MQB平台能否帮助大众成为全球汽车业霸主？

    大众汽车能否成为全球头号汽车厂商，在很大程度上取决于它的横置发动机模块化平台(MQB)。该公司声称，这套设计和生产汽车的标准化流程极其节约成本。

    在上周四于柏林举行的大众年度财务总结会上，首席执行官马丁•文德恩表示，该公司旗下众多汽车品牌，包括大众、斯柯达和奥迪，今年将利用MQB平台生产270万台汽车。随着车型的不断更新，到2018年，这个数字将增至700万台。

    2014年，大众向客户交付了超过1000万台车，创下销售记录。只有丰田可以与之匹敌，这家日本汽车制造商的销量和大众旗鼓相当，但利润更高，是大众登顶的头号劲敌。

    大众高尔夫、欧版帕萨特和奥迪A3，就是基于MQB平台打造的多款车型的代表作。在田纳西州查特努加生产的美版帕萨特，则是基于更早期的平台设计生产的。

    文德恩声称，“我们坚信，为MQB模块化工具战略所作的大量前期投资一定会产生回报。”

    全球各地的汽车厂商正在争相探索旨在降低基础车型研发和制造成本的策略，以便投入更多资本来提升汽车的互联功能、安全性、环保排放标准和自动驾驶系统。而股票分析师则怀疑，大众花重金引入灵活的模块化汽车设计，以及在工厂、工具和生产流程方面的连带投资，未必会产生它所宣称的效益。

    但大众2014年的业绩表明，该公司的管理层再次证明分析师的意见并不靠谱。2014年，大众的销售额高达2020亿欧元，营业利润为127亿欧元。大众公司首席财务官汉斯•迪特•潘师表示，鉴于2014年的税前利润率高达7.3%，该公司有望在2018年之前实现税前利润率8%的目标。

    大众并没有借助它在中国的合资企业来提升集团整体业绩。相反，该公司采用权益法来编制其财务报表。如果它的财务报表能够充分反映在中国合资企业获得的52亿欧元营业利润，大众公司的利润率就会进一步提升。

    大众旗下最赚钱的品牌是奥迪和保时捷，而大众品牌自身却对总体业绩有一定拖累。去年七月，大众宣布将对大众品牌实施一个效益提升项目，其中就包括砍掉那些滞销车型。

    奇怪的是，大众在美国的日子一直不好过，销量甚至远落后于斯巴鲁这样的小众品牌。文德恩在上周四的会议上表示，大众正准备用三款全新SUV“再次对美国市场发起猛攻”，其中就有基于MQB平台的全新途观，该车将于2017年在墨西哥投产。

    大众还计划成为自动驾驶领域的领头羊。去年11月，它在欧洲推出了一款搭载“堵车辅助系统”的帕萨特轿车。该系统能在完全无需驾驶者介入的情况下，使车辆在车道内安全行驶，并在低速时主动防止碰撞。在美国上市的奥迪A8汽车也将在不久后搭载这套系统。

    目前看来，丰田汽车公司销量与大众相当，利润率则高出50%，但它毫无败落或退步的迹象。在位于德国沃尔夫斯堡的大众集团总部，该公司管理层看上去信心满满、干劲十足，但他们要追赶的是一个健步如飞的对手。（财富中文网）

    译者：清远

    审校：任文科

    Volkswagen’s push to become the No. 1 global automaker hinges critically on its MQB architecture, a method of designing and building cars that VW has hailed as ultra cost-efficient.

    At the automaker’s annual financial review in Berlin on Thursday, chief executive officer Martin Winterkorn said that the company’s numerous automotive brands—including VW, Skoda, and Audi— will build 2.7 million cars with MQB architecture this year. That number will rise to 7 million in 2018, as models are renewed.

    VW delivered more than 10 million cars to customers in 2014, a company record. Only Toyota, which sells about the same number of vehicles but is more profitable, stands in VW’s way to the summit.

    VW Golf, the European version of the Passat, and the Audi A3 are among the more than half dozen car models based on MQB. The U.S. version of the Passat, built in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is based on an earlier design.

    “We’re convinced that the massive upfront expenditures for the [MQB] modular toolkit strategy will pay off,” Winterkorn said.

    Automakers worldwide are rushing to find strategies to shrink development and manufacturing costs for basic vehicle designs so they can use more capital for advanced connectivity, safety, emission, and autonomous systems. Equity analysts and other automakers have raised doubts that VW’s heavy spending to introduce flexible, modular car designs and the associated investment in factories, tools, and processes will be justified by financial results.

    Then again, VW’s 2014 performance suggests that the automaker’s management is proving the critics wrong. Volkswagen posted a 12.7 billion euro operating profit for the year on sales of 202 billion euros. With a pre-tax return on sales of 7.3% for 2014, Hans Dieter Potsch said that the company was on track to achieve the company’s goal of 8% by 2018.

    VW doesn’t consolidate its results with joint venture partners in China. Instead, it reports results using the equity method. Its profitability ratios would be even higher if its 5.2 billion euro share of operating profit was fully reflected.

    The big profit makers in VW’s portfolio—more or less carrying the company—are Audi and Porsche, with the VW brand serving as a relative drag on results. Last July, the automaker announced an efficiency program for the VW brand, including the cancellation of some slow-selling models.

    Oddly, the VW’s brand is struggling most in the U.S., where its sales lag behind much smaller brands such as Subaru. Winterkorn vowed on Thursday that his company is “going on the offensive again in the USA,” with three new SUVs, including a new MQB-based Tiguan, to be built in Mexico starting in 2017.

    VW also aims to be a leader in autonomous driving technology. In November, it introduced a VW Passat with Traffic Jam Assist in Europe. The system keeps the car safely in its lane and prevents collisions at low speeds, all without driver intervention. It will soon be available in the U.S. in an Audi A8.

    Toyota, for the moment, sells as many vehicles, is about 50% more profitable than VW, and shows no signs of losing its way or backing down. The wizards of Wolfsburg, Germany – where VW is based – are driven, but they are chasing a very swift rabbit.