中國汽車製造商擬打入中高端市場大綱
Several of China's leading carmakers are relaunching brands from the past, including Mao Zedong's famous Red Flag limousine, in a bid to capitalise on nostalgia for an era when China made very few cars — but those they made were grand ones.
中國數家領先汽車製造商正重新啓用昔日的品牌，包括毛澤東的座駕、著名的“紅旗”牌豪華轎車。此舉意在利用人們的懷舊之情——當年中國的汽車產量雖然很少，但它生產出來的汽車都很有氣派。
But there is scant evidence that Chinese car buyers are hankering for the good old days when state-owned manufacturers made cars named after Beijing, Shanghai or the red flag of communism.
但幾乎沒有什麼證據顯示，中國購車族渴望回到“美好的往昔”——那時，國有製造商生產以“北京”、“上海”或代表共產主義的“紅旗”爲品牌的汽車。
China may be the world's largest car market, but China has yet to build a car industry to be proud of. Foreign carmakers dominate the market, and the local industry is losing market share.
中國也許是全球最大的汽車市場，但中國尚未建立起值得驕傲的汽車產業。外國汽車製造商主導着中國市場，本土汽車產業正失去市場份額。
Chinese manufacturers are hoping to reverse that trend by unveiling a range of bigger, glitzier, sportier and more innovative models at the Beijing motor show, which opens today.
中國製造商希望扭轉這一趨勢。在今日開幕的北京汽車展上，它們將發佈一系列更大、更亮麗、更具運動感、更加創新的車型。
Analysts say it could be a critical moment for the Chinese industry, which has less than 30 per cent of the local market.
分析師們表示，對佔本土市場份額不到30%的中國汽車業來說，這可能是一個關鍵時刻。
Three decades after Beijing set out to build a world class car industry — signing landmark joint venture agreements with Volkswagen and General Motors to partner state-owned manufacturers — brands owned by Volkswagen and GM still dominate, while Chinese brands remain stuck in the hyper-competitive low end of the market.
30年前，北京方面開始打造世界級的汽車產業，中國國有製造商與大衆汽車(VW)和通用汽車(GM)簽署了里程碑式的合資協議。今天，大衆和通用旗下的品牌仍佔據中國市場主導地位，而中國品牌仍徘徊在競爭極其激烈的低端市場。
In general, foreign-branded cars are seen as more reliable, more stylish, more impressive and better value for money than Chinese-branded models, which continue to compete almost entirely on price.
總體來說，與中國品牌的車型相比，外國品牌的汽車被視爲更可靠、造型更時尚、更令人印象深刻，也更加物有所值。中國品牌仍幾乎完全靠價格競爭。
In the past year, Beijing has taken several steps to reverse the decline, banning most official fleet purchases of foreign brands and forcing overseas makers like GM and VW to develop indigenous brands with their joint venture partners in a bid to ensure a more rapid transfer of -technology.
過去一年裏，北京方面已採取多個步驟扭轉本土品牌的頹勢，包括禁止大多數公車採購選擇外國品牌，並迫使通用和大衆等海外製造商與各自的中方合資夥伴一起研發自主品牌，以求實現更快的技術轉移。
Nissan will launch Venucia, its own brand with joint venture partner Dongfeng Motors, at the Beijing auto show, for example. But most industry analysts say those measures are likely to provide only a small boost to local carmakers' market share — or could depress it even -further.
例如，日產(Nissan)將在北京汽車展上發佈其與中方合資夥伴東風汽車(Dongfeng Motors)聯合研發的自主品牌啓辰(Venucia)。但是，多數分析師表示，此類措施很可能只會小幅提升本土汽車製造商的市場份額，甚至還有可能進一步壓低它們的份額。
Klaus Paur, car industry analyst at Ipsos in Shanghai, says: "In the past few years we have seen a dramatic loss of market share for Chinese branded vehicles, while international carmakers have done a very good job of penetrating the lower end of the market."
益普索(Ipsos)駐上海的汽車業分析師包亦農(Klaus Paur)表示：“過去幾年裏，我們看到中國品牌汽車的市場份額大幅下降，而海外汽車製造商在打入低端市場方面做得很出色。”
"Sometimes international car manufacturers understand Chinese consumers better than Chinese manufacturers do," he adds.
“有時候海外汽車製造商比中國同行更加了解中國消費者，”他補充說。
Western carmakers are increasingly adapting their cars for the Chinese market: BMW, for example, will launch a long-wheelbase version of its ever-popular 3 series especially for the China market where many cars are chauffeur driven.
西方汽車製造商日趨針對中國市場調整汽車的設計。比如，寶馬(BMW)將發佈暢銷的3系車型的長軸距版，這是專門面向中國市場開發的，因爲這裏有許多高檔車是由專職司機駕駛的。
Chinese carmakers like Geely, Great Wall and SAIC — the three strongest — are working hard to enter the middle to upper segments of the market and many are launching sports utility vehicles to capture a trend toward more individualistic purchases by younger buyers. "But they are always running a little bit late," says Mr Paur.
中國汽車製造商，如吉利(Geely)、長城(Great Wall)和上汽(SAIC)這三家最強大的企業，正努力打入中高端市場。不少廠家將發佈運動型多功能車(SUV)，以求抓住年輕買家購買更具個性色彩車型的趨勢。“但它們總是慢一拍，”包亦農表示。
Ivo Naumann, head of AlixPartners in Shanghai, says: "The product still has to improve to be really on par with international brands."
諮詢集團艾睿鉑(AlixPartners)上海主管羅曼(Ivo Naumann)表示：“這些產品仍需要改進，才能真正與國際品牌平起平坐。”
"At the end of the day, I think it's a question of scale. None of the independent Chinese carmakers has a scale that could -truly compete with large global carmakers," he adds, noting that even Geely, which also owns Volvo, produces fewer than 1m cars a year while the global market leaders produce several times that.
“歸根結底，我認爲這是一個規模的問題。非合資的中國汽車製造商沒有一家能夠真正在規模上與大型海外同行較量，”他補充說。羅曼指出，即便是旗下擁有沃爾沃(Volvo)的吉利，汽車年產量也不到100萬輛，而全球市場領先車企的年產量幾倍於此。
Meanwhile, prevailing winds increasingly favour global carmakers, analysts say. As China gets richer, car buyers often want to upgrade to foreign models and as the first big wave of car buyers replaces their first car, many are increasingly willing to pay for foreign reliability, not to mention resale value.
與此同時，分析師們表示，情況越來越有利於海外汽車製造商。隨着中國變得更富，汽車買家往往想要升級至國外車型，同時隨着首批購車族紛紛換車，其中許多人越來越願意爲國外車型的可靠性（且不提轉售價值）掏錢。
Even Beijing's decision to force foreign carmakers to create indigenous joint -venture brands could cannibalise demand for independent Chinese brands, says Bill Russo of Synergistics, a consultancy, who is also a former head of Chrysler in China.
汽車業諮詢公司Synergistics總裁、克萊斯勒(Chrysler)前中國區負責人羅威(Bill Russo)表示，甚至連北京方面迫使外國汽車製造商創建自主合資品牌的決定，也可能侵蝕市場對非合資中國品牌的需求。
Kevin Wale, head of GM in China, told the Financial Times: "It's tough to establish a global reputation ... and once you have done that it tends not to go away."
通用汽車中國公司總裁甘文維(Kevin Wale)對英國《金融時報》表示：“建立全球聲譽是很難的……而一旦你建立起來了，這種聲譽往往會一直伴隨着你，不會離開。
"The Japanese and -Koreans built up global reputations, but it took them 20 or 30 or 40 years — and that still did not erode the global advantage of those that existed before. I think our reputation [in China] will last for an incredibly long time."
“日本和韓國廠家建立起了全球聲譽，但它們花了20、30甚至40年，即便那樣也沒有削弱比它們更早的老品牌的全球優勢。我認爲我們（在中國的）聲譽將持續相當長的時間。”譯者:和風
