德国大众盯上全球老大宝座

    虽然欧洲依然在经济危机的苦海里挣扎，但至少有一个欧洲之子仍在蓬勃发展，它就是德国大众汽车公司（Volkswagen）。它的目标是在2020年前成为世界第一大汽车集团，如今，它正在大踏步前进。大众积极的扩张计划在很多领域都已经结出了丰硕的成果。两大控股家族——皮耶希和保时捷家族的争端也已经告一段落。全球竞争对手的困境对它自然也不是问题。

    从账面上看，去年大众的营业利润达到了近150亿美元，已然位居全球第一，而且大众今年的目标依然维持在这个水平。大众首席执行官马丁•文德恩表示：“汽车普及率的不断提高为我们的增长计划带来了一股东风。”他指的是，虽然欧洲汽车厂商景气不佳，但新兴市场的汽车销量却日益强劲。去年文德恩的个人年薪为1,750万欧元（约合2，280万人民币），是前年的一倍多，同时还超过了DAX德国综指任何一家上市公司CEO的年薪。去年德国大众在全球共售出了827万辆汽车，大幅超过了前年629万辆的成绩。

    今年，大众集团仍在继续执行将斯洛伐克工厂的产量翻一番的计划，这座工厂位于斯洛伐克第一大城市伯拉第斯拉瓦。大众集团首席执行官上周三表示，该工厂的汽车产量将由去年的21万台增长到今年的40万台以上。这家工厂过去只生产大型SUV。不过自从工厂引入了新型的大众Up微型车生产线后，产量出现了快速增长。Up汽车2007年就已经亮相，当时还只是一系列概念车的统称，但去年它就已经开始投入量产。Up或许将扩展成大众的一个环保小车品牌，就像丰田（Toyota）的普锐斯（Prius）混合动力汽车系列一样。

    大众是汽车业中少有的一个在各个不相关的市场上都能盈利的厂商。它的产品涵盖极广，从深受大学新生欢迎的“乞丐版”掀背车，直到超奢华的宾利（它是亿万富翁妻子们的最爱）。大众集团旗下现拥有奥迪（Audi）、宾利（Bentley）、布加迪（Bugatti）、兰博基尼（Lamborghini）、SEAT、斯柯达（Škoda），以及卡车生产商斯卡尼亚（Scania）等品牌，同时还拥有保时捷（Porsche）公司49.9%的股份。汽车网站TrueCar.com市场情报副总裁杰西•托普拉克表示：“大众表明，它有能力在正确的价格上为正确的市场生产正确的汽车。它在沃夫斯堡市有一幢楼，整装楼里的人什么也不做，只管优化定价——而且他们非常擅长这项工作。”

    大众集团主打的一个豪车子品牌奥迪是另外一个亮点。长期以来奥迪在美国一直销量平平，但最近它在美国打了一个漂亮的翻身仗，销量出现飙升。本月初，奥迪提高了它的销量目标，预测到2015年前将售出150万辆奥迪。在美国之外，中国、印度和俄罗斯等国对豪华车的强劲需求也促进了奥迪的热卖。去年奥迪取代梅塞德斯-奔驰（Mercedes-Benz），成为全球销量第二的高端汽车品牌。虽然奥迪的销量仍然赶不上宝马，但归功于大众集团带来的规模经济效应，奥迪在盈利性方面依然略胜宝马一筹，因为后者只是一家独立的汽车厂商。

    As Europe wallows in economic doldrums, at least one native son is thriving. Germany's Volkswagen AG, which has its sights set on becoming the world's top auto firm before the decade is out, is making headway. Across a broad range of businesses, the company's aggressive expansion plans are bearing fruit and the Greek dynamics of the firm's controlling families have settled down. The woes of its global rivals haven't hurt, either.

    VW is already global champ of the bottom line, with an operating profit of nearly $15 billion last year and a goal to match that amount this year. Martin Winterkorn, chief executive, said "the unbroken automotive boom is providing additional tailwinds for our growth plans," referring to stronger sales in emerging markets, rather than in Europe where auto makers are struggling. Winterkorn drew a salary of 17.5 million Euros ($22.8 million) in 2011, more than double the year before -- and more than any chief executive of all companies listed on the DAX, Germany's main stock index. VW sold 8.27 million vehicles globally in 2011, up from 6.29 million the year before.

    Most immediately, VW isn't backing down from a promise to double production this year at its Slovakian factory in Bratislava. The chief executive of the automaker's Volkswagen Group said on Wednesday that production will rise to more than 400,000 vehicles this year, compared to just over 210,000 last year. The plant used to build only large SUVs, but production is expanding thanks to the company's new Up minicar. The Up was shown as a variety of concept vehicles since 2007, before going into production last year. It could expand into a sub-brand of smaller, eco-friendly vehicles much like Toyota's (TM) Prius hybrid line.

    VW has become that rare species of automotive giant that can generate profits in disparate markets, from barebones hatchbacks popular with college freshman to the uber-tony Bentley, vehicle of choice for billionaires' wives. The Volkswagen Group now owns Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda as well as the truck manufacturer Scania. It has a 49.9% stake in Porsche. "VW has shown it can build the right cars for the right market at the right price," says Jesse Toprak, vice president of market intelligence for TrueCar.com, an automotive website. "It has a whole building full of people in Wolfsburg that do nothing but optimize pricing – and they're very good at it."

    Audi, VW's mainline luxury-car subsidiary, is another bright spot. Long regarded as an also-ran in America, it has undergone a remarkable turnaround and seen sales surge. Earlier this month, it pulled forward its volume target, predicting it will sell 1.5 million vehicles before 2015. Outside of the U.S., Audi is benefiting from strong demand for luxury cars in China, India and Russia. Better yet, Audi overtook Mercedes-Benz as the second-largest premium brand by vehicle sales last year. And though it still sells fewer vehicles than BMW, it flew past its main rival in terms of profitability thanks to the economies of scale its parent makes possible. (BMW, by contrast, is an independent company.)