No Reason GM Can't Make The Cadillac Of Comebacks
通用汽车能否凤凰涅盘？
I'll never forget the day my father gave me the keys and shifted to the passenger side of his gleaming black 1967 Cadillac DeVille. I was about to turn 16, and it was my first time behind the wheel. The cavernous interior, enveloped in leather upholstery, was also black. The DeVille glided over potholes and got about eight miles to the gallon. After I obtained my license, I was handed the keys on rare occasions, one of which was the senior prom. I was the envy of my friends, who named the car the 'Batmobile.'
我永远忘不了那一天，父亲把他那辆黑色1967年凯迪拉克DeVille轿车的钥匙交给我，自己坐到乘客座上。当时我即将16周岁，那是我第一次开车。宽敞的车内空间也是黑色的，包裹着皮饰。那辆DeVille行驶平稳，每加仑汽油大概能开8英里。在我拿到驾照之后，我难得有机会拿到那辆车的钥匙，其中一次就是驾车去参加毕业舞会。我成了朋友们的 慕对象，他们把那车称为“蝙蝠车”（蝙蝠侠的座驾）。
Cadillac at the time was a synonym for excellence, as in 'the Cadillac of refrigerator-freezers.' In last season's 'Mad Men,' Don Draper celebrated his success with an early '60s two-tone Cadillac. I remember the day, about the time Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, that I noticed a maroon Mercedes-Benz parked in the driveway next door. Little did I know its arrival marked the end of one era, just as the bankruptcy of General Motors this week marks the end of another.
当时凯迪拉克就是卓越的同义词，广告词“冰箱中的凯迪拉克”就体现了这一点。在连续剧《广告狂人》(Mad Men)最后一季中，德拉普(Don Draper)就是用一辆上世纪六十年代初的双色凯迪拉克车来庆祝自己的成功。我还记得有一天，大概是马丁?路德?金(Martin Luther King Jr.)遇刺的那段日子，我看到隔壁车道上停了一辆栗色的梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)。我一点都没想到这会标志着一个时代的结束，就像本周通用汽车(General Motors)申请破产标志着另一个时代的终结一样。
It has been long in coming, this slow death of what was once the greatest and biggest corporation in the world. The myriad causes of its demise have been thoroughly chronicled, but to my mind one stands out: The custodians of GM simply gave up trying to build the best cars in the world. To accommodate a host of competing interests, from shareholders and bondholders to labor, they repeatedly compromised on excellence. Once sacrificed, that reputation has proved impossible to recapture.
通用汽车，这个曾经是全球最显赫最庞大的公司不是一天沦陷的，这是个长期缓慢的衰亡过程。通用汽车崩溃的诸多原因的记载已经无比详尽，但我认为这里面只有一个最重要的原因：通用汽车的管理者放弃了试图打造全球最好汽车的努力。为了迎合从股东、债权人到工会的各种相互冲突的利益，公司管理层不断在追求卓越品质方面做出妥协。而一旦牺牲了品质，褪色的金字招牌就不可能重现光彩了。
GM has made strides in quality after decades of churning out troubled cars. Cadillac, in particular, has regained a little of its lost luster. But can anyone say GM builds the best cars in any category? Can it rival a Toyota Prius or Honda Insight for fuel efficiency and reliability? A Lexus, BMW or Infiniti for luxury and performance?
在数十年粗制滥造缺陷汽车之后，通用汽车已经在质量方面取得了显著进步。尤其是凯迪拉克品牌，已经重新赢回了些许失去的荣耀。但谁敢说通用汽车的产品在某个领域是最棒的？通用汽车产品能效或可靠性能匹敌丰田汽车 (Toyota)的普瑞斯(Prius)或是本田汽车(Honda)的Insight吗？在奢华和性能方面能挑战雷克萨斯(Lexus)、宝马(BMW) 或是英菲尼迪(Infiniti)吗？
In other words, the new, government-controlled GM likely to emerge from bankruptcy faces an uphill battle in a highly competitive global market. That doesn't mean the effort is doomed. Indeed, it seems to me that the sharper the break with the past, the better.
换句话说，在政府接管下破产重生的新通用汽车将在竞争高度激烈的全球市场面临着一场艰苦的争夺战。这并不意味着通用汽车付出努力也只能接受注定的命运安排。实际上，我觉得通用汽车告别过去越彻底，他们的前途就越光明。
Shareholders in the old GM should be wiped out. (It mystifies me that anyone was buying last week when GM shares were trading at just over $1, with bankruptcy imminent.) It helps that new directors with fresh ideas will be named to the board. Is Fritz Henderson, who rose through the ranks of the old GM culture, the CEO to lead GM into a new era? Is the much-anticipated Volt, an electric-powered car conceived under the old regime, the right car to lead GM into the future? I leave those questions to the board, but the more the new GM is perceived as truly new, the faster it can repair the damage to its reputation.
旧通用汽车的股东应该被剔除。（我很纳闷，上周通用汽车股价略高于1美元的时候，还有人在买进，要知道那时候破产已经是迫在眉睫了。）具有新观念的新董事入主会有所帮助。提拔自旧通用汽车文化的韩德胜(Frederick Henderson)会是引领通用汽车进入新时代的称职的首席执行长？那个期待已久的电动车Volt是在旧机制下思的，它会是带领通用汽车面向未来的合适车型？我把这些问题留给了公司董事会，但新的通用汽车越被视为焕然一新，公司就能越快修复声誉遭受的损失。
I've been encouraged by President Obama's remarks that even though the government will own a majority stake, the new GM will be run by auto makers, and the government won't interfere to pursue policy goals that may be inconsistent with shareholder interests.
美国总统奥巴马的讲话令我感到振奋。他表示，即便政府会持有通用汽车的多数股权，新的通用汽车也将由汽车业人士运营，政府不会实施干预以追逐可能与股东利益冲突的政策目标。
I've argued before that government should act as private-equity investors in distressed assets, with the exclusive goal of turning the company around and exiting with a big profit to taxpayers in a finite period of roughly seven to 10 years. To my mind, this is the only way to approach government ownership in any industry that is consistent, fair, and recognizes a fiduciary duty to the owners, who happen to be the taxpayers. This won't be easy, but I think President Obama and his Treasury-led auto task force may be tough enough to pull it off.
我以前就曾经说过，政府应该表现得像私人资本投资者处理问题资产一样，唯一的目的就是扭转公司局面，在大约7-10年的明确期限内撤资，给纳税人带来大笔利润。我认为，这是处理政府入主任何行业做到一致公平、认识到对股东受信责任的唯一方法，股东也就是纳税人。做到这点并不容易，但我认为奥巴马和他财政部负责的汽车特别工作组可能足够强硬，能够做到这一点。
Can the U.S. field a world-class auto industry? I don' t see why not. Cars aren't a commodity like steel, an industry largely lost to foreign competitors. They are complex, highly sophisticated, individualized machines that despite over a century of progress still have room for improvements in fuel efficiency, performance and safety. What U.S. companies need to recapture is an unrelenting commitment to quality. I hope the GM bankruptcy accelerates the day when a father can again hand the keys to a Cadillac to his 16-year-old with the same pride my father felt when he gave them to me.
美国能培养出一个世界级的汽车业吗？我看不到有什么不行的理由。汽车不是钢铁那样的大宗商品，美国钢铁行业已经基本败给了外国竞争者。汽车是复杂、非常精密和个性化的机械产品，尽管经过一个世纪的发展进步，但在能效、性能以及安全方面依然有提高的空间。美国企业所需要重拾的是对品质的不懈承诺。我希望未来还会有一天，一个父亲把一辆凯迪拉克汽车的钥匙交给16岁的儿子时，能拥有和我父亲当年一样的骄傲；希望通用汽车的破产能加速这一天的到来。
James B. Stewart
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