福特的中国战略：到县城去

    尽管中国的汽车市场有所降温，但福特汽车公司仍然在中国看到了巨大的商机。这些商机并非位于中国的特大城市，而是蕴藏在广大中小城镇之中。

    福特CEO马克·菲尔兹在7月28日的收益电话会议上表示：“很明显，市场在减速。”福特发现商用车的销量跌幅超过了乘用车，这是市场放缓的象征。尽管这给汽车价格带来了压力，但菲尔兹认为福特必须正确看待中国市场及其当前的市场环境。

    菲尔兹指出：“中国是目前全球最大的市场。根据我们的预测，中国汽车市场在今后5到10年的时间里还将增加大约3000万台汽车。我们仍然非常看好中国市场。”

    福特将很大一部分的增长寄望于所谓的三线到六线城市，也就是那些离农村人口更近，且生机勃勃的小城镇。而北京、上海、广州、深圳被视为一线城市。

    三线以下城市一般没有京沪广深等大城市那样严格的限制。在北京、广州、杭州、上海、深圳、天津等城市，为了减少汽车造成的污染，政府已经推出限购令，有意购车的消费者只能按月“摇号”，摇到号的人才能购买汽车。

    菲尔兹在收益电话会议上表示，今年福特新指定的经销商有85%分布在三线到六线城市。今年第二季度，中国三到六线城市的零售额增长率达到了一二线城市的一倍以上。

    总体来看，这个季度可以说是福特自2000年以来最好的一个季度。今年二季度，福特的净收入比去年同期飙升了44%。在当季19亿美元的净利润中，有相当一部分要归功于福特在北美地区的高销量。

    福特在世界其他地区的业绩则参差不齐。如果刨掉北美地区，福特本季度在所有其他国家和地区的盈亏基本持平，略好于去年同期。

    今年第二季度，福特在欧洲亏损了1400万美元，在中东和非洲亏损了4600万美元。福特在南美也亏损了1.85亿美元——不过归功于更高的净定价，这个水平还是要好于去年同期。在本周二与分析师的电话会议上，福特财务总监鲍伯·尚克斯称，南美地区是一个“艰苦的环境”，特别是巴西，虽然福特已经在那里占据了一定的市场份额。

    今年第二季度，尽管中国汽车行业的销售额有所降低，但福特在亚太地区的利润还是达到了创纪录的1.92亿美元，运营利润达到8%。福特已经将中国市场2015年的销量预期由此前的2450万至2650辆轿车和卡车下调至2300万至2400万辆。随着福特将开拓重点转向限制更少的中小城市，未来几个季度，它的销量数字可能将进一步增长。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    审校：任文科

    Even as automotive sales in China cool, Ford sees big opportunity. And it’s not in the megacities, but in the country’s smaller locales.

    “It’s clear we’ve seen a market slowdown,” CEO Mark Fields said during an earnings call Tuesday. Ford F 1.92% saw commercial vehicle sales fall further than passenger vehicles, an indication of a slowing market. While it’s putting pressure on prices, Fields says it’s important to put China and its current market conditions into perspective.

    “It’s the biggest market in the world right now,” Fields says. “By our forecasts it’s going to grow to about 30 million vehicles in the next 5 to 10 years. We’re still very bullish on China.”

    The U.S. automaker is seeing larger percentage growths in so-called tier 3 to 6 cities, burgeoning, smaller metro areas that are located closer to rural populations. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, known as the big four, are considered tier 1 cities.

    Tier 3 to tier 6 cities don’t have the same restrictions as the largest metropolitan areas such as Beijing. In certain Chinese cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Tianjin, regulations have been put in place to limit the number of cars an individual can own in an effort to reduce pollution. Prospective owners in the country can only acquire a license plate through a monthly lottery system.

    This year, 85% of Ford’s dealer appointments are going to be in tier 3 through 6 cities, Fields said in an earnings call Tuesday. In the second quarter, wholesales in those tier 3 through 6 cities were more than double percentage increases than in tier 1 and 2 cities, Fields says.

    Overall, Ford had its best quarter since 2000. Net income skyrocketed 44% in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier. Much of the company’s $1.9 billion in net profit was driven by high sales volume in North America.

    Sales in the rest of the world were mixed. Taking all of Ford’s operations outside of North America collectively, they broke even in the second quarter and improved from the previous period.

    Ford lost $14 million in Europe and $46 million in the Middle East and Africa. Ford also saw a $185 million loss in South America—an improvement thanks to higher net pricing. In a call with analysts Tuesday, CFO Bob Shanks described South America, particularly a Brazil, a tough environment, although it gained market share there.

    The Asia-Pacific region had a record profit of $192 million and an operating margin of 8%, despite lower industry sales in China. Ford did lower its 2015 sales expectations for China to 23 to 24 million vehicles, down from a previous projection of 24.5 million to 26.5 million cars and trucks. The company’s focus on smaller cities with fewer restrictions may boost numbers even further in coming quarters.