比亚迪的困境
原文: 选自英国>
译者: 赖小琪
BYD, the Chinese protégé of Warren Buffett, is nothing if not over-ambitious – much like China itself. The Shenzhen based carmaker was meant to teach the world how to mass produce electric cars, while Beijing was meant to teach other governments how to wean their drivers off Big Oil.
沃伦•巴菲特在中国的 “信徒”比亚迪, 和中国本身很像, 都是具有过分宏大的抱负. 这家总部位于深圳的汽车制造商打算在大规模生产电动车方面为世界树立榜样, 而中国政府则打算在如何脱离对石油巨头们的依赖方面充当别国政府的楷模.
Now Beijing is questioning the whole direction of its green car policy, and BYD is disappointing the market, yet again, with another profit warning: time for a dose of realism all around.
如今中国正在质疑其绿色车辆政策的整体方向, 而比亚迪则令市场大失所望, 因为它再次发出盈利警示: 现在是时候面对现实了.
Late on Monday BYD (1211:HKG), backed by the iconic US investor’s Berkshire Hathaway, warned the Hong Kong market that net profit for the first three quarters of this year may be down 85-95 per cent. Its shares have fallen 60 per cent so far this year.
周一晚, 在偶像级人物巴菲特旗下伯克希尔哈撒韦公司的支持下, 比亚迪向香港市场发出警示, 称今年前三季度的净利润会下降85%-95%. 从今年初至今, 比亚迪的股价已经下跌60%.
BYD tried to blame that on weakness in the China car market – but it is suffering more than its peers from that problem, partly because it benefited disproportionately in the past from government largesse in the form of subsidies to small engine vehicles (since phased out).
比亚迪试图将这种状况的原因归结于中国汽车市场疲软—但是与同行比起来, 它的损失更严重, 部分是因为过去它曾获得政府对其小排量车的大量补贴, 而如今这些补贴已经取消.
And in what the market took as a resounding vote of no confidence, BYD head of sales Xia Zhibing resigned earlier this month; Chinese media say he disagrees with the company’s overambitious dealer expansion strategy.
另外, 本月早期比亚迪的销售总经理夏治冰辞职, 这被市场认为是对比亚迪的不信任. 中国媒体称夏治冰辞职是因为不同意该公司的过激的代理商扩张策略.
The good news is that BYD’s profit problems so far have almost nothing to do with electric cars – because the company is not selling very many of those yet. BYD is suffering because its conventional cars, at first perceived as cheap, small and trendy, are now perceived as just cheap and small. The bad news is the same: that BYD’s plans to be a mass producer and exporter of electric cars has yet to get off the ground.
值得庆幸的是, 比亚迪目前的盈利问题几乎与其生产的电动车无关, 因为该公司还没有大量销售电动车. 比亚迪的问题出现在它传统的车辆里. 这些车一开始被认为是廉价, 小型而且时髦的车辆, 而现在顾客们却认为这些车辆仅仅廉价和小型, 并不时髦. 不幸的事也大同小异: 比亚迪计划成为一家大规模的电动车生产商和出口商, 但是却迟迟没有行动.
Berkshire and Buffet have repeatedly reiterated their support for BYD, despite over a year of bad profit news, to no avail.
虽然比亚迪在过去一年盈利不佳, 伯克希尔哈撒韦公司和巴菲特却一再重申他们将会继续支持比亚迪, 然而却徒功无功.
At least Buffet is still in the black on his investment with the shares trading at around double the price he paid in 2008. But subsequent investors many of whom seemed to have piled in because of Buffet will be nursing heavy losses.
至今为止, 至少巴菲特对比亚迪的投资是赚钱的, 因为比亚迪的股价是他在2008年支付买价的两倍左右. 但是后面跟随巴菲特而大量买进的投资者则要承受巨大的损失.
Buffet and Berkshire insist they are in the long haul – though the haul seems to get longer all the time.
伯克希尔哈撒韦公司和巴菲特坚称他们做的是长线投资, 尽管这条长线似乎一直在变长. |
