奔驰、宝马决战小型车
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欧洲汽车业最激烈的竞争已经进入了一个新阶段。梅塞德斯-奔驰（Mercedes-Benz）和宝马（BMW）即将检验全世界对高端小型车的胃口。自从宝马甩掉路虎（Rover），梅塞德斯-奔驰与克莱斯勒（Chrysler）撇清关系以来，两家公司都在极力避免大型车市场，而把重点放在精品小车上。现在随着追求燃油经济性的压力越来越大，加上可供开发的新细分市场越来越少，奔驰和宝马现在都在寻找其它的增长机会。. 考虑到两家公司各自的历史、地缘和文化，两者之间的冲突不可避免。梅塞德斯-奔驰的母公司是戴姆勒（Daimler），而戴姆勒的前身成立于1883年，正是它发明了世界上第一台汽车，而且戴姆勒也总是不厌其烦地向全世界宣传这个丰功伟业。宝马成立于1917年，不过它直到1928年才进军汽车业务，之前它主要生产飞机引擎。梅塞德斯-奔驰的老家斯图加特是一座阴暗的工业城，一年到头难得见到几次阳光。而宝马的总部则驻扎在灯红酒绿的慕尼黑。梅塞德斯-奔驰的格言是戈特利布•戴姆勒的那句经典的“要么最好，要么什么都不是”（The best or nothing）。宝马则把自己包装成“终极驾驶机器”的生产者——这句广告语是美国的一家广告公司替它想出来的。 以大多数标准来看，宝马都已经超过了老对手奔驰。不过奔驰正在努力反超。下面我们介绍一下双方目前的竞争情况。 1.销量 强势增长的宝马【和奥迪（Audi>）】正在步步蚕食梅塞德斯-奔驰在高端市场上的份额。据IHS Automotive公司的数据，梅塞德斯-奔驰目前控制着21.4%的高端市场，比2001年的25%略有降低。宝马曾表示要在2020年前将年销量提升到200万台，不过由于宝马目前炙手可热，所以公司已经把这个目标提前到了2016年。宝马3系是目前全球最畅销的豪华车型。梅塞德斯-奔驰的首席执行官蔡澈曾豪言奔驰的销量要在2020年前翻一番，同时超过宝马。不过分析师们却对此持怀疑态度。 优势方：宝马。 2.运营效率 曾经有人预测，由于宝马的规模较小，因此它的财务业绩注定不会乐观。不过事实证明，宝马的盈利水平已经跻身世界一流之列。去年宝马息税前利润为11.8%，而梅塞德斯-奔驰则只有9%。而你在奔驰广告里看到的那些穿着白大褂的工程师们实际上给奔驰的财务业绩造成了不小的压力。其实奔驰是在雇更多的人造更少的车。奔驰希望未来将利润率提升到10%，但从2012年第一季度来看，它的利润只有8.4%。 优势方：宝马 |
The most intense automotive rivalry in Europe is entering a new phase: Mercedes-Benz and BMW will be testing the world's appetite for small cars with big prices. Since BMW dumped Rover and Mercedes shed its relationship with Chrysler, both automakers have shunned high-volume segments of the car business and focused on premium models. Now that pressure is growing for better fuel economy, and there are fewer top-shelf segments to exploit, both are looking for additional growth opportunities. Given their disparate histories, geography, and culture, conflict is inevitable. Daimler, Mercedes' parent, is the successor to a company founded in 1883 that invented the automobile and never tires of reminding the world of that fact. BMW got started in 1917 as a maker of aircraft engines and didn't get into making cars until 1928. Stuttgart, home to Mercedes, is a grey factory town where the sun seldom shines, while BMW is rooted to party-happy Munich. Finally, Mercedes, elitist to its core, reveals its true self in its motto "The best or nothing," coined by Gottlieb Daimler. BMW fashions itself as creator of the "ultimate driving machine," a tagline created by an American advertising agency. By most measurements, BMW has been outpacing its older rival, but Mercedes is trying to mount a comeback. Here's the current tale of the tape: 1. Sales Onrushing BMW (and Audi) is chipping away at Mercedes' share of the premium market. According to IHS Automotive, M-B now commands 21.4%, down from 25% in 2001. BMW used to promise sales of two million vehicles by 2020 but is running so hot that it moved the target date sooner to 2016, and its 3-series is the top-selling luxury car in the world. Mercedes chief Dieter Zetsche has vowed Mercedes will more than double sales by 2020 and pass BMW, but analysts are -- to put it politely -- skeptical. Advantage: BMW 2. Operating efficiency Defying forecasts that its small scale doomed it to substandard financial performance, BMW has been performing at a profitability level among the world's best. Last year's margin (before interest and taxes) was 11.8%, while Mercedes managed only 9%. All those white-coated technicians you see in Mercedes commercials are weighing on the bottom line. The automaker is, in effect, paying more people to make fewer cars. Going forward, Mercedes wants to improve to a 10% margin, but it only managed 8.4% in the first quarter of 2012. Advantage:BMW |
