去年，梅塞德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)用飞机运送100位中国客户前往德国和洛杉矶，为该公司汽车的外部涂饰与内部功能提供意见，其中包括将于2013年亮相的S级豪华轿车。尤其让他们感兴趣的，是客户对于后座的意见。
中国是奔驰公司在德国与美国之后的第三大市场，但却是其顶级旗舰车型——S级轿车的最大市场。且该款车型逾半数的中国车主都配备了专职司机。
奔驰中国区负责人麦尔斯(Klaus Maier)表示：“后座必须是后仰的——这一点非常重要。还有一点也很重要，即有机会在后座工作——要有个人电脑连接线和存放东西的空间。 ”
随着中国对豪华汽车的需求直线上升，中国客户的偏好正决定着德国汽车制造商产品——不管是在北京、还是在柏林出售——的外观、舒适度和功能。中国客户偏好最大、最昂贵的车型。
奔驰去年在中国大陆地区的单位销量增长了115%，上月的增幅为74%。该品牌的母公司戴姆勒(Daimler)正在中国兴建一个发动机工厂，这是其在华30亿欧元（合43亿美元）投资的一部分，同时也是该公司成立125年来，在德国之外地区建立的首座发动机工厂。
大众(Volkswagen)旗下的奥迪(Audi)品牌在向加州和中国派遣了一些设计团队成员研究潜在客户之后，在其掀背车型Q5中加入了温控杯架。它之所以这样做，一定程度上是因为中国客户走到哪儿都喜欢带着茶杯。
宝马(BMW)在豪华轿车市场的销量为居行业之首。野村(Nomura)估计，该公司去年四季度17亿欧元的营运利润中，有39%来自中国市场。考虑到中国那些欣赏宝马品牌的客户以及该公司日益增长的利润，它的中文名字（宝马）或许起得十分贴切——这个词的中文含义是“宝贵的座骑”。
中国人的口味正成为豪华车型设计中最具影响力的因素。在这个市场上，由于自身强大的品牌与相对较小的销量，德国制造商往往为全球不同市场出品几乎一模一样的车型。
不过，中国汽车市场的繁荣也正影响着一些大众车型。当在中国颇受欢迎的通用汽车(General Motors)设计别克(Buick)品牌的新车型君越(LaCrosse)时，它主要考虑的就是中国市场，因此设计了一个宽敞、舒适的后座空间。
分析师指出，随着中国在全球汽车销售中所占的份额持续增长，它可能会产生更深远的影响——不仅仅是对车型的配置及涂饰，还有驱动汽车行驶的核心技术。
分析师表示，中国面临的能源与环境挑战，会推高对电动汽车的需求。而拥堵的道路环境，将会加速该行业从大功率引擎，转向功率更小、更为节能的引擎。
北京汽车咨询公司Synergistics的总裁罗威(Bill Russo)表示：“在欧洲国家高速公路上行驶的汽车，无须设计成与这里的汽车一样。这里的汽车永远不会跑到时速200公里。”
译者/何黎
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001037747
Last year Mercedes-Benz flew groups of 100 Chinese customers to Germany and Los Angeles to offer feedback on the exterior finish and interior features of cars including its S-Class luxury saloon, which hits showrooms in 2013. In particular, they were interested in opinions on the back seat.
China is Mercedes’ third-largest market after Germany and the US, but its biggest for the S-Class, the top-of-the-range flagship model. And more than half of the car’s Chinese customers ride behind a driver.
“The back seat has to be reclining – this is very important,” says Klaus Maier, head of Mercedes in China. “It is also important to have opportunities to work in the back – connections for the PC, and space to put things in.”
As demand for premium cars rockets in China, where there is a preference for the biggest and most expensive models, the country’s customers are determining the look, feel and features of German carmakers’ products, whether sold in Beijing or Berlin.
Mercedes’ unit sales in mainland China rose by 115 per cent last year, and 74 per cent last month. The brand’s parent company, Daimler, is building an engine plant in China – the first in its 125-year history to be built outside Germany, and part of a €3bn ($4.3bn) investment in the country.
Volkswagen’s Audi marque, after sending members of the design team to California and China to study prospective customers, introduced a climate-controlled cup-holder in its Q5 crossover vehicle. It did this in part because of Chinese consumers’ preference for toting around tea.
BMW, the industry’s top-selling luxury producer, generated 39 per cent of its fourth-quarter operating profit of €1.7bn in China, Nomura estimates. Perhaps aptly – given BMW’s appreciative customers and its growing profits in China – the name by which the brand is known in Mandarin, bao ma, means “treasure horse”.
Chinese tastes are making the biggest impact on car design in the premium segment, where because of their powerful brands and the relatively small volumes sold, German makers tend to produce models that are almost identical around the world.
However, China’s car boom is shaping some mass-market models, too. When General Motors designed Buick’s new LaCrosse saloon, the brand – popular in China – produced a roomy, plush rear-seat space primarily with that market in mind.
As China’s weight in world car sales continues to grow, analysts say, it could have a more profound impact, not only on the fit and finish of models but also on the core technology that makes them run.
China’s energy and environmental challenges could drive demand for electric cars, analysts say. Conditions on its congested roads will accelerate the industry’s shift from powerful engines to smaller, more efficient ones.
“A car for the autobahn doesn’t need to be engineered to do the same here,” says industry analyst Bill Russo, head of Beijing’s Synergistics automotive consultancy. “It will never go up to 200km per hour.”
没有评论:
发表评论