福特將正式在華銷售林肯 抗衡德國品牌

Ford Motor Co. unveiled details of its plans to sell its premium Lincoln brand to Chinese buyers who equate luxury with German names like Audi and BMW, as it looks to the 97-year-old nameplate to give it a boost in a hot new market.

福特汽車公司(Ford Motor Co.)公佈了面向中國購車者銷售高端林肯牌汽車計劃的細節，希望憑藉這個有97年曆史的品牌在一個火爆的新市場提升業績。中國購車者通常將豪車與奧迪(Audi)、寶馬(BMW)等德國品牌劃等號。

The Dearborn, Mich., auto maker said on Thursday that its plans by 2016 to sell five U.S.-made Lincoln models through 60 dealerships in 50 cities in China, where the brand currently lacks a formal presence. Longer-term, Ford hopes to make Lincolns in China so it can better compete with market giants Audi AG, BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz.

福特週四表示，計劃到2016年通過中國50個城市的60家經銷商銷售五款美國產林肯汽車。目前林肯汽車在中國還缺乏正式地位。長遠來看，福特希望在中國生產林肯車，以便更好地與奧迪、寶馬和奔馳(Mercedes-Benz)等市場巨頭競爭。

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'Clearly over time as we sell more and more Lincolns here we will gradually localize them,' Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said at Thursday's event, which came ahead of this weekend's Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, the biggest car show this year in the world's largest auto market.

福特首席執行長穆拉利(Alan Mulally)在週四的活動上表示，隨着福特在中國銷售越來越多的林肯車，福特將逐步實現林肯車的本地化。這次活動是在週末開幕的北京國際車展前舉行的。北京國際車展是作爲世界第一大汽車市場的中國在今年舉辦的最大一次車展。

The first models to come this fall will be the MKZ midsize sedan, a competitor to popular German rides such as the Audi A4 or Mercedes C-Class, and the MKC small sport utility vehicle. A midsize SUV, a large sedan and a version of the brand's big Navigator SUV will follow.

將於今年秋季推出的首批車型是MKZ中型轎車和MKC小型SUV。MKZ中型轎車是與奧迪A4或奔馳C級轎車等頗受歡迎的德國品牌競爭的一個車型。隨後，福特將推出一款中型SUV、一款大型轎車，以及林肯領航員(Navigator)大型SUV的一個車型。

The aim is to capture buyers like Qin Chao, who this week inspected Navigator SUVs at one of Beijing's gray-market car lots, which purchase foreign vehicles and bring them to China to sell. 'American cars consume too much gas,' said the 35-year-old Mr. Qin, who owns a Beijing restaurant. 'Not many people in China recognize this brand.'

福特的目的在於吸引像秦超（音）這樣的購車者。秦超本週在北京的一個汽車灰市考察了領航員SUV。汽車灰市從國外購進汽車然後運回中國銷售。35歲的秦超說，美國車太費油。他還說，中國人不太認這個牌子。秦超在北京經營一家飯館。

Lincoln won't present an immediate threat to the top premium brands in China, said Klaus Paur, global head of automotive at research firm Ipsos. Imported vehicles in China are subject to taxes and duties that can raise the sticker price or crimp profits.

研究公司益普索(Ipsos)全球汽車業務負責人包亦農(Klaus Paur)說，林肯不會馬上對中國市場的頂尖品牌汽車構成威脅。進口車在中國需要交稅，可能會擡高售價或擠壓利潤。

Volkswagen AG's Audi, BMW and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz make much of what they sell in China domestically through joint ventures with local auto makers. They account for roughly two-thirds of luxury cars sold in China, according to data from the companies and an estimate from management-consulting firm Strategy& of a 1.6 million-vehicle luxury market last year.

無論是大衆汽車(Volkswagen AG)旗下的奧迪和寶馬還是戴姆勒公司(Daimler AG)旗下的梅賽德斯-奔馳(Mercedes-Benz)，它們在中國銷售的大部分汽車都是與本地廠商合資生產的，根據這些公司的數據以及管理諮詢公司Strategy&去年對160萬輛豪車市場的估計，上述品牌在中國豪車市場佔有三分之二左右的份額。

'If you want to get on premium buyers' radar screen you need critical mass in terms of on-the-road presence, and that requires localization,' Johan De Nysschen, chief executive of Nissan Motor Co.'s Infiniti, said in an interview in Shanghai.

日產汽車(Nissan Motor Co.)旗下英菲尼迪(Infiniti)的首席執行長Johan De Nysschen在上海接受採訪時表示，如果想進入高端買家的視線，就需要達到一定的路面曝光率，這就需要本地化。

Competition is also intensifying. Infiniti plans to introduce to China a youth-aimed crossover SUV based on the Nissan Juke, while Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus plans to show in Beijing a production version of its first compact SUV, to be called the NX.

市場競爭也在加劇。英菲尼迪計劃向中國市場引入一款基於日產Juke的面向年輕人的跨界運動型多用途車(SUV)，豐田汽車公司(Toyota Motor Co.)旗下的雷克薩斯(Lexus)則計劃在北京展示其首款緊湊型SUV樣車，該車型將被命名爲NX。

Ford China Chief Executive John Lawler said Thursday that Lincolns will be 'competitively priced' with locally made rivals.

福特中國首席執行長羅禮祥(John Lawler)週四表示，與中國本地生產的其他車型相比，林肯汽車的定價將具有競爭力。

Lincoln plans to enhance its appeal by offering a boutique feel in its dealerships. On Thursday, Lincoln executives in Beijing showed off a mockup of the design for its stores, which will feature amenities such as a tea room, seating areas designed to evoke a plush hotel lobby and a 'Personalization Studio' where customers can use a touch-screen table to choose among options and styling packages for the interiors of the cars.

林肯汽車計劃打造精品化的經銷商以增加吸引力。週四，林肯汽車管理人士在北京展示了其店面的設計模型，店內將配備茶室、類似豪華酒店大堂的座位區和“個性化工作室”（顧客可使用觸摸屏桌面來選擇汽車配置及內飾風格套餐）等設施。

Lincoln's goal is to make the process of buying a car more akin to being fitted for a bespoke shirt or suit. The brand expects dealers to have a team of people, including a 'host,' a 'master,' and a 'craftsman,' to guide customers through the process of ordering a vehicle. The host maintains the relationship with the customer, the master's role is to answer questions about features and pricing, and the craftsman manages maintenance.

林肯的目標是讓買車人有一種在服裝店裏量身定做襯衫或西服的感覺。林肯希望經銷商組建一支團隊，裏面有主持人、專家和技師，爲顧客選購車輛提供全程服務。主持人負責維護良好的客戶關係，專家負責回答有關車型特點和定價的問題，技師則負責維修保養。

All of this is a departure from the way Lincoln sells vehicles in the U.S., which is through a long-standing network of independently owned franchises that largely control the way a customer is treated. But in China, Ford and Lincoln can set up the retail network from scratch--one advantage of coming late to the market.

所有這些都與林肯在美國的銷售方式截然不同。在美國，林肯是通過存在已久的獨立特許經銷商網絡銷售汽車的，這些特許店在很大程度上決定着如何對待客戶。但在中國，福特汽車和林肯可以從頭開始建立零售網絡，這是後來者的一個好處。

In the U.S., Lincoln sales declined slightly in 2013--a drop of less than 1%, to 81,694--as the brand dealt with the phaseout of the Town Car. Later this year, the brand's sales should jump as it begins selling the MKC, a small crossover built on the same underpinnings as the Ford Escape--known as the Kuga in China--but with a different look.

在美國市場，受林肯城市(Town Car)系列車型逐步退市影響，去年林肯汽車銷量小幅下滑不到1%，至81,694輛。今年晚些時候，隨着MKC車型投放市場，預計林肯汽車銷量將實現增長。林肯MKC是一款小型跨界車，以福特翼虎(Escape)（在中國被稱爲六和(Kuga)）爲藍本開發，但外形不同。

China is 'strategically important because of the size of the market,' said Matt VanDyke, director of Global Lincoln. 'We expect it to be a very substantial piece of our global sales.'

林肯全球業務負責人範戴克(Matt VanDyke)表示，中國市場規模之大使其具有重要的戰略意義。他說，預計中國市場將佔到林肯全球銷售的很大一部分。

At the car market in Beijing, Sun Xiaogang, a 29-year-old staffer for a foreign trading company in Beijing, said he ordered a Navigator for his boss. 'My company has quite a number of American clients, so my boss wants to have a Lincoln car to pick up those American clients when they come to Beijing,' Mr. Sun said. 'He knows that Lincoln is a luxury brand in America. And it looks good as well. Big and powerful.'

在北京某汽車市場，爲北京一家外貿公司工作的29歲的孫曉剛（音）說，他爲老闆訂購了一臺林肯領航員(Navigator)。孫曉剛說，他們公司有很多美國客戶，所以老闆想買一輛林肯用來接送他們。他還說，老闆知道林肯是美系豪華品牌，樣子也不錯，空間大、馬力足。

Joseph B. White / Mike Ramsey

Joseph B. White / Mike Ramsey