中国汽车价格战愈演愈烈

Auto-Price Wars In China

2007年09月18日13:39

成都建国汽车集团(E-Kingo, 简称：建国汽车)是一家占地甚广的汽车经销商，其场地在一条高速路旁足足延伸400多米。现在这家经销商店内汽车的报价正在下调。

AT THE sprawling E-Kingo automobile dealership, which stretches for more than 400 meters along an expressway here, prices are falling.

其中，通用汽车公司(General Motors)将雪佛兰赛欧(Chevrolet Sail)小型旅行车的售价下调1,800美元，降幅达27%。而奇瑞汽车有限公司(Chery Automobile Co.)也不甘示弱的将新款混合型汽车售价下调16%。几乎所有品牌的汽车都在降价。

General Motors of the U.S. is knocking $1,800, or 27%, off the price of its small Chevrolet Sail station wagon. China's Chery Automobile has marked down the price of its new crossover by 16%. Nearly every brand is on sale.

建国汽车的经理娄利表示，汽车降价力度越来越猛，预计价格还会继续走低。

'The discounting is getting more and more fierce,' says Lou Li, an E-Kingo manager. 'And we expect prices to keep going lower.'

随着市场日渐饱和，作为西南大省四川的省会，成都成为中国汽车价格战的“前线”之一。现在几乎每一家国际汽车制造商都在中国生产汽车，而国内汽车企业也在凭藉廉价车型进场厮杀。

Chengdu, capital of the southwest province of Sichuan, is on the front lines of China's automobile price wars, as companies battle it out in an increasingly crowded market. Nearly every major international auto maker is now building cars in China. And legions of small domestic manufacturers also are churning out inexpensive models.

通用汽车目前与中国伙伴合作生产别克(Buick)、雪佛兰(Chevrolet)和凯迪拉克(Cadillac)三种品牌的汽车。当看到上半年在中国市场的占有率出现下滑后，该公司推出了针对某些车型的免息金融优惠。韩国的现代汽车公司(Hyundai Motor)最近宣布最高降价13%，而德国大众汽车(Volkswagen AG)也将某些帕萨特(Passat)车型售价下调了7%。

GM, which makes Buicks, Chevrolets and Cadillacs with a local partner, is offering interest-free financing on some models after watching its market share in China slide in the first half of the year. South Korea's Hyundai Motor has cut prices by as much as 13% recently, while Germany's Volkswagen lowered the price tag on some Passats by 7%.

市场研究机构J.D. Power & Associates旗下亚汽资源公司(Automotive Resources Asia)分析师约翰?邦内尔(John Bonnell)表示，所有此类降价行为正在侵蚀行业利润，恐怕情况在好转之前会变得更糟糕。

All of that is pinching industry profits, says John Bonnell of market-research firm J.D. Power & Associates' Automotive Resources Asia unit in Bangkok. He expects things to get worse before they get better.

邦内尔认为，各汽车厂商都不会轻言放弃。只要一息尚存，就会在这场降价游戏中继续支撑下去。但这种做法无助于汽车业的健康发展。

'People aren't willing to give up. As long as they have the resources to stay in the game, they will keep cutting,' predicts Mr. Bonnell. 'But it's not leading to a healthy industry.'

而成本控制和国产汽车零配件价格下跌也只是在一定程度上起到了缓和价格战破坏力的作用。

Cost controls and lower prices for locally produced components help cushion some of the blow from the relentless discounting, but not all of it.

汽车市场饱和使在香港和内地上市的部分汽车类股受到压制。虽然这些股票今年也在上涨，但涨幅落后于大盘。

The crowded field is helping dent the share prices of some Chinese car companies listed in Hong Kong and the mainland. They have risen this year but have underperformed the market.

花旗集团(Citigroup)驻香港汽车业分析师张文龙(Charles Cheung)称，汽车股的走势明显落后于具有中国概念的房地产、航空和消费类股票。

'The sector is definitely lagging' behind the huge gains by China-related property, airline and consumer stocks, says Charles Cheung, an auto-industry analyst with Citigroup in Hong Kong.

例如香港上市的东风汽车集团股份有限公司(Dongfeng Motor Group Co. Ltd.)今年以来的涨幅为48%，而相比之下，中国民航业老大中国国际航空股份有限公司(Air China Ltd.)的股价已上涨一倍多。东风汽车集团与本田汽车(Honda Motor Co.)、日产汽车(Nissan Motor Co.)和法国标致汽车公司(Automobiles Peugeot)都有合作关系。

For example, Hong Kong-traded shares of Dongfeng Motor Group, which has stakes in joint ventures that make Hondas, Nissans and Peugeots, have risen 48% this year while those of Air China, the country's flag carrier, have more than doubled.

张文龙指出，汽车股涨势受阻的原因就在于价格战和销量弱于预期。包括上市公司在内的多数汽车公司都未能达到销售目标，这已经是全行业的普遍现象。

Mr. Cheung says that discounting and weaker-than-expected sales volumes are holding back the Chinese car companies' shares. 'Most companies, including the listed ones, are not meeting their sales targets,' he says. 'It's been across the board.'

中国吉利集团(China Geely Group)旗下的香港上市子公司吉利汽车控股有限公司(Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., 简称：吉利汽车)本月初宣布，上半年的净利润较上年同期减少32%，原因之一是国内汽车业竞争激烈。作为发展最快的中国汽车厂商之一，该公司股价今年的涨幅为36%，但较7月创下的52周高点已回落28%。

Geely Automobile Holdings, the Hong Kong-listed arm of China's Geely Group, earlier this month said its first-half net income fell 32% in part because of intensified domestic competition. Shares of Geely, one of the country's fastest growing auto makers, are up 36% this year but have fallen 28% from their 52-week high in July.

价格战对通用汽车、大众汽车和其他国际汽车制造商也不是什么好事。作为当今世界第二大轿车市场，中国在这些国际厂商业务中的份量变得越来越重。中国轿车销量去年增长了35%。

The price-cutting also is an unwelcome development for GM, VW and other global manufacturers, for which China -- the world's second-largest passenger-car market -- is an increasingly important growth source. Car sales last year grew 35%.

西南证券(Southwest Securities)驻北京分析师董建华表示，中国国内汽车厂商的成本优势是明显的。外国汽车公司将被压缩到高档车市场，甚至一部分公司最终可能会被淘汰出局。但短期内，跨国公司还能依靠在其他地方的盈利来填补在中国作出的牺牲。

For Chinese companies, 'cost advantages are obvious,' says Dong Jianhua, an analyst at Southwest Securities in Beijing. 'Foreign companies will be pushed to the upscale end of the market, and some may be driven out eventually.' But in the short term, he says, multinationals are able to make sacrifices in China while earning profits elsewhere.

造成此种趋势的原因有两个。其一是汽车不再是中国最富有阶层的专有领地，新崛起的中产阶层的观念更实际，对价格更敏感，对品牌的关心则要少了很多。

Twin forces are driving the trend. First, cars are no longer the preserve of the very wealthy, and the newly middle-class Chinese buyers have more-modest means. They are much more price-sensitive and far less concerned about brand names.

其次，各汽车厂商纷纷扩大产量，以获得在市场生存下去所必须的规模效应和消费人群。这些公司都是基于这样一种理念才参加这场豪赌，即为了在未来中国的汽车市场占据一席之地，现在牺牲一些利润甚至亏本经营都是值得的入场费。

Second, manufacturers are racing to expand production and gain the economies of scale and critical mass they need to survive. Companies are basically betting that slim margins -- and even losses -- are a worthwhile price of admission to the China market of the future.

使局势更为复杂的是，许多当地汽车公司的全部股份，或至少一部分股份是掌握在省政府或市政府手中，并从政府那里获得补贴，而政府又将汽车业视为振兴地方经济的关键。虽然中央政府希望汽车业实现优胜劣汰。但邦内尔表示，看起来中央政府已经失去推动行业整合的能力。

Complicating the situation is that many local players are owned, at least in part, and subsidized by provincial and municipal governments that see the automobile as critical to local economic success. Central-government planners would like to see fewer, stronger firms. But, says Mr. Bonnell, 'it seems like they've lost the power to force a consolidation.'

与其同时，那些政府控制下的汽车厂商得到补贴支持，进而不断给其他厂商带来降价压力。

In the meantime, these state-controlled companies, propped up by subsidies, keep pressure on other manufacturers to continue lowering prices.

香港上市的比亚迪股份有限公司(BYD)旗下的比亚迪汽车公司(BYD Automobile)最近推出了新款比亚迪F3旗舰型轿车。这是一款四开门的小型轿车，配备了真皮座椅、木质面板，电动车窗和天窗，以及1.6升的发动机，其售价约为7,870美元，较年初下跌一千多美元。

This month, BYD Automobile, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed BYD, introduced a new version of its flagship sedan, a four-door compact known as the F3, which comes with leather seats, wood paneling, power everything and a 1.6-liter engine. The list price: about $7,870 -- down more than $1,000 from the start of the year.

32岁的刘章勇（音）是一家涂料公司的销售员，他在看过雪佛兰乐风(Lova)和一款吉利轿车后，最终买下一辆银色的比亚迪F3。刘章勇表示，F3内部空间宽敞，造型也不错，看上去比乐风的感觉更好。相比之下，乐风是布料的座椅，但却比F3更贵。

Liu Zhangyong, a 32-year-old salesman for a paint company, bought a silver F3 after looking at a Chevrolet Lova and a Geely sedan. 'It's roomy and it looks great. It just seems like a nicer car' than the Chevrolet, Mr. Liu says. The Lova has cloth seats and is more expensive, Mr. Liu says.

仅仅5年前，汽车行业还没有比亚迪这家公司。它的前身是中国西北一家老旧的国有汽车厂，后来被一家手机电池制造商买下后改造而成。今年前7个月，该公司售出近5.8万辆汽车，较上年同期增长近七成。但相对于现代汽车制造业的标准而言，其销量仍然非常小。

Five years ago, BYD Automobile didn't even exist. It was created after its parent, a manufacturer of cellphone batteries, bought an old state-run car factory in northwestern China. The company sold nearly 58,000 vehicles in the first seven months of the year, up almost 70% from a year earlier but still a very small number by modern auto-manufacturing standards.

汽车行业咨询机构CSM的分析师张豫(Yale Zhang)表示，国内汽车厂商必须创造规模效应，生产更大、更贵的汽车才是生存之道。最低档的汽车市场利润非常薄。

'The local car makers need to grow' to benefit from economies of scale, and they need to 'move up' to bigger, more-expensive cars, if they hope to survive, says Yale Zhang, an analyst at auto-industry consultancy CSM. 'At the very low end, the profit margins are just so slim.'

不过中国本土汽车厂商的市场占有率正在增加。根据亚汽资源的数据，今年前7个月本土汽车厂商的市场占有率为30.6%，较2006年的26.4%有明显进步。

The combined market share of China's own car makers is rising. It was 30.6% in the first seven months of the year, according to Automotive Resources Asia. That is a significant gain from the 26.4% market share that local companies had in 2006.

建国汽车的娄利表示，中国自主品牌汽车的表现非常好，日益受到人们的欢迎。这些汽车的设备齐全、外形时尚，而且售价远低于外国品牌汽车。

'Chinese brands have done very well. They are gaining popularity very rapidly,' says E-Kingo's Mr. Lou. 'They are well-equipped, more fashionable and have very low prices compared to foreign brands.'

中国汽车品牌的这些优点，使其在由年收入人民币10万元（合1.3万美元）左右的中产家庭掀起的新一轮购车热中占据了优势。娄利称，在此类消费群体看来，价格是最重要的。他们想要的是造型好而价格又不贵的汽车。

Those attributes give Chinese-brand autos an edge with the latest wave of car buyers: middle-class people with an annual household income of about 100,000 yuan, or about $13,000. 'For this group, price is the No. 1 consideration,' says Mr. Lou. 'They want a car that looks good and is still inexpensive.'

宋晓国（音）今年4月想要购买一辆运动型多用途车(SUV)时，价格是他最重要的考虑因素。在看过现代汽车的圣达菲(Santa Fe)后，他最终选择了国内汽车厂商──长城汽车公司(Great Wall Motor)名为哈弗(Hover)的SUV。娄利称，哈弗的售价在14,500美元左右，比圣达菲便宜大概4,000美元。

Price was a critical concern for Song Xiaoguo when he shopped for a sport-utility vehicle in April. After looking at a Hyundai Santa Fe, he opted for an SUV from Chinese company Great Wall Motor, the Hover. Priced at about $14,500, the Hover was about $4,000 less than a comparable Hyundai, Mr. Song says.

35岁的宋晓国是一家医药公司的销售代表。最近他曾开着自己那辆哈弗到四川与西藏的交界处走了一趟。他对自己的决定很满意，并表示喜欢哈弗的设计，他的所有需要都得到了满足。

The 35-year-old Mr. Song, a drug company sales representative who recently drove his Hover in the mountains on Sichuan's border with Tibet, says he is pleased with his purchase. 'I like the design,' he says. 'It's got everything I need.'

Gordon Fairclough

原文链接：http://chinese.wsj.com/gb/20070918/ahr134720.asp