觀致汽車在中國搏生存

From Fisker to Coda, the car industry is littered with failed start-ups. Qoros is hoping to avoid the same fate.

從菲斯科(Fisker)到Coda，汽車業倒下了成片的初創企業。觀致汽車(QOROS)正希望避免這樣的命運。

The Sino-Israeli carmaker made waves when it launched its first car in 2013 with ambitions to simultaneously crack China, the world’s biggest vehicle market, and Europe, one of the most competitive.

2013年，這家中國和以色列合資的汽車製造商發佈了第一款汽車，雄心勃勃地想要同時打入中國和歐洲——前者是世界最大的汽車市場，後者是世界競爭最激烈的市場之一——這在當時引起了轟動。

Since then, it has ejected its chief executive, rung up dismal sales and faced questions from several analysts about its financial viability. Those dreams of being a globally renowned car brand seem more distant than ever and the company’s travails highlight the challenges facing new entrants in the capital-intensive car industry.

後來，觀致首席執行官換人，銷售業績慘淡，多名分析師也對其財務生存能力提出質疑。成爲全球知名汽車品牌的夢想看上去更加遙不可及了。這家企業的痛苦經歷凸顯出，在資本密集型的汽車行業，新進入者面臨着巨大挑戰。

“Nobody knows who Qoros is,” admits Phil Murtaugh, a former China specialist at General Motors who ran electric-car maker Coda before taking over at Qoros in February.

原來在通用汽車(GM)的“中國通”墨斐(Phil Murtaugh)今年2月加盟觀致汽車，擔任首席執行官，此前他曾執掌電動車製造商Coda。“沒人知道觀致，”他坦言。

Armed with a new five-year business plan, the company — which showed off a new concept car at last month’s Shanghai car show — faces a fraught period as it rebrands itself, seeks to achieve operating profitability by 2018, and then looks to make good on its lofty long-term ambitions.

已經制定了新五年商業計劃的觀致汽車將面臨一段困難時期，該公司力求重塑品牌，到2018年實現營運利潤，然後期待實現其遠大抱負。該公司在上月的上海車展上展示了一款新概念車。

Qoros was set up in 2007 as a joint venture between Chery, a state-owned Chinese carmaker, and Israel Corp, a conglomerate controlled by Idan Ofer, a London-based billionaire. Mr Ofer, who also chaired collapsed electric-car venture Better Place, assembled a crack team of European engineers, including former BMW designer Gert Hildebrandand Volker Steinwascher, once head of Volkswagen in North America.

2007年，中國國有汽車企業奇瑞(Chery)和以色列控股集團(Israel Corp)合資成立了觀致汽車。該以色列集團由倫敦億萬富翁伊丹•奧佛(Idan Ofer)控股，奧佛還曾擔任現已倒閉的電動車企業Better Place的董事長。觀致汽車成立時，他集結了一支由歐洲工程師組成的精銳人馬，其中包括寶馬(BMW)前設計師何歌特(Gert Hildebrand)和曾執掌大衆(Volkswagen)北美業務的石清仁(Volker Steinwascher)。

“Idan thinks big,” says a person close to Mr Ofer. “He wants this company to be the first GM to come out of China.” Mr Ofer was unavailable for comment.

“奧佛目光遠大。”一名接近奧佛的人士表示，“他希望這家公司成爲第一家誕生於中國的通用汽車。”記者聯繫不上奧佛，無法請其置評。

Its first car, launched at the 2013 Geneva motor show, was declared the year’s safest small family vehicle in European tests. Only last week the same car, the Qoros 3 sedan, achieved China’s highest ever safety rating.

觀致在2013年日內瓦車展上發佈的第一款汽車，被歐洲新車安全評鑑協會(Euro NCAP)評爲當年最安全的小型家用車。就在上週，同一車型——觀致3轎車——又獲得中國新車評價規程(C-NCAP)有史以來最高的安全評分。

But safety does not necessarily sell. Despite having a production capacity of 150,000 at its factory in Changshu, Qoros sold just 7,000 vehicles last year. GM sold 3.5m in China in 2014.

然而，安全未必意味着好賣。儘管其位於常熟的工廠擁有15萬輛的生產能力，但觀致汽車去年僅售出7000輛。通用汽車去年在中國售出350萬輛汽車。

As for taking on Europe, Qoros sales in the test bed of Slovakia were just 51.

在打入歐洲方面，觀致試水斯洛伐克僅取得51輛的銷售成績。

Mr Murtaugh admits that it was “foolish” to try to crack China and Europe in one shot. “When I joined, I told people, ‘Let’s put western Europe on hold for a while,’ ” he says. “We’re a Chinese company, we have to get China right.”

墨斐承認，試圖同時打開中國和歐洲市場是“愚蠢的”。“我加入觀致時，告訴大家‘把打入西歐的計劃暫停一段時間吧’，”他說，“我們是家中國企業，必須在中國取得成功。”

What went wrong? Bill Russo, managing director of consulting firm Gao Feng Advisory, says that it was a mistake to launch a car into the ultra-competitive sedan segment at a higher price than most other domestic brands.

問題出在哪兒？高風諮詢公司董事總經理羅威(Bill Russo)表示，在競爭極其激烈的轎車市場發佈一款售價高於多數國產品牌的汽車是錯誤的。

Robin Zhu, analyst at Bernstein, says that the cars are simply too costly to build and too expensive to buy. “You’re trying to persuade consumers in China to choose a brand they’ve never heard of at the same price point as a Ford Focus,” he says.

盛博(Sanford Bernstein)分析師Robin Zhu表示，觀致車生產造價太高，對消費者來說也太貴。“你在試圖說服中國消費者選擇一個他們從未聽過、價位卻和福特(Ford)的福克斯(Focus)不相上下的品牌，”他說。

The Focus, China’s second-bestselling car last year, starts at Rmb100,000 ($16,000) versus about Rmb120,000 for the equivalent Qoros 3 Hatch.

福特福克斯是去年中國市場上的第二大暢銷車，起步價10萬元人民幣（約合1.6萬美元），而同檔的觀致3掀背版售價在12萬元人民幣左右。

Mr Murtaugh is trying to turn things round by launching a wholesale rebranding to put the focus on Qoros as a Chinese company, rather than a cosmopolitan curiosity. He is also ramping up the dealer network. Qoros has 78 dealers across China and it plans almost to double that number this year.

墨斐正在努力扭轉局面，他拿出了一項全面品牌重塑計劃，將觀致定位爲一家中國公司，而不是一家獨特的全球性企業。他還要擴大經銷商網絡。觀致在全中國有78家經銷商，今年計劃增加近一倍。

Playing in its favour is an emerging trend in which domestic brands in China are gaining ground on foreign rivals. But the growth is not in affordable luxury sedans but in cheap and cheerful sport utility vehicles.

外國汽車品牌與中國國產品牌之間正呈此消彼長之勢，這也對觀致有利。但國產品牌中獲得銷量增長的並非價格適中的豪華轎車，而是價格低廉、歡快的運動型多功能車(SUV)。

Qoros offers hatchbacks and compact off-roaders, but despite the hybrid SUV concept shown in Shanghai, it is unclear what the fourth model will be.

觀致有掀背車和緊湊型越野車，但儘管在上海國際車展上展出了混合動力SUV概念車，目前還不清楚它的第四款車型將是什麼。

“The sales have been a point of ridicule,” says Bernstein analyst Robin Zhu.

伯恩斯坦(Bernstein)分析師Robin Zhu表示：“銷售情況有點諷刺。”

The financial picture is also grim. According to results posted by New York-listed Kenon Holdings, the Israel Corp subsidiary that now controls the half-stake, Qoros made a $175m net loss in 2014 — up from $127m in 2013 — on revenues of $140m. Cumulative losses since 2010 are almost $450m.

觀致的財務狀況也很嚴峻。根據紐約上市公司Kenon Holdings發表的財報，2014年觀致總收入1.4億美元，淨虧損1.75億美元，較2013年1.27億美元的淨虧損擴大，2010年以來累計虧損近4.5億美元。Kenon Holdings是以色列控股集團的子公司，現在握有觀致一半股權。

The company and investors declined to comment on its level of debt, and Kenon does not declare the figure. The Caixin business website in China estimates Qoros’s gross debt at Rmb8.9bn at the end of September.

觀致和投資者對其債務水平不予置評，Kenon也沒有公佈具體數字。據中國財經網站財新網(Caixin)估計，截至去年9月底觀致的債務總額爲89億元人民幣。

Over the past 12 months the parent companies have put up more than Rmb2bn in loans, and both Chery and Mr Ofer — the controlling shareholder of Kenon — have pledged their commitment to the business. Sales have improved, but only slightly, at 2,500 for the first three months of the year.

過去12個月，各母公司總共爲觀致提供了逾20億元人民幣貸款，而且奇瑞以及Kenon的控股股東奧佛都承諾要增加投資。觀致的銷售情況有所改觀，但也只是略爲好轉，今年第一季度銷量爲2500輛。

Still, unbowed, Mr Murtaugh says that operating profitability is just two or three years away. “There’s going to be a bit of pride taken in China that a Chinese company . . . can do it just as good as German companies, American companies, Japanese companies,” he says.

墨斐依然不屈不撓，他表示只要再過兩三年觀致就可實現營運利潤。他說：“中國將爲觀致感到一絲驕傲，一家中國企業……可以做到與德國企業、美國企業、日本企業一樣好。”

“When that becomes known, Qoros will be a success.”

“當這一點廣爲人知後，觀致一定會成功。”