小型噴氣機制造商搶灘中國市場

U.S. makers of small aircraft increasingly are teaming up with Chinese companies, deciding that the need to ply the growing market outweighs the risk that their partners will become rivals.
越來越多的美國小型飛機制造商準備與中國企業聯手以求打入中國市場。他們認爲，共同開發中國這個高增長市場的必要性超過了中國合作伙伴可能成爲其競爭對手的風險。
In the last few months, business-plane makers Cessna Aircraft Co. and Hawker Beechcraft Corp. have discussed joint ventures in the country. Industry supplier Honeywell International Inc. signed several initial agreements last year. Non-U.S. companies are moving in, too: Brazil's Embraer SA last month said it would consider transforming a Chinese joint-venture plant for small commercial jets to turn out executive planes.
過去幾個月，商務飛機制造商塞斯納飛行器公司(Cessna Aircraft Co.)和豪客比奇公司(Hawker Beechcraft Corp.)一直在探討在中國籌建合資企業一事。行業供應商霍尼韋爾(Honeywell International Inc.)去年也簽署了幾份草簽協議。非美資企業也有所動作：巴西航空工業公司(Embraer SA)上個月說，將考慮把中國一家生產小型商務飛機的合資工廠改造爲一家制造公務機的企業。
China has grown more attractive as the industry otherwise has shrunk. Honeywell in October estimated that 600 to 650 new business jets would be delivered industrywide last year, down from 732 in 2010 because of global economic weakness. Cessna, a unit of Textron Inc., expects China to become the world's No. 2 business-aircraft market, after the U.S., within roughly 15 years.
由於這一產業在其它市場已經萎縮，中國市場因此變得更具吸引力。去年10月，霍尼韋爾估計，去年整個行業交付的新商務機數量在600至650架之間，低於2010年的732架，這主要是全球經濟疲軟造成的。美國德事隆有限公司(Textron Inc.)旗下企業塞斯納預計，大約15年之內中國將成爲僅次於美國的全球第二大商務機市場。
"Everyone's jockeying for position now, trying to figure out . . . Who do I partner with? How do I get the right access?" says Briand Greer, Asian-Pacific president of Honeywell Aerospace.
霍尼韋爾亞太區總裁高博安(Briand Greer)說，大家都在搶佔中國市場，努力想弄明白該與誰合作以及如何找到合適的途徑等問題。
Cessna last month signed an agreement with a unit of state-controlled Aviation Industry Corp. of China to establish a joint venture in the western city of Chengdu, where Cessna plans to build midsize business jets and co-develop a larger jet. The Wichita, Kan., company also reached an agreement with AVIC, as the Chinese company is known, for broader cooperation on general aviation, a category that excludes military and commercial aircraft.
塞斯納上個月與國有控股的中國航空工業集團公司(Aviation Industry Corp. of China，簡稱：中航工業)旗下一家子公司簽署了一項協議，準備在中國西部城市成都建立合資企業。塞斯納打算利用這個合資企業生產中型商務機，並與合作伙伴一道開發一種大型噴氣機。總部位於美國堪薩斯州威奇托(Wichita)的塞斯納與中航工業還達成了一項在通用機領域展開更廣闊合作的協議。通用機不包括軍用和商用飛機。
"If you have the ability to produce local content in the market, it gives you the ability to understand your customers better, to react quicker," says Cessna Chief Executive Scott Ernest.
坐飛機怎樣遠離感冒？塞斯納的首席執行長厄內斯特(Scott Ernest)說，如果能在中國進行本地化生產，就能更好地瞭解客戶，並且更快地做出反應。
Shawn Vick, an executive vice president at Wichita-based Hawker Beechcraft, said at a recent news briefing in Shanghai that his company had "entertained discussions with four separate entities for joint-venture activities inside China."
總部位於威奇托的豪客比奇的執行副總裁維克(Shawn Vick)前不久在上海舉行新聞發佈會時說，該公司已與四家企業開會討論了關於在華成立合資企業一事。
Labor costs also are part of China's lure. "Our competitors in Brazil or in Switzerland can charge lower labor rates than we can in the U.S. and labor is a big component of building the airplane," says Sean McGeough, Hawker Beechcraft's president for Europe, the Mideast, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
勞動力成本也是中國市場的吸引力之一。豪客比奇負責歐洲、中東、非洲和亞太市場的總裁麥古(Sean McGeough)說，我們在巴西或瑞士的競爭對手支付的勞務費用比我們在美國支付的要低，勞動力成本佔飛機制造成本的很大一部分。

The aircraft maker, suffering from a long slump in demand for business jets and uncertainty over military spending, recently hired a turnaround specialist and bankruptcy counsel.
豪客比奇目前正受到商務機需求長期不振和軍費開支不確定等因素的影響。前不久該公司聘請了一位危機處理專家和一位破產顧問。
Honeywell, based in Morristown, N.J., reached five agreements last year with Chinese aerospace companies, including one for the development of a general-aviation cockpit. Honeywell also makes aircraft engines and other aerospace products.
總部位於新澤西州莫里斯敦(Morristown)的霍尼韋爾去年與幾家中國航空公司簽署了五項協議，其中一項是研發通用航空駕駛艙。此外，霍尼韋爾還製造飛機引擎和其它航空航天產品。
China's business and general-aviation sector is in its infancy. Honeywell's Mr. Greer estimates that the country has about 1,000 business and general-aviation aircraft, compared with roughly 225,000 in the U.S.
中國的商務和通用航空業還處於起步階段。據霍尼韋爾的亞太區總裁高博安估計，目前中國商務機和通用機加起來不過1,000架左右，而美國則有約225,000架。
But industry experts expect China's number to rise with the country's wealth and as Beijing relaxes aviation regulations.
但業內專家認爲，中國商務機和通用機的數量將隨着中國富裕程度的增加以及北京對航空管制的放鬆而不斷增加。
Setting up joint ventures, which generally are required by Beijing for foreign companies establishing significant operations in the country, can be troublesome. Such partnerships have given a technological lift to Chinese companies in other industries, such as automobiles.
一般來說，中國政府會要求希望在華運營重要業務的外國公司在中國成立合資公司，而合資公司的成立可能會頗費周折。這種夥伴關係已讓中國公司在汽車等其它行業獲得了技術升級的機會。
"curve here is you continue to innovate faster than the things you're bringing to market," Mr. Greer says.
航空業高管說，他們要緊跟技術發展步伐，以領先於中國的潛在競爭對手。高博安說，在知識產權方面真正能夠保持領先一步的唯一方法，就是持續創新的速度要快於產品發佈的速度。
Cessna's Mr. Ernest says Volkswagen AG's Audi unit and General Motors Co. have succeeded in navigating such shoals. "It's not any different from what Audi's done or what GM's done," he says, referring to his company's joint-venture plans.
塞斯納的首席執行長厄內斯特說，大衆汽車(Volkswagen AG)旗下奧迪(Audi)子公司和通用汽車公司(General Motors Co.)就成功避開了這些淺灘。他說，塞斯納的合資計劃與奧迪及通用汽車所做的沒有任何不同。
The competitive threat from China also is rising as the country builds its own ability to take on global aerospace rivals. Last June, an AVIC unit acquired Minnesota-based private-aircraft maker Cirrus Industries Inc., giving the Chinese company access to a line of light propeller aircraft and a small jet under development.
在中國培育自身實力以迎接全球航空公司的挑戰之際，來自中國的競爭威脅也與日俱增。去年6月，中航工業旗下的一家公司收購了總部位於美國明尼蘇達州的私人飛機制造商西銳飛機工業公司(Cirrus Industries Inc.)，由此獲得了一個輕型螺旋槳飛機生產線以及一種正在研發中的小型噴氣機。
Despite such challenges, foreign companies still are looking at deals.
儘管面臨着諸多挑戰，外國公司仍在考慮相關交易。
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. President Larry Flynn says his company has "not in the least ruled out China for manufacturing capabilities." Gulfstream, a unit of General Dynamics Corp., currently focuses its investment in China on building up maintenance, repair and overhaul capacity.
通用動力公司(General Dynamics Corp.)旗下的灣流航空航天公司(Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.)總裁弗林(Larry Flynn)說，我們絕沒有否認中國的生產能力。該公司目前在中國的投資主要集中在提高維護、修理和解體檢修能力方面。
Andrew Galbraith