The Obama administration's auto task force wavered over whether to put Chrysler out of its misery, which would have been braver and better for an industry suffering from huge over-capacity, but lost its nerve.
奥巴马政府的汽车特别工作组摇摆不定,不知道是否要让克莱斯勒破产。对于一个产能严重过剩、不知何去何从的产业,这本来是一个更大胆、更好的举措。
  
Inside, morale was as low as you would expect at a company making poor cars with cheap interiors, such as the Sebring. “We have engineers who have been biting their tongues until they were bleeding, saying this car could be better,” says Ralph Gilles, the head of Dodge.
在克莱斯勒内部,士气非常低迷,就像你在赛百灵等生产品质低劣、内饰廉价的汽车的公司会看到的那样。道奇品牌主管吉尔斯表示:“我们的工程师一直紧咬牙关直到流出血来,说这辆车会做得更好。”
  
The two dozen executives who form Mr Marchionne's court at Chrysler now look energised, if a bit scared (those who do not measure up are soon fired). They hang on his every word, which can be hard since he mumbles, and are hard at work on his five-year plan.
马尔基翁内在克莱斯勒的管理团队有24名高管,他们目前看上去干劲十足,但也有点惶恐(那些不合格的高管很快遭到了解雇)。他们紧记马尔基翁内的每一个字——由于他说话含糊,这可能有些困难——努力完成他提出的5年计划。
  
It looks like he did a smart deal, taking advantage of the US government's weak bargaining position and Chapter 11 to gain control of a distressed asset for free. In return for technology and his time, Fiat will probably end up with 35 per cent of Chrysler by 2011.
看起来马尔基翁内做了一次精明的交易,他利用美国政府不利的谈判地位和破产保护法,免费获得了一项廉价资产的控制权。作为技术和他所花费时间的回报,到2011年,菲亚特最终可能获得克莱斯勒35%的股份。
  
He can put together Lancia and Chrysler, using the latter as the group's main brand with technology from the former, build on Jeep's potential and figure out something for Dodge. With a revival under way in US car sales, he needs only to squeeze a few points of market share, and an IPO beckons.
他可以把蓝旗亚和克莱斯勒整合在一起,利用蓝旗亚的技术让克莱斯勒成为集团主打品牌,依赖吉普的潜力并研究出道奇的解决办法。随着在美国汽车销售的复苏,他只需要将市场份额提高几个百分点,而且上市正在向他招手。
  
Short-term recovery is, however, not the same as long-term prosperity, and Fiat-Chrysler's prospects of achieving the latter look dim. Mr Marchionne may be an expert player, but his cards are weak.
不过,短期复苏不同于长期繁荣,而菲亚特-克莱斯勒实现长期繁荣的前景看起来很渺茫。马尔基翁内可能是个打牌高手,但他的牌不好。
  
The Chrysler and Fiat stands at the Detroit show were instructive to observe. Compared with the focus on fewer models and brands at other companies, it looked like a collection of small enterprises – Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari.
观察克莱斯勒和菲亚特在底特律车展上的展台颇有启发意义。相比于只关注较少车型和品牌的其它公司,菲亚特-克莱斯勒看起来就像小企业的集合——克莱斯勒、道奇、菲亚特、蓝旗亚、阿尔法-罗密欧 、马莎拉蒂和法拉利。
  
Dodge is an ageing blue-collar name with only one strong model – the Ram truck – which is being turned into a separate brand. Mr Marchionne admits that Dodge has value only in the US, and the reason he did not shut it was “volume” – it was too big to fail.
道奇是一个日渐老化的蓝领品牌,只有一个正在转变为独立品牌的强大车型——公羊卡车。马尔基翁内承认,道奇只在美国有价值,他没有关闭道奇的理由在于其“规模”——太大而不能倒闭。
  
Meanwhile, Chrysler has enough of a challenge on its hands to do better in its domestic market. Expanding it into Asia, or making Lancia and Fiat into broader European brands to rival Volkswagen, Renault or Opel would be extremely hard.
与此同时,克莱斯勒改善国内市场表现就已经遇到了不少挑战。如果让克莱斯勒向亚洲扩张,或者让蓝旗亚和菲亚特成为更广泛的欧洲品牌,与大众、雷诺或欧宝竞争,将是一项极其艰巨的任务。
  
Mr Marchionne insists that he can deploy his brands around the world by sharing common platforms, rather than needing a single marque like Ford or Toyota. “Brand proliferation is not a novelty, and it is profitable if you execute it well,” he says.
马尔基翁内坚称,他可以通过共享平台,在全球范围内配置旗下品牌,而不像福特或丰田那样需要单独的车型。他表示:“品牌扩散并不新鲜,如果执行得好,它是会带来盈利的。”
  
Perhaps, but Machiavelli would not have advised his prince to rely upon it. If and when Mr Marchionne fixes Chrysler and repays the US, he will need to think again.
或许吧。但马基雅弗利不会建议他的君王依赖这种策略。万一马尔基翁内修理好克莱斯勒,偿还了美国政府资金,他将需要重新考虑。

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