11款需要整容的汽车

    在近期举办的纽约车展上，通用汽车公司（General Motors）正式宣布：全新推出的2013款雪佛兰迈瑞宝将拥有2014年的改款——这至少比原计划提前了两年。通用改变原定的改款计划，匆忙推出改动的工艺和设计，结果让客户们对这辆车大为不满。在这一改款过程中，通用因为一心想提振业绩，很可能放弃了大幅改动。通用北美总裁马克•罗伊斯向《汽车新闻》（Automotive News）透露，此次改款的重点是车的外形，同时简化了“复杂的内饰”。并且他补充道，通用等不到产品周期末期再做改款了，“我们现在就需要改。”

    因此，通用成了最新一家承认竞争激烈、不容有丝毫闪失的汽车厂商。位于美国西岸的设计与营销咨询公司太平洋汽车（AutoPacific）总裁乔治•彼得森称：“鉴于目前消费者都见多识广，再加上大家对路上的汽车都是口口相传、高度关注，推出一款不入流的车将是极其重大、也极其昂贵的错误。一旦消费者知道了某款车的弱点，他们就会弃它而去。”

    本田汽车（Honda）算是返工改款的先锋。当初发现消费者和媒体对思域（Civic）的简配版简直怒不可遏时，它立刻对2013款思域的内饰做了改进。同时，菲亚特-克莱斯勒公司（Fiat-Chrysler）的马尔乔内已证明自己是改款宗师。彼得森说：“赛百灵（Sebring）改款到200是个巨大成功。同样地，道奇Charger和挑战者（Challenger）升级到300在没有花大钱的情况下也做得很到位。这算是克莱斯勒公司很高明的一招。”

    马尔乔内下一个挑战是2014款大切诺基。关于其他车型的改款——有些已公布，有些还只是暗示——请大家接着往下看。

    General Motors recently made it official at the New York auto show: It is giving the all-new 2013 Chevy Malibu a makeover for 2014 -- at least two years ahead of schedule. Customers were so unhappy with the car when it was launched that GM tore up its plans for scheduled updates and rushed some engineering and design changes. In the process, it probably forfeited a good chunk of change that it will hope to make up in lower incentives going forward. GM North America President Mark Reuss told Automotive News that the focus of the refresh will be the exterior and cleaning up "the complexity of the interior." GM couldn't wait to make the changes later in the product cycle, he added: "We need it now."

    GM (GM, Fortune 500) thus became the latest manufacturer to acknowledge that the intensity of competition is leaving even smaller margins of error. "Given how well-informed consumers are these days, and how vocal social media is concerning cars on the road, having a substandard vehicle in the market is a very serious and expensive mistake," says George Peterson, president of AutoPacific, a West Coast design and marketing consultancy. "Once consumers learn of the weaknesses of a particular vehicle, they can turn against it."

    The poster boy of do-overs is Honda, which enhanced the interior of the 2013 Civic after seeing how angrily customers and the media reacted to the bargain-basement original. Meanwhle, Fiat-Chrysler's Sergio Marchionne is proving to be the master of the makeover. "The changes to the Sebring making it into the 200 has been a spectacular success, says Peterson. "Similarly, upgrades to 300, Charger, and Challenger have been right on the mark without spending billions of dollars. Very intelligent moves on the part of Chrysler."

    Marchionne's next challenge is the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. For it and other makeovers -- some announced, others suggested -- keep reading.