|
本帖最后由 I'm_zhcn 于 2009-7-25 03:57 编辑
【中文标题】中国汽车的销售繁荣,正改变人们的生活方式
【原文标题】China's car sales boom, reshaping a way of life
【登载媒体】今日美国
【原文链接】http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-06-14-chinacars_N.htm
【翻译方式】人工
【翻译者】mlisten
【声明】本翻译供Anti-CNN使用,未经AC或译者许可,不得转载。
【原文库链接】http://bbs.m4.cn/thread-173641-1-7.html
【译文】
An employee cleans a Buick sedan at a GM dealership in Beijing on June 2. GM's bankruptcy won't affect its plans for a new factory in China within five years. China's car market is undergoing a growth spurt
图片:6月2日,通用汽车在北京的经销店里,一位_雇员在清扫一辆别克轿车。通用汽车公司的破产将不会影响其计划在中国的新工厂在五年内完成。中国的汽车市场正经历一个增长高潮。
QUFU, China — This city is a symbol of China's past — the birthplace 2,500 years ago of the revered philosopher Confucius, a town where ancient temples still stand and the gas station sells time-honored Chinese delicacies such as chicken feet and tea eggs.
中国曲阜——这个城市是中国过去的象征——2500年前受人尊敬的哲学家孔子在此诞生。在这个城市古老的庙宇仍然伫立,加油站还会出售一些历史悠久的中国美食,如鸡爪和茶鸡蛋。
Even here, though, cars are suddenly everywhere — honking constantly, speeding through the city's medieval gates, crowding past the horse-drawn carts and rickshaw cycles that have had Qufu's roads mostly to themselves
即使在这里,汽车也随处可见——不断鸣着喇叭,快速地穿过城市里那些古老的大门,催促着在曲阜马路上过去大多数的马拉车和脚踏人力车转变成私家车。
"We never used to have traffic jams," sighs Song Wenjun, 63, who founded the local brewery. Song says just a year ago, his chauffeur-driven Buick moved easily through the city of 60,000, hindered only by its four stoplights. Now, he says, there are more than 20 lights and the roads are packed.
“我们以前从未遇到过交通拥堵,”63岁的当地酿酒厂创立人宋文俊感叹道。宋说,就在一年前,他的司机驾驶别克车可以很容易以60迈的速度穿过城市,路上阻碍只有四个刹车灯,他说,现在有20多个灯,道路也很拥挤。
China's love affair with the automobile is thriving despite the global recession, and it's changing the way people live here in ways reminiscent of the USA's boom in car ownership after World War II. Song's story helps explain why: His Sun King brewery has struggled lately, but its workers are still confident enough about their future to buy cars that are becoming increasingly reliable, safe and cheap — often less than $6,000 for a basic, new model.
尽管全球经济衰退,中国对汽车的热爱目前仍在蓬勃发展,它改变了人们生活在这里的方式,这让人联想到二战后美国私家车的繁荣景象。宋的故事解释了为什么:虽然他的“太阳王”啤酒厂最近遇到困难,但其工人仍足够的信心,未来购买那些正变得越来越可靠的、安全和廉价的汽车——通常低于6000美元,拥有基本功能和新的样式。
Song says more than 100 of the brewery's 2,000 employees have recently purchased their first cars, joining millions of other Chinese who, for the first time, are able to enjoy a middle-class lifestyle comparable to many Americans.:
宋说100多家酿酒厂的2000名员工最近都买了自己的第一部车,加入中国数以百万计的有车族,第一次能够享有中产阶级的生活方式,像许多美国人一样。
The booming sales have provided a glimmer of hope for beleaguered American auto companies that make and sell cars here. That includes General Motors, which saw its sales in China jump 75% in May compared with the year before.
汽车销售的繁荣给处于困境中的在中国做生产和销售的美国汽车公司提供了一线希望。包括通用汽车在内,它5月份在中国的销售额比上年同期增长75 %。
GM says China now accounts for nearly 25% of its global sales. With no end in sight to the troubles in the U.S. auto market, GM, Ford, and Chrysler likely will become increasingly reliant on China's still largely untapped market, says Yale Zhang, a Shanghai-based analyst for CSM Worldwide, an auto industry group.
通用说中国现在占他们近25 %的全球销售额。由于在美国汽车市场有许多困难,通用,福特和克莱斯勒可能会越来越依赖于中国有待开发的大市场。美国汽车产业调查公司驻上海的分析师张豫说道。
"If you want to grow your overall volume, this is where you need to invest," Zhang say.
“如果你想增加整体销售额,这儿就是你要投资的地方。”张说。
China is on track to sell 11 million vehicles this year, according to the China Passenger Car Association. That would be up 17% from 2008, and a stunning 20 times the number of vehicles sold in China just a decade ago. Zhang says this year China likely will overtake the USA, where expected sales are around 10 million units, and become the world's biggest car market for the first time.
根据中国乘用车协会的分析,中国国今年有望出售11,000,000辆车,比2008年增长17 %,销售量将会是十年前的20倍。张说,今年中国预计销售约10万辆,可能会超过美国,首次成为世界上最大的汽车市场。
China's 1.3 billion people "are simply wild about cars," says Michael Dunne, a Shanghai-based managing director of J.D. Power and Associates, an auto industry group. He says the surprising strength of China's auto market has been driven not just by economics, but also by a kind of psychological shift that has come with prosperity.
" 中国拥有13亿人口“对汽车有简单的渴望,”迈克尔邓恩说,他是汽车产业集团JD Power and Associates驻上海的主管经理。他说,中国汽车市场令人惊奇的发展不仅仅因为经济的发展,也与经济发展带来的人们消费心理的变化.
"There is the thrill of individual mobility, going from point A to point B in their own time, and on their own terms. But it's also an opportunity to declare and project their own success," Dunne says.
“用自己的时间和方式去想去的地方,让人感受到随意和自由的快感。同时这也是展示自己成功的机会。”邓恩说。
The resulting transformation of Chinese lifestyle, landscapes and business was clear recently when a USA TODAY reporter made the 800-mile trip by road from Beijing, the political capital, to Shanghai's financial hub.
中国人生活方式的转变对景观和商业的影响也在最近清晰,源自于“今日美国”一记者驾车从政治中心北京出发,公路旅行800英里到达上海的金融中心。
The eight-lane Jingjin Expressway leading south out of Beijing, which opened last July just before the Beijing Olympics, is part of a network of miles of new roads planned this decade. It's the biggest such expansion seen anywhere since President Eisenhower commissioned the U.S. interstate system in 1956.
从北京南站开始的8车道京津高速公路,是在去年7月北京奥运会开幕前通车的,是十年计划中3万英里新公路的一部分。这是自1956年艾森豪威尔总统建立美国州际公路系统以来最大的公路扩张和发展。
U.S.-style suburbs, where cars are a virtual necessity, are sprouting everywhere. Cross-country road trips are the rage, as Beijing residents venture out to see sights such as the Great Wall or Confucius' Temple here
在美国郊区,汽车必需品,无处不在。越野旅行是很流行的,而北京居民是走出去看景点,如长城或孔庙这里。
Other sights on the journey were more uniquely Chinese, illustrative of a driving culture that is still in its infancy. Billboards along the highway advertise the 56%-proof alcohol known as baijiu, available at rest stops. Signs at new roadside gas stations with Western-style bathrooms politely advise customers, more accustomed to a simple hole in the floor, to please not stand on the toilets.
旅途中的景点更有中国特色,说明驾驶文化仍处于初级阶段。公路沿线的宣传广告牌有56 %白酒广告,并且可以在休息站买到这些商品。带有西式卫生间的公路旁加油站的标志,提醒着更习惯于“茅坑”的顾客,不要站在洗手间。
At one point, a large truck was barreling down the highway — backward — apparently to get back to a missed exit. China has one-seventh as many autos on the road as the USA, Dunne estimates, but nearly twice as many traffic deaths — 73,484 last year, according to the Chinese government.
有一次,一辆大货车在高速公路高速行驶——翻车了——-显然没看到出口。邓恩估计公路上行驶的汽车,中国的汽车是美国的1/7,但交通死亡是美国的近两倍——根据中国政府去年统计,死亡人数为73484人。
"Good luck, and watch out for pedestrians" was the warning from Yao Yumei, an employee at TopOne, a car rental company in Beijing. She says she recently passed her driving test but, like many young Chinese with licenses, has yet to buy a car.
“要运气好,并且要注意行人!”北京天元汽车租赁公司雇员姚玉梅警告道。她说,她最近通过了驾驶考试,但同她一样,中国许多年轻人有驾照但还没有买车。
'we've all become lazy'
j我们都变得懒惰
Xu Meng is a typical Chinese car owner, starting to explore his own country. He and his wife were engaged in that classic roadside ritual — checking their map to make sure they weren't lost — at a rest stop in Cangzhou, 140 miles from Beijing. It was the farthest they had ever driven from home, he says.
徐萌是一个典型的中国车主,他开始探索回家乡的路。他和他的妻子在沧州休息站停下——检查自己的地图,以确保他们没有迷路。从北京出发,行程140公里,他说这是他们从家出来走得最远的一次。
"I can hardly remember life without a car, when I had to bike to work. We've all become lazy," says Xu, 40, an engineer who uses his French-brand Citroen CX car mostly for his commute. Xu says 60% of his friends now drive, and the other 40% are learning. Down the road, toward Shanghai, salesman Zhang Jinghong seems like a road warrior in comparison. He's logged more than 125,000 miles in the past three years in his Volkswagen Passat。
“我几乎记不起没有汽车的生活,当我骑自行车上班的时候。我们就都变得懒惰了。”40岁工程师徐博士表示,他平时主要驾驶法国的雪铁龙车。徐说,他60 %的朋友现在都在驾车,其他40 %也正在学习开车。相比较而言,在趋向上海的路上,售货员张景洪好像道路战士。在过去三年里他驾驶他的大众帕萨特行程超过十二点五万英里。
"I have to see old customers and drum up new business," says Zhang, 48. "I don't really enjoy driving, but it's so convenient. And it's a status symbol.”
“我必须要见老客户并且要开拓新的业务,”48岁的张说,“我真的不喜欢开车,但它是如此方便。而且还是一个身份的象征。”
The sudden burst of car ownership is grating to some people in a country that is still officially communist, despite massive economic changes since the 1980s. "Chinese society is unfair now, as some can afford cars and some cannot," says Liu Dongming, 41, a police officer who still wears a pin in honor of Chairman Mao Zedong, a former hard-line Chinese rul.
汽车拥有者的突然增多也让一些乡村的人感到不平,虽然自上世纪80年代来中国经济飞速发展。“中国现在的社会是不公平的,因为有些人能够买得起汽车而一些人不能,”41岁的刘东蒙说,他一名警官,他的衣服上仍别着纪念前强硬派统治者毛泽东主席的胸针。
Even Liu, though, has been unable to resist capitalist temptation — he was at a car wash with his new, still plateless Volkswagen Polo. He apparently is still trying to rationalize the purchase: "Like Mao said, 'Without contradictions, there would be no progress,' " Liu says.
即使是刘,也无法抵制资本主义诱惑——他与他的新车大众polo在一个洗车行。他显然仍在努力使购买合理化:“就像毛泽东说:‘没有矛盾,就没有进步。’”刘说。
Many Chinese seem unburdened by such worries, focused instead on cashing in on the travel boom. Signs outside Jinxiang urge drivers to sample the "world's best garlic." A billboard in Tengzhou advertises the "best potatoes under heaven.
但是许多中国人没有这种担忧,他们把赚钱的重点放在旅游热潮上。金乡县敦促司机在车外标记“世界上最好的大蒜。”而滕州广告牌则写着“天下最好的土豆”。
In Zaozhuang, an hour south of Qufu, officials are building a theme park celebrating cars and road travel. The city is the birthplace of Xizhong, who according to Chinese records, invented the horse cart 4,200 years ago. "If you pray here, Xizhong will protect you and ensure a safe journey," promises Li Tianfeng, the curator of the Cart God Museum。
枣庄,在曲阜南面一个小时车程的地方,政府正在建设一个主题公园庆祝汽车和公路旅行。据史料记载,这里是公元4200年前发明马车的奚仲的家乡。“如果你在这里祈祷,奚仲会保护你和确保你旅程的安全。”车神博物馆的馆长李天风承诺道。
An infatuation with big cars
对大轿车的热爱
Auto companies gradually are learning to cater to Chinese tastes. One discovery: the small, fuel-efficient models that are best sellers in Europe and Japan don't do as well here.
汽车公司正逐步学习以满足中国人的口味。他们发现:那些体积小,耗油量小,畅销欧洲和日本的车在中国并不畅销。
"Both Chinese and American people like to buy big, luxurious cars," says Zhong Shi, an auto analyst in Shanghai. "It's a symbol they dream of achieving. In China, where cars are less widespread, they are even more of a decoration, to display wealth."
“中国人和美国人都喜欢买大而豪华的轿车,”上海汽车行业分析师钟实说。“这是他们梦想实现的象征。在中国,汽车还并不普遍,他们更成为一种显示财富的方式。
That's one reason why American auto companies have done relatively well here. Zhang, the CSM analyst, says that GM and other foreign companies have successfully targeted the midsize and high-end part of the Chinese market, leaving the low-cost, low-margin segment largely to Chinese automakers. GM agreed this month to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese company, Sichuan Tengz C的Vthat
“这是美国汽车公司在中国销售比较好的原因之一。”CSM的分析家张先生说,通用汽车公司和其他外国公司已经成功地指向了中国市场的中高档车市场,大部分中国制造商正远离低成本,低利润的制造。通用汽车公司本月同意出售其悍马品牌到中国四川滕州的公司。
The emphasis on big cars has fanned environmental concerns, especially because some Chinese cities such as Beijing already are plagued by smog. Despite the conversion to unleaded fuel nine years ago and auto emissions standards that are stricter in some respects than those in the USA, many worry the car boom could take pollution to a new level.
而大排量汽车的使用引发了环境问题,尤其是像北京这样的大城市已经遭受烟雾污染。尽管9年前推广无铅汽油和规定了汽车尾气排放标准,而且某些方面比美国要求更严格。许多人还是担心汽车的暴增会进一步污染环境。
l
"We only have one planet, and we simply don't have the resources for Chinese people to live an American life," says Ailun Yang of Greenpeace China, a lobbying group.
“我们只有一个地球,我们根本没有资源让中国人过美国人的生活,”中国的绿色和平组织的发言人杨爱伦说。
U.S. companies must compete with other foreign automakers with units in China such as Volkswagen, BMW, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai. All have been aided by the Chinese government's new auto stimulus plan, which includes $730 million in subsidies for farmers to swap old vehicles for new ones.
美国企业必须与其他在中国的外国汽车厂商竞争,如大众,宝马,丰田,本田和现代。所有企业都会受到我国政府的新汽车刺激计划的帮助,其中包括七点三亿美元补贴在农民旧车置换新车的问题。
The initiative also subsidizes the sale of minivans that can be used to ferry cargo. They're known colloquially as "bread vans," and they've gone over well in a country where small, mom-and-pop merchants still form the backbone of the economy.
这个政策同时给予小型货车(我们俗称的“面包车”)以补贴。它们很适合那些以私人经济为主要经济的小乡镇。
GM makes the vans — 1 million were sold last year — as part of a venture with automakers in southwest China. Thanks to such successes, GM still plans to adhere to its target of doubling its sales in China to more than 2 million units within the next five years, despite the company's bankruptcy filing, says Karin Zhang, a GM spokeswoman in Shanghai.
通用汽车公司生产的面包车——去年销售1亿美元——中国西南地区汽车制造商投资的一部分。“由于这种成功,尽管通用汽车公司申请破产,该公司仍计划将遵守其在未来五年内的目标,在中国的销售额要翻一番超过2万台。”通用在上海的发言人张卡林说。
"China has a critical, very strategic role for GM. It's growing very fast, and we are very well-placed in China," she says.
“中国对通用来说是很重要的。它的汽车市场增长速度非常快,我们在中国有比较有利的地位。”她说。
Chinese cars have 'matured'
中国汽车变“成熟”
Chinese automakers are making inroads, though, slowly shedding a reputation that their cars aren't as safe as foreign ones. At the Shanghai Auto Show in April, Lin Chen, 28, tested the seats of a Chery Riich M1, which costs $6,270 to $8,800.
中国汽车制造商都在慢慢进步,逐渐摆脱他们制造的车不如外国的不好声誉。在4月份的上海国际汽车展上,28岁的林城说,奇瑞Chery Riich M1的座位测试费用就花了6270到8800美元。
"I didn't trust Chinese cars' safety before, but I think they have matured, and the price is very reasonable," Lin says。
“我以前不相信中国汽车的安全,但我认为他们现在已经成熟,而且价格是非常合理。”林说。
Other local manufacturers have tried to break into the high-end market by offering special features. A new model from Geely with a single-seat massage chair/throne in the back attracted a lot of attention at the Shanghai show. "We want you to feel like an emperor," said Zhang Yanyan, a quality department employee. The car's price: $146,000.
其他当地的制造商则试图提供特殊功能而闯入高端市场。在上海车展上,吉利创造的新模式,后座单座按摩椅吸引了众多的关注。
“我们希望您觉得自己像一个皇帝,”质量部的员工张艳艳说。这部汽车的价格是十四万六千美元。
Despite such efforts, it could be years before Chinese cars overtake Western models, says Zhong, the auto analyst. "Right now, everybody usually buys Chinese cars not for quality, exterior or prestige, but only because the price is cheap," he says.
“尽管这种努力可能使中国汽车在几年前就超越了西方模式,”汽车分析师钟先生说。“但是现在,大家通常购买中国汽车,不是为了质量,外观或声望,而只是因为价格便宜”。
Cheap or expensive, the market for cars in China appears vast. Dunne, the J.D. Power analyst, says more than 85% of the adult population still does not own a car. It's still too expensive, but cities such as Shanghai are preparing for an onslaught, building new ring roads and avenues to handle the traffi。
“不管价格是便宜还是昂贵,中国的汽车市场是巨大的。”JD Power的分析师邓恩说, 85 %以上的热仍然没有自己的汽车,因为它仍过于昂贵,但向上海这种大城市,已经在建新的环形道路来应对汽车激增带来的各种冲击。
Patrick Zhou,25, says the possibilities are endless. He's a sales assistant for BYD (Build Your Dreams), an auto and battery company partly owned by Warren Buffett that is trying to break into the hybrid car market here. "In the U.S., the focus of companies is on how to save themselves," Zhou says. "Here in China, the market is great!"
比亚迪(建筑你的梦想)的销售助理,25岁的Patrick Zhou说可能性是无穷尽的。主要归沃伦巴菲特所有的一家汽车及电池公司,正在进入中国新的混合动力汽车市场。“在美国,公司的重点是如何保存自己,”周说。“而中国的市场是巨大的!”
【点评】
中国汽车市场的繁荣及巨大发展潜力,的的确确刺激了经济的增长,也给我们的生活带来方便。但同时我们也应密切注意随之而来的环境、交通安全、贫富差距、恶性竞争等问题。规范管理,使其良性发展是政府及有关部门应该做的。 |
评分
-
1
查看全部评分
-
|