汽车业2014年输赢大盘点

    首席执行官

    赢家

    尽管通用汽车（GM）目前仍深陷舆论漩涡，但包括《时代》杂志（Time）和《财富》杂志（Fortune）在内的各路媒体对首席执行官玛丽•芭拉却几乎毫无微词。就连芭拉定下的2025年整合平台战略——这是通用从1980年代以来就致力实现的目标——也颇受好评。等到舆论平息下来后，再看看情况如何吧。因为芭拉心知肚明，空谈战略在通用不值一提，执行才真正算数。

    输家

    德国一家法院收到了一桩针对保时捷公司（Porsche）前首席执行官文德林•魏德金及前首席财务官霍尔格•黑特的犯罪指控。起诉书称，在保时捷2008年向大众汽车集团（Volkswagen AG）发起的那场最终失败的收购案中，他们两人涉嫌触犯法律。1990年代，当保时捷的业绩复苏后，魏德金曾一度被奉为天才。但该法庭表示，保时捷董事会可能在该公司宣布收购意向的7个月前就批准了这项收购计划。这意味着，按照德国法律，他们犯有市场操纵罪。

    高管

    赢家

    在2012年离开奥迪美国公司(Audi of America)之前，约翰•德•尼琛做了很多重大决策，涉及市场营销、分销和产品内容等，正是这些决策使奥迪现在成为最炙手可热的豪华品牌之一。目前执掌大局当然是现在的管理层，但汽车业是个需要长期准备的行业，正是尼琛为奥迪2014年的成功奠定了坚实基础。

    输家

    今年7月转投凯迪拉克公司（Cadillac）之后，德•尼琛的诸多决策遭到传统主义者的猛烈攻击，比如，他改变了该品牌的字母数字命名结构，并将全球总部从底特律搬到纽约。这些批评声音显然惹得他大为光火，他在Facebook上对那些“闭门造车的营销专家”反唇相讥，同时毫不客气地抨击通用汽车的退休老员工——正是这些人声称，把总部迁至纽约是该公司“自推出西马仑牌（Cimarron）汽车以来最蠢的主意”。此外，他还不无讽刺地质疑，这些指责者中是否有人“真正参与过这款工艺精湛的大师级豪车的创造过程”。

    投资者

    赢家

    福特公司（Ford）九月发出预警称，营业利润将比预期少10亿美元。尽管资本市场为此深受打击，但福特的股价今年以来却仅仅下跌了5.9%而已。如果不是因为投资者担忧福特在欧洲和南美的亏损，以及消费者对全新铝制外壳皮卡的接受程度，福特的股价表现可能还会更好。

    输家

    通用汽车的市场份额仍然有待从今年初的召回危机中恢复过来。此外，自1月1日以来，该公司市值已损失近五分之一。有人在财经博客Seeking Alpha上评论道：“通用汽车似乎正在努力使其行动一致起来。我们继续不愿意和这家公司沾边。”

    CEOs

    Winner

    Despite GM’s ongoing woes, almost nobody has an unkind word for CEO Mary Barra, including TIME and Fortune. Even Barra’s 2025 strategy for consolidating platforms, a goal GM GM -1.65% has sought since the 1980s, has gotten favorable notice. Let’s see what happens when the new wears off. As Barra undoubtedly knows, strategy talk is cheap at GM; it is the execution that counts.

    Loser

    A German court revived criminal charges against former Porsche CEO WendelinWiedeking and ex-CFO HolgerHaerter involving a failed 2008 takeover of Volkswagen AG. Wiedeking was hailed as a genius after Porsche’s turnaround in the 1990s. But the court said Porsche’s board may have approved the deal seven months before the company announced its intentions, making the two men guilty of market manipulation under German law.

    Executives

    Winners

    Before he left Audi of America in 2012, Johan de Nysschen made many of the decisions on marketing, distribution, and product content that have made Audi one of the hottest luxury brands. Of course, today’s management is taking the bows, but autos are a long lead-time business, and it was de Nysschen who laid the groundwork for 2014’s success.

    Losers

    Now at Cadillac GM -1.65% , which he joined in July, de Nysschen has been assailed by traditionalists for his decision to change the brand’s alpha-numeric naming structure and to move its global headquarters from Detroit to New York City. Clearly peeved, de Nysschenwent on Facebook to strike back at every “armchair marketing expert” and blasted GM retirees who called the New York move “the dumbest idea since the Cimarron. ”DeNysschen wondered sarcastically whether any of them “had a hand in creating that masterful monument to product substance.”

    Investors

    Winner

    Despite a big hit in September when Ford F -1.81% warned that operating profits would come in $1 billion less than forecast, its shares are down only 5.9% this year. It might be doing even better were it not for investor worries about losses in Europe and South America as well as customer reception for the new aluminum pickup truck.

    Loser

    GM shares have yet to recover from the recall crisis earlier this year and have lost nearly a fifth of their value since January 1. “General Motors looks like it is struggling to get its act together,” wrote one commentator on Seeking Alpha. “We continue to want nothing to do with the company.”