丰田王者归来

    丰田具有深厚持久的吸引力，这一点从它与客户那种难以言喻的密切关系中就能看出来。多数汽车厂商总有失手的时候【比如通用汽车2013款迈锐宝（Malibu），本田汽车（Honda）2012款思域（Civic）】，但丰田却极少会踏空，而且它似乎总有一种第六感，能知道客户到底需要什么。在底特律的博主彼得•德•洛伦佐眼里，丰田无足挂齿，就是“一碗热腾腾的燕麦粥”而已。但他同时也承认：“丰田……胸有成竹，知道总有一群忠实买家，他们很在乎有机会拥有一台装着乏味配置的木疙瘩车” 。

    还有些批评人士也不以为然。随着凯美瑞（Camry）继续担当最畅销乘用车的领头羊，不久前就有传言称，丰田是在通过提供大幅度优惠增加销量来操纵市场。但这种销量增长只是让凯美瑞跻身和迈锐宝及日产天籁（Altima）这类中型车一样的促销阵营而已。而丰田也只是刚开始和其他厂商一样祭出这个法宝。

    不过丰田不是光会卖车而已，它还做了些意义重大的事：二十年前丰田甘冒巨大的技术和财务风险，开发了油电混合动力系统，并搭载在划时代的普锐斯（Prius）上，现在它开始收获胜利果实了。这个举措开始让油电混动成为内燃机的最佳替代品。尽管这种做法一度被视为铤而走险，但上周《纽约时报》（New York Times ）报道称，美国人今年已经买了近30万台混动车。

    普锐斯在混动车的销量中要占近半江山。今年年初，曾经主持普锐斯开发的首席工程师内山田武被提名出任丰田总裁，就是对他丰功伟绩的奖励。1993年，这个项目刚启动时，他设定了两大目标：开发全新的生产方法，同时让传统内燃机获得更佳的燃油经济性。他当时的目标是每加仑燃油能跑上47.5英里。而2013款普锐斯的综合路况续航里程已经达到每加仑燃油50英里。

    1999年，第一辆普锐斯进入美国市场。当时，它面对的是一片质疑声。2004年油价仅为每加仑1.5美元，因此时任通用汽车高管的鲍勃•鲁茨曾把混合动力不屑地称为“有意思的新鲜玩意儿”。不过后来，他为这番言论公开道歉，还领衔开发了雪佛兰沃蓝达（Volt）。这是一款插电式混动车，每充一次电能跑上35英里。但就算现在油价已经高达每加仑近4美元了，沃蓝达还是没能大卖——今年只售出了11,643台——而通用还特意把售价调低了5,000美元。

    尽管日元走软，但丰田不会降低普锐斯或日本本土制造的任何车型的价格。目前100日元兑1美元，日元比一年前要便宜了25%，也是近年来最优惠的比价。虽然日产汽车（Nissan）利用经济疲软带来的优势对七款畅销车型降价处理，最高降价达4,400美元，但向来谨慎处事的丰田却不要更大的市场份额，只想赚到更高的利润。2013年4至6月的财季，它的利润达到了55亿美元——几乎是通用和福特两者相加的两倍——现在它更是预期今年的利润将高达近170亿美元。

    所以，尽管我们确实应该支持美国本土车企，也该力挺底特律尽快明智地摆脱破产的阴影，但我们需要牢记它们真正面对的对手是何许人也。这些现代日本武士——10世纪日本武士的后裔们——真的卷土重来了。（财富中文网）

    译者：清远

    The depth and durability of Toyota's appeal speaks to its uncanny connection with its customers. Most auto companies have their share of flops (GM'S 2013 Malibu, Honda's 2012 Civic) but Toyota rarely misses the mark and seems to have a sixth sense for what consumers want. Detroit-based blogger Peter De Lorenzo, who dismisses Toyotas as "a white-hot bowl of oatmeal," concedes that " Toyota is ... proof positive there are legions of Toyota buyers out there who relish the opportunity to own a bland appliance that blends into the woodwork."

    Other critics remain unfazed. With the Camry extending its lead as the best-selling passenger car by any manufacturer, it wasn't long before suggestions appeared that Toyota had rigged the game by boosting incentives and ramping up fleet sales. But the increases only dragged it into the same incentive neighborhood as other mid-size competitors like the Malibu and Nissan Altima. Toyota merely started playing the same game as everyone else.

    More than just moving the metal, Toyota is also doing something far more significant: It is reaping the rewards of a huge technological and financial risk it took two decades ago -- the development of the gas-electric powertrain and its installation in the revolutionary Prius. The move began the adoption of the gas-electric hybrid as the preferred alternative to the internal combustion engine. Once considered marginal and fringe, the New York Times reported last week that Americans have bought nearly 300,000 hybrids so far this year.

    Accounting for nearly half those hybrid sales was the Prius. Chief engineer Takeshi Uchiyamada, who oversaw the Prius's development, was rewarded earlier this year by being named chairman of Toyota. When the project commenced in 1993, he set two goals: to develop new production methods and to wring better fuel economy from the traditional internal combustion engine. His target was 47.5 miles per gallon. The 2013 Prius has a combined city/highway mileage rating of 50 mpg.

    There were skeptics aplenty when the first Prius arrived in the U.S. in 1999. GM executive Bob Lutz dismissed hybrids as "an interesting curiosity" in 2004, when gas was selling for $1.50 a gallon. He later recanted and went on to lead development of the Chevrolet Volt, a hybrid with a plug-in feature that allows it to travel 35 miles on an electric charge. But even though gas now costs nearly $4 per gallon, the Volt has failed to catch on -- only 11,643 have been sold this year -- and GM has cut its price by $5,000.