没人想要的大奖

    2011年有不少华丽的滑铁卢事件，比如美国航空公司（American Airlines）、可口可乐（Coke）的白色易拉罐、多位灰头土脸的共和党总统候选人，还有波士顿红袜队（the Boston Red Sox）。另外还有几家汽车厂商在2011年表现不佳，他们同样有资格跻身这份名单。虽然今年美国汽车市场的销量出现了一定的回升，但还是有好几款被人们寄予厚望的车型成了经销商展厅里的滞销货。其中的某一款车型必将获得“年度最不受待见车型”的雅号。我们最终将揭晓这个奖项花落谁家，但首先还是让我们先来回顾一下其它十款值得一提的失败车型。

A prize no one wants to win

    2011 has had some notable high-profile flops: American Airlines, Coke's white can, numerous Republican presidential candidates, the Boston Red Sox. More than a few automakers can add their names to the list. In a year when U.S. car sales staged a modest recovery, a number of nameplates with high expectations wilted in the showroom. To one of them must go the title of "Most Disliked Car of the Year." We'll get to that, but first ten other cars worthy of dishonorable mention.

菲亚特500

    菲亚特重返美国市场后并未能打出漂亮的翻身仗。首先是经销商网络的发展速度缓慢，其次是好莱坞女星珍妮弗•洛佩兹主演的广告反响平平，再次是油价稳中走低，导致这样一款节油车型对消费者的吸引不大。评测者的态度也很苛刻，汽车网站Edmunds.com称，这款车型的可靠性“还需要观望，自动档车型的油耗令人失望，载物空间小于其它竞争车型。”CEO西尔吉奥•马基奥尼很快撤换了菲亚特的驻美高管，但损失已经造成了。今年菲亚特500的预期销量本来是50,000辆，但到11月为止实际只售出17,444辆。要赢得美国消费者的青睐，菲亚特恐怕还要打一场更艰苦的持久战。

Fiat 500

    Fiat's reentry into the U.S. market never got out of first gear. Dealers were slow to sign up, an ad campaign featuring J. Lo flopped, and stable-to-lower gas prices failed to excite buyers. Reviewers were tough: Edmunds.com complained about "Wait-and-see reliability; disappointing fuel economy with automatic; less cargo room than rivals." CEO Sergio Marchionne wasted little time replacing Fiat's top U.S. executive, but the damage was done. Instead of selling 50,000 cars this year, Fiat had moved only 17,444 through November. Fiat faces an even steeper uphill battle to win over U.S customers.