底特律恐龙：6大濒临灭绝的美国车
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适者生存 一个世纪以来，美国汽车市场好比一个与世隔绝的恐龙岛，其他国家的汽车和美国车一比都成了侏儒。美国道路宽阔，油价便宜，人口富足，促成了汽车业的繁荣，其中不少车型为美国所独有。 在上世纪五六十年代，由于环境特珠，加上重洋阻隔，导致美国人造出了很多8汽缸的大块头轿车，它们通身点缀着大量电镀装饰。到了八九十年代，美国人又造出了皮卡，以及由皮卡演生出的大梁式车身的多功能运动车（即俗称的SUV）。而随着其他各大洲汽车厂商纷纷开始研发前轮驱动、搭载了多气门发动机甚至是油电混合动力系统的汽车，美国汽车厂商渐渐丧失了竞争优势。 放眼未来，汽车的设计风格必然要由规模更庞大、增长更快的中国市场来决定。而随着燃油经济性标准日趋严格，汽车的尺寸、重量和发动机的大小也必将受到限制。这意味着某些美国消费者钟情的车型或将难以适应新的世界秩序，因此终究难逃灭绝的宿命。以下谨列出几款行将就木的车型。 |
Survival of the fittest For a century, the North American auto market was an island of dinosaurs surrounded by an ocean of pygmies. Open roads, cheap gasoline, and an affluent population led to the rise of automotive species seen nowhere else in the world. In the 1950s and 1960s, the combination of special circumstances and geographical isolation produced chrome-bedecked, V-8 powered, behemoth passenger cars. In the 1980s and 1990s, they gave birth to pickup trucks and their offspring, body-on-frame sport utility vehicles. Detroit lost its engineering edge as manufacturers on other continents pioneered front-wheel-drive, multi-valve engines, and hybrid gas-electric powertrains. In the future, the larger, faster-growing market of China, will drive design preferences, while stricter fuel-economy standards will dictate size, weight, and engine size. That could mean extinction for some models that are beloved by American car buyers but aren't adaptable to the new world order. Herewith, some candidates for the scrap heap. |
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机械霸王龙 全尺寸SUV一度是美国汽车厂商的圈钱利器，不过这种在皮卡底盘上打造的全尺寸SUV在操控性和燃油经济上都不具有优势。随着更加灵活的跨界车的问世，全尺寸SUV几乎已经被挤到绝种的边缘。全尺寸SUV的油电混合动力版也由于价格过于昂贵，在市场上无人问津。雪佛兰太浩（Chevy Tahoe）和通用Yukon这两款SUV在一两年里就都要升级换代了，不过估计他们在通用产品线里的寿命不会太久了。 |
Truckasaurus Rex They were big moneymakers in their day, but full-size SUVs on pickup truck chassis can't compete on maneuverability or fuel economy. More flexible crossovers have rendered truck-based SUVs mostly obsolete, and expensive hybrid-powered versions have flopped in the marketplace. Both the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon are due for an update in a couple of years, but don't expect to see them remain in GM's lineup for long. |
