JAPAN

Foreign Auto-Parts Purchases Increase: Japanese auto makers bought $10.33 billion in foreign auto parts in the first half of the current fiscal year, an increase of 8%, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Assn.’s chairman said. Masami Iwasaki, also vice chairman of Toyota Motor Corp., said the figure includes $8.68 billion of parts used by Japanese companies at their overseas plants. The companies also bought parts valued at $1.65 billion within Japan from overseas suppliers, up 10% from a year earlier. The fiscal year began in April.