菲亚特在美开局不利，重返大计或蒙上阴影

    对于当红女星珍妮弗•洛佩兹来说，出演菲亚特（Fiat）的这款广告可算不上她最风光的时刻。这名42岁的流行歌星最近出演了菲亚特500轿车的广告，该广告在今年九月初的《周一橄榄球之夜》（Monday Night Football）节目上首次与观众见面。虽然她的舞步还不错，但是人们对这支在线广告的反应却称不上热情。一位Youtube网友冷淡地回复道：“我不相信像她这样的富人会开这种车。”

    菲亚特期待的可不是这种反应。该公司于今年年初推出了这款紧凑小车，而且还计划将推出更多车型。但随着种种现实问题的出现，菲亚特的高期望也渐渐落空，尤其是这款小车面临着品牌混乱和目标顾客定位不明的问题。现在就说菲亚特500是款失败车型可能还为时过早，不过惨淡的开局却给CEO西尔吉奥•马基奥尼扩张美国市场的计划蒙上了一层阴影。

    克莱斯勒（Chrysler LLC，已被菲亚特控股）已经开始销售菲亚特500，只是销量缓慢，整个10月只售出了大约15,000台。马基奥尼在2004年收购了麻烦重重的克莱斯勒，然后迅速让它起死回生，成为汽车业最经典的成功故事之一。过去的三年里，他已经全盘控制了克莱斯勒，计划使两个品牌结盟，包括重返美国市场。

    克莱斯勒本来预计菲亚特500第一年的销量可以达到50,000台，但现在这个目标已经无法完成了，这在某种程度上是由于124家经销商的铺货速度慢于预期，再就是由于顾客识知度较低。了解菲亚特这个品牌的美国人很少，只有少数人还记得二三十年前菲亚特的几款车型，比如菲亚特124，这款轿车由于质量和可靠性太差，不得不撤出美国市场。

    菲亚特500售价15,000美元。汽车网站Edmunds.com的高级编辑米歇尔•克瑞布斯认为， 微型车这一类别在美国的销量一向很小，所以菲亚特500对消费者的吸引力也十分有限。另外她还认为，鉴于公司邀请了珍妮弗•洛佩兹来代言菲亚特500，因此这款小车可能主要对女性比较有吸引力，而对男性的吸引力可能较差。

    汽车营销者们总是爱拿菲亚特500的发布与宝马Mini品牌的成功发布进行比较。宝马Mini是2001年推出的，在美国大约有90个经销商，年销量达50,000台左右。宝马Mini的成功堪称是一个教科书式的经典营销案例，它告诉我们如何使用低成本的、灵活的营销策略来取得成功——比如把一辆宝马Mini绑在一辆林肯领航者（Lincoln Navigator）的车顶上，然后开着它绕着市中心游街。

    菲亚特还计划在11月16日在洛杉矶推出一款外形更炫、功率输出更高的阿巴斯（Abarth）版的菲亚特500，此举或许能够刺激销量。汽车网站TrueCar的高级编辑齐因坦•塔拉提认为，这款阿巴斯版的菲亚特500“将吸引喜欢更大功率的顾客，而且可以与宝马的Mini Cooper S形成竞争。”

    尽管现在就说菲亚特陷入了麻烦还为时过早，不过克莱斯勒仍会小心观察，以确保在一个缓慢的开局后，菲亚特500的销量能够持续增加。克莱斯特缺乏一个真正的豪华车品牌，现在它正打算增加更多的菲亚特车型，最终将菲亚特的阿尔法•罗密欧（Alfa Romeo）豪华运动轿车引入美国市场。但如果美国经销商们不满意，那么这一切美好愿望都是镜花水月——除非菲亚特500积累了足够的销量，让他们觉得值得掏钱对自家的汽车展厅进行一番换血。

    译者：朴成奎

    It wasn't J.Lo's finest moment. The 42-year-old pop singer starred in an ad for Fiat's 500, first aired during Monday Night Football earlier this September. While her dance moves were fine, response to the ad online was less than enthusiastic. One Youtube commenter wrote dryly, "I can't believe a rich person like her would drive a car like this."

    That's not exactly the kind of response Fiat was looking for. The company introduced its feisty little compact earlier this year, the first in a planned wave of new vehicles. But high hopes are giving way to real-world problems, especially in the wake of brand confusion and disparate opinions about the car's target customer. It may be too early to call the 500 a flop, but a lackluster start has cast a shadow over CEO Sergio Marchionne's grand plans to expand in the U.S.

    Chrysler LLC, which is controlled by Fiat SpA, has gotten off to a slow start selling the 500, selling only about 15,000 units through October. Marchionne took over the troubled automaker in 2004 and quickly turned it into one of the auto industry's brightest success stories. Over the past three years, he's taken control of Chrysler, mapping a grand alliance between the brands, including a return to the U.S.

    The automaker has had to skin back on a first-year forecast of 50,000 sales in North America due, in part, to a slower-than-expected rollout of 124 dealerships or "studios," as the automaker calls them. Low consumer awareness hasn't helped either. Few Americans know much about Fiat except for those who remember its models from two or three decades ago like the Fiat 124 that were hounded from the U.S. market due to poor quality and reliability.

    Michelle Krebs, a senior editor for automotive website Edmunds.com, predicted the car, which starts at about $15,000, will have "limited appeal" because of the small number of "tiny" cars like the 500 sold in the U.S. She also wonders if the car's appeal to women, implied by the J.Lo commercial, may make it less so to men.

    Among automotive marketers the introduction of 500 is being measured against BMW's successful launch of the Mini brand. Mini, which was introduced in 2001, is selling about 50,000 units a year in the U.S. from some 90 dealerships. It has become a textbook example of how to succeed with low-budget, guerrilla marketing tactics -- like strapping a Mini on the roof of a Lincoln Navigator and driving it around urban centers.

    Fiat plans to introduce a glitzier, higher-output Abarth version of the 500 in Los Angeles on Nov. 16, which could goose sales. It "will attract customers looking for more power, and can compete with customers looking at the Mini Cooper S," said Chintan Talati, a senior editor for TrueCar, an automotive website.

    While it's too soon to regard Fiat as troubled, Chrysler will be watching carefully to make sure sales performance continues to gain strength after the slow start. Chrysler lacks a true luxury franchise and aims to add more Fiat models and eventually to bring the Alfa Romeo sport luxury franchise to the U.S. as well. Neither of those will happen unless U.S. dealers are satisfied that there is enough sales volume to justify investment in their studios.