Schwinn owned the "World" trademark which had been used for quite some time and was acceptable to dealers desperate for bikes in the boom years.
Schwinn execs had the foresight to have Panasonic build a line of bikes to spec, they were a huge hit w/ customers and the dealers.
The high quality, light weight, modern components, jazzy finish and excellent packing of the Panasonic built models turned many shops like ours away from the Euro product to Japanese bikes.

Why wrestle with dowdy, beat-up tired designs when quality fresh machines expressly designed for the American market could be reliably sourced in the a single channel with terms and support?
Schwinn led the way in the international supply chain, and then screwed up royally. By then the Euros were long buried by Japanese mfgs in the American marketplace. RIP both.

PS: Ugly beat-up kludge of a World Voyager there.

-Bandera