China Revs Up Car Plans

中国希望，在中国这个世界名列前茅的汽车市场上，中国汽车生产商能够更具竞争力。而汽车生产商们对于如何做到这一点或许各有各的想法。中国有100多家汽车生产企业，虽然以销售量计是世界第二大轿车市场，但国内市场却依然被大众(Volkswagen)丰田(Toyota)和本田(Honda)之类的海外品牌所主导。JD Power的数据显示，去年中国乘用车市场上销售量排名前十的汽车厂家中，只有奇瑞汽车(Chery Automobile)和吉利汽车(Geely Automobile Holdings)两家中国本土企业。中国政府已制定出一项计划以改变这一状况。其核心是要在未来两年实施一系列行业整合，产生出两到三家年销售量超过200万辆的轿车生产企业，以及五家年轿车年销售量达100万辆左右的企业。但计划中未包含鼓励国内汽车厂家收购外国竞争对手的任何措施，而海外收购被中国一些轿车生产商视为获取市场竞争力的道路。吉利汽车最近表示，它有兴趣通过跨国收购获得技术和销售平台，并借此绕过国外的贸易壁垒。沃尔沃公司(Volvo)预计就是它的一个收购目标。但中国政府却对此类海外收购持谨慎态度，鉴于近年来汽车行业跨境并购的历史，北京如此谨慎也是可以理解的。但政府的汽车行业整合计划也有可能面临地方政府的抵制，后者都想保护各自的地方利益。抱抵制态度的还有各个汽车厂家，无论是私营还是国有企业，它们可能都不会像政府预期的那般顺从。中国政府真正的同盟军只有中国汽车市场不断恶化的状况。中国去年的汽车销量增长速度创下了10年来的最低水平。中小轿车企业的艰难处境可能会为国内汽车行业的并购创造条件，使规模较大的中国本土汽车生产商将并购目光从海外竞争对手身上移开。Andrew Peaple相关阅读中国推出多项措施振兴汽车业 2009-03-23美国政府将救助汽车零部件供应商 2009-03-20吉利汽车有意通过国际收购绕过贸易壁垒 2009-03-14收购沃尔沃将给吉利带来灾难？ 2009-03-04中国汽车设计师难觅用武之地 2009-03-18


China is hoping to make its auto makers more competitive in one of the world's biggest auto markets: China.The car makers may have different ideas of how to get there.There are more than 100 auto makers based in China, currently the world's second-largest car market in terms of the number of vehicles sold, but domestic sales continue to be dominated by overseas brands such as Volkswagen, Toyota and Honda. Only two Chinese companies -- Chery Automobile and Geely Automobile Holdings -- made the top 10 list of annual passenger vehicle sales last year, according to data from JD Power.Beijing has hatched a plan to change this. It is centered on a round of consolidation in the next two years that will leave two or three companies selling more than two million cars a year, and five others with sales of about half that.Absent is any incentive for the auto makers to include acquisitions of foreign rivals, which some of China's car makers see as their path to  competitiveness.Geely recently said it is interested in using international acquisitions to gain access to technology and sales platforms, and to circumvent trade barriers. Volvo is one expected target.Beijing is cautious about such moves -- understandable given the recent history of cross-border mergers in the auto sector.But the consolidation plan might also face resistance from local governments seeking to protect their parochial interests.Individual companies, too, whether private or state-owned, may not be as pliant as the government expects.What Beijing does have on its side is the worsening condition of China's auto market. Last year, Chinese auto sales grew at their slowest pace in a decade.Suffering smaller car makers may entice dealmaking at home -- keeping the larger Chinese auto makers' eyes off overseas temptation.Andrew Peaple