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Christmas arrived on schedule for the U.S. auto industry as a spurt of sales put the wrapping on a surprisingly successful year. Analysts predicted that sales in December could hit a seasonally-adjusted rate of 17 million, which would be the first month at that rate in nearly six years. That would push 2013 sales up to a robust 15.7 million units.
2013年的圣誕節(jié)如期而至。對美國汽車工業(yè)來說，年底猛增的銷量為格外成功的2013年畫上了句號。分析師預(yù)計，12月銷量的季節(jié)變動調(diào)整年率可能達(dá)到1700萬輛，這也是近六年來首個達(dá)到這一銷量的月份。同時，它將使2013年全年銷量達(dá)到1570萬輛的高位。
Welcome as they were, surging sales weren't the biggest news of the year. Detroit celebrated when General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) made Mary Barra the auto industry's first female CEO, then held its breath while Ford (F, Fortune 500) CEO Alan Mulally dithered over a move to Seattle and Microsoft. The old Big Three, complaining about straining available production capacity, made plans to expand and hire. Tesla(TSLA) fired up electric car sales and refused to play by industry's rules, while Google(GOOG, Fortune 500) pioneered a car that drives itself.
盡管銷量大幅增長讓人歡欣雀躍，但它并不是汽車業(yè)今年最重大的新聞。底特律先是因為通用汽車公司（General Motors）提拔瑪麗•芭拉出任汽車業(yè)首位女性首席執(zhí)行官而歡欣鼓舞；緊接著，福特汽車（Ford）首席執(zhí)行官艾倫•穆拉利在重回波音公司還是加入微軟公司（Microsoft）兩者間猶豫不決之際，它又緊張得大氣都不敢喘。傳統(tǒng)的三巨頭抱怨現(xiàn)有產(chǎn)能已挖掘到極限，開始制訂擴(kuò)張和聘用新人的計劃。特斯拉公司（Tesla）讓電動汽車的銷量火了一把，而且不肯按行規(guī)出牌；而同時谷歌公司（Google）則在自動汽車研制上一馬當(dāng)先。
There were reversals too. Sales of electric vehicles suffered as gas prices leveled off and then fell. Suzuki wound down its presence in the U.S. market, and Volvo looked none too healthy. Sales in China -- now the world's largest auto market -- slowed, and Europe remained deep in a slump, its fundamental overcapacity problems unsolved.
當(dāng)然，也有一些不那么樂觀的消息。隨著油價趨穩(wěn)并隨后下跌后，電動汽車的銷量馬上就開始受到拖累。鈴木汽車（Suzuki）在美國市場上日漸式微，同時沃爾沃（Volvo）看起來也還是無力回天。中國——現(xiàn)在已是全球最大的汽車市場——的銷售開始放緩，而歐洲依然在衰退中泥足深陷，汽車業(yè)產(chǎn)能過剩的根本性問題還是無法解決。
Here are some of the year's pinnacles and potholes:
下面就是今年汽車業(yè)所經(jīng)歷的高峰和低谷：
Busting through the glass ceiling
成功突破玻璃天花板
In being named CEO, Mary Barra broke through several historical barriers in moving from GM's third-most powerful executive position to its first. Her job was made both easier by the appointment of a non-executive chairman to handle the board of directors, and more difficult by the decision to give her old job to one of her rivals. As the first product engineer to head the company in two decades, she will be deluged with suggestions about everything from air conditioning vents in new pickups to the future of brands like Buick and Chevrolet.
瑪麗•芭拉從通用汽車的第三把交椅升至第一把交椅，獲得首席執(zhí)行官提名，這一路上她突破了好幾個歷史性障礙。一方面，通過任命一位非執(zhí)行主席掌管董事會，她能更容易打開工作局面；但另一方面，由于一位對手接手了她以前的職責(zé)，她現(xiàn)在的工作又變得更棘手了。她是二十年來首位掌管公司的產(chǎn)品工程師，各種建議勢必將紛至沓來，令人應(yīng)接不暇。這些建議小到新皮卡上的空調(diào)出風(fēng)口，大到別克（Buick）和雪佛蘭（Chevrolet）這些品牌的前景，無所不包。
Most popular vehicle
最暢銷車型
Ford's F-series pickup, the reigning champion for the last quarter-century, held off a strong challenge from Chevrolet's redesigned Silverado to remain the nation's No. 1 selling vehicle. The race to become the best-selling car, an all-Japanese final, belonged again to the Toyota (TM) Camry, which beat out the Honda (HMC) Accord.
作為過去二十五年來的常勝將軍、福特的F系列皮卡一直成功地抵擋住了雪佛蘭重新設(shè)計的西爾維拉多（Silverado）的挑戰(zhàn)，盤踞著美國最暢銷皮卡的寶座。而全是日本品牌角逐的最暢銷汽車決賽，豐田（Toyota）凱美瑞（Camry）再次成功擊敗本田（Honda）雅閣（Accord），摘得冠軍頭銜。
