JAPAN

Importers See 15% Rise in Car Sales: Sales of vehicles imported into Japan will rise to about 345,000 in 1995, an industry association predicted. Japan’s auto imports have surged this year as the high yen has made imports cheaper and foreign makers have stepped up their marketing efforts. The Japan Automobile Importers Assn. said the country’s economic recovery will help the trend continue in the new year by boosting personal consumption. The association said 269,568 imported cars, trucks and buses were sold in the first 11 months of 1994, up 48.8% from the same period last year. Imports held a 5.9% share of the total vehicle market, up from 4.1% last year. This year has already broken the 1990 record, when 223,923 foreign-made vehicles were sold in Japan.