吉利收购沃尔沃后推出首款新车

    沃尔沃汽车（Volvo）借这次推出全尺寸跨界车XC90，向夺回美国和全球市场份额的目标迈出一大步。该车也是中国浙江吉利汽车（Geely）自2010年从福特汽车（Ford Motor）手中收购这家瑞典汽车制造商以来，交出的第一份成绩单。

    这款由全新设计的四缸发动机驱动的7座豪车，将与雷克萨斯（Lexus）RX350，宝马（BMW）X5和雪佛兰（Chevrolet）Tahoe等车型展开竞争。于美国的沃尔沃经销商而言，这款车型至关重要。他们曾眼睁睁地看着福特由于经济困难以18亿美元的价格出售沃尔沃，随后该品牌的汽车销量便开始直线下滑。

    沃尔沃汽车高管表示，自福特汽车于2000年从沃尔沃集团（Volvo Group）手中收购沃尔沃汽车以来，XC90是他们以一家独立公司的身份开发的第一款车型。沃尔沃与浙江吉利的合作侧重于资金层面，吉利允许其瑞典合作方独立研发汽车。

    沃尔沃汽车董事长兼CEO哈坎•萨缪尔森在斯德哥尔摩的新车推介会上表示：“这是我们公司历史上最重要的日子之一。我们不仅仅是发布一款汽车，我们正在重启这一品牌。”

    在福特汽车的管理下，沃尔沃曾经在美国创下大约14万的年销量，但随后跌至6万左右，这使得大约300家美国经销商出售或放弃了他们的销售特许权。沃尔沃汽车高管表示，公司为XC90研发的新型SPA（可扩展整车平台架构），将成为许多新轿车和旅行车的开发平台。

    在亿万富翁创始人李书福的领导下，浙江吉利希望沃尔沃在中国的销量能够有所增长，同时借助沃尔沃在技术、营销和设计上的专长，提高吉利自身品牌的汽车性能。

    李书福是一位工程学毕业生，喜爱诗歌。他于1986年白手起家，创立了冰箱生产商吉利（在中文中，“吉利”意味着“好运”）。该公司随后转战摩托车领域，并最终开始生产汽车。吉利原来的目标是将汽车出口到美国——吉利投资110亿美元使沃尔沃重现生机，并研发出XC90，就这个意义而言，他们已经完成了这一壮举。

    XC90的起售价大约为4.8万美元，将作为2016款车型于明年春天在美国上市。

    沃尔沃汽车成立于1927年，被福特收购前是一个针对性很强的小众品牌，以我行我素的设计风格和极具创新的安全特性闻名于世。这家汽车制造商希望以XC90赢回曾经的声誉。该车独具的某些电子功能，比如自适应巡航控制系统和前方的防撞系统，将避免交通事故的发生，而不仅是让乘客在事故中受伤更轻，更容易存活下来。

    沃尔沃汽车高管表示，他们的目标是，到2020年，每年在全球售出80万辆汽车。这大约是公司现在销量的四倍——这的确是一个雄心勃勃的目标。

    而更宏伟，甚至可能难以想象的目标是，沃尔沃打算到2020年让其新款汽车的所有乘客都不会因为车祸而死亡或重伤，这些汽车将配备最先进的安全措施。

    对于丰田（Toyota）和大众（Volkswagen）这类大型汽车制造商而言，沃尔沃的复苏影响不大，吸引不了他们的注意力。而处于萌芽期的中国汽车业和关心汽车安全的人们，将会密切XC90在未来的前途和命运。（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    Volvo took a big step toward regaining a foothold in the U.S. and worldwide with the introduction of its XC90 full-size crossover, a vehicle that constitutes the first report card for China’s Zhejiang Geely’s acquisition of the Swedish automaker from Ford Motor in 2010.

    The premium seven-seater, powered by a newly-designed four-cylinder engine, will contend against models like the Lexus RX350, BMW X5 and Chevrolet Tahoe. Its arrival is critical for Volvo dealers in the U.S., who have watched sales plummet since Ford, in the midst of financial difficulties, unloaded the brand for $1.8 billion.

    Volvo executives say they regard the XC90 as the first model they’ve been able to create as an independent company since 2000, when Ford bought Volvo cars from the larger Volvo Group. Volvo’s partnership with Zhejiang Geely has been primarily a financial one, which has allowed the Swedish partners to pursue car development independently.

    “This is one of the most important days in our history,” said Hakan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo, at the introduction in Stockholm. “We are not just launching a car but relaunching our brand.”

    Under Ford’s management, Volvo reached sales of roughly 140,000 in the U.S., a level that has dropped since then to 60,000 or so, a pace that has prompted some of the approximately 300 U.S. dealers to sell or abandon their franchise. Volvo executives say the automaker’s new SPA (for “Scalable Product Architecture”), developed for XC90, will be the basis for a number of new sedans and station wagons.

    Zhejiang Geely, led by its billionaire founder Li Shufu, is counting on growing Volvo sales in China, as well as a sharing of technical, marketing and design expertise that it can use to strengthen its Geely brand of vehicles.

    Li, a self-made engineering graduate with a taste for poetry, founded Geely (which means “lucky” in Mandarin) in 1986 as a maker of refrigerators. The company moved on to motorcycles and finally to cars. Geely originally aimed to export its cars to the U.S. – a feat it will have accomplished, in a sense, with its $11 billion invested resuscitating Volvo and developing the XC90.

    The XC90, starting at about $48,000, will begin arriving at U.S. dealers as a 2016 model next spring.

    Volvo, founded in 1927, had been a niche brand prior to Ford’s purchase, known for its individualistic approach to design and innovative safety features. With the XC90, the automaker hopes to recapture its reputation, mostly with electronic features such as adaptive cruise control and front collision avoidance, meant to avert accidents altogether, rather than simply to make mishaps more survivable with fewer and lighter injuries.

    The goal, say Volvo executives, is to sell 800,000 Volvos worldwide on an annual basis by 2020, roughly four times what’s selling now – an ambitious number.

    And even more ambitious – perhaps unimaginable – target is Volvo’s resolve that by 2020 no one will be killed or severely injured in one of its new cars, which will be equipped with the latest safety features.

    For the big automakers like Toyota and Volkswagen, Volvo’s reemergence is too small to cause concern. For the budding Chinese car industry and automotive safety advocates, the progress and fate of the XC90 will be closely scrutinized.