拯救捷豹路虎 汽車(chē)品牌最成功的跨國(guó)收購(gòu)

The prospects for the Jaguar and Land Roverbrands under the ownership of Tata Motors of Indialooked weirdly uncertain in 2008, as the globalfinancial crisis unfolded with no clear indicatorwhether and how soon sales of luxury cars wouldagain grow.

2008年，當(dāng)捷豹和路虎被轉(zhuǎn)讓給印度塔塔集團(tuán)時(shí)，這兩大品牌的前景還非常不明朗。彼時(shí)，全球經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)剛剛爆發(fā)，還沒(méi)有明確的跡象表明豪華車(chē)型的銷(xiāo)量何時(shí)才能再度恢復(fù)增長(zhǎng)。

Any undue fretting turns out to have beenmisplaced. The two quintessentially Britishautomakers, sold to Tata by Ford Motor F 0.40% , delivered a record 462,678 vehicles globallyin 2014, up from 425,000 a year earlier, with a forecast to break half a million this year. Theautomaker opened a manufacturing plant last year, its fifth worldwide, with ambitions to reach750,000 units sold annually by the end of the decade and a million eventually.

現(xiàn)在看來(lái)，當(dāng)時(shí)的擔(dān)心完全是不必要的。路虎和捷豹都是典型的英國(guó)汽車(chē)品牌，被福特賣(mài)給塔塔后，它們的全球銷(xiāo)量在2013年達(dá)到425,000臺(tái)，2014年更是達(dá)到了創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的462,678臺(tái)，今年甚至有望突破50萬(wàn)臺(tái)。去年塔塔集團(tuán)又開(kāi)設(shè)了它在全球的第五家制造廠(chǎng)。這家雄心勃勃的公司希望，到2020年，捷豹和路虎的銷(xiāo)量能夠達(dá)到75萬(wàn)臺(tái)，最終沖破百萬(wàn)大關(guān)。

 

 

Tata’s vision could be helped by two initiatives announced earlier this month at the NorthAmerican International Auto Show in Detroit: diesel engine availability for most models andJaguar’s first crossover, F-Pace.

為了實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)愿景，塔塔在2015底特律車(chē)展上宣布了兩項(xiàng)計(jì)劃：一是為旗下大多數(shù)車(chē)型推出柴油版，二是推出捷豹的首款跨界車(chē)型F-Pace。

Diesel engines seem ideal for Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles because they’re more fuel-efficient than gasoline engines, a key consideration as automakers strive to meet morestringent efficiency rules worldwide. Diesel’s image among luxury buyers has improved inrecent years because the latest versions of the engine are virtually free of smoke, odor andclatter, while providing particularly rapid acceleration from a dead stop. All of the luxurybrands have been offering diesel, so why not Jaguar Land Rover?

對(duì)于捷豹和路虎的車(chē)型來(lái)說(shuō)，柴油發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)似乎是個(gè)理想的選擇，因?yàn)椴裼桶娴娜加徒?jīng)濟(jì)性要優(yōu)于汽油引擎，隨著全球各國(guó)對(duì)能耗標(biāo)準(zhǔn)卡得越來(lái)越嚴(yán)，此舉是非常必要的。近幾年，柴油引擎在豪車(chē)陣營(yíng)的形象已有所好轉(zhuǎn)，因?yàn)樽钚碌牟裼桶l(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)基本上避免了煙霧、氣味和噪聲等短板，同時(shí)還能提供非常理想的加速能力。所有的豪車(chē)品牌都開(kāi)始提供柴油版，捷豹和路虎肯定也不愿落于人后。

Andy Goss, worldwide head of sales, said in Detroit this month the brands “have to challengethe established order the way Audi had to do with BMW and Mercedes not so long ago. We arecreating clear differentiation for people to buy Jaguar over one of the German brands. TheGermans tend to look at each other rather than anyone else.”

捷豹路虎全球運(yùn)營(yíng)總監(jiān)安迪o高斯在底特律表示，捷豹路虎“必須挑戰(zhàn)奧迪、寶馬和奔馳建立的現(xiàn)有秩序。我們正在為人們建立明顯的差異化選擇，吸引他們購(gòu)買(mǎi)捷豹而不是哪個(gè)德系品牌。這幾個(gè)德系品牌通常只把對(duì)方當(dāng)作競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，并不太重視其他品牌。”

What seems clear is that Tata has allowed Jaguar and Land Rover to maintain their Britishidentity while providing prodigious capital to renew their model lineups, invest in newtechnology such as diesel engines and market aggressively to luxury shoppers. For anyonewith a feel for history, the arrangement has an ironic aspect since India was a colony ofGreat Britain until it gained its independence in 1947. More than a few British aristocrats pliedIndian roads in their Jaguars and Land Rovers.

目前可以看出，塔塔允許捷豹和路虎保留了它們的英式風(fēng)格，同時(shí)提供大量資本來(lái)革新兩大品牌的車(chē)型組合。另外，塔塔還進(jìn)行了柴油發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)等技術(shù)投資，并在市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)方面不惜血本。對(duì)于任何一個(gè)對(duì)歷史有一點(diǎn)了解的人，這一幕恐怕都不乏一絲諷刺感，因?yàn)橛《戎钡?947年之前還是英國(guó)的殖民地，很多英國(guó)貴族一度開(kāi)著他們的捷豹和路虎疾馳在印度的大小公路上，現(xiàn)在卻要靠印度來(lái)拯救這兩個(gè)歷史悠久的英國(guó)品牌。

In early 2016, Jaguar’s first “performance crossover” – the aluminum-bodied F-Pace – isscheduled to debut. The event should bring cheer to the hearts of U.S. franchise dealersespecially, since U.S. sales fell 7% to 15,773 units last year. Crossovers are the hottestvehicle segment worldwide and have proliferated among the luxury brands as well.

作為捷豹的首款“性能跨界車(chē)型”，鋁合金車(chē)身的F-Pace預(yù)計(jì)將于2016年正式亮相。該車(chē)的上市應(yīng)該會(huì)令美國(guó)的捷豹路虎經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商感到興奮，因?yàn)槿ツ杲荼坊⒃诿冷N(xiāo)量下跌了7%，只賣(mài)出15,773臺(tái)。目前在全球范圍內(nèi)，跨界車(chē)都是最受市場(chǎng)歡迎的車(chē)型，在豪車(chē)板塊也一樣受到追捧。

Jaguar and Land Rover’s new diesels may have arrived at an odd moment in the U.S. since theprice of gasoline has been plummeting while diesel fuel is becoming relatively more expensive.But energy prices have a way of confounding consumers just when they think they’ve figuredout which way prices are moving and how to adjust.

捷豹和路虎的最新柴油車(chē)型登陸美國(guó)的時(shí)機(jī)則有些尷尬，因?yàn)槊绹?guó)的汽油油價(jià)正在暴跌，相比之下，柴油車(chē)型的燃油成本反而顯得不劃算。不過(guò)能源價(jià)格總有辦法迷惑消費(fèi)者，就在他們以為自己已經(jīng)了解價(jià)格走勢(shì)以及怎樣適應(yīng)后，它說(shuō)不定又會(huì)殺你個(gè)回馬槍。

Tata Motors no doubt has been watching and learning as it invests in its estimable Britishbrands. How long before Tata uses that knowledge to advance under its own name and ethnicidentity to the front ranks of global automakers?

在投資建設(shè)這兩個(gè)英國(guó)豪車(chē)品牌的同時(shí)，塔塔無(wú)疑也在不斷觀察和學(xué)習(xí)。不知還要多久，塔塔就會(huì)利用這種知識(shí)打造具有其民族特征的自有品牌，最終躋身全球汽車(chē)廠(chǎng)商的“第一梯隊(duì)”?(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))