外资车企不惧中国罚单

For multinational car companies operating in China, the euphoria from the biggest ever automotive boom in industrial history is finally being tempered by some unexpected risks, most notably a controversial investigation by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) into allegedly anti-competitive behaviour by Audi, Mercedes-Benz and other brands.

对在华运营的跨国车企来说，从工业历史上最大规模的汽车繁荣中获得的欣快感最终被一些意料之外的风险冲淡了，其中最引人瞩目的是中国国家发改委(NDRC)对奥迪(Audi)、梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)等汽车品牌所谓的垄断行为展开的富有争议性的调查。

The investigations have so far resulted in fines that are peanuts in comparison to the vast profits that foreign automakers have enjoyed over recent years – and continue to enjoy.

迄今为止，调查已经导致这些跨国车企受罚——与它们近几年（而且现在仍在继续）获得的巨额利润相比，这些罚款微不足道。

In July, a joint venture between Volkswagen unit Audi and state-owned First Auto Works was ordered to pay $41m for alleged violations of China’s 2008 Anti-Monopoly Law. This compares with reported operating profits of $12.2bn for VW’s joint ventures in China (its other is with SAIC Motor) last year.

今年7月，大众汽车(Volkswagen)旗下品牌奥迪与中国国企一汽(First Auto Works)成立的一家合资企业因涉嫌违反中国2008年出台的《反垄断法》而被勒令支付4100万美元的罚款，而大众在华的合资企业去年实现营业利润122亿美元。大众在中国还和上汽集团(SAIC Motor)成立有合资企业。

Fiat unit Chrysler was also hit with a small fine this summer, while Daimler’s joint venture with BAIC Motor, which makes Mercedes-Benz saloons, is still awaiting the outcome of an NDRC investigation after one of its Shanghai sales offices was raided in July.

菲亚特(Fiat)旗下的克莱斯勒(Chrysler)今年夏天也被处以金额不大的罚款，同时戴姆勒(Daimler)与北汽(BAIC Motor)成立的一家制造梅赛德斯-奔驰轿车的合资企业仍在等待中国国家发改委的调查结果——今年7月，该合资企业在上海的一家销售公司遭到突击搜查。

These fines are the byproduct of a wide-ranging investigation that appears to have a much larger aim – forcing car companies, regardless of whether they are in fact guilty of anti-competitive practices, to lower the prices of their vehicles, spare parts and services.

这些罚款是一场似乎有着更大目标的广泛调查——即迫使跨国车企降低汽车、备件和服务的价格，无论它们是否真的违反了反垄断法——的副产品。

According to one industry executive, the head of a multinational company’s China operations has told visiting board members that, in view of the NDRC’s offensive, his biggest fear is of a sudden shift in government policy. “It’s bad for business,” the executive says of the investigation. “It has made the investment environment very uncertain.

一位业内高管透露，某跨国车企的中国区负责人曾向到访的董事会成员表示，考虑到中国国家发改委的调查，他最大的担忧是政府政策会突然转变。这位高管在谈到此次调查时表示：“它对企业不利，它让投资环境变得非常不确定。”

“If people can afford the cars, they can afford the spare parts and after-sales service,” he adds. “It’s not like the NDCR is lowering the price of medical care or making food cheaper.”

他补充称：“如果人们买得起汽车，他们就能买得起备件和售后服务。它与发改委降低医疗或食品价格不一样。”

Foreign automobile executives argue that the relatively high prices asked for cars – especially premium vehicles that can be almost twice as expensive in China as they are in the US – is a function of unprecedented demand, even for overseas models subject to expensive import taxes.

外国车企高管辩称，汽车价格相对较高（尤其是高档车在中国的售价几乎是美国的两倍）反映出中国前所未有的购车需求，即便是对需要缴纳高昂进口关税的海外车型。

China’s car craze began in earnest in 2008-09, during the depths of the global financial crisis, when it overtook the US as the world’s largest car market.

中国汽车热潮的真正兴起，始于全球金融危机最严重时期的2008年至2009年，当时它超过美国，成为全球最大的汽车市场。

Demand from entire generations of first-time drivers soared in the world’s second-largest economy, just as purchasing power collapsed in the US and Europe – a nadir symbolically marked by Washington’s bailout of General Motors in December 2008.

在中国这个全球第二大经济体，整整好几代人都是首次开车，由此购车需求大幅飙升，同时美国和欧洲的购买力大幅下降，华盛顿在2008年12月纾困通用汽车(General Motors)标志着这种下降达到了谷底。

Over the ensuing half decade, foreign carmakers in China, especially long established ones such as Volkswagen and GM, had a licence to print money.

在随后的5年里，在中国市场运营的外国汽车制造商（尤其是大众和通用这类老牌车企）赚得盆满钵溢。

Even last year, when double-digit annual growth was finally expected to taper, annual sales grew by about 15 per cent to 18m passenger cars – 10 times as many as were sold in India.

去年，人们预计每年两位数的增长终于将出现放缓，结果外国车企在华的乘用车销量仍增长约15%至1800万辆，是印度市场销量的10倍。

This year began in similar fashion, especially for foreign brands and their Chinese joint venture companies. Sales of Chinese brands, however, began to fall sharply and their share of the passenger car market tumbled from 27 per cent to 23 per cent.

今年同样如此，尤其是对外国品牌以及它们与中国的合资企业而言。然而，中国本土品牌的销量开始急剧下滑，它们在乘用车市场的份额从27%降至23%。

The precipitous fall-off in sales of local brands and slower economic growth has forced the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers to lower its projection of an 8.3 per cent increase in year-on-year sales this year to 4.6 per cent – two-thirds down on last year.

由于中国本土品牌销售大幅下滑和经济增长放缓，中国汽车工业协会(China Association of Automobile Manufacturers)将今年全国汽车销售将增长8.3%的预期下调至4.6%，较去年下降三分之二。

In the first quarter, Geely, the private sector carmaker most famous for its purchase of Volvo Cars from Ford, saw sales of its own-brand vehicles fall by as much as 40 per cent over the same period a year earlier.

私营汽车制造商吉利(Geely)在今年第一季度的自有品牌销售同比下降40%。该公司最出名的是从福特(Ford)手中收购了沃尔沃汽车公司(Volvo Cars)。

This was despite a gradual improvement in the quality of local-brand cars in China, according to Geoff Broderick at JD Power, which publishes an annual customer survey of 212 models across 62 brands. “The domestic brands are doing exactly what they should be doing – focusing on quality,” Mr Broderick says. “But as we see the quality gap closing, we’re not seeing a pick-up in [local brands’] market share.”

J.D. Power的杰夫•布罗德里克(Geoff Broderick)表示，中国自主品牌汽车虽然质量逐步改善，但仍然出现了销售下滑的局面。JD Power每年发布消费者调查报告，涵盖62个品牌的212款车型。布罗德里克表示：“国内品牌做的正是它们应该做的事情——致力于质量。但在我们看到质量差距缩小之际，我们并未看到（本土品牌的）市场份额上升。”

One reason for the fall has been a counterintuitive NDRC requirement that foreign-invested joint ventures develop a local brand for the China market, such as the Baojun saloon manufactured by GM, SAIC and Wuling. Many of these new entrants are priced to compete against domestic rivals, especially in smaller cities where car ownership rates are relatively low.

销量下降的一个原因是发改委一项匪夷所思的规定，即外国投资的合资企业必须为中国市场开发本土品牌，比如通用、上汽和五菱制造的宝骏轿车。这些新车型的定价有许多对国内车企构成了竞争，尤其是在汽车拥有率相对较低的中小城市。

“I don’t understand what the Chinese government’s objective was in encouraging foreign companies to create local brands,” says Bill Russo, a Shanghai-based industry consultant.

一位驻上海的行业咨询顾问罗威(Bill Russo)表示：“我不理解中国政府鼓励外国公司开发本土品牌是出于什么用意。”

“It only cannibalises already distressed sales of local brands. I think the intent was for more technology to be shared by the foreign companies. But the unintended consequence is to take volume from local carmakers producing similar products,” he adds.

他补充称：“它只会让本土品牌本已低迷的销量进一步下降。我认为此举的本意是让外国公司与中方伙伴分享更多的技术，但没料到结果反而是抢走了本土汽车制造商的同类产品的销量。”

At the other end of the spectrum, foreign carmakers continue to thrive in saturated markets such as Beijing and Shanghai, where premium brands such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz account for a quarter of the market.

另一方面，外国汽车制造商继续在北京和上海等已经饱和的市场高歌猛进——在这些城市，奥迪、宝马(BMW)和奔驰等高端品牌占据了四分之一的市场份额。

Even now, limits on expensive new licence plates to combat congestion and pollution are spurring their sales, as existing plate holders trade up.

各地为解决交通拥堵和污染问题而出台的汽车限购措施使得人们花大价钱才能获得新牌照，这也刺激了外国车企的销售，因为现有的牌照持有人会去买高档车。

“As cities implement plate restrictions, people gravitate towards premium foreign brands,” says Mr Russo. “They want to put their expensive plates on the best piece of automotive technology that they can.”

罗威表示：“随着各城市实施牌照限制措施，人们越来越青睐外国高档品牌汽车。他们花费不菲代价才获得了牌照，因此希望尽可能地购买配备最先进技术的汽车。”