雷诺-日产联盟将规模经济推向新高度

    十五年前，雷诺汽车公司（Renault SA）派了一位当时籍籍无名的汽车高管卡洛斯•戈恩到日本濒临破产的日产汽车公司（Nissan Motor Corp），结果成就了一次惊天大逆转。雷诺特技一般的表现至今仍被全球的商学院奉为圭臬。

    但在2014年，要想生存下去则需要具备新的技能。对于法国汽车公司雷诺和日产来说，这意味着一方面要笼络更多的汽车行业同盟，同时要设计一套创新车辆开发系统——这两条策略的目的是，分担、消化先进技术与监管合规带来的沉重成本。

    雷诺和日产虽然依旧是独立的公司和品牌，但两家公司的关系却愈加密切。两家公司都持有对方的大量股份，两家公司只有同一位首席执行官——戈恩。而且，双方也在不断寻求新的合作。最新的合作是，双方计划根据所谓“通用模块家族”方法，即CMF，联合开发70%的车辆。

    雷诺执行董事克里斯蒂安•马德鲁斯说：“我们必须在有利于两家公司发展的领域开展合作，同时要确保在消费者眼中，我们的车型是独特的，存在区别的。”

    大众汽车（Volkswagen AG）和丰田汽车公司（Toyota Motor Corp.）也曾设计过各自的通用工程与设计系统，希望降低在不同市场出售的、尺寸与配置水平各不相同的车型产生的成本。大众汽车曾公开介绍过自己的方法，而丰田汽车则一直非常低调。

    根据CMF方法，按照汽车尺寸，大多数类型的车辆，前部车身底座、引擎、驾驶舱、后部车身底座和电气/电子架构，都可以通过通用工程进行开发。例如，未来日产和雷诺所有超小型汽车中，前大灯和远光灯的控制棒将完全相同，使得两家公司可从数量更少的供应商那里进行大规模采购，从而得到更多的好处。

    由于客户对高端产品的要求，日产英菲尼迪（Infiniti）系列豪华车将不会遵循这个原则。

    今年早些时候，日产已经开始在印度钦奈的工厂生产微型车Datsun Go 。这是第一款根据CMF-A标准生产的汽车。CMF-A框架针对的是雷诺或日产在全世界开发和销售的所有微型车。

    雷诺-日产联盟已经与德国戴姆勒集团（Daimler AG）、日本三菱汽车（Mitsubishi Motors）和俄罗斯AvtoVAZ汽车公司建立了合作关系。生产梅赛德斯奔驰（Mercedes-Benz）的戴姆勒集团将与雷诺-日产联盟合作开发小型豪华车架构，而这个车型将作为日产英菲尼迪豪华品牌旗下的型号出售。

    据三菱汽车董事长兼首席执行官益子修透露，三菱汽车和日产汽车正在合作开发小型电动车和全球性小型汽车。他说：“下一步将是与雷诺开展合作，或许是合作开发雷诺的D级（紧凑型）汽车，未来将在美国出售。”

    益子修说：“我认为，因为这个世界在不断变化，所以我们每天都在变得越来越密切。有限的资源意味着我们不可能独自完成所有事情。如果没有足够的销量，就无法降低成本。”

    三菱汽车每年在全球的汽车销量为130万辆，而一家汽车公司的销量要达到800万辆左右才能分摊成本，产生足够的利润。因此，三菱汽车的销量还远远不够。

    益子修说：“早在1989年，我们都在聊400万俱乐部”，这是当时在没有一位或多位重要合作伙伴的情况下，要实现盈利所需要达到的销量。

    1999年，戴姆勒曾尝试与克莱斯勒公司（Chrysler Corp）合并，希望在销量方面达到全球规模。这次令人震惊的重大失败让很多学术界和咨询界人士有理由指出，并购失败和资本损失是一个普遍现象。

    而雷诺所采用的方法是与日产汽车相互持有对方的股份，同时尊重彼此的独立性，结果获得了令人瞩目的成功。两家公司可以说是名符其实的兄弟公司，去年共同的销量超过800万辆。两家公司的市值高达660亿美元，与本田汽车公司（Honda Motor）基本持平。（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    Fifteen years ago, Renault SA dispatched a relatively unknown auto executive named Carlos Ghosn to lead a triumphal turnaround at Japan's nearly bankrupt Nissan Motor Corp. Renault's feat is still studied at business schools worldwide.

    Survival in 2014 demands a new skillset. For French automaker Renault and Nissan, it means recruiting more automotive allies, while devising an innovative system of vehicle development -- both are tactics to share and absorb the immense cost of advanced technology and regulatory compliance.

    Renault and Nissan, though they remain separate companies and brands, are inching closer. Each maintains a big equity stake in the other and relies on a single chief executive, Ghosn. Increasingly, they seek new levels of cooperation. The latest is their intention to develop 70% of their vehicles jointly, according to a so-called common module family method, known as CMF.

    "We have to cooperate in the areas that can lead to economies for both companies, while making sure that our models are distinct and separate in the eyes of consumers," said Christian Mardrus, managing director of the Paris-based alliance.

    Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) have devised their own systems of common engineering and design to minimize cost for models sold in different markets and sizes, and with various levels of equipment. Volkswagen describes its method openly; Toyota has been coy.

    Under CMF, the major categories of vehicles, by size, are developed according to common engineering of front underbody, engine, cockpit, rear underbody, and electrical/electronic architecture. For example: The wand that controls headlamps and highbeams will be the same in all future Nissan and Renault subcompacts, allowing both companies to benefit from large-scale purchases from fewer suppliers.

    Nissan's Infiniti line of luxury cars has been exempted from this discipline, owing to the demands of customers for premium products.

    Early this year, Nissan began building its Datsun Go minicar model at a factory in Chennai, India. It is the first vehicle to be built according to CMF-A, the new framework for all minicars developed and sold worldwide by Renault or Nissan.

    The Renault-Nissan Alliance has formed partnerships with Germany's Daimler AG, Japan's Mitsubishi Motors, and AvtoVAZ of Russia. Daimler, which builds Mercedes-Benz, and the alliance are jointly developing a small, luxury car architecture that will also be sold under Nissan's Infiniti luxury brand.

    Mitsubishi and Nissan are cooperating on the development of a small electric vehicle and a global small car, according to Osamu Masuko, Mitsubishi chairman and chief executive officer. "Then the next step would be to expand with Renault," he said, "maybe a D-segment [compact] car from Renault that would be sold in the U.S."

    "I believe that because of the changes in the world, we are becoming closer and closer every day," Masuko said. "Limited resources mean we can't do everything. If you don't have enough volume, costs can't come down."

    Mitsubishi sells 1.3 million vehicles worldwide annually, far short of the 8 million or so a single automaker must sell to spread costs across enough vehicles and also generate sufficient profit.

    "In 1989," Masuko said, "we used to talk about the 4 million club," meaning the volume needed at that time to be profitable without one or more substantial partnerships.

    Daimler tried to achieve worldwide scale in terms of sales volume with its 1999 merger with Chrysler Corp. The spectacular failure of that transaction has led many in academia and consulting to point out the prevalence of failed mergers and destruction of capital.

    By comparison, the method that Renault used -- a reciprocal equity stake with Nissan, while respecting its independence -- has succeeded impressively. The two companies -- siblings, really -- sold more than 8 million vehicles last year. Their combined market capitalizations of $66 billion make them as valuable as Honda Motor (HMC).