吉利打造新一代伦敦出租车

The London Taxi Company has set out its vision of the future for the black cab and it involves green technology, exports to cities across the world and dedicated taxi apps.

伦敦出租车公司(London Taxi Company)已经为其黑色出租车规划了未来前景，包括绿色科技、出口到世界各地的城市以及专门的打车应用。

The existing TX4 taxi is a cherished symbol of London but is seen by some as a noisy, smelly monstrosity with an iron-hard suspension. It sells for about £37,000, including value added tax — more than the on-the-road price of a Mercedes E-Class.

现有的TX4出租车是伦敦珍视的标志，但在一些人看来，它是个发出巨大噪音、散发浓重臭气的怪物，悬挂系统也硬得要命。它的售价约为3.7万英镑（包含增值税），超过了梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)E级轿车的上路价。

Geely, the Chinese owner of the London Taxi Company, wants the next-generation Hackney cab to turn that perception round by introducing electric taxis with aluminium bodies that will have sufficient battery power to travel from Piccadilly Circus to Piccadilly railway station in Manchester.

伦敦出租车公司的中国东家吉利(Geely)希望下一代哈克尼(Hackney)出租车能扭转这种印象。新款车型为铝制车身电动车，拥有足够从伦敦皮卡迪利圆环(Piccadilly Circus)跑到曼彻斯特皮卡迪利火车站的电池续航能力。

Li Shufu, chairman of Geely, said the latest cabs would be the “most technologically advanced taxis the world has ever seen and, crucially, they will be the greenest ever”.

吉利董事长李书福称，最新款出租车将是“有史以来全世界技术最先进的出租车，而且关键的是，它们还将是最环保的”。

The new taxi, called the TX5, will be built in Coventry after Geely announced on Thursday the largest Chinese automotive investment in the UK — a £250m factory on the outskirts of the city.

上周，吉利宣布了中国汽车制造商在英国最大的一笔汽车业投资——在考文垂市郊投资2.5亿英镑建一家工厂——用于生产这款被称为TX5的新出租车。

The TX5 will go into production in 2017 in time for new rules the year after limiting taxi emissions in London. The capital is introducing an ultra low emissions zone in the congestion charging area, which was also confirmed on Thursday.

TX5将于2017年投产，恰好赶在伦敦限制出租车排放的新规次年实施之前。伦敦即将在拥堵收费区域划定一个超低排放区的消息，也在近日被证实。

The vehicle — yet to be unveiled but said to be “instantly recognisable” as a London taxi — will feature a 400kg battery that can be recharged on the move by a small petrol engine. The TX5 has been designed with Emerald Automotive, the Coventry-based electric van maker Geely acquired last year.

这款车虽然尚未亮相，但据称将能让人“一眼看出来”它是伦敦出租车。车上将配置一块400公斤重的电池，可以在行驶中由一个小型汽油发动机充电。TX5由位于考文垂的电动货车生产商Emerald Automotive设计，吉利去年收购了这家公司。

David Bailey, of Aston Business School, said this highlighted the region’s particular expertise in low-carbon vehicles and engineering. “It has emerged as something as a ‘phoenix industry’ from the ashes of mass manufacturing,” he said.

阿斯顿大学商学院(Aston Business School)的戴维•贝利(David Bailey)说，这突出了这一地区在低碳汽车和机械方面的专长。“这一行业已经从大规模制造业的废墟中‘涅槃而生’，”他说。

The new investment is the latest in a string of triumphs for the Midlands. Already this week HSBC has announced Birmingham as the home of its newly separated retail and commercial bank, while Jaguar Land Rover has laid out plans to expand its Coventry head-quarters and invest in a plant in Birmingham.

这笔新投资是英格兰中部地区(Midlands)一连串成功的最新亮点。汇丰(HSBC)近日已宣布，将把新分离出来的那家零售和商业银行的总部设在伯明翰，而捷豹路虎(Jaguar Land Rover)已制定计划，将扩大在考文垂的总部并在伯明翰投资一家工厂。

Geely said its investment would create 1,000 jobs by 2023, but it faces a fight to secure the engineers it needs. “We are scraping the barrel in terms of local talent because JLR is hiring like mad,” said Carl-Peter Forster, the former head of JLR who is now chairman of the London Taxi Company.

吉利表示，它的投资到2023年将创造1000个就业岗位，但它面临一场招募所需工程师的“抢人大战”。“我们正在想尽一切办法招揽本地人才，因为捷豹路虎也在疯狂招人，”捷豹路虎前负责人、现任伦敦出租车公司董事长的卡尔-彼得•福斯特(Carl-Peter Forster)说。

Still, Geely’s announcement marks the beginnings of a turnround for the company, formerly known as Manganese Bronze. Hangzhou-based Geely, which also owns Swedish carmaker Volvo, bought the perennially loss-making taxi maker out of administration in 2013.

而且，吉利的声明标志着伦敦出租车公司开始扭亏为盈，该公司的前身是锰铜控股(Manganese Bronze)。总部位于中国杭州的吉利在2013年收购了这家常年亏损的出租车制造商。吉利还是瑞典汽车制造商沃尔沃(Volvo)的东家。

The plan is for the new factory to be producing 36,000 vehicles a year by 2023, with about 80 per cent of the cabs to be exported. An existing plant in Coventry produces about 1,500 vehicles for the UK, with a facility in Shanghai producing a similar amount for export to countries including Australia, Azerbaijan and the Gulf states.

新工厂计划到2023年实现年产3.6万辆汽车，其中约80%的出租车用于出口。考文垂现有的工厂每年仅能生产约1500辆汽车，全部供应英国市场，而位于上海的一家工厂每年也能生产类似这个数量的汽车，用于出口到澳大利亚、阿塞拜疆及海湾国家。

Geely also said it was working with software developers to find ways of countering the threat posed by the likes of Uber, the fast-growing app that allows passengers to hail the company’s cabs from their smartphones.

吉利还表示，它正在与软件开发公司合作，寻找方法应对优步(Uber)等叫车应用带来的威胁。优步是一款成长迅速的应用，可以让乘客通过自己的智能手机叫到该公司的出租车。

“We regularly have discussions as to how to flexibly handle and deal with the impacts delivered by the emergence of so many cab-hailing apps,” said Mr Li.

“我们经常讨论如何灵活处理并应对如此多打车应用的出现带来的冲击，”李书福说。

Asked if Geely was interested in introducing a rival ride-hailing app, Mr Li said: “Yes indeed. Currently we are having some discussion as to whether we can work with some of the app developers for devising something that we will value very, very much.”

当被问到吉利是否有兴趣引入一款打车应用参与竞争时，李书福说：“确实有。目前，我们正在讨论是否可以与一些应用开发公司合作，设计出一款能为我们带来巨大价值的应用”。