李書福押重注推動沃爾沃復興

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18億美元買下沃爾沃(Volvo)汽車品牌三年後，中國汽車業先驅李書福押下重注，他要通過主打中國市場的方式讓這個瑞典汽車生產商恢復生機。

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.

沃爾沃汽車公司(Volvo Car Corp.)週三在成都展示了其新工廠，這是讓中國成爲該品牌生存關鍵要素的部分計劃。有高管說，未來中國本土生產的沃爾沃佔該品牌在中國內地銷量的比例應該能增加到75%，現在這一比例僅爲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.

沃爾沃的這個新工廠年產量將達到12萬輛，最初將生產S60L轎車，今年底量產，全部投產後最終僱員將在2,500人左右。2010年，李書福的浙江吉利控股集團(Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.)從福特汽車公司(Ford Motor Co.)手裏買下了沃爾沃。

Still, Volvo is playing catch-up. Audi, the Volkswagen AG -0.34% luxury brand, and BMW AG -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.

儘管如此，沃爾沃仍在奮起直追。大衆汽車(Volkswagen AG)旗下的豪華品牌奧迪(Audi)和寶馬汽車公司(BMW AG)在中國市場上銷售的大多數汽車都產自中國，這樣可免除25%的進口稅，降低運輸成本，並且可對需求變化做出更加迅速的反應。

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

沃爾沃計劃今年在中國推出六款新車型。沃爾沃總裁兼首席執行長薩穆埃爾鬆(Hakan Samuelsson)承諾，沃爾沃新車將躍上一個空前的臺階。

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.

沃爾沃眼下的目標是到2020年實現在華銷量20萬輛，全球銷量80萬輛。相比幾年前的雄心壯志，這個2020年的目標似乎後退了一步。薩穆埃爾鬆曾說，到2015年左右在華銷量要達到20萬輛。

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.

他說這番話之後，沃爾沃便開始走下坡路。2012年，沃爾沃全球銷量同比下降6.1%，售出了大約42.2萬輛轎車和運動型多功能(SUV)車。雖然沃爾沃說更願意着眼於運營利潤，但該公司現在並不盈利。2012年，沃爾沃的運營利潤爲1,800萬瑞典克朗（合270萬美元）。

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.

在遭受衰退重創的歐洲，疲弱的銷售給沃爾沃帶來了衝擊。歐洲是該公司的關鍵市場，佔沃爾沃全球銷量的比重超過一半。此外，沃爾沃在銷售復甦的美國也失掉了部分市場。今年年初至5月31日，沃爾沃在美國的銷量下降了近6%，至2.59萬輛，遠落後於豪車領導者梅賽德斯-奔馳(Mercedes-Benz)、寶馬和雷克薩斯(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.

沃爾沃在美國推出更小、更節能轎車和SUV的步伐一直很緩慢。薩穆埃爾鬆說，今年年底將使用的更節能的新型發動機應該有助於讓沃爾沃在美銷量恢復至每年100,000輛。衰退前沃爾沃的年銷量就是這個水平。

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.

中國有望成爲全球最大的豪華車市場。今年前五個月，沃爾沃在華銷量同比上升27%，至22,905輛。不過，沃爾沃在中國豪華車市場中仍排在第五位。

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.'

沃爾沃需要“俘獲”像Allan Song這樣的車主。40歲的Allan Song是北京一家跨國公司的總經理，他喜歡沃爾沃XC60 SUV以及該品牌的安全口碑。但他開的是奧迪A6。他說：我聽說過沃爾沃汽車很安全，但這只是一個概念，我沒有任何實際的體驗。沃爾沃從來沒有聯繫過我試駕。

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.

沃爾沃成都一家經銷商的總經理Michael Xu說，該品牌需要提供更多的車型供客戶選擇，特別是定價在人民幣100萬元以上的高檔車型。

'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.

他說，這類車型將可幫助打造沃爾沃的品牌形象。他們店裏銷售的最貴的沃爾沃汽車價格在人民幣700,000元（合113,000美元）。在截至今年5月的五個月中，他們店銷售了400輛沃爾沃汽車，較去年同比增加63%。

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

若想在銷量排行榜上提升名次，則需要投入資金研發新的車型。李書福暗示說，他可能籌借所需的部分資金。

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.

他沒有透露詳細情況。沃爾沃高管們說，只要該公司能夠顯示有望實現目標，很多人表示有興趣參與該公司的融資。

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

薩穆埃爾鬆說，沃爾沃每年斥資約70億瑞典克朗用於研發。他曾任卡車生產商MAN SE的首席執行長，去年秋季出任沃爾沃首席執行長。之前沃爾沃公佈2012年上半年虧損後，董事會解除了當時的首席執行長雅各比(Stefan Jacoby)的職務。

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.

沃爾沃最近敲定了三筆重要的融資交易，包括一筆與中國國家開發銀行(China Development Bank)規模9.22億歐元（合12.1億美元）的再融資交易，一筆與瑞典出口信貸公司(Swedish Export Credit Corp.)規模10億瑞典克朗的信貸安排，以及多家銀行提供的更多融資。

'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.'

李書福說，沃爾沃汽車正處於一個需要關注利潤的階段，但同時需要進行投資。我們需要與金融機構合作，以便能夠走向未來。