沃尔沃的华丽转身 Volvo aims high with its second premium model
Volvo’s new S90 saloon has a familiar face. The car is the second big model to come off the Swedish brand’s heavily touted $11bn vehicle platform and follows the sleek, critically acclaimed XC90 sport utility vehicle.
沃尔沃(Volvo)全新S90轿车有副“熟脸孔”。这是该瑞典公司备受吹捧、耗资110亿美元打造的车辆生产平台下线的第二款大型车，而第一款则是广受好评、外形典雅的XC90运动型多功能车(SUV)。
The S90 has the same, T-shaped LED headlights — a nod to Thor’s hammer from Norse mythology — and a grille made of 23 rods of curved iron.
S90同样配备了“T”字型LED大灯——取意于挪威神话中的“雷神之锤”，其格栅由23根呈现弧度的钢栏组成。
“This is the face of Volvo,” says chief designer Thomas Ingenlath. “It’s confident, it’s proud and it is strong.”
“这就是沃尔沃的前脸，”首席设计师托马斯英格拉特(Thomas Ingenlath)称，“它显得自信、骄傲、硬朗。”
To that list could be added the word independent.
这一系列的修饰语中还可以加入“独立”一词。
Five years after falling under the control of Chinese industrial group Zhejiang Geely Holding in a landmark Asian acquisition, Volvo feels more Scandinavian — and more successful — than ever.
5年前，中国浙江吉利控股集团(Zhejiang Geely Holding)完成了一桩在整个亚洲具有标志性意义的收购案，将沃尔沃纳入麾下。如今的沃尔沃感觉比以往更具北欧特色，也更加成功。
The company is forecasting a large rise in profits and record sales this year. It is gaining credibility as an alternative to the three German premium carmakers. The privately held company is even preparing to tap the bond market for the first time.
该公司预计今年利润将有大幅提高，并将创下销量纪录。其作为三大德系豪车品牌替代之选的声誉日盛。这家私人控股公司甚至准备首次进入债券市场融资。
Now Volvo is trying to shake off its buttoned-up reputation and tell the world about its transformation.
如今，沃尔沃正试图摆脱其内敛含蓄的名声，向世界宣告它的转变。
“We’re a normal company,” says Hakan Samuelsson, Volvo’s understated chief executive, in an interview at the company’s Gothenburg headquarters. The group still shares part of the site with the truckmaker of the same name that used to own Volvo.
“我们就是一家正常的公司，”行事低调的沃尔沃首席执行官哈坎萨缪尔森(Hakan Samuelsson)表示。他在哥德堡沃尔沃总部接受采访，该公司仍然与曾经的东家——同名的卡车制造商，共用部分办公地点。
Mr Samuelsson’s predecessors had plenty of defending to do. Volvo, aS part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group between 1999 and 2010, suffered stagnating sales. It was not helped by uninspired products that were — Volvo executives now say — compromised by having to share parts, styles and skeletons with its US parent.
萨缪尔森的前任们做过很多自我辩护的事。1999年至2010年期间，作为福特(Ford)旗下Premier Automotive Group(PAG)的子公司，沃尔沃经历了销量停滞不前的时期。了无新意的产品更是于事无补。沃尔沃高层如今称，当时生产的车型不得不与其美国母公司的其他车型共用零件和整体架构，风格如出一辙。
“If this was a hospital, the patient would have been declared dead,” says one Volvo manager of the then lossmaking company.
“如果有汽车医院的话，那么当时沃尔沃这个病人就已经被宣布死亡了，”一位经理谈到当时亏损的沃尔沃时说道。
Under Chinese ownership, Volvo is getting on to the shopping list of drivers who normally prefer Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The XC90 put Volvo into a higher price category and has had consumer magazines agog with its sleek interior, in-car technology and advanced safety features.
在吉利控股下的沃尔沃逐渐进入通常偏爱奥迪(Audi)、宝马(BMW)和奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)的车主的选购清单。XC90提升了沃尔沃的产品价位，消费者杂志大谈该车型时尚的内饰、车载技术和先性的安全性能。
“[Geely] bought Volvo because they assumed Volvo deserved a better future,” says Mr Samuelsson. “They wanted to release the tiger. And they are seeing that happening now, in steps.”
“（吉利）收购沃尔沃，是因为他们认为沃尔沃值得拥有更好的未来，”萨缪尔森称，“他们想放出这只猛虎。现在，他们正在逐步看到这一切成为现实。”
The company’s ambition draws comparisons with another resurgent premium carmaker — Jaguar Land Rover of the UK — which was also formerly part of the Ford stable and has since fallen into Asian possession.
沃尔沃的雄心可与另一个东山再起的豪车品牌——英国的捷豹路虎(Jaguar Land Rover)作比。捷豹路虎以前也是福特旗下的品牌，后来被亚洲企业收购。
So far, JLR’s profitability has left Volvo in the dust. The British-based group made 2.6bn in pre-tax profit in its last financial year — twice what Tata Motors paid Ford to acquire the two UK brands in 2008.
目前为止，捷豹路虎的盈利能力令沃尔沃望尘莫及。上一财年，这家总部在英国的集团实现了26亿英镑税前利润——比2008年塔塔汽车(Tata Motors)从福特手中收购这两个英国品牌时支付的代价高出一倍。
Volvo made only $260m in operating profits last year, despite selling an almost identical number of cars — about 460,000.
去年，尽管沃尔沃卖出了几乎与捷豹路虎相同数量的汽车——约46万辆，但其营业利润仅为2.6亿美元。
Operating margins at Volvo are also thin — 2.2 per cent in the first half of this year. JLR, by contrast, makes operating margins close to 10 per cent, having built on the success of products conceived during the Ford era, such as the Range Rover Evoque.
沃尔沃的营业利润率也很低——今年上半年为2.2%。相比之下，捷豹路虎的营业利润率接近10%，这建立在未被收购前构想的多款车型——如路虎揽胜极光(Range Rover Evoque)——大获成功的基础上。
At Volvo, “we based our turnround exactly on a new platform, new vehicles, not just new-style vehicles,” says Mr Samuelsson. “I don’t think you can say that Jaguar has that same process. So that, of course, takes a longer time.”
在沃尔沃，“我们的复兴完全基于新平台、新车型，而不仅仅是同车型的新款，”萨缪尔森称，“我想你不能说路虎也经历了一样的过程。所以，这当然会导致我们需要更多时间。”
Volvo created Spa (scaleable product architecture), the first of two completely new modular building systems, for large cars. It has moved to innovative, four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines that will power the majority of its future cars. And by 2019, it will have a line-up of nine new or reworked vehicles: three sizes in three different styles.
沃尔沃建设了制造大型车的SPA平台(scaleable product architecture，可扩展车体架构)，这是两个全新的模块化生产体系中的第一个。该公司已开始采用创新性的、四缸汽油或柴油发动机，未来其大多数车型将依靠这类引擎提供动力。到2019年，它将拥有9款全新或改进版车型的产品阵容，在3种不同风格的车型中分别有3种不同的规格。
Volvo is now moving into phase two of its turnround: capitalising on the investments, launching the new products, and sustaining a higher price point.
沃尔沃如今正步入其复兴计划的第二阶段：利用投资、推出新产品、维持较高价位。
Attention now turns to the second, smaller toolkit: CMA, which stands for compact modular architecture and is the big test of Volvo’s relationship with its Chinese paymasters.
现在把目光转向第二个较小的生产平台：紧凑型模块化架构CMA，它将给沃尔沃与其中国东家的关系带来重大考验。
Geely Auto, the Hangzhou-based volume carmaker also owned by Volvo’s parent, is working with Volvo to create midsize cars in a variety of shapes — hatchbacks, sedans and small SUVs. The platform is an attempt to find cost savings and make acceptable margins on small cars.
总部位于杭州的吉利汽车(Geely Auto)也是沃尔沃母公司旗下的公司。吉利汽车正在与沃尔沃共同研发各种车型——掀背车、轿车和小型SUV——的中级车。CMA平台是在小型车领域寻找成本节省空间、创造合意的利润率的一次尝试。
It means upmarket Volvo must share parts with firmly mass-market Geely. That task has scuppered a high-profile former alliance with the DaimlerChrysler. “It’s very difficult to develop platforms and architectures if the brands are positioned very differently,” says Martin , associate professor at Stockholm School of Economics.
这意味着，高端品牌沃尔沃必须与坚定地走大众市场路线的吉利共享零件。这样的任务破坏了此前沃尔沃与戴姆勒克莱斯勒(DaimlerChrysler)之间备受瞩目的合作。“如果不同品牌的定位截然不同，很难共同研发平台和架构，”斯德哥尔摩经济学院(Stockholm School of Economics)的副教授马丁斯科尔(Martin )。
But the collaboration — enshrined in China Euro Vehicle Technology, a sister company to Volvo and Geely Auto — gives Volvo greater volumes for its engines. Geely in return gets European design and perhaps the chance to become the first Chinese carmaker to achieve global renown.
但是，这次合作——双方成立了吉利汽车欧洲研发中心（China Euro Vehicle Technology，简称CEVT）——使沃尔沃可以生产更多发动机。吉利得到的回报是欧洲的设计，或许还有机会成为第一家享誉国际的中国汽车制造商。
There is still some talk around Gothenburg and among suppliers of conflict between the Chinese and Swedish participants in and around CEVT.
在哥德堡一带以及供货商中间，仍然流传着CEVT的中方和瑞方人员存在摩擦的说法。
“Of course it has been challenging — God, I can tell you, there are days I wonder, ‘How the hell should we fix this?’,” says Mats Fagerhag, the former R&D chief at Saab who runs CEVT.
“这当然很有挑战性——天啊，我可以告诉你，有时我会想，‘我们到底该怎么解决？’”CEVT的负责人方浩瀚(Mats Fagerhag)称。他曾主管萨博(Saab)研发部门。
But he says the focused nature of the collaboration means Volvo and Geely have created a “smarter” way of integrating. “Somehow you are forced: let’s solve those cultural issues here quickly here because we have an important task to do.”
但是他称，此次合作目标明确，意味着沃尔沃和吉利创造了一种“较聪明的”融合方式。“某种程度上你是被逼的：让我们迅速解决这些文化问题，因为我们还有重要的任务要去完成。”
