沃尔沃寄望用新车打造全新企业

Six millimetres. It doesn’t sound much, but to Volvo engineers, it was crucial and they fought hard over those few millimetres.

6毫米听起来不算什么，但对沃尔沃(Volvo)的工程师们来说却至关重要——他们为了这短短几毫米打了一场苦仗。

That is how much less the front overhang – the distance between the front bumper and the wheel – is on the new Volvo XC90 compared with its rival SUV from Germany’s BMW, according to the Swedish carmaker.

根据这家瑞典汽车制造商的说法，沃尔沃全新XC90车型的前悬，即前保险杠与前车轮的距离，就比宝马(BMW)的同类SUV短了足足6毫米。

“We really wanted to beat BMW,” says Dennis Nobelius, head of the XC90 project at Volvo. It sounds silly but there is a huge difference. Those are the kind of things you never understand but make a huge difference [on what is] premium.

沃尔沃XC90项目负责人丹尼斯•诺贝利叶斯(Dennis Nobelius)表示：“我们真的想打败宝马。这听起来很愚蠢，但6毫米是很大的差异。这种事情你永远没法理解，但它对于产品的优越性却有很大影响。”

The XC90 is Volvo’s most important product launch in many years. Not only is the SUV the first vehicle since Geely, the Chinese carmaker, acquired Volvo, it also follows $11bn of investment in new components and factories.

新一代XC90将是沃尔沃多年来推出的最重要产品。这款SUV不仅是沃尔沃被中国汽车制造商吉利(Geely)收购以来推出的第一款车型，而且在该车推出之前，沃尔沃在新零部件及工厂设施方面投资了110亿美元。

In a series of interviews with senior Volvo executives, an oft-repeated refrain was that the Swedish carmaker was not just launching a new model, but a new company as well.

在沃尔沃高管接受的一系列采访中，一个反复出现的说法是，这家瑞典制造商不止是推出一款新车型，还是在打造一家全新的企业。

Alain Visser, head of marketing, says: “This is more than just a new car. It’s almost like a relaunch of the brand.”

市场营销主管阿兰•维塞(Alain Visser)表示：“这不止是一款新车。这差不多像是重新推出了新的品牌。”

Under Ford, the US carmaker that owned it from 1999 to 2010, Volvo shared platforms, engines and components with cars such as the Taurus and Focus.

1999年至2010年在美国福特(Ford)旗下时，沃尔沃曾与金牛座(Taurus)、福克斯(Focus)等轿车共享过制造平台、发动机及各种零部件。

Now it has spent $11bn developing its own platform – known as SPA, or scalable product architecture – for use in all its big cars as well as new four-cylinder engines and many new components.

如今，沃尔沃投资110亿美元开发了自己的制造平台——“可扩展产品架构”(scalable product architecture)。这个SPA平台将被用于生产沃尔沃全部大型轿车、新的四缸发动机以及许多新的零部件。

“We are breaking all the automotive golden rules: we are doing a new architecture with a new vehicle with a new powertrain, new electrification,” says Peter Mertens, head of research and development. “But we have to do it.”

沃尔沃研发负责人彼得•默滕斯(Peter Mertens)表示：“我们正在打破关于汽车的所有黄金法则：我们在采用新的架构，生产拥有新传动系统、新电汽化系统的全新车型。但是我们必须这么做。”

Mr Nobelius calls it Volvo’s “all-in car – the one where we put everything in”.

诺贝利叶斯将新一代XC90称为沃尔沃的“集大成车型(all-in car)——该车集中了沃尔沃的一切”。

The size of the front overhang is indicative of Volvo’s desire to fight against the big luxury carmakers: the German triumvirate of Audi, BMW and Mercedes.

新款XC90的前悬距离表明，沃尔沃想要对抗各大豪华车制造商，也就是德国的三巨头：奥迪(Audi)、宝马和梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)。

Volvo has long been the nearly man of the premium carmakers, caught in price in the no-man’s-land between mass-market and luxury manufacturers and selling only about a quarter of the number of cars as the Germans.

长期以来，沃尔沃在一众高端汽车制造商中间都不太出类拔萃，其价格处于大众车型与豪华车型之间的“无人地带”，销量则只有这些德国品牌的大约四分之一。

The XC90 is designed to show Volvo’s new confidence under Chinese ownership.

新款XC90意在展示沃尔沃在中国人控股下的新自信。

The SUV has a new, bigger front grille and its logo has been subtly redesigned. The front headlights are in a distinctive shape known as “Thor’s Hammer”.

这款SUV拥有新的、更大的前护栅，标识也有细微改动。前大灯被设计成一种与众不同的形状，这种形状被称为“雷神之锤(Thor's Hammer)”。

Inside much work has been spent on a touchscreen iPad-like device that now controls the music, air-conditioning and telephone functions. The old XC90 had 60 buttons; the new one has just eight.

在内饰方面，沃尔沃精心打造了一个类似iPad的触摸屏设备，用其控制音乐、空调及电话等功能。旧款XC90内部有60个按钮，而新XC90只有8个按钮。

Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo’s chief executive, says the touchscreen solution is part of the way the Gothenburg-based carmaker is trying to find its own particular segment of the luxury market.

沃尔沃首席执行官霍坎•萨穆埃尔松(Håkan Samuelsson)表示，触屏方案是沃尔沃寻找自身在豪车市场独特定位的一种方式。

A focus on technology is taken by Audi, BMW concentrates on performance, while Mercedes has gone for luxury.

奥迪关注技术，宝马重视性能，梅赛德斯则追求奢豪。

He says Volvo wants to stand for environmental performance, safety and design – with the latter perhaps most surprising for a carmaker known decades ago for its boxy finish.

他说沃尔沃希望成为环保、安全和时尚的代名词——其中最让人意外的或许是时尚，要知道几十年前沃尔沃还以盒子般的外观而著称。

“Everybody knows Volvo is a good car, a safe car.”

“每个人都知道沃尔沃车好、安全。但它为何不能变得诱人、引人注目，并且好看？”