观致汽车在中国搏生存

From Fisker to Coda, the car industry is littered with failed start-ups. Qoros is hoping to avoid the same fate.

从菲斯科(Fisker)到Coda，汽车业倒下了成片的初创企业。观致汽车(QOROS)正希望避免这样的命运。

The Sino-Israeli carmaker made waves when it launched its first car in 2013 with ambitions to simultaneously crack China, the world’s biggest vehicle market, and Europe, one of the most competitive.

2013年，这家中国和以色列合资的汽车制造商发布了第一款汽车，雄心勃勃地想要同时打入中国和欧洲——前者是世界最大的汽车市场，后者是世界竞争最激烈的市场之一——这在当时引起了轰动。

Since then, it has ejected its chief executive, rung up dismal sales and faced questions from several analysts about its financial viability. Those dreams of being a globally renowned car brand seem more distant than ever and the company’s travails highlight the challenges facing new entrants in the capital-intensive car industry.

后来，观致首席执行官换人，销售业绩惨淡，多名分析师也对其财务生存能力提出质疑。成为全球知名汽车品牌的梦想看上去更加遥不可及了。这家企业的痛苦经历凸显出，在资本密集型的汽车行业，新进入者面临着巨大挑战。

“Nobody knows who Qoros is,” admits Phil Murtaugh, a former China specialist at General Motors who ran electric-car maker Coda before taking over at Qoros in February.

原来在通用汽车(GM)的“中国通”墨斐(Phil Murtaugh)今年2月加盟观致汽车，担任首席执行官，此前他曾执掌电动车制造商Coda。“没人知道观致，”他坦言。

Armed with a new five-year business plan, the company — which showed off a new concept car at last month’s Shanghai car show — faces a fraught period as it rebrands itself, seeks to achieve operating profitability by 2018, and then looks to make good on its lofty long-term ambitions.

已经制定了新五年商业计划的观致汽车将面临一段困难时期，该公司力求重塑品牌，到2018年实现营运利润，然后期待实现其远大抱负。该公司在上月的上海车展上展示了一款新概念车。

Qoros was set up in 2007 as a joint venture between Chery, a state-owned Chinese carmaker, and Israel Corp, a conglomerate controlled by Idan Ofer, a London-based Billionaire. Mr Ofer, who also chaired collapsed electric-car venture Better Place, assembled a crack team of European engineers, including former BMW designer Gert Hildebrandand Volker Steinwascher, once head of Volkswagen in North America.

2007年，中国国有汽车企业奇瑞(Chery)和以色列控股集团(Israel Corp)合资成立了观致汽车。该以色列集团由伦敦亿万富翁伊丹•奥佛(Idan Ofer)控股，奥佛还曾担任现已倒闭的电动车企业Better Place的董事长。观致汽车成立时，他集结了一支由欧洲工程师组成的精锐人马，其中包括宝马(BMW)前设计师何歌特(Gert Hildebrand)和曾执掌大众(Volkswagen)北美业务的石清仁(Volker Steinwascher)。

“Idan thinks big,” says a person close to Mr Ofer. “He wants this company to be the first GM to come out of China.” Mr Ofer was unavailable for comment.

“奥佛目光远大。”一名接近奥佛的人士表示，“他希望这家公司成为第一家诞生于中国的通用汽车。”记者联系不上奥佛，无法请其置评。

Its first car, launched at the 2013 Geneva motor show, was declared the year’s safest small family vehicle in European tests. Only last week the same car, the Qoros 3 sedan, achieved China’s highest ever safety rating.

观致在2013年日内瓦车展上发布的第一款汽车，被欧洲新车安全评鉴协会(Euro NCAP)评为当年最安全的小型家用车。就在上周，同一车型——观致3轿车——又获得中国新车评价规程(C-NCAP)有史以来最高的安全评分。

But safety does not necessarily sell. Despite having a production capacity of 150,000 at its factory in Changshu, Qoros sold just 7,000 vehicles last year. GM sold 3.5m in China in 2014.

然而，安全未必意味着好卖。尽管其位于常熟的工厂拥有15万辆的生产能力，但观致汽车去年仅售出7000辆。通用汽车去年在中国售出350万辆汽车。

As for taking on Europe, Qoros sales in the test bed of Slovakia were just 51.

在打入欧洲方面，观致试水斯洛伐克仅取得51辆的销售成绩。

Mr Murtaugh admits that it was “foolish” to try to crack China and Europe in one shot. “When I joined, I told people, ‘Let’s put western Europe on hold for a while,’ ” he says. “We’re a Chinese company, we have to get China right.”

墨斐承认，试图同时打开中国和欧洲市场是“愚蠢的”。“我加入观致时，告诉大家‘把打入西欧的计划暂停一段时间吧’，”他说，“我们是家中国企业，必须在中国取得成功。”

What went wrong? Bill Russo, managing director of consulting firm Gao Feng Advisory, says that it was a mistake to launch a car into the ultra-competitive sedan segment at a higher price than most other domestic brands.

问题出在哪儿？高风咨询公司董事总经理罗威(Bill Russo)表示，在竞争极其激烈的轿车市场发布一款售价高于多数国产品牌的汽车是错误的。

Robin Zhu, analyst at Bernstein, says that the cars are simply too costly to build and too expensive to buy. “You’re trying to persuade consumers in China to choose a brand they’ve never heard of at the same price point as a Ford Focus,” he says.

盛博(Sanford Bernstein)分析师Robin Zhu表示，观致车生产造价太高，对消费者来说也太贵。“你在试图说服中国消费者选择一个他们从未听过、价位却和福特(Ford)的福克斯(Focus)不相上下的品牌，”他说。

The Focus, China’s second-bestselling car last year, starts at Rmb100,000 ($16,000) versus about Rmb120,000 for the equivalent Qoros 3 Hatch.

福特福克斯是去年中国市场上的第二大畅销车，起步价10万元人民币（约合1.6万美元），而同档的观致3掀背版售价在12万元人民币左右。

Mr Murtaugh is trying to turn things round by launching a wholesale rebranding to put the focus on Qoros as a Chinese company, rather than a cosmopolitan curiosity. He is also ramping up the dealer network. Qoros has 78 dealers across China and it plans almost to double that number this year.

墨斐正在努力扭转局面，他拿出了一项全面品牌重塑计划，将观致定位为一家中国公司，而不是一家独特的全球性企业。他还要扩大经销商网络。观致在全中国有78家经销商，今年计划增加近一倍。

Playing in its favour is an emerging trend in which domestic brands in China are gaining ground on foreign rivals. But the growth is not in affordable luxury sedans but in cheap and cheerful sport utility vehicles.

外国汽车品牌与中国国产品牌之间正呈此消彼长之势，这也对观致有利。但国产品牌中获得销量增长的并非价格适中的豪华轿车，而是价格低廉、欢快的运动型多功能车(SUV)。

Qoros offers hatchbacks and compact off-roaders, but despite the hybrid SUV concept shown in Shanghai, it is unclear what the fourth model will be.

观致有掀背车和紧凑型越野车，但尽管在上海国际车展上展出了混合动力SUV概念车，目前还不清楚它的第四款车型将是什么。

“The sales have been a point of ridicule,” says Bernstein analyst Robin Zhu.

伯恩斯坦(Bernstein)分析师Robin Zhu表示：“销售情况有点讽刺。”

The financial picture is also grim. According to results posted by New York-listed Kenon Holdings, the Israel Corp subsidiary that now controls the half-stake, Qoros made a $175m net loss in 2014 — up from $127m in 2013 — on revenues of $140m. Cumulative losses since 2010 are almost $450m.

观致的财务状况也很严峻。根据纽约上市公司Kenon Holdings发表的财报，2014年观致总收入1.4亿美元，净亏损1.75亿美元，较2013年1.27亿美元的净亏损扩大，2010年以来累计亏损近4.5亿美元。Kenon Holdings是以色列控股集团的子公司，现在握有观致一半股权。

The company and investors declined to comment on its level of debt, and Kenon does not declare the figure. The Caixin business website in China estimates Qoros’s gross debt at Rmb8.9bn at the end of September.

观致和投资者对其债务水平不予置评，Kenon也没有公布具体数字。据中国财经网站财新网(Caixin)估计，截至去年9月底观致的债务总额为89亿元人民币。

Over the past 12 months the parent companies have put up more than Rmb2bn in loans, and both Chery and Mr Ofer — the controlling shareholder of Kenon — have pledged their commitment to the business. Sales have improved, but only slightly, at 2,500 for the first three months of the year.

过去12个月，各母公司总共为观致提供了逾20亿元人民币贷款，而且奇瑞以及Kenon的控股股东奥佛都承诺要增加投资。观致的销售情况有所改观，但也只是略为好转，今年第一季度销量为2500辆。

Still, unbowed, Mr Murtaugh says that operating profitability is just two or three years away. “There’s going to be a bit of pride taken in China that a Chinese company . . . can do it just as good as German companies, American companies, Japanese companies,” he says.

墨斐依然不屈不挠，他表示只要再过两三年观致就可实现营运利润。他说：“中国将为观致感到一丝骄傲，一家中国企业……可以做到与德国企业、美国企业、日本企业一样好。”

“When that becomes known, Qoros will be a success.”

“当这一点广为人知后，观致一定会成功。”