本帖最后由 下个月 于 2011-3-31 23:05 编辑
【中文标题】中国的汽车制造商 推迟的梦想——抱有极大期望的一家中国汽车公司陷入困境 【原文标题】China's carmakers Dream deferred A Chinese car company carrying great expectations stalls 【登载媒体】经济学人
【来源地址】http://www.economist.com/node/18441175
【译者】xuehoulu
【翻译方式】人工
【声明】本翻译供Anti-CNN使用,未经AC或译者许可,不得转载。 China's carmakers Dream deferred A Chinese car company carrying great expectations stalls
中国的汽车制造商 推迟的梦想 抱有极大期望的一家中国汽车公司陷入困境
IF ANY company captured the optimism (and possibly hype) emanating from China, it was BYD, whose three letters are said to be short for “build your dreams”. The Shenzhen-based company makes mobile-phone batteries, cars and solar panels, thereby combining growth prospects with green virtues. This appealing combination received a credibility boost in 2008 when a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought a 10% stake.
假如有任何一家公司抓住了发自于中国的乐观主义精神(涉嫌炒作),那它一定是比亚迪(BYD),它的三个字母据称是“构筑你的梦想”的缩写。这家位于深圳的公司生产手机电池、汽车和太阳能电池板,因而兼备了具有绿色理念的发展前景。这个诱人的组合体在2008年得到了其信誉的提升,当时沃伦巴菲特旗下Berkshire Hathaway的一家附属公司购入了其10%的股份。
Mr Buffett seemed to have picked another winner. Within a year the price of BYD’s shares had risen ninefold. The battery business, which had been a huge success, was drifting, but car sales were accelerating at a stunning pace, from none in 2003 to more than 500,000 last year, including the F3, a small sedan with a modest 60,000-yuan ($9,150) price tag and numerous features like electric windows, cup-holders and iPod docks, which quickly became the most popular car in China.
巴菲特先生似乎已经挑好了另一位赢家。一年内,比亚迪的股价已经翻了九翻。虽然曾取得巨大的成功,但电池业务正在流失,但是汽车销售正以惊人的速度在增长,从2003的零销售到去年超过了50万辆,其中包括了F3,这是一款标价(6万元,即9150美元)适中的小汽车,它具有众多的功能,如电动车窗、杯座以及iPod底座,并很快成为中国最流行的汽车。
Any enthusiasm over BYD’s conventional cars paled next to the excitement over its plans for electric ones—the reason, it was thought, for Berkshire’s interest. Two years ago Scott Laprise of CLSA, a stockbroker, was so wowed by a test run of the F3DM, a hybrid that could switch from petrol to electric power at the flip of a switch, that he immediately placed an order.
比起它对电动汽车的兴趣,任何针对比亚迪传统汽车的热情都不值得一提,这被认为是巴菲特对其感兴趣的原因。两年前,里昂证券的一个股票经纪人Scott Laprise相中了F3DM的测试运行,这是一款混合动力汽车,可以通过一个开关的翻转从汽油动力切换到电力,他立即下了订单。
Mr Laprise is still waiting for delivery; and BYD has announced a series of delays to another hybrid, intended for the American market. Meanwhile, in the hypercompetitive Chinese market, the F3 is suddenly an old model. Geely, another Chinese manufacturer, has an equally inexpensive but more modern car that is this year’s flavour. “Chinese buyers are proving to be more loyal to features than brands,” says Mr Laprise. “When something nicer comes along, they buy it.”
Laprise先生一直在等到交货,而比亚迪已经宣布了另一款针对美国市场设计的混合动力车的一系列推迟声明。同时,在竞争激烈的中国市场,F3却是旧的模式。吉利,另一个中国制造商,也有同样便宜但却具有当下风味的更现代的汽车。“中国消费者被证实是更热忠于功能的而非品牌” Laprise先生说,“当一些更好的东西到来时,他们就会去买”
Although last year’s total sales were up 18% on the previous year, they were well below the 700,000 to 800,000 cars that the firm had been expected, at one point, to shift. The Chinese market as a whole grew by one-third. And the real bad news may be to come. Mr Laprise reckons BYD’s sales will drop from 525,000 in 2010 to 425,000 this year, a shocking decline for a big Chinese carmaker and a stunning blow for what had been widely considered to be one of the country’s bright lights.
虽然去年的销售总额比上一年增加了18%,但远低于公司原计划的70万-80万辆,这点需要改变。作为一个整体,中国市场增长了三分之一。而真正的坏消息可能会来。Laprise先生预计比亚迪的销售将从2010年的52.5万辆跌至今年的42.5万辆,对于一家较大的中国汽车制造商而言这是个令人震惊的跌幅,对于这个被广泛认为是国家明灯的汽车制造商而言也是个惊人的打击。
Other problems loom. BYD was fined for obtaining land improperly for a factory in Xi’an. There are suggestions that at least some of its sales are the product of pushing cars on dealers, which then sit unsold in lots. More broadly, government incentives instituted in 2009 because of the financial crisis were scaled back in 2010 and are now mostly gone. Petrol prices are up, as are component costs. Big Chinese cities are bringing in restrictions on car ownership to cut congestion. Luxury cars are looking fairly resilient so far, but sales of cheap cars and lorries are sliding. BYD’s share price is now about one-third of its 2009 peak
其它问题也隐约呈现。比亚迪因在西安非法取得土地建立工厂而被罚款。有人认为,它的销售量中至少有些只是将产品推给了经销商,并未售出。更广泛的来说,政府在2009年由于金融危机而实行的激励政策在2010年已经缩减,而现在大多已消失。汽油价格上涨。中国的大型城市都将在对汽车保有量进行限制,以减少拥堵。豪华汽车正在徘徊但弹性不大,但廉价汽车的卡车的销量在下滑。比亚迪的股价大约是其2009年高峰期的三分之一。
BYD’s chairman, Wang Chuanfu, is lauded as a near-genius, and the company’s workers are said to be uncommonly motivated. After Mr Buffett’s investment in the company it was mobbed by bright students from all over China, seeking jobs. So why has it been hit particularly badly?
比亚迪董事长王传福被誉为是一个近乎天才的人,公司职员据说很少被激励。巴菲特对该公司感兴趣之后,来自全中国各地的聪明学生涌来寻求工作。这就是为什么说它受到的冲击最为严重。
In theory, BYD’s battery and car operations added up to an expertise in electrical cars; in reality, the technology of low-powered phone batteries is quite different from that of high-capacity car ones. The firm may be having similar difficulties in achieving synergies between its solar-panel division and a rumoured project to make energy-efficient appliances. Two years ago BYD symbolised China’s glorious prospects. These still exist, but today the firm may reflect how hard they are to realise.
从理论上说,比亚迪的电池和汽车业务加起来其在电动汽车上是很专业的;实际上,低功率的手机电池技术与高容量的汽车电池技术有很大不同。为了制造高效节能设备,这家公司可能在实现其太阳能电池板部门与所传闻的工程之间的协同有相似的困难。两年前,比亚迪象征着中国的光辉前景。这些仍然存在,但今天该公司可能该思考他们应如何努力实现。 |