福特掌门人权力交接平稳

尽管上周发布的第三季度财报显示盈利，福特仍然有不少麻烦：

    •福特必须重新调整在欧洲市场亏本的运营结构，包括忍痛关闭在比利时和英国的工厂，公司制定了计划，以避免在面对复苏的大众汽车公司（Volkswagen）时遭遇更大的亏损。

    •福特的市场占有率大幅降低，而且这种下滑的趋势仍然得不到扭转。十月的销售报告显示，福特的销量仅增长了0.5%，而整个行业销量则增长了6%。要不是因为超过1/4的车卖给了租车公司，福特的业绩还会更糟糕。

    •尽管福特十月的销售额在美国排行第三，日本丰田汽车（Toyota）138,000辆的销量却超越了福特的124,000辆。专业汽车网站Edmunds.com的分析师刻薄地说：“十月对福特来说还真不是个好月份。”

    •穆拉利的全球“一个福特”战略实施后，新产品的推行并不顺利。竞争对手称，福特推出了奖励机制，每卖出一台新款福特翼虎（Ford Crossover）跨界车，奖励2,000美元，然而更老的竞争对手雪佛兰春分（Chevy Equinox）在销售时并没有实行这样的奖励机制。

    •《消费者报告》指出，福特新款汽车的一些技术故障导致顾客不满。由于顾客不满于娱乐信息触摸屏控制系统和重新设计的自动换挡功能，福特和林肯汽车在该杂志的年度质量评分中排名接近垫底。

    投资者们注意到，福特今年的市场占有率最高仅有2.56%，而通用汽车公司（General Motors）则达到了27.6%。不过后者在欧洲和北美也有自身的问题。

    所以，对于穆拉利和比尔•福特整顿了福特易怒的企业文化，执行了这次看起来几乎完美的管理层换届，我们应该充分予以肯定。但是不要误以为新的团队能够就此一帆风顺地走下去。

    不会的。

    译者：严匡正

Despite record third-quarter profits announced this week, there are several trouble spots:

    •Ford must restructure its money-losing European operations, which will involve painful plant closings in Belgium and the U.K., as it develops a plan to avoid further momentum loss momentum in the face of a resurgent Volkswagen.

    •The automaker has been losing market share for a significant stretch, and the slippage has yet to be reversed. October sales reports show Ford gained only half a percent in volume vs. 6% for the industry as a whole. It would have lost even more ground had not more than a quarter of its sales gone to fleet, the most of its major competitors.

    •Despite ranking third in U.S. sales for October, Toyota (TM) handily outsold Ford at retail -- 138,000 to 124,000. "October was not a stellar month for Ford," one Edmunds.com analyst commented drily.

    •New Ford models, the products of Mulally's global "One Ford" strategy, haven't been launching well. Competitors say the new Ford Escape crossover already carries incentives of $2,000 per vehicle, while an older competitor, the Chevy Equinox, sells with no incentives.

    •And new Ford vehicles have customer-repelling technical glitches, according to Consumer Reports. It ranks Fords and Lincoln near the bottom of its annual quality scores due to owner complaints about their touch-screen infotainment controls and redesigned automatic transmissions.

    Investors have noticed. Ford shares are up only 2.56% for the year vs. 27.6% for General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), which has its own problems in Europe and North America.

    So give Mulally (and Bill Ford) credit for overhauling Ford's fractious culture and executing what looks like a picture-perfect example of management transition. But don't confuse that with a sign that the new team will face smooth sailing from here on out.

    It won't.