 units. The increase, led by Toyota Motor Corp., was the biggest year-on-year rise in any month since March, 1993. Exports to the United States fell 2.6% to 125,334 units and exports to Asia also fell 2.6%, to 51,203 units, the industry association said. Exports to the European Union rose, however, to 62,564 vehicles. The percentage gain in exports to the EU was so large chiefly because exports a year earlier were very low, said Keith Donaldson, an auto analyst at Salomon Bros. Japan’s car exports fell sharply and without interruption through the last half of 1993 and the first half of this year, as auto makers seeking to escape the effects of the strong yen moved production out of Japan.