評論
打印
General Motors Emerges From Bankruptcy
通用掙脫破產線
When Rick Wagoner, the chairman of General Motors, walked onto the floor of Detroit's Cobo Hall in January 2006，only one question seemed to matter to the assembled throng attending the North American International Auto Show: how soon would the giant American carmaker go bust? A representative of Kirk Kerkorian, an entrepreneur who had just bought a 10% stake, said GM had to wake up or it would run out of cash in three years. Mr Kerkorian has since sold out, but he seems to have galvanised GM. At this year's show the subject of choice was the firm's nascent turnaround.
2006年1月，北美國際車展在底特律柯柏球場拉開帷幕。當通用汽車公司總裁里克·瓦格納走進展場時，所有人的焦點都集中到一個問題上：這個北美汽車巨頭離破產還有多遠？曾買了通用10%股份的企業(yè)家柯克·科克萊恩的發(fā)言人說，通用該醒悟了，否則，不出3年它的流動資金就會入不敷出。盡管科克萊恩已經(jīng)拋售了所持的全部通用股份，但他之前對通用的支持貌似依舊產生了一些激勵作用。在今年的車展上，大家又關注到這家公司開始有了好轉的跡象。
A year ago GM was making record losses, closing plants and slashing its workforce. It was struggling to sell cars at rock-bottom prices and faced having to pay out billions of dollars to prop up Delphi, its former parts unit. Meanwhile, its increasingly rampant Japanese rival, Toyota, was making plans to overtake GM as the world's biggest carmaker by 2008.
一年前，通用的虧損額達到歷史最高點。為此通用不得不關閉工廠、大幅裁員、艱難地以最低價格處理汽車，還要花上數(shù)十億美元用于支撐前零件供應商——德爾福。與此同時，日本的競爭對手豐田汽車實力則日益壯大，并計劃在2008年取代通用成為全球最大汽車制造商。
Many of these problems still haunt GM, but even its most vociferous critics can see signs of a revival. The company began this year's Detroit show with a lavish event attended by Hollywood celebrities. But the real star was the newly redesigned Camaro Convertible, marking a comeback for one of GM's most famous models. Along with the new Chevrolet Malibu, a complete remake of the type of saloon with which GM once dominated the market, it suggests that the firm is regaining its edge in design. Its new Chevrolet Silverado was named pick-up truck of the year, and when its Saturn Aura was chosen as the best car, even the unit's unflappable general manager, Jill Lajdziak, was lost for words.
許多類似問題還困擾著通用，但是就連將通用批評得一無是處的人也不得不承認通用正在開始復蘇。在今年底特律車展上，通用邀請了好萊塢的名流，把出場秀弄得異常豪華。但場上真正的明星則是新一代的卡瑪洛運動車，它標志著通用最有名的車型的回歸。新款的雪佛蘭美宜堡完全是對通用曾經(jīng)用以主導市場的一款車型的改造。種種跡象表明，通用正在找回它在設計上的技術優(yōu)勢。它的新款雪佛蘭西爾維拉多被評為年度最佳輕型小貨車，而當 “土星”（通用新款中型運動轎車）被宣布奪得年度最佳汽車大獎的那一刻，連這個部門最鎮(zhèn)定的總經(jīng)理吉爾都激動得說不出話來。
The revival of the ailing Saturn division casts light on some of the changes. Saturn has consolidated its vehicle-development efforts with those of GM's European arm, Opel. More broadly, the carmaker's previously autonomous regional operations are now working together coherently, as Bob Lutz, GM's vice chairman and "car czar"，farms out duties. North America is developing the big pick-up trucks that dominate the local market and Europe will handle mainstream passenger cars. The car unit of South Korea's Daewoo, now a GM subsidiary, will work on entry-level models and Holden, an Australian subsidiary, will develop big saloons. If GM can make this approach work, it will achieve economies of scale that only Toyota can match, says David Cole, of the Centre for Automotive Research, a consultancy.
一直處境艱難的“土星”分部的復蘇解釋了一些變化。土星將汽車研發(fā)工作同通用的歐洲分部——歐寶進行了整合；更廣泛的變動是由副總裁人稱“汽車沙皇”的鮑勃·盧茲來分配任務，讓之前各自為政的地區(qū)運營結合起來。北美地區(qū)負責研發(fā)適合當?shù)厥袌龅拇笮涂ㄜ?，歐洲地區(qū)負責主流客車。韓國地區(qū)的子公司通用大宇則負責人門級車型，澳洲霍頓分部負責大型轎車。汽車研究中心的一位顧問大衛(wèi)·科爾評論說，如果這種方法行之有效，世界上將只有豐田能與通用將會形成的經(jīng)濟規(guī)模相抗衡。
Like Toyota, GM is also standardizing manufacturing practices around the globe. It has eliminated 30,000 jobs and reduced North American production capacity by 30%. According to GM's senior official, all of this has cut costs by the equivalent of about $2,000 a vehicle. Mr. Wagoner says GM reached its target of trimming $9 billion from fixed costs by the end of 2006.
同豐田一樣，通用也在將全球的生產流程規(guī)范化。目前通用已經(jīng)削減了3萬個職位，并且將北美地區(qū)的生產能力降低了30%。通用高層管理人員表示，這些舉措減少的費用相當于把每臺車的成本降低了2000美元?？偛猛吒窦{稱，通用在2006年底已經(jīng)完成了減少90億固定成本的目標。
Still, problems remain. Toyota unveiled its largest-ever light truck in Detroit, and is thought to be planning several new American factories. So even as Toyota emphasizes the green credentials of its Prius hybrid car，it is attacking the Silverado, one of GM's biggest money-makers. GM's response is to expand its own hybrid offerings, including the new Chevrolet Volt concept car. It is battery-driven and can be recharged from the mains or by an on-board three-cylinder engine that never directly drives the wheels.
還有很多問題有待解決。在底特律車展上，豐田展示了它有史以來最大的輕型卡車，而且業(yè)界推測他們正在計劃增加在美的工廠。所以盡管豐田主打的是綠色環(huán)保的普銳斯混合動力車，他們的輕卡還是對通用最暢銷車型西爾維拉多產生了一定的沖擊。作為反擊，通用擴大了包括雪佛萊沃特概念車在內混合動力車的供應量。沃特車是電池驅動，可以充電使用，也可由車載三缸渦輪引擎進行充電——這個引擎不用于驅動。
GM is still struggling to get its core North American operations into profit. But for the first time in years it is heading in the right direction. There is a long way to go, but at least the threat of bankruptcy is receding in the rear-view mirror.
通用仍在努力使北美核心市場扭虧為盈。不過這些年來，通用這一次總算是走對了路。不過依舊任重道遠，但至少，破產的威脅已經(jīng)漸漸從后視鏡中遠去了。
