世界500強CEO訪談 第14期:通用里克瓦格納 如何逆轉衰退(2)

Reporter: March’s industry auto sales in the US were dismal, and forecasters’ outlooks are bleak. Why do you think sales will rebound later this year? What do you think the prospects of the industry will be?

記者：3月份美國的汽車銷售并不理想，預言者都覺得未來會很不景氣，為什么您認為在今年年末的時候，汽車的銷售額會出現(xiàn)反彈呢?您認為汽車業(yè)前景如何?

Wagoner: Recent reports are somewhat of a concern, but we still expect the aggressive interest-rate cuts and other stimuli to start to have an impact this summer.

瓦格納：最近的報道都表現(xiàn)出一些憂慮，但是我們期望利率的下降和其他的剌激物能夠在今年夏天的時候起到一定的作用。

Reporter: Some of GM’s new cars have received critical acclaim, but many consumers still equate GM with lower quality. To your enterprise, this is certainly a disadvantage. However, how do you change that?

記者：通用汽車很多新型車都受到了稱贊，但是很多消費者仍然認為通用汽車的質量較差。對于你們的公司來說，這當然是劣勢。然而您將如何改變消費者的想法呢?

Wagoner: We have to deliver on the promise of a car, be on quality and reliability, and give the vehicle an appearance so exciting, people want to give it a try. We have significantly improved the number of people shopping in the midsize category for Malibus; we have to translate that into sales. I，d say so far so good, but it’s very early in the game. This is not a one car, two cars, three-year deal. We have to stay on this for a good long time and over time build brands and reputations that can carry us forward. One thing we pushed at is，how do we get a global leadership team. Some 55 percent of our business today is outside the US, so my top leadership team for the first time in our history is now up to half non-Americans. We pushed really hard to get there. It makes for a very different discussion when we get together for our quarterly or semester meetings. I think we’re a lot more challenging of each other.

瓦格納：我們必須要履行對汽車的承諾，在質量和可靠性方面有一定的競爭力，并且使汽車的外形有吸引力，使人們有想要試一下的念頭。我們已經(jīng)大大提高了想要購買中型馬里巴士的人的數(shù)量，我們必須要使這些轉化成銷售額。我想說，到現(xiàn)在為止，一切都還不錯，但是我們現(xiàn)在還處于早期。這不僅僅是一輛車、兩輛車的三年的交易，我們必須要花費很多的時間在這上面，樹立新品牌和聲譽，以推動我們可以不斷向前進。有一件我們努力推動的事情就是，我們應該如何成立一個全球性的領導隊伍。如今企業(yè)55%的業(yè)務都是在美國以外的國家進行，因此歷史上第一次出現(xiàn)我們的領導團隊有一半以上不是美國人的情況。這是我們非常努力之后才實現(xiàn)的，因此當我們在季度會議上碰面的時候，我們會有一個非常不同于往常的討論會，我認為這對我們是一件更具挑戰(zhàn)性的事情。

Reporter: While GM，s operations in emerging markets like Brazil have been doing well, Germany has been weak. How is that turnaround going?

記者：通用汽車在新興市場，比如說巴西做得很好，但是在德國卻不太好。那里的周轉情況怎么樣?

Wagoner: It’s not time to break out the Champagne, but we’re moving in the right direction. If you look at the economy, it suggests demand over time should improve, so we hope it will get on a positive track, perhaps even this year. But no doubt it’s been tough. We have to work hard to drive our company to the right track.

瓦格納：現(xiàn)在還不好說，但是我們正朝著正確的方向行進。如果你去了解一下經(jīng)濟，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)需求會有所增長，所以我們希望事情可以朝好的方向發(fā)展，也許就從今年開始。但是無疑，那將會是很困難的。我們必須努力讓公司回到正軌。

Reporter: Boosting fuel economy and reducing emissions are increasingly important for automakers. But the technology to do so isn’t cheap, and it’s not yet certain which method will win out. So how do you proceed when money is already tight?

記者：對于汽車制造商來說，推動燃料經(jīng)濟發(fā)展、減少排放量將會是越來越重要的事情。但是做到這幾點所要采用的技術是很昂貴的，現(xiàn)在我們也不確定哪種方法會勝出。所以在資金緊缺的時候，您應該怎樣發(fā)展呢?

Wagoner: It’s not easy, but we basically have said it’s critical to our future success and to achieve what I think could be strong growth for the industry. It’s very high on our priority list on how we allocate our R&D, engineering and infrastructure spending, so we，re making whatever trade offs we need to. But the amount of cash and expenses are pretty high and going to get higher, so we have to structure the rest of our business to accommodate that.

瓦格納：那不容易，但是那對我們未來的成功、實現(xiàn)產(chǎn)業(yè)實力的有力增長很重要。怎樣撥付我們的研發(fā)工程和基礎設施所需款項是我們首先要考慮的，所以我們權衡一切我們需要的因素。但是現(xiàn)金數(shù)量和花費很高，并且會越來越高，所以我們必須要組織余下的產(chǎn)業(yè)去接受它。