Lex專欄 中國應如何支持本土品牌

Can a planned economy build great brands? The history of the Chinese auto industry suggests not. Domestic brands’ market share has fallen five percentage points year to date to less than a third. On Monday, China found Mercedes-Benz guilty of price fixing.

計劃經濟能否締造偉大品牌？中國汽車業的歷史似乎表明不能。今年迄今爲止，中國國產品牌市場份額已下降5個百分點，降至不到三分之一。週一，中國裁定梅賽德斯-奔馳(Mercedes-Benz)在定價上違法。

These facts may not be related, but regulation in China’s auto market has long been aimed at supporting local names. In the early days, state planners decreed that foreigners must go halves with a local partner on any auto venture. This policy did not lead to the hoped-for transfer of technology and management knowhow. State-owned enterprises and their foreign partners alike found it easier to make money just letting foreigners get on with it.

這兩個事實也許不相關，但長期以來，中國汽車市場監管的目的一直都是支持本土品牌。初期，中國政府的規劃者規定，外商投資的任何汽車企業必須由本土合夥人持有一半股份。這項政策並沒有帶來他們所期盼的技術和管理知識的轉移。中國國有企業和他們的外資夥伴都發現，放手讓外國人運營企業更容易賺錢。

Thus, from the mid-2000s, the government tried a different tack. This time, foreign partners were encouraged to develop an entirely “local” brand for transfer to the domestic partner. Foreign carmakers used the opportunity to introduce a lower-priced brand based on older overseas models. The ironic result has been to undermine the proper homegrown brands – Geely, Chery, Great Wall and BYD – whose cars had previously dominated the lower end of the market.

因此，從2005年前後開始，中國政府嘗試了另一種策略。這一次，官方鼓勵外資合作伙伴開發一個完全“本土”的品牌，然後將其轉交給中國國內的合作方。外國汽車製造商利用這一機會，推出了基於海外舊款型號的低價品牌。具有諷刺意味的結果是，這破壞了正宗本土品牌的成長：吉利(Geely)、奇瑞(Chery)、長城(Great Wall)和比亞迪(BYD)這些中國本土品牌的汽車此前曾主導低端市場。

Auto industry benchmarking firm JD Power’s 2013 survey, released in April, included five Chinese brands. Four that were the “local” offspring of the international partnerships, including Wuling Hongguang (General Motors and two local partners) and Changan Star 2 (Ford and Changan). BYD was the only fully Chinese brand on the list.

汽車行業基準研究公司JD Power在4月公佈的2013年調查報告中，包括了五家中國品牌。四家是源於國際合作的“本土”產物，其中包括五菱宏光（由通用公司(General Motors)與兩家本土企業合作）和長安之星2代（福特(Ford)與長安）。比亞迪是該名單上唯一完完全全的中國品牌。

Market forces are asserting themselves elsewhere. BYD and Daimler have linked up to create the Denza; Chery and Jaguar Land Rover signed a deal in 2012, with production due this year. If the government wants domestic brands to succeed, it might reconsider which champions it backs.

市場力量在其他方面也顯示出威力。比亞迪和戴姆勒(Daimler)合作創造了Denza；奇瑞和捷豹路虎(Jaguar Land Rover)在2012年簽訂了合約，定於今年投產。如果中國政府想讓本土品牌成功，可能要重新考慮應當支持哪些冠軍。