口译时事：李书福押重注推动沃尔沃复兴

　　Three years after he bought the Volvo car brand for $1.8 billion, Chinese auto pioneer Li Shufu is doubling down on his bet that he can revive the storied Swedish auto maker by turning its focus to China.

　　以18亿美元买下沃尔沃(Volvo)汽车品牌三年后，中国汽车业先驱李书福押下重注，他要通过主打中国市场的方式让这个瑞典汽车生产商恢复生机。

　　On Wednesday, Volvo Car Corp. showcased its new plant here as part of a plan to make China key to the brand's survival. Locally built Volvos should increase in the future to 75% of the brand's sales in the country from 15% now, officials said.

　　沃尔沃汽车公司(Volvo Car Corp.)周三在成都展示了其新工厂，这是让中国成为该品牌生存关键要素的部分计划。有高管说，未来中国本土生产的沃尔沃占该品牌在中国内地销量的比例应该能增加到75%，现在这一比例仅为15%。

　　Volvo's new Chinese plant will be able to produce 120,000 cars a year, and it initially would make Volvo S60L sedans. Production would start late this year and the factory will eventually employ around 2,500 employees at full capacity. Mr. Li's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. bought Volvo from Ford Motor Co. F -3.36% in 2010.

　　沃尔沃的这个新工厂年产量将达到12万辆，最初将生产S60L轿车，今年底量产，全部投产后最终雇员将在2,500人左右。2010年，李书福的浙江吉利控股集团(Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.)从福特汽车公司(Ford Motor Co.)手里买下了沃尔沃。

　　Still, Volvo is playing catch-up. Audi, the Volkswagen AG VOW.XE -0.34% luxury brand, and BMW AG BMW.XE -1.26% build in China the majority of the vehicles they sell in the country. That frees them from a 25% import duty, lowers shipping costs and allows them to respond more rapidly to shifts in demand.

　　尽管如此，沃尔沃仍在奋起直追。大众汽车(Volkswagen AG)旗下的豪华品牌奥迪(Audi)和宝马汽车公司(BMW AG)在中国市场上销售的大多数汽车都产自中国，这样可免除25%的进口税，降低运输成本，并且可对需求变化做出更加迅速的反应。

　　Volvo plans to launch six new models in China this year. Volvo President and Chief Executive Hkan Samuelsson promises new Volvos that will be 'at a level we as a brand have never seen before.'

　　沃尔沃计划今年在中国推出六款新车型。沃尔沃总裁兼首席执行长萨穆埃尔松(Hakan Samuelsson)承诺，沃尔沃新车将跃上一个空前的台阶。

　　The company today is targeting 200,000 car sales in China─and 800,000 globally─by 2020. That 2020 goal represents a step back from the ambitious goals a few years ago. He once had talked of selling 200,000 vehicles in China by the middle of this decade.

　　沃尔沃眼下的目标是到2020年实现在华销量20万辆，全球销量80万辆。相比几年前的雄心壮志，这个2020年的目标似乎后退了一步。萨穆埃尔松曾说，到2015年左右在华销量要达到20万辆。

　　Since then, Volvo has slid backward. World-wide sales fell 6.1% in 2012 to about 422,000 cars and sport utilities from 2011. Volvo is unprofitable, although the company says it prefers to focus on operating income, which was 18 million Swedish kronor ($2.7 million) in 2012.

　　他说这番话之后，沃尔沃便开始走下坡路。2012年，沃尔沃全球销量同比下降6.1%，售出了大约42.2万辆轿车和运动型多功能(SUV)车。虽然沃尔沃说更愿意着眼于运营利润，但该公司现在并不盈利。2012年，沃尔沃的运营利润为1,800万瑞典克朗（合270万美元）。

　　Volvo has been hurt by poor sales in recession-battered Europe, a key market accounting for more than half of global sales. The brand also has lost ground in the U.S., where sales are recovering. Volvo's U.S. sales are down nearly 6% to 25,900 vehicles through May 31 this year, far behind luxury car leaders Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus.

　　在遭受衰退重创的欧洲，疲弱的销售给沃尔沃带来了冲击。欧洲是该公司的关键市场，占沃尔沃全球销量的比重超过一半。此外，沃尔沃在销售复苏的美国也失掉了部分市场。今年年初至5月31日，沃尔沃在美国的销量下降了近6%，至2.59万辆，远落后于豪车领导者梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)、宝马和雷克萨斯(Lexus)。

　　Volvo has been slow to launch smaller, more fuel-efficient cars and SUVs in the U.S. Mr. Samuelsson says new, more economical engines on tap for the end of this year should help rebuild Volvo's U.S. sales to 100,000 cars a year, the level it had before the recession.

　　沃尔沃在美国推出更小、更节能轿车和SUV的步伐一直很缓慢。萨穆埃尔松说，今年年底将使用的更节能的新型发动机应该有助于让沃尔沃在美销量恢复至每年100,000辆。衰退前沃尔沃的年销量就是这个水平。

　　In China, which is on track to be the world's largest luxury-car market, Volvo sales through the first five months of this year are up by 27% from a year ago to 22,905 vehicles. Still, Volvo ranks No. 5 among luxury brands in the market.

　　中国有望成为全球最大的豪华车市场。今年前五个月，沃尔沃在华销量同比上升27%，至22,905辆。不过，沃尔沃在中国豪华车市场中仍排在第五位。

　　Volvo needs to capture drivers like Allan Song. A 40-year-old general manager at a multinational company in Beijing, Mr. Song likes the Volvo XC60 sport-utility vehicle and the brand's reputation for safety. But he drives an Audi A6. 'I've heard that Volvo cars are safe, but it's just a concept,' he said. 'I don't have any real experience with it. Volvo never reached out to me for a test drive.'

　　沃尔沃需要“俘获”像Allan Song这样的车主。40岁的Allan Song是北京一家跨国公司的总经理，他喜欢沃尔沃XC60 SUV以及该品牌的安全口碑。但他开的是奥迪A6。他说：我听说过沃尔沃汽车很安全，但这只是一个概念，我没有任何实际的体验。沃尔沃从来没有联系过我试驾。

　　Michael Xu, general manager of a Volvo dealership in Chengdu, said the brand needs more models for customers to choose from, especially 'high-level' models priced greater than one million yuan.

　　沃尔沃成都一家经销商的总经理Michael Xu说，该品牌需要提供更多的车型供客户选择，特别是定价在人民币100万元以上的高档车型。

　　'These type of models would help build Volvo's brand image,' he said. The most expensive Volvo available for sale at his dealership is 700,000 yuan ($113,000). In the five months to May his dealership sold 400 Volvos, up 63% from the same period a year earlier.

　　他说，这类车型将可帮助打造沃尔沃的品牌形象。他们店里销售的最贵的沃尔沃汽车价格在人民币700,000元（合113,000美元）。在截至今年5月的五个月中，他们店销售了400辆沃尔沃汽车，较去年同比增加63%。

　　Moving up the sales rankings will require cash for new models. Mr. Li indicated he may borrow some of the capital he needs.

　　若想在销量排行榜上提升名次，则需要投入资金研发新的车型。李书福暗示说，他可能筹借所需的部分资金。

　　He didn't specify details. Volvo executives say there has been a lot of interest in participating in financing of the company as long as the company can show it is on track to achieve its goals.

　　他没有透露详细情况。沃尔沃高管们说，只要该公司能够显示有望实现目标，很多人表示有兴趣参与该公司的融资。

　　Mr. Samuelsson said Volvo spends about seven billion Swedish kronor annually on development costs. The former CEO of truck maker MAN SE MAN.XE -0.33% took over as Volvo CEO last fall after its board sacked then CEO Stefan Jacoby after Volvo reported a first-half loss.

　　萨穆埃尔松说，沃尔沃每年斥资约70亿瑞典克朗用于研发。他曾任卡车生产商MAN SE的首席执行长，去年秋季出任沃尔沃首席执行长。之前沃尔沃公布2012年上半年亏损后，董事会解除了当时的首席执行长雅各比(Stefan Jacoby)的职务。

　　Volvo has secured three key financing deals recently, including a 922 million ($1.21 billion) refinancing deal with the China Development Bank and a 1 billion kronor credit facility with the Swedish Export Credit Corp. RJI +0.12% and additional financing from a group of banks.

　　沃尔沃最近敲定了三笔重要的融资交易，包括一笔与中国国家开发银行(China Development Bank)规模9.22亿欧元（合12.1亿美元）的再融资交易，一笔与瑞典出口信贷公司(Swedish Export Credit Corp.)规模10亿瑞典克朗的信贷安排，以及多家银行提供的更多融资。

　　'Volvo Car is at a stage where we need to pay attention to profitability, but at same time we need to invest,' Mr. Li said. 'We need to cooperate with financial institutions so we can go into the future.'

　　李书福说，沃尔沃汽车正处于一个需要关注利润的阶段，但同时需要进行投资。我们需要与金融机构合作，以便能够走向未来。

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