中國汽車經銷商聯合向全球汽車品牌施壓
China’s car dealers have banded together to put pressure on global automotive brands in negotiations over subsidies and sales targets — discovering the bargaining power of a united front, as the country’s auto sector did four and half years ago.
中國汽車經銷商已聯合起來，在圍繞補貼和銷售目標的談判中對全球汽車品牌施壓——就像4年半前的中國汽車業那樣，它們發現了聯合起來的談判力量。In 2010 a series of industrial actions emboldened Chinese car workers to agitate for greater pay and benefits. Dealers are now forming their own associations to extract concessions from companies such as BMW and Volkswagen.
2010年，一連串工業行動讓中國汽車工人敢於抗議，要求提高薪酬和福利待遇。現在，汽車經銷商們正在組建它們自己的協會來迫使寶馬(BMW)和大衆(Volkswagen)等公司作出讓步。
In a letter circulating online, an association representing dealers that sell imported VWs have complained of persistently high sales targets, despite slowing economic growth and intense competition. China, the largest car market, reported its lowest quarterly growth figure in more than five years in October. Car sales data today are expected to show a year-on-year increase of 8 per cent, half the 2013 figure.
在網上流傳的一份信件中，代表大衆進口車經銷商的一個協會抱怨稱，儘管經濟增長放緩和競爭激烈，但大衆仍堅持過高的銷售目標。去年10月，全球最大的汽車市場中國發布5年多來最低的季度增長數據。預計今日發佈的汽車銷售數據同比增長8%，是2013年增速的一半。
“For three years we’ve been trying to reach sales goal, with no success,” the VW dealers said. “Dealers have high inventory levels, and our businesses are in difficulty.”
大衆經銷商們表示：“3年來我們一直在努力實現銷售目標，但未能取得成功。經銷商庫存積壓，我們的生意陷入困境。”Carmakers routinely give China dealers rebates to compensate them for holding cars longer than expected when sales slow — or for unloading inventories at a loss to meet volume commitments. In their bid to negotiate bigger rebates and lower targets, the association of VW importers cited BMW’s agreement last week to give its dealers Rmb5.1bn ($822m) in rebates for 2014. The deal was negotiated by a BMW dealer association that had been set up in November. A similar association was set up to represent Porsche dealers.
在銷售放緩時，汽車製造商通常會給予中國經銷商返利，以補償庫存時間超出預期，或者虧本處理庫存產品以實現銷量承諾。爲了要求提高返利和降低銷售目標，大衆進口商協會援引了寶馬上週同意爲其經銷商提供51億元人民幣（合8.22億美元）返利以彌補後者2014年損失的例子。該協議是由去年11月成立的寶馬經銷商協會談判達成的。保時捷(Porsche)的各家經銷商也成立了類似的協會。“The BMW agreement screwed it up for everyone,” said one multinational car executive. “They just gave hope to other dealer organisations that if they rally up and start crying, other car companies might pay up too.”
一位跨國汽車企業的高管表示：“寶馬的協議讓大家都完蛋了。它們讓其他經銷商協會產生期待，以爲只要它們聯合起來開始抱怨，其他汽車公司也會掏錢的。”VW said it was in “close co-operation and constant exchange” with its dealers in China — but declined to comment on the details of discussions.
大衆表示，正在與“中國經銷商密切合作和持續交流”，但該公司拒絕就討論細節置評。Yesterday VW announced that it had sold a record 3.67m cars in China last year, up 12.4 per cent from 2013. Most of the cars VW sells in China are manufactured locally in joint ventures with two state car groups, SAIC and First Auto.
昨日，大衆宣佈，去年在華汽車銷量達到創紀錄的367萬輛，較2013年增長12.4%。大衆在華銷售的汽車大部分是與上海汽車(SAIC Motor)和一汽(First Auto Works)這兩家國有車企組建的合資企業在中國本土製造的。The dealer revolt gathered momentum in late November, ahead of crucial end-of-year discussions about rebates and sales targets. Some dealers have called for government regulation to address the imbalance of power.
經銷商的抗議在去年11月下旬形成勢頭，當時正值就返利和銷售目標展開關鍵的年終談判前夕。一些經銷商呼籲政府監管部門解決這種力量失衡。“Dealers are in a very weak position because their contracts will be reviewed every year,” says Yale Zhang, an analyst with Automotive Insight. “It’s not a fair deal and should be changed.”
Automotive Insight的分析師張豫(Yale Zhang)表示：“經銷商們處於非常不利的地位，因爲它們的合同每年都需要評估。這不公平，應該予以改變。”When an official from the Chinese Automobile Dealers Association revealed the terms of a dealer subsidy agreement with BMW, it sparked a sell-off of the German automaker’s shares.
當中國汽車流通協會(Chinese Automobile Dealers Association)的一位官員透露了經銷商與寶馬達成的補貼協議條款的時候，寶馬公司的股價應聲大跌。Carmakers are reliant on the China market to bolster sales and stock prices — with demand stalling or falling Brazil, Russia and India, and growing only weakly in Europe. Tensions with China’s dealers are likely to continue growing.
汽車製造商依賴中國市場來提振銷售和股價——它們在巴西、俄羅斯和印度的銷售停滯甚至下降，在歐洲只能實現微幅增長。它們與中國汽車經銷商的緊張關係可能會愈演愈烈。
