欧洲缘何成为车企重灾区？

    欧洲汽车制造商们每个月都在祈祷，希望上帝能降下圣谕，让史上最糟糕的市场开始好转起来。但今年5月，这样的奢望再次成空，五月份的汽车销量创下自1993年以来同期的历史新低。新汽车上牌量同比下降了5.9%，减少至104万辆。

    更糟糕的是，分析师们认为，由于消费者信心受挫，欧洲市场的状况在很长时间内都不会好转。密歇根州萨斯菲尔德的商业咨询公司Alix Partners最近的一项调查报告称，欧洲大陆糟糕的汽车销售情况可能将一直持续到2019年。

    政治与经济因素对汽车行业造成了巨大影响，因为汽车需求量疲软迫使工厂产能利用率下降到了半个世纪以来的历史最低点。政府投入数十亿激励资金，以支撑消费，如今却不得不面对工厂闲置所导致的工人失业问题。

    尤其是标致雪铁龙集团（PSA Peugeot）、菲亚特（Fiat）、雷诺汽车（Renault）、欧宝【Opel，已被通用汽车公司（General Motors）收购】和福特（Ford）等车企，以及欧洲南部的工厂，均遭到重创。宝马（BMW）、戴姆勒（Daimler）和大众汽车（Volkswagen）等汽车制造商在新兴市场顺风顺水，而且主要出售高档车，到目前为止避免了最糟糕的经济困境。

    戴姆勒汽车公司CEO蔡澈正努力展现公司（梅赛德斯-奔驰汽车的制造商）最好的一面。本周，他在接受《金融时报》（Financial Times）采访时说：“我们感觉到了增长的动力，它们来自我们的（新）产品。上个月，尽管市场环境不妙，我们实现了大幅正增长。”

    欧洲一片萧条，唯一逆势而行的是英国，英国5月汽车销量增加了11%。之所以会出现这种状况是因为英国退出了欧洲统一货币，因此，它并没有受到欧洲大陆经济困境太多牵连。

    到底是什么削弱了消费者的信心？又该如何提振消费者的信心？与这些问题有关的理论层出不穷。其中一个因素是今年秋天的德国大选。德国总理安吉拉•默克尔寻求第三次连任，而其竞争对手关注的重点是“财富分配不均”。如果德国出现一个左倾政府，同时提高税收，德国经济增长预计将陷入停滞。

    德国被认为是欧洲经济增长的引擎，对该国经济前景的任何质疑都会波及到其他邻国，尤其是德国南部财政问题最为严重的国家。

    欧洲制造业因刻板僵化而受到诟病。汽车制造商们抱怨，政府和欧盟的政策束缚了他们的手脚。当需求下降时，他们没有充分的机会关闭工厂，裁撤工人或减少产量。因此，通用汽车和标致雪铁龙开始寻求合作，以求削减成本和降低风险就没什么好奇怪的了。

    福特汽车首席执行官艾伦•穆拉利本周在印度表示，福特汽车将加大印度向欧洲的汽车出口。福特汽车公司计划今年晚些时候在印度钦奈的一家工厂生产翼博（EcoSport）紧凑型跨界车。

    除了疲软的经济需求外，汽车制造商还要面对年轻消费者品味的变化。越来越多的年轻人不再将汽车视为身份的象征。于是，是否拥有一流的信息娱乐系统，对于汽车销售变得越来越重要，它的重要性甚至不亚于汽车的功率和燃油经济性等传统指标。（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪浩

    European automakers are keeping fingers crossed every month for a ray of sunshine that tells them the worst market in memory might be ready to improve. It didn't happen again in May, when sales were lower than in any May since 1993. Registrations dropped 5.9% year over year to 1.04 million.

    Worse still, analysts are saying things won't be getting better in Europe for a long time due to shattered consumer confidence. Alix Partners of Southfield, Mich. reports in a new study that car buying on the continent might not improve until 2019.

    The political and economic repercussions are immense for the industry because weak demand for vehicles has pushed factory capacity utilization to lows not seen for more than half a century. Governments have spent billions in incentives to prop up buying and now must contend with layoffs in connection with idle factories.

    PSA Peugeot, Fiat, Renault, Opel -- owned by General Motors (GM) -- and Ford (F) have been especially hard hit, along with plants in southern Europe. Automakers like BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen -- prosperous in global emerging markets and selling to premium buyers -- have so far avoided the worst financial pain.

    Dieter Zetsche, Daimler CEO, tried to put the best possible face on the position of his company, which makes Mercedes-Benz vehicles. He told the Financial Times this week that "we are feeling growth impulses, but they are coming from our (new) products. In the last months we've had significant positive growth rates in difficult markets."

    The only country running counter to Europe's trend is the United Kingdom, where auto sales rose 11% in May. The U.K. may be faring better because, having opted out of Europe's common currency, it is not as tied to the continent's economic troubles.

    Theories abound as to what might be holding consumer confidence back and what might have to happen for the public to cheer up. One is that the German election this fall, in which Angela Merkel is seeking a third term as chancellor, pits her against a candidate that is talking about "wealth inequality." In the event of a left-leaning government and higher taxes, the expectation is that economic growth might be held back.

    Because Germany is considered to be the financial growth engine for Europe, any doubts about that country's economic future spill over onto neighbors, especially countries to the south, wherefiscal woes have been toughest.

    Europe is notorious for its rigidity in manufacturing. Automakers complain that governments and European Union rules have tied their hands, giving them insufficient opportunity to close plants, lay off workers, or cut production when demand falls. Not surprisingly, some automakers such as GM and Peugeot Citroen are collaborating to cut costs and lower risk.

    Alan Mulally, Ford's chief executive, said this week in India that Ford will be exporting more vigorously from that country to Europe. Ford plans to export its EcoSport small crossover from a plant in Chennai later this year.

    On top of the weak economic demand, automakers are battling changing tastes among young consumers, who more and more no longer regard cars as status symbols. That's one reason why top-notch infotainment systems are becoming more important to the selling of vehicles, perhaps as much as horsepower and fuel economy.