跨國車企越來越離不開中國

Trade barriers and new regulatory demands imposed by Beijing almost monthly have failed to prevent foreign carmakers from making outsized profits in China, even as the groups complain about unfair treatment.

貿(mào)易壁壘，加上北京方面幾乎每月都會出臺的新監(jiān)管要求，都未能阻止外國汽車制造商在中國賺取豐厚利潤，即便這些公司抱怨受到不公平對待。

Most large automakers make at least one-quarter — and in some cases more than half — of their profits in China, far more than the share of vehicles sold there in many cases, recent analysis shows.

最近的分析表明，大多數(shù)大型汽車制造商的利潤至少四分之一(在某些情況下超過一半)來自中國，大多都遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過他們在中國銷售的汽車的占比。

That is despite policies directed at foreign car companies by China’s government, which imposes tariffs on imports of as high as 25 per cent.

這還是在中國政府針對外國汽車企業(yè)出臺了許多政策的情況下取得的，比如汽車進(jìn)口關(guān)稅高達(dá)25%。

The only way around these is to build plants locally, and that can only be done in a joint venture with a local state-owned company. That partner frequently does not do much more than act as a “toll man”, according to Robin Zhu, a Bernstein analyst based in Hong Kong.

繞過這些貿(mào)易壁壘的唯一方法是在當(dāng)?shù)亟◤S，而這只有與中國國有企業(yè)建立合資企業(yè)才行得通。伯恩斯坦(Bernstein)駐香港分析師Robin Zhu表示，合作伙伴往往不過是充當(dāng)了“收費(fèi)員”的角色。

Policymakers in Berlin and Washington have started to press Beijing on its restrictive regime for foreign carmakers. Beijing, in April, said it would do away with the joint venture requirement for foreign investors in the car industry, but has not given a timeline or any details.

柏林和華盛頓的政策制定者已開始對北京方面施壓，要求其放松針對外國汽車制造商的限制性政策。中國政府今年4月表示，將會取消關(guān)于汽車行業(yè)的外國投資者必須建立合資企業(yè)的規(guī)定，但沒有給出時間表或者任何細(xì)節(jié)。

Jim McGregor, chairman of Beijing consultancy APCO Worldwide, said carmakers were not pushing too hard. “They don’t want to rock the boat; they are making too much money here,” he said.

安可顧問(APCO Worldwide)北京公司的董事長麥健陸(James McGregor)表示，汽車制造商并沒有怎么施壓。他說：“他們不想多事，他們在這里賺得盆滿缽滿。”

Exactly how much money is difficult to tell — carmakers, as a rule, do not break out China earnings in their results.

很難說清楚他們究竟賺了多少錢——按照慣例，汽車制造商不會在財報中披露在華盈利的具體數(shù)額。

While foreign groups only have a partial economic interest in their China ventures — typically 50 per cent — there are other ways for them to profit. These include licensing, royalties and sales of parts to their joint ventures, which are done at high margins.

盡管外國集團(tuán)只擁有合資企業(yè)的部分經(jīng)濟(jì)權(quán)益(通常是50%)，但它們還有其他盈利的方式，包括許可費(fèi)、特許權(quán)使用費(fèi)以及向合資企業(yè)出售零部件，這些都有很高的利潤率。

In addition to fatter margins on each car sold, the foreign car companies are helped by China’s high growth in sales.

除了從銷售的每輛車上賺取豐厚利潤以外，外國汽車公司還受益于中國市場的高速增長。

At BMW, for instance, first-half sales were down 4 per cent in the US and up just 2.2 per cent in Europe. But thanks to 18.4 per cent growth in China, its biggest market, overall sales rose 5 per cent.

例如，今年上半年，寶馬(BMW)在美國市場銷量下降4%，在歐洲市場僅上升2.2%，但得益于在中國市場18.4%的增長，整體銷量增長5%。中國是寶馬最大的市場。

At Mercedes, US sales were down 1.8 per cent from January to July, but China sales soared by 34 per cent. With 341,267 Mercedes sold in the seven month period, the China market was nearly double the size of the US.

從今年1月到7月，梅賽德斯(Mercedes)在美國市場的銷量下降1.8%，但中國市場銷量增長34%。梅賽德斯在7個月的時間里在中國銷售了341267輛汽車，幾乎是美國市場銷量的兩倍。

Volkswagen earned most of its 2016 China profits from its local joint ventures — €3.5bn ($4.1bn). But it also earned €315m profits from vehicle imports, €1.2bn from parts imports, and €1.9bn from royalty payments, according to estimates from Evercore.

2016年大眾汽車(Volkswagen)在中國市場的利潤大多來自其合資企業(yè)——35億歐元(合41億美元)。但Evercore估計，大眾還從汽車進(jìn)口業(yè)務(wù)中獲得了3.15億歐元的利潤，從零部件進(jìn)口獲得了12億歐元的利潤，在特許權(quán)使用費(fèi)上賺得19億歐元的利潤。

Arndt Ellinghorst of Evercore said China profits were particularly high for premium cars that were mainly imported. “They make more than double the profit on an S Class or 7 Series sold in China compared to the rest of the world,” he said.

Evercore的阿恩特•埃林霍斯特(Arndt Ellinghorst)表示，高檔車在中國市場的利潤尤其高——中國市場的高檔車主要是進(jìn)口的。他說：“在中國市場銷售的奔馳S級或者寶馬7系的利潤是其他地方的兩倍多。”

While Audi sells 31 per cent of its vehicles in China, some imports and some manufactured locally, it makes 56 per cent of its profits there, according to Evercore.

Evercore的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，奧迪在中國市場的銷量僅占其總銷量的31%，部分通過進(jìn)口，部分是本地制造的，但中國市場的利潤占到其利潤總額的56%。

It estimates that 28 per cent of BMW’s pre-tax profit comes from China — mainly due to sales of imported vehicles — versus 22 per cent of their unit sales. Mr Zhu believed the share of profits may be as high as 40 or 50 per cent.

Evercore估計，寶馬稅前利潤的28%來自中國市場——主要來自進(jìn)口車的銷售——而銷量只有22%來自中國市場。伯恩斯坦的Robin Zhu則估計，寶馬來自中國市場的利潤可能高達(dá)40%至50%。

Royalties that joint ventures must pay to foreign brands for the use of their trademark are typically 2-4 per cent of the price of the car, according to Evercore, while JVs also pay foreign companies fees for personnel sent out to assist in production.

Evercore表示，合資企業(yè)因使用外國品牌商標(biāo)而必須支付的特許權(quán)使用費(fèi)通常是車價的2%-4%。另外合資公司還需向外國公司支付后者派遣人員協(xié)助生產(chǎn)的勞務(wù)費(fèi)。

For carmakers, the sale of parts is also more lucrative than the sale of finished cars.

對汽車制造商來說，零部件銷售比整車銷售更有利可圖。

“You’ve got a very rich environment where the OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] can make more in China per unit than they can make in most other markets, even if you cut that number in half,” said Mr Zhu.

Robin Zhu表示：“你處于一個利潤非常高的環(huán)境，代工廠商在中國每生產(chǎn)一輛車賺的比其他多數(shù)地方都多，即便把利潤砍掉一半都比其他地方多。”

But Mr Ellinghorst said stock market investors appeared to be ignoring China.

但埃林霍斯特表示，股市投資者似乎忽視了中國。

“It seems ridiculous, but even after a decade of success in China, western carmakers’ China businesses, earnings and dividends carry zero value in stock market valuations,” he said, adding that this is particularly stark in the case of the German carmakers.

他說：“這似乎很可笑，但即便十年來已經(jīng)在中國市場取得巨大成功，西方汽車制造商的中國業(yè)務(wù)、盈利和股利沒有對市值帶來任何價值。”他補(bǔ)充說，德國汽車制造商的這種情況尤其明顯。

According to a poll published by the European Chamber of Commerce in China, 52 per cent of executives surveyed believed local carmakers received preferential treatment compared with foreign rivals.

中國歐盟商會(European Chamber of Commerce in China)發(fā)布的調(diào)查顯示，52%的受訪高管相信，本土汽車制造商與外國競爭對手相比受到了優(yōu)待。

One example was car recalls: foreign brands accounted for 99 per cent of the vehicle recalls initiated by China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine last year, while they were 60 per cent of the vehicles sold in China during the same period.

一個例子是汽車召回：在去年中國國家質(zhì)量監(jiān)督檢驗檢疫總局(General Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine)發(fā)起的汽車召回中，外國品牌占到了被召回汽車的99%，而外國品牌占到同期中國市場銷售的汽車的60%。

The European Chamber of Commerce in China also complained in a March report that rules on producing electric vehicles could force foreign carmakers to share technology with local partners that could be stolen.

中國歐盟商會還在今年3月的一份報告中抱怨稱，電動汽車生產(chǎn)法規(guī)可能迫使外國汽車制造商與本土合作伙伴分享技術(shù)，可能使技術(shù)被竊取。

However, fat profits for now ease the pain. “They make a lot of money here so being friends with the government is necessary to be in this market. And there is limited hope of winning against a government which seems determined to push its agenda,” said Mr Zhu.

然而，目前的豐厚利潤緩解了這種苦惱。Robin Zhu表示：“他們在這里賺了很多錢，因此與中國政府做朋友是必需的，這樣才能留在這個市場。而且，讓一個似乎決心推動其議程的政府改弦易轍的希望不大。”

Additional reporting by Patrick McGee in Frankfurt

帕特里克•麥吉(Patrick McGee)法蘭克福補(bǔ)充報道