拯救捷豹路虎 汽車品牌最成功的跨國收購

The prospects for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands under the ownership of Tata Motors of India looked weirdly uncertain in 2008, as the global financial crisis unfolded with no clear indicator whether and how soon sales of luxury cars would again grow.

2008年，當捷豹和路虎被轉讓給印度塔塔集團時，這兩大品牌的前景還非常不明朗。彼時，全球經濟危機剛剛爆發，還沒有明確的跡象表明豪華車型的銷量何時才能再度恢復增長。

Any undue fretting turns out to have been misplaced. The two quintessentially British automakers, sold to Tata by Ford Motor F 0.40% , delivered a record 462,678 vehicles globally in 2014, up from 425,000 a year earlier, with a forecast to break half a million this year. The automaker opened a manufacturing plant last year, its fifth worldwide, with ambitions to reach 750,000 units sold annually by the end of the decade and a million eventually.

現在看來，當時的擔心完全是不必要的。路虎和捷豹都是典型的英國汽車品牌，被福特賣給塔塔後，它們的全球銷量在2013年達到425,000臺，2014年更是達到了創紀錄的462,678臺，今年甚至有望突破50萬臺。去年塔塔集團又開設了它在全球的第五家制造廠。這家雄心勃勃的公司希望，到2020年，捷豹和路虎的銷量能夠達到75萬臺，最終衝破百萬大關。

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

爲了實現這個願景，塔塔在2015底特律車展上宣佈了兩項計劃：一是爲旗下大多數車型推出柴油版，二是推出捷豹的首款跨界車型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 more stringent efficiency rules worldwide. Diesel’s image among luxury buyers has improved in recent years because the latest versions of the engine are virtually free of smoke, odor and clatter, while providing particularly rapid acceleration from a dead stop. All of the luxury brands have been offering diesel, so why not Jaguar Land Rover?

對於捷豹和路虎的車型來說，柴油發動機似乎是個理想的選擇，因爲柴油版的燃油經濟性要優於汽油引擎，隨着全球各國對能耗標準卡得越來越嚴，此舉是非常必要的。近幾年，柴油引擎在豪車陣營的形象已有所好轉，因爲最新的柴油發動機基本上避免了煙霧、氣味和噪聲等短板，同時還能提供非常理想的加速能力。所有的豪車品牌都開始提供柴油版，捷豹和路虎肯定也不願落於人後。

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

捷豹路虎全球運營總監安迪o高斯在底特律表示，捷豹路虎“必須挑戰奧迪、寶馬和奔馳建立的現有秩序。我們正在爲人們建立明顯的差異化選擇，吸引他們購買捷豹而不是哪個德系品牌。這幾個德系品牌通常只把對方當作競爭對手，並不太重視其他品牌。”

What seems clear is that Tata has allowed Jaguar and Land Rover to maintain their British identity while providing prodigious capital to renew their model lineups, invest in new technology such as diesel engines and market aggressively to luxury shoppers. For anyone with a feel for history, the arrangement has an ironic aspect since India was a colony of Great Britain until it gained its independence in 1947. More than a few British aristocrats plied Indian 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格，同時提供大量資本來革新兩大品牌的車型組合。另外，塔塔還進行了柴油發動機等技術投資，並在市場營銷方面不惜血本。對於任何一個對歷史有一點了解的人，這一幕恐怕都不乏一絲諷刺感，因爲印度直到1947年之前還是英國的殖民地，很多英國貴族一度開着他們的捷豹和路虎疾馳在印度的大小公路上，現在卻要靠印度來拯救這兩個歷史悠久的英國品牌。

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

作爲捷豹的首款“性能跨界車型”，鋁合金車身的F-Pace預計將於2016年正式亮相。該車的上市應該會令美國的捷豹路虎經銷商感到興奮，因爲去年捷豹路虎在美銷量下跌了7%，只賣出15,773臺。目前在全球範圍內，跨界車都是最受市場歡迎的車型，在豪車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 the price 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 figured out which way prices are moving and how to adjust.

捷豹和路虎的最新柴油車型登陸美國的時機則有些尷尬，因爲美國的汽油油價正在暴跌，相比之下，柴油車型的燃油成本反而顯得不划算。不過能源價格總有辦法迷惑消費者，就在他們以爲自己已經瞭解價格走勢以及怎樣適應後，它說不定又會殺你個回馬槍。

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

在投資建設這兩個英國豪車品牌的同時，塔塔無疑也在不斷觀察和學習。不知還要多久，塔塔就會利用這種知識打造具有其民族特徵的自有品牌，最終躋身全球汽車廠商的“第一梯隊”？（財富中文網）