2013：全球车界这一年

    2013年的圣诞节如期而至。对美国汽车工业来说，年底猛增的销量为格外成功的2013年画上了句号。分析师预计，12月销量的季节变动调整年率可能达到1700万辆，这也是近六年来首个达到这一销量的月份。同时，它将使2013年全年销量达到1570万辆的高位。

    尽管销量大幅增长让人欢欣雀跃，但它并不是汽车业今年最重大的新闻。底特律先是因为通用汽车公司（General Motors）提拔玛丽•芭拉出任汽车业首位女性首席执行官而欢欣鼓舞；紧接着，福特汽车（Ford）首席执行官艾伦•穆拉利在重回波音公司还是加入微软公司（Microsoft）两者间犹豫不决之际，它又紧张得大气都不敢喘。传统的三巨头抱怨现有产能已挖掘到极限，开始制订扩张和聘用新人的计划。特斯拉公司（Tesla）让电动汽车的销量火了一把，而且不肯按行规出牌；而同时谷歌公司（Google）则在自动汽车研制上一马当先。

    当然，也有一些不那么乐观的消息。随着油价趋稳并随后下跌后，电动汽车的销量马上就开始受到拖累。铃木汽车（Suzuki）在美国市场上日渐式微，同时沃尔沃（Volvo）看起来也还是无力回天。中国——现在已是全球最大的汽车市场——的销售开始放缓，而欧洲依然在衰退中泥足深陷，汽车业产能过剩的根本性问题还是无法解决。

    下面就是今年汽车业所经历的高峰和低谷：   

    Christmas arrived on schedule for the U.S. auto industry as a spurt of sales put the wrapping on a surprisingly successful year. Analysts predicted that sales in December could hit a seasonally-adjusted rate of 17 million, which would be the first month at that rate in nearly six years. That would push 2013 sales up to a robust 15.7 million units.

    Welcome as they were, surging sales weren't the biggest news of the year. Detroit celebrated when General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) made Mary Barra the auto industry's first female CEO, then held its breath while Ford (F, Fortune 500) CEO Alan Mulally dithered over a move to Seattle and Microsoft. The old Big Three, complaining about straining available production capacity, made plans to expand and hire. Tesla(TSLA) fired up electric car sales and refused to play by industry's rules, while Google(GOOG, Fortune 500) pioneered a car that drives itself.

    There were reversals too. Sales of electric vehicles suffered as gas prices leveled off and then fell. Suzuki wound down its presence in the U.S. market, and Volvo looked none too healthy. Sales in China -- now the world's largest auto market -- slowed, and Europe remained deep in a slump, its fundamental overcapacity problems unsolved.

    Here are some of the year's pinnacles and potholes: