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Ford Motor Co. unveiled details of its plans to sell its premium Lincoln brand to Chinese buyers who equate luxury with German names like Audi and BMW, as it looks to the 97-year-old nameplate to give it a boost in a hot new market.
福特汽车公司(Ford Motor Co.)公布了面向中国购车者销售高端林肯牌汽车计划的细节，希望凭借这个有97年历史的品牌在一个火爆的新市场提升业绩。中国购车者通常将豪车与奥迪(Audi)、宝马(BMW)等德国品牌划等号。
The Dearborn, Mich., auto maker said on Thursday that its plans by 2016 to sell five U.S.-made Lincoln models through 60 dealerships in 50 cities in China, where the brand currently lacks a formal presence. Longer-term, Ford hopes to make Lincolns in China so it can better compete with market giants Audi AG, BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz.
福特周四表示，计划到2016年通过中国50个城市的60家经销商销售五款美国产林肯汽车。目前林肯汽车在中国还缺乏正式地位。长远来看，福特希望在中国生产林肯车，以便更好地与奥迪、宝马和奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)等市场巨头竞争。
'Clearly over time as we sell more and more Lincolns here we will gradually localize them,' Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said at Thursday's event, which came ahead of this weekend's Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, the biggest car show this year in the world's largest auto market.
福特首席执行长穆拉利(Alan Mulally)在周四的活动上表示，随着福特在中国销售越来越多的林肯车，福特将逐步实现林肯车的本地化。这次活动是在周末开幕的北京国际车展前举行的。北京国际车展是作为世界第一大汽车市场的中国在今年举办的最大一次车展。
The first models to come this fall will be the MKZ midsize sedan, a competitor to popular German rides such as the Audi A4 or Mercedes C-Class, and the MKC small sport utility vehicle. A midsize SUV, a large sedan and a version of the brand's big Navigator SUV will follow.
将于今年秋季推出的首批车型是MKZ中型轿车和MKC小型SUV。MKZ中型轿车是与奥迪A4或奔驰C级轿车等颇受欢迎的德国品牌竞争的一个车型。随后，福特将推出一款中型SUV、一款大型轿车，以及林肯领航员(Navigator)大型SUV的一个车型。
The aim is to capture buyers like Qin Chao, who this week inspected Navigator SUVs at one of Beijing's gray-market car lots, which purchase foreign vehicles and bring them to China to sell. 'American cars consume too much gas,' said the 35-year-old Mr. Qin, who owns a Beijing restaurant. 'Not many people in China recognize this brand.'
福特的目的在于吸引像秦超（音）这样的购车者。秦超本周在北京的一个汽车灰市考察了领航员SUV。汽车灰市从国外购进汽车然后运回中国销售。35岁的秦超说，美国车太费油。他还说，中国人不太认这个牌子。秦超在北京经营一家饭馆。
Lincoln won't present an immediate threat to the top premium brands in China, said Klaus Paur, global head of automotive at research firm Ipsos. Imported vehicles in China are subject to taxes and duties that can raise the sticker price or crimp profits.
研究公司益普索(Ipsos)全球汽车业务负责人包亦农(Klaus Paur)说，林肯不会马上对中国市场的顶尖品牌汽车构成威胁。进口车在中国需要交税，可能会抬高售价或挤压利润。
Volkswagen AG's Audi, BMW and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz make much of what they sell in China domestically through joint ventures with local auto makers. They account for roughly two-thirds of luxury cars sold in China, according to data from the companies and an estimate from management-consulting firm Strategy& of a 1.6 million-vehicle luxury market last year.
无论是大众汽车(Volkswagen AG)旗下的奥迪和宝马还是戴姆勒公司(Daimler AG)旗下的梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)，它们在中国销售的大部分汽车都是与本地厂商合资生产的，根据这些公司的数据以及管理咨询公司Strategy&去年对160万辆豪车市场的估计，上述品牌在中国豪车市场占有三分之二左右的份额。
'If you want to get on premium buyers' radar screen you need critical mass in terms of on-the-road presence, and that requires localization,' Johan De Nysschen, chief executive of Nissan Motor Co.'s Infiniti, said in an interview in Shanghai.
日产汽车(Nissan Motor Co.)旗下英菲尼迪(Infiniti)的首席执行长Johan De Nysschen在上海接受采访时表示，如果想进入高端买家的视线，就需要达到一定的路面曝光率，这就需要本地化。
Competition is also intensifying. Infiniti plans to introduce to China a youth-aimed crossover SUV based on the Nissan Juke, while Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus plans to show in Beijing a production version of its first compact SUV, to be called the NX.
市场竞争也在加剧。英菲尼迪计划向中国市场引入一款基于日产Juke的面向年轻人的跨界运动型多用途车(SUV)，丰田汽车公司(Toyota Motor Co.)旗下的雷克萨斯(Lexus)则计划在北京展示其首款紧凑型SUV样车，该车型将被命名为NX。
Ford China Chief Executive John Lawler said Thursday that Lincolns will be 'competitively priced' with locally made rivals.
福特中国首席执行长罗礼祥(John Lawler)周四表示，与中国本地生产的其他车型相比，林肯汽车的定价将具有竞争力。
Lincoln plans to enhance its appeal by offering a boutique feel in its dealerships. On Thursday, Lincoln executives in Beijing showed off a mockup of the design for its stores, which will feature amenities such as a tea room, seating areas designed to evoke a plush hotel lobby and a 'Personalization Studio' where customers can use a touch-screen table to choose among options and styling packages for the interiors of the cars.
林肯汽车计划打造精品化的经销商以增加吸引力。周四，林肯汽车管理人士在北京展示了其店面的设计模型，店内将配备茶室、类似豪华酒店大堂的座位区和“个性化工作室”（顾客可使用触摸屏桌面来选择汽车配置及内饰风格套餐）等设施。
Lincoln's goal is to make the process of buying a car more akin to being fitted for a bespoke shirt or suit. The brand expects dealers to have a team of people, including a 'host,' a 'master,' and a 'craftsman,' to guide customers through the process of ordering a vehicle. The host maintains the relationship with the customer, the master's role is to answer questions about features and pricing, and the craftsman manages maintenance.
林肯的目标是让买车人有一种在服装店里量身定做衬衫或西服的感觉。林肯希望经销商组建一支团队，里面有主持人、专家和技师，为顾客选购车辆提供全程服务。主持人负责维护良好的客户关系，专家负责回答有关车型特点和定价的问题，技师则负责维修保养。
All of this is a departure from the way Lincoln sells vehicles in the U.S., which is through a long-standing network of independently owned franchises that largely control the way a customer is treated. But in China, Ford and Lincoln can set up the retail network from scratch--one advantage of coming late to the market.
所有这些都与林肯在美国的销售方式截然不同。在美国，林肯是通过存在已久的独立特许经销商网络销售汽车的，这些特许店在很大程度上决定着如何对待客户。但在中国，福特汽车和林肯可以从头开始建立零售网络，这是后来者的一个好处。
In the U.S., Lincoln sales declined slightly in 2013--a drop of less than 1%, to 81,694--as the brand dealt with the phaseout of the Town Car. Later this year, the brand's sales should jump as it begins selling the MKC, a small crossover built on the same underpinnings as the Ford Escape--known as the Kuga in China--but with a different look.
在美国市场，受林肯城市(Town Car)系列车型逐步退市影响，去年林肯汽车销量小幅下滑不到1%，至81,694辆。今年晚些时候，随着MKC车型投放市场，预计林肯汽车销量将实现增长。林肯MKC是一款小型跨界车，以福特翼虎(Escape)（在中国被称为六和(Kuga)）为蓝本开发，但外形不同。
China is 'strategically important because of the size of the market,' said Matt VanDyke, director of Global Lincoln. 'We expect it to be a very substantial piece of our global sales.'
林肯全球业务负责人范戴克(Matt VanDyke)表示，中国市场规模之大使其具有重要的战略意义。他说，预计中国市场将占到林肯全球销售的很大一部分。
At the car market in Beijing, Sun Xiaogang, a 29-year-old staffer for a foreign trading company in Beijing, said he ordered a Navigator for his boss. 'My company has quite a number of American clients, so my boss wants to have a Lincoln car to pick up those American clients when they come to Beijing,' Mr. Sun said. 'He knows that Lincoln is a luxury brand in America. And it looks good as well. Big and powerful.'
在北京某汽车市场，为北京一家外贸公司工作的29岁的孙晓刚（音）说，他为老板订购了一台林肯领航员(Navigator)。孙晓刚说，他们公司有很多美国客户，所以老板想买一辆林肯用来接送他们。他还说，老板知道林肯是美系豪华品牌，样子也不错，空间大、马力足。
Joseph B. White / Mike Ramsey
Joseph B. White / Mike Ramsey
