JAPAN

Imported Car Sales Rise 63.4%: The Japan Automobile Importers Assn., which compiled the February figures, said lower prices, attractive loan rates and a burgeoning fashion for foreign cars led to the year-over-year increase. The trade group said February marked the 16th successive month of year-on-year gains, and it predicted that imports will set an annual record when the fiscal year ends March 31. The surge in imports is also due partly to a trend among Japanese car makers to manufacture vehicles overseas, then ship them back to Japan. Despite the gain, sales of foreign cars made up only 4.5% of overall sales in Japan in fiscal 1994, according to industry data.