福特擬將豪車品牌林肯推入中國市場

Ford Motor Co. is setting its sights on the fast-growing but increasingly crowded Chinese market for high-end cars.

福特汽車公司(Ford Motor Co.)打算向快速增長但競爭日益激烈的中國市場引入旗下高端品牌。

The Dearborn, Mich., auto maker plans to begin selling vehicles from its Lincoln brand in China in the second half of 2014, initially importing the cars from the U.S. and offering some modifications, such as roomier back seats, to the versions destined for the world's largest auto market.

總部位於美國密歇根州迪爾伯恩(Dearborn)的福特計劃於2014年下半年開始在中國銷售其林肯(Lincoln)品牌轎車。福特打算首先從美國進口這些車，然後再針對中國這一全球最大的汽車市場做一些改動，比如讓後排空間更加寬敞。

Ford plans to assemble a nationwide network of exclusive Lincoln dealers in China who can help it push an image of simplicity it hopes will set it off from China's heavyweight luxury brands, Volkswagen AG's Audi, BMW AG and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz.

福特汽車計劃在中國爲林肯品牌建立覆蓋全國的獨家經銷商網絡。這些經銷商要能幫助福特樹立林肯品牌的簡潔形象。福特希望這一形象能將林肯和中國市場上的大衆汽車(Volkswagen AG)旗下的奧迪(Audi)、寶馬汽車(BMW AG)以及戴姆勒公司(Daimler AG)旗下的梅賽德斯-奔馳(Mercedes-Benz)等其它重量級豪車品牌區分開來。

It also hopes to capitalize on what it says is the brand's reputation in China, citing images on local television of U.S. presidential limousines through the years, as well as the Lincoln Continental that former President Richard Nixon brought with him on his historic visit to China in 1972.

福特也希望能夠利用林肯品牌在中國的聲譽。從中國國內電視臺播出的畫面上可以看到多年來作爲美國總統座駕的林肯轎車，1972年時任美國總統的尼克松(Richard Nixon)對中國進行歷史性訪問時所乘座駕也是林肯大陸(Lincoln Continental)。

'We've done enough development to revitalize the Lincoln brand in the United States, but we've really kept an eye on Chinese customers and markets while we've been doing this,' said Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally in an interview in Beijing. He added, 'it is the perfect time to announce that we're bringing the Lincoln brand to China.'

福特首席執行長穆拉利(Alan Mulally)在北京接受記者採訪時說，爲了在美國振興林肯品牌，我們已經做出了足夠多的改變。我們在做這些工作的同時也一直關注中國客戶和中國市場。他說，現在宣佈我們將林肯品牌引入中國是一個再恰當不過的時機。

As recently as January, Ford executives said they had no plan to spread Lincoln beyond North America until it had regained strength. Sales of the luxury brand were flat in 2011 at about 85,000 as the overall market grew 10.3% in the U.S. This year, Lincoln sales are down 1.8% through July, but the company expects sales to improve when it starts selling the redesigned MKZ sedan this fall.

福特高管今年1月還曾表示，在恢復實力之前，沒有計劃將林肯品牌擴張到北美以外的市場。2011年這一豪車品牌的銷量同比持平，約爲8.5萬輛，而美國整體車市的同比增速爲10.3%。今年初至7月底，林肯銷量下滑1.8%，但福特預計今秋開始銷售經過重新設計的林肯MKZ之後，該品牌的銷售狀況會得到改善。

Other luxury-brand sellers also see the timing as right. Ford's planned debut comes as luxury-auto makers are ramping up local production to tap a market that until recently has been among the world's fastest-growing. BMW plans to increase production to 300,000 vehicles from 200,000 at its Chinese plants and could raise total China production to 400,000 vehicles after planned expansions if the plants were operated continuously.

其它豪車賣家也認爲這是個不錯的時機。就在福特打算向中國市場推出林肯的時候，其它豪車生產商也正在擴大在華生產規模，開發這個不久前增速一直在全球位列前茅的市場。寶馬打算將中國工廠的產量從20萬輛增至30萬輛，完成擴張計劃後，如果這些工廠持續運轉，寶馬可能會將中國生產總規模增至40萬輛。

Meanwhile, other luxury-car makers are expanding their operations in China, including Nissan Motor Co. with its Infiniti brand. General Motors Co. plans to start building its full-size XTS in China later this year to build on its existing sales. Tata Motors Ltd.'s Jaguar Land Rover is seeking to meaningfully enter the market.

與此同時，其它豪車生產商也在擴大在華業務，擁有英菲尼迪(Infiniti)品牌的日產汽車(Nissan Motor Co.)也是其中一員。通用汽車(General Motors Co.)打算今年晚些時候在中國生產全尺寸凱迪拉克XTS，以提升現有銷售業績。塔塔汽車有限公司(Tata Motors Ltd.)旗下的捷豹路虎(Jaguar Land Rover)目前也在尋求大舉進入中國市場。

But it isn't clear how long the strong demand will last. China's passenger-car sales rose 11% in July, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry group, but analysts widely expect auto sales for 2012 will mark the second modest increase in as many years after a decade of near breakneck growth. So far, the slowdown has mostly hit domestic brands, with auto makers such as GM and Volkswagen still enjoying strong sales.

但目前尚不清楚這種強勁需求將持續多長時間。行業性組織中國汽車工業協會(China Association of Automobile Manufacturers)的數據顯示，今年7月中國乘用車銷量增長11%。但分析師普遍預計，經過了10年的驚人增速之後，2012年的汽車銷量將是多年來第二次呈現溫和增長的態勢。截至目前，銷售增速放緩的主要是國內品牌，而通用汽車和大衆汽車等國外汽車廠商的銷售增速仍然強勁。

It also isn't clear how well American luxury brands will fare in a nation that often favors German high-end brands. GM sold 30,000 Cadillacs in China last year, up 73% from a year earlier, but just 1.2% of its China sales.

在中國這樣一個推崇德系高端品牌轎車的國家，美國豪車品牌的表現會如何目前還不清楚。通用汽車去年在中國賣出了3萬輛凱迪拉克，較上年同期增長73%，但這在其中國銷售總額中的佔比僅爲1.2%。

Ford sees plenty of growth opportunities even with competition rising and lingering concerns over China's slowing economy. 'The luxury market here is [expanding] 6% to 7%, and it can grow to 10% in just a few years, and that would be almost three million units in a growing industry,' said Jim Farley, Ford group vice president, global marketing sales and service. 'One of the real drivers of growth is the luxury business, and we don't see that changing.'

雖然競爭加劇且外界對中國經濟放緩的擔憂揮之不去，但福特仍然認爲中國市場存在大量增長機會。福特集團主管全球市場銷售和服務的副總裁法利(Jim Farley)說，中國豪車市場正在以6%至7%的速度擴張，只要幾年的時間這一擴張速度就能上升至10%，對於這個不斷增長的行業來說，這意味着市場容量將接近300萬輛。法利說，增長的驅動因素之一是豪車業務，我們認爲這一點沒有改變。

Ford said to succeed it would seek to tap what it said was a trend toward less conspicuous consumption in China, where consumers often favor well-known luxury brands and flashy details such as large grilles.

福特說，爲了取得成功，它將試圖利用其所聲稱的一股趨勢，即炫耀性消費在中國已經不再那麼普遍。在這種趨勢下，中國消費者往往青睞知名奢侈品牌以及種種花哨細節，比如大型格柵。

Mr. Farley said Ford worked with Prada SpA and Burberry Group PLC to evaluate customer sentiment. 'China is changing,' he said. 'It wants to show off less. People want to consume for themselves, not for other people.'

法利說，福特曾與普拉達(Prada SpA)和博柏利(Burberry Group PLC)合作評估消費者情緒。他說，中國正在發生變化。人們不再像以往那樣喜歡炫富；人們想爲自己消費，而不是爲他人。

The coming models for both China and the U.S. will have roomier back seats, said Mr. Farley-a must in the Chinese luxury-car market, where owners often employ drivers. Ford's Chinese models may have some differences, such as a 2-liter EcoBoost engine for a market where power is less emphasized because owners less often drive themselves.

法利說，即將在中美兩國市場推出的車型後排空間將更寬敞。這在中國豪車市場可謂一項必須配置，因爲車主往往會僱傭司機。福特在中國推出的車型可能會有一些差異，比如安裝的是2升EcoBoost發動機。這是因爲車主較少自己開車，所以不是非常強調車子的動力。

The company didn't disclose further details, such as types of models or pricing.

福特沒有透露更多細節，比如車型的具體種類以及價格。

Joe Hinrichs, Ford's group vice president, Asia Pacific and Africa, said the company still aims to reach production of eight million vehicles world-wide by 2015. By roughly then, he said, the company expects its Asia-Pacific and Africa arm to contribute significantly to Ford's bottom line, compared with a first-half, pretax loss of $161 million. 'Right now Asia Pacific is dominated by investment in the future,' he said.

福特負責亞太及非洲業務的集團副總裁韓瑞麒(Joe Hinrichs)表示，該公司仍然希望到2015年其全球產能達到800萬輛。他說，大概到那個時候福特希望其亞太和非洲業務能爲公司貢獻大部分的淨利潤，雖然今年上半年福特的亞太及非洲業務稅前虧損1.61億美元。韓瑞麒說，目前亞太地區進行的主要是對未來的投資。