沃爾沃將發佈被吉利收購後的首款新車大綱

Volvo will next week unveil its first new model under Chinese ownership, a make-or-break model for the Swedish carmaker in its bid to almost double its sales by the end of the decade.

沃爾沃(Volvo)下週將發佈被中國企業收購後的第一款新車型。該車型將決定這家瑞典汽車製造商能否到2020年時將銷量提升到之前的接近兩倍。

The launch of the XC90, a large SUV designed to compete with the BMW X5 and Audi Q7, is being hailed by Volvo executives as part of a rebirth of the company since it was sold by Ford to China’s Geely in 2010.

沃爾沃將要發佈的是新一代XC90，這是一款旨在與寶馬X5 (BMW X5)和奧迪Q7 (Audi Q7)一決高下的大型運動型多用途車(SUV)，沃爾沃高管們將其譽爲2010年後公司復興計劃的一部分。2010年，沃爾沃被福特(Ford)賣給中國的吉利(Geely)。

Under a $11bn investment programme since then, Volvo has designed a new chassis and engines to replace components it used to share with Ford.

在易主後，沃爾沃通過一項110億美元的投資計劃設計了新的底盤和引擎，以替換此前與福特車型共用的部件。

“It’s also a symbolic car from that point of view. It is the biggest proof and evidence of what we are all about. If this doesn’t work we have an issue,” said Alain Visser, Volvo’s head of sales and marketing.

“從這個角度來說，它還是一款具有象徵意義的車，最大限度地證明和表明了我們的特色。如果這也行不通，那我們就有麻煩了，”沃爾沃銷售與營銷高級副總裁阿蘭•維瑟(Alain Visser)說。

The Swedish carmaker has struggled for much of the past decade with stagnating sales of about 400,000 vehicles a year – well below the 1.6m recorded by luxury carmakers such as BMW and Audi. But under Geely’s ownership it now has a target of reaching 800,000 cars by 2020 and achieving a profit margin of 8 per cent, after losses in several recent years.

在過去10年的很大一部分時間裏，停滯不前的銷售額讓沃爾沃苦苦掙扎，約40萬輛車的年銷量遠低於寶馬、奧迪等高端汽車製造商160萬輛車的年銷量。不過，被吉利收購後，雖然近幾年出現了虧損，但沃爾沃現已制定了到2020年時年銷量達到80萬輛以及利潤率達到8%的目標。

“Volvo are a bit of an in-between carmaker,” said one investor active in the automotive sector. “They don’t sell as much as BMW or Audi but they also price their cars somewhere in between the mass market and premium manufacturers.”

“沃爾沃有點像一家夾在中間的汽車製造商，”一名活躍於汽車領域的投資者說，“他們賣的車沒有寶馬或奧迪多，但他們車的價位也處於大衆市場和高端製造商之間。”

The XC90 will be priced between 50,000 and 100,000 and is touted by the Swedish carmaker as the first model priced directly against equivalents from Germany.

新一代XC90的價格將在5萬歐元到10萬歐元之間，沃爾沃宣稱這是首款直接針對德國同級別車型定價的車型。

“The ambition with this car is to close the gap. Pricing can only be increased by more attractive cars,” said Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo’s chief executive.

“這款車的目標是縮小差距。只有推出更多有吸引力的車才能提高定價，”沃爾沃首席執行官霍坎•薩穆埃爾鬆(Håkan Samuelsson)說。

The SUV is seen as crucial for Volvo’s prospects in China and the US, where sales have been falling for the past decade. Normally available as a seven-seater, it will be available with four seats especially for the Chinese market after the input of Li Shufu, the chairman of both Volvo and Geely.

過去10年，沃爾沃在中國和美國的銷量一直在下降。人們認爲新一代XC90對沃爾沃在這兩個市場的前景至關重要。這款車通常配置7個座位，在得到沃爾沃和吉利共同的董事長李書福的意見後，這款車將特別爲中國市場推出4座車型。

Thomas Ingenlath, head of design, said Volvo had learned to value the importance of the back-seat passenger from its Chinese owner.

沃爾沃設計高級副總裁托馬斯•英根拉特(Thomas Ingenlath)表示，沃爾沃從吉利那裏學到了要重視後排座的乘客。