通用押宝小型SUV

    反对SUV的浪潮在上世纪90年代末达到顶点后，现在已经渐渐冷却下来。到如今，悍马（Hummer）已经宣布停产，福特（Ford）引以为豪的“探路者”（Explorer）也由一款基于皮卡的SUV车型变成了一款跨界车。虽然美国的高速公路上仍然不时能见到雪佛兰巨无霸（Chevrolet Suburban）和日产（Nissan）Armada等大型SUV，但数量却早已不如往日。与此同时，一种新的小型SUV——又叫CUV或紧凑跨界车，正在占领以往大型SUV的市场。例如别克（Buick）最新推出的昂科拉（Encore）就是其中之一。这款车型在韩国生产，现在已经抵达了美国的销售展厅。

    昂科拉登陆之前，从英国进口的小型SUV——日产Juke已经在美国取得了不俗的销售业绩。去年它的销量达到3.6万多台，比前年上涨了1.3%。别克昂克拉拥有外观时尚、座椅位置高、载物空间灵活的优势，因此肯定会吸引那些既想购买小型车，又不想放弃诸如多功能加热方向盘等豪华配置的消费者。

    通用汽车（General Motors）总裁预计，今年该公司在美国的市场份额将有所提升。别克的这个新产品线规模虽小，但注定会吸引不少消费者来到通用汽车的展厅。去年通用汽车的美国市场占有率从19.6%下跌至17.9%。有金融分析师表示，通用汽车必须扭转美国市场占有率的下跌势头，以证明它已经稳住了2009年破产后的颓势。

    别克的一名市场高管劳埃德•比尔曼说：“我们发现，维莱诺（Verano）的征服率已经达到了50%或以上。我们认为，同样的情况也可能发生在昂科拉身上。”维莱诺是别克的一款小型轿车。“征服率”是汽车厂商用来衡量从其它竞争品牌吸引过来的购车者的比率，因此它意味着市场占有率的提高。

    汽车网站Edmunds.om的分析师杰西卡•考德威尔称：“入门级SUV已经出现了巨大的增长趋势，而且我们仍将看到它继续快速增长，因为它满足了许多不同年龄群体的需求。”她还表示，像昂科拉这样的车型“可以满足普通消费者的多种用途，因此只要人们诚实面对他们的真正需求，它就可以代替MPV、皮卡或紧凑型轿车等车型。”

    昂科拉是由通用在韩国的子公司大宇公司（Daewoo）生产的，它有些像欧宝（Opel）的Mokka，后者是一款在欧洲近来颇受欢迎的车型。昂科拉的零售价起价在2.5万美元左右，徜若将所有可选的额外配置配全的话，价格可能会达到3万美元以上。

    北美国际汽车展（the North American International Auto Show）上，本田（Honda）公司展出了一款名叫“城市SUV概念车”的车型，造型十分独特，本田预计将在2014年在美国销售这款车型。这款新车将在墨西哥生产，它与本田的小型轿车飞度（Fit）基于同一架构，长度预计比当下热门的本田CR-V短９英寸。

    入门级SUV在欧洲也很热门，标志公司（Peugeot）预计将在今年三月的日内瓦车展上展出一款新的迷你SUV。IHS Automotive咨询公司对《金融时报》（Financial Times）表示，到2020年，入门级SUV的全球销量有望从今年的70万辆增长到240万辆。毫无疑问，全球日益收紧的燃油经济性标准，正在刺激汽车设计师们设计更小、更轻，同时又具备实用性和撩人外观的车型。

    以前，福特Expeditions或凯迪拉克凯雷德（Cadillac Escalades）的车主开着他们的庞然大物上路时，会觉得有些丢人，在城市里尤其如此。而现在，如果你开着小型SUV出门，一定不会觉得难为情了。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    Anti-SUV fervor has cooled since its peak in the late-1990s. The Hummer is no more and Ford's vaunted Explorer is now a crossover, rather than a truck-based model. Big vehicles like the Chevrolet Suburban and Nissan Armada still ply U.S. highways—though in smaller numbers. Meantime, a new breed of small SUV—called CUVs or compact crossovers—is taking hold. Exhibit A: Buick's new Encore, built in South Korea and now reaching U.S. Showrooms.

    The Encore follows on the heels of the popular Nissan (NSANY) Juke, imported from the U.K., which sold more than 36,000 units last year, up 1.3%. With a stylish exterior, high seating position and flexible cargo space, the Encore is meant to attract shoppers that might seek to downsize yet not forego luxury amenities, such as the optional heated steering.

    The new product segment for Buick, while small, is meant to attract new buyers to General Motors (GM) in a year when GM's chairman is forecasting a gain in U.S. market share. Last year, GM's U.S. share fell to 17.9% from 19.6%. Financial analysts say GM must stem share loss in the U.S. to prove it has regained stability following its 2009 bankruptcy.

    "We have seen a conquest rate of 50% or better for Verano," a small Buick sedan, said Lloyd Biermann, a Buick marketing executive. "We think the same could be true for Encore." Conquest is the term used by automakers to measure what proportion of buyers are trading from a rival brand, thus increasing share of market.

    Jessica Caldwell, an analyst for Edmunds.com, an automotive website, said "entry SUVs are where we see and will continue to see tremendous growth as [the category] satisfies so many different life stages." Cars like the Encore "can tick so many different boxes for the average consumer" and be a substitute for minivan, pickup or compact car "if people are honest about their actual needs."

    Built by GM's Daewoo affiliate in South Korea, the Encore is similar to the Opel Mokka, a model of rising popularity in Europe. It starts at a retail price of about $25,000 and can cost more than $30,000 with all optional equipment.

    At the North American International Auto Show, Honda (HMC) displayed what it called an Urban SUV concept, a swoopy looking model the Japanese automaker will bring to the U.S. in 2014. Built on the same architecture as the Honda Fit in Mexico, the new model is about nine inches shorter than Honda's compact and popular CR-V.

    The category is hot in Europe as well, a new Peugeot mini-SUV expected at the Geneva Motor Show in March. IHS Automotive told the Financial Times that global sales of the segment are expected to rise to 2.4 million by 2020 from 700,000 in the current year.

    No doubt that tightening fuel efficiency standards worldwide are playing a role in stimulating designers to create smaller, lighter designs that still will be useful—and maybe even sexy—to carbuyers.

    In any event, no one will have to suffer the discredit or humiliation that the owners of behemoths once withstood, especially in cities, when pulling up to the curb in their gas-guzzling Ford (F) Expeditions or Cadillac Escalades.