No longer intended as a successor to the Versailles, the new generation sought a new role of making Lincoln competitive against import brands.

Other import brands dropped to 5.2 percent of the market, from 6.8 percent last year.

Saturn itself was introduced by G.M. in 1990 to lure buyers who were considering an import brand.

The quality of the plastics and the way they fit together trailed the other domestic vehicles, and especially the import brands.

Other import brands have jumped in with high-caffeine variants of their cars.

If the company succeeds in its goal, Asahi would become he sixth- or seventh-largest import brand, up from 34th place in 1996.

The reasons were political as well as economic, but the venture proved so successful that other import brands would follow Honda's lead.

In the early seventies, Guild formed import brands for acoustic and electric guitars made outside the United States.

The baby boomers were not particularly loyal to individual import brands, only to the notion of avoiding domestic models.

Roche's plan was largely a reaction to the commercial threat presented by import brands, which were increasingly attracting young buyers.