福特拟将豪车品牌林肯推入中国市场

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

福特汽车公司(Ford Motor Co.)打算向快速增长但竞争日益激烈的中国市场引入旗下高端品牌。

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.

总部位于美国密歇根州迪尔伯恩(Dearborn)的福特计划于2014年下半年开始在中国销售其林肯(Lincoln)品牌轿车。福特打算首先从美国进口这些车，然后再针对中国这一全球最大的汽车市场做一些改动，比如让后排空间更加宽敞。

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.

福特汽车计划在中国为林肯品牌建立覆盖全国的独家经销商网络。这些经销商要能帮助福特树立林肯品牌的简洁形象。福特希望这一形象能将林肯和中国市场上的大众汽车(Volkswagen AG)旗下的奥迪(Audi)、宝马汽车(BMW AG)以及戴姆勒公司(Daimler AG)旗下的梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)等其它重量级豪车品牌区分开来。

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.

福特也希望能够利用林肯品牌在中国的声誉。从中国国内电视台播出的画面上可以看到多年来作为美国总统座驾的林肯轿车，1972年时任美国总统的尼克松(Richard Nixon)对中国进行历史性访问时所乘座驾也是林肯大陆(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.'

福特首席执行长穆拉利(Alan Mulally)在北京接受记者采访时说，为了在美国振兴林肯品牌，我们已经做出了足够多的改变。我们在做这些工作的同时也一直关注中国客户和中国市场。他说，现在宣布我们将林肯品牌引入中国是一个再恰当不过的时机。

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月还曾表示，在恢复实力之前，没有计划将林肯品牌扩张到北美以外的市场。2011年这一豪车品牌的销量同比持平，约为8.5万辆，而美国整体车市的同比增速为10.3%。今年初至7月底，林肯销量下滑1.8%，但福特预计今秋开始销售经过重新设计的林肯MKZ之后，该品牌的销售状况会得到改善。

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.

其它豪车卖家也认为这是个不错的时机。就在福特打算向中国市场推出林肯的时候，其它豪车生产商也正在扩大在华生产规模，开发这个不久前增速一直在全球位列前茅的市场。宝马打算将中国工厂的产量从20万辆增至30万辆，完成扩张计划后，如果这些工厂持续运转，宝马可能会将中国生产总规模增至40万辆。

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.

与此同时，其它豪车生产商也在扩大在华业务，拥有英菲尼迪(Infiniti)品牌的日产汽车(Nissan Motor Co.)也是其中一员。通用汽车(General Motors Co.)打算今年晚些时候在中国生产全尺寸凯迪拉克XTS，以提升现有销售业绩。塔塔汽车有限公司(Tata Motors Ltd.)旗下的捷豹路虎(Jaguar Land Rover)目前也在寻求大举进入中国市场。

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.

但目前尚不清楚这种强劲需求将持续多长时间。行业性组织中国汽车工业协会(China Association of Automobile Manufacturers)的数据显示，今年7月中国乘用车销量增长11%。但分析师普遍预计，经过了10年的惊人增速之后，2012年的汽车销量将是多年来第二次呈现温和增长的态势。截至目前，销售增速放缓的主要是国内品牌，而通用汽车和大众汽车等国外汽车厂商的销售增速仍然强劲。

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.

在中国这样一个推崇德系高端品牌轿车的国家，美国豪车品牌的表现会如何目前还不清楚。通用汽车去年在中国卖出了3万辆凯迪拉克，较上年同期增长73%，但这在其中国销售总额中的占比仅为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.'

虽然竞争加剧且外界对中国经济放缓的担忧挥之不去，但福特仍然认为中国市场存在大量增长机会。福特集团主管全球市场销售和服务的副总裁法利(Jim Farley)说，中国豪车市场正在以6%至7%的速度扩张，只要几年的时间这一扩张速度就能上升至10%，对于这个不断增长的行业来说，这意味着市场容量将接近300万辆。法利说，增长的驱动因素之一是豪车业务，我们认为这一点没有改变。

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.

福特说，为了取得成功，它将试图利用其所声称的一股趋势，即炫耀性消费在中国已经不再那么普遍。在这种趋势下，中国消费者往往青睐知名奢侈品牌以及种种花哨细节，比如大型格栅。

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.'

法利说，福特曾与普拉达(Prada SpA)和博柏利(Burberry Group PLC)合作评估消费者情绪。他说，中国正在发生变化。人们不再像以往那样喜欢炫富；人们想为自己消费，而不是为他人。

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.

法利说，即将在中美两国市场推出的车型后排空间将更宽敞。这在中国豪车市场可谓一项必须配置，因为车主往往会雇佣司机。福特在中国推出的车型可能会有一些差异，比如安装的是2升EcoBoost发动机。这是因为车主较少自己开车，所以不是非常强调车子的动力。

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

福特没有透露更多细节，比如车型的具体种类以及价格。

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.

福特负责亚太及非洲业务的集团副总裁韩瑞麒(Joe Hinrichs)表示，该公司仍然希望到2015年其全球产能达到800万辆。他说，大概到那个时候福特希望其亚太和非洲业务能为公司贡献大部分的净利润，虽然今年上半年福特的亚太及非洲业务税前亏损1.61亿美元。韩瑞麒说，目前亚太地区进行的主要是对未来的投资。