Lex专栏 中国应如何支持本土品牌

Can a planned economy build great brands? The history of the Chinese auto industry suggests not. Domestic brands’ market share has fallen five percentage points year to date to less than a third. On Monday, China found Mercedes-Benz guilty of price fixing.

计划经济能否缔造伟大品牌？中国汽车业的历史似乎表明不能。今年迄今为止，中国国产品牌市场份额已下降5个百分点，降至不到三分之一。周一，中国裁定梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)在定价上违法。

These facts may not be related, but regulation in China’s auto market has long been aimed at supporting local names. In the early days, state planners decreed that foreigners must go halves with a local partner on any auto venture. This policy did not lead to the hoped-for transfer of technology and management knowhow. State-owned enterprises and their foreign partners alike found it easier to make money just letting foreigners get on with it.

这两个事实也许不相关，但长期以来，中国汽车市场监管的目的一直都是支持本土品牌。初期，中国政府的规划者规定，外商投资的任何汽车企业必须由本土合伙人持有一半股份。这项政策并没有带来他们所期盼的技术和管理知识的转移。中国国有企业和他们的外资伙伴都发现，放手让外国人运营企业更容易赚钱。

Thus, from the mid-2000s, the government tried a different tack. This time, foreign partners were encouraged to develop an entirely “local” brand for transfer to the domestic partner. Foreign carmakers used the opportunity to introduce a lower-priced brand based on older overseas models. The ironic result has been to undermine the proper homegrown brands – Geely, Chery, Great Wall and BYD – whose cars had previously dominated the lower end of the market.

因此，从2005年前后开始，中国政府尝试了另一种策略。这一次，官方鼓励外资合作伙伴开发一个完全“本土”的品牌，然后将其转交给中国国内的合作方。外国汽车制造商利用这一机会，推出了基于海外旧款型号的低价品牌。具有讽刺意味的结果是，这破坏了正宗本土品牌的成长：吉利(Geely)、奇瑞(Chery)、长城(Great Wall)和比亚迪(BYD)这些中国本土品牌的汽车此前曾主导低端市场。

Auto industry benchmarking firm JD Power’s 2013 survey, released in April, included five Chinese brands. Four that were the “local” offspring of the international partnerships, including Wuling Hongguang (General Motors and two local partners) and Changan Star 2 (Ford and Changan). BYD was the only fully Chinese brand on the list.

汽车行业基准研究公司JD Power在4月公布的2013年调查报告中，包括了五家中国品牌。四家是源于国际合作的“本土”产物，其中包括五菱宏光（由通用公司(General Motors)与两家本土企业合作）和长安之星2代（福特(Ford)与长安）。比亚迪是该名单上唯一完完全全的中国品牌。

Market forces are asserting themselves elsewhere. BYD and Daimler have linked up to create the Denza; Chery and Jaguar Land Rover signed a deal in 2012, with production due this year. If the government wants domestic brands to succeed, it might reconsider which champions it backs.

市场力量在其他方面也显示出威力。比亚迪和戴姆勒(Daimler)合作创造了Denza；奇瑞和捷豹路虎(Jaguar Land Rover)在2012年签订了合约，定于今年投产。如果中国政府想让本土品牌成功，可能要重新考虑应当支持哪些冠军。