中国为何小车企众多？
淄博市地处北京东南方向250英里以外，中国新成立的车企之一国金汽车(Sinogold)就坐落在该市。
Its new plant, built on a greenfield site and costing more than $1bn, is filled with the latest car-assembly robots, ready to produce hundreds of thousands of vehicles a year.
国金汽车耗资逾10亿美元，在一个未开发过的地块上建起了新工厂，厂子里到处是最新款的汽车组装机器人，预计每年可生产数十万辆汽车。
The state-owned company did not exist two years ago and its entry into the market adds to the list of more than 100 companies in China with a licence to make cars.
这家成立不到两年的国有企业进入市场，标志着中国拥有汽车制造牌照的100多家企业名单上再添一家。
“There are many Sinogolds sprouting up in cities across China,” says Michael Dunne, a consultant who has specialised in the factors affecting China’s automotive industry.
着重研究中国汽车业影响因素的咨询顾问邓凯(Michael Dunne)表示：“中国各地的城市如雨后春笋般出现了许多‘国金汽车’。”
“Every province and city wants to have its own auto company,” he says.
他说：“各省市都想有自己的汽车企业。”
There are already indications, however, that change is coming, driven not by local or central government initiatives but motoring consumers. 然而，已经有迹象显示，变化正在来临，这种变化不是受地方政府或者中央政府的举措推动，而是由汽车消费者推动。
“As the market demand has slowed down people have become more picky,” says Robin Zhu, an analyst at Bernstein, a research and brokerage firm in Hong Kong. “Better brands have grown.”
香港研究和经纪公司——伯恩斯坦研究公司(Bernstein Research)的分析师Robin Zhu表示：“随着市场需求放缓，人们变得更加挑剔。比较好的品牌已经发展了起来。”
The quality of the vehicles is also improving. The standard of Chinese-built vehicles is fast approaching those of cars sold by international brands in China, according to a survey by JD Power, a car rating company.
汽车质量也在改善。据汽车评级公司JD Power的调查显示，中国造汽车的标准正在迅速赶上那些国际品牌在华销售的汽车。
In 2000, Chinese cars had 834 problems per 100 vehicles, which was double the international average.
2000年，中国汽车的百辆车故障数是834个，这是国际平均水平的两倍。
By this year the gap had narrowed sharply, with Chinese groups being given a score of 112, while international groups registered 99.
到了今年，这个差距急剧缩小，中国汽车的百辆车故障数是112个，而国际水平是99个。
At the same time, the MG GS has become the first Chinese car to achieve the highest crash safety score of five stars from Ancap, an assessment agency based in Australia.
与此同时，名爵锐腾(MG GS)成为首款在澳大利亚评级机构Ancap的安全碰撞测试中获得五星评级的中国汽车。
Behind much of the improvement is western know-how. The listed carmaker, Geely, benefits from the fact that Zhejiang Geely, its Chinese owner, also owns Volvo. This allows it access to the Swedish company’s designs and standards as well as the opportunity to develop joint manufacturing systems.
这种改善很大程度上归功于西方技术。上市车企吉利(Geely)受益于如下事实，即其中国所有者浙江吉利(Zhejiang Geely)也拥有瑞典的沃尔沃(Volvo)。这让它可以接近沃尔沃的设计和标准，而且还有机会开发联合制造系统。
The six largest carmakers are almost entirely state-owned and there are several joint ventures with international carmakers such as Volkswagen and General Motors, allowing them an insight into overseas manufacturing practices.
中国六大汽车制造商几乎都是国有企业，还有几家是与大众汽车(Volkswagen)和通用汽车(General Motors)等国际车企组建的合资企业，这让它们能够了解海外的制造方法。
The Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation-VW partnership and First Auto Works-VW partnership each produced more than 1.2m cars in the first eight months of 2017, while the SAIC-GM joint venture made 1.17m, according to Bernstein.
伯恩斯坦的数据显示，在2017年头8个月，上汽(Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation)与大众组建的合资企业以及一汽(First Auto Works)与大众的合资企业分别生产了逾120万辆汽车，上汽通用合资企业生产了117万辆汽车。
Mr Dunne says the six largest state-owned groups and their respective joint ventures account for about three quarters of the cars produced in China.
邓凯表示，六大国企和它们各自的合资企业加起来占到中国汽车产量的四分之三。
There are then private groups, from Great Wall and Geely to BYD, the company backed by Warren Buffett.
接下来是民营汽车制造商，从长城(Great Wall)和吉利到沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)支持的比亚迪(BYD)。
After these, the list of carmakers tails off significantly in scale, with a multitude of stragglers, some verging on insignificance.
除此之外，还有许多规模很小的汽车制造商，很多落后于业内水平，一些企业近乎无足轻重。
In the first eight months of the year, Zhejiang Feidie in Hangzhou City made only 350 vehicles while GAC Gonow, a subsidiary of GAC based in the coastal city of Taizhou, Zhejiang, has made just four, says Bernstein.
伯恩斯坦表示，在今年头8个月，杭州市的浙江飞碟(Zhejiang Feidie)只生产了350辆汽车，而位于浙江台州的广汽吉奥(GAC Gonow)仅生产了4辆汽车。广汽吉奥是广汽(GAC)旗下的子公司。
The reason behind this unusual and thoroughly uneconomical set-up lies in China’s power structure. While central government exercises huge control, local authorities and regions also have large amounts of autonomy. “The governments behind these things will only give up when the cash burn becomes very painful,” says Mr Zhu.
创立这种异常且极其不经济的车企的背后原因是中国的权力结构。尽管中央政府掌控着巨大的控制权，但地方政府和地区也有很大的自主权。Robin Zhu表示：“推动这种浪潮的地方政府只有在烧钱烫手的时候才会放弃。”
Mr Dunne says efforts by central government to encourage consolidation have failed because of local opposition. “China is still home to so many dozens of automakers. The local powers have clearly had their way.”
邓凯表示，中央政府鼓励整合的努力由于地方政府的反对而失败。“中国仍然有好几十家汽车制造商。地方权力显然在一意孤行。”
Even if the carmakers are owned by central rather than regional government, there will still be serious opposition to combining centrally owned groups.
即便是中央所有、而非地方政府所有的汽车制造商，整合也会遭遇强大阻力。
Projects that would struggle to raise financing in a normal market can be made to happen with political backing.
在一个正常市场中很难融资的项目可能会在政治支持下融到资金。
In the case of Sinogold, local authorities instructed banks to make the loans that allowed the construction of the 200,000-per-year vehicle factory.
拿国金汽车来说，当地政府就指示银行放贷，让国金能够建设年产20万辆汽车的工厂。
Two of the largest players are SAIC and Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation. In a normal market, they would combine to use their enlarged scale to cut costs and produce better vehicles, says Mr Dunne.
在中国最大的汽车制造商当中，有两家是上汽和北汽(Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation)。邓凯表示，在一个正常的市场中，它们会合并以利用扩大后的规模来削减成本并制造更好的汽车。
“For the city of Shanghai that’s a powerful enterprise,” he adds. “They would push back hard against any efforts to consolidate with the city of Beijing. It’s impossible to overstate the power of local authorities.”
他补充称：“对上海市来说，这是一家实力强大的企业。他们会强烈反对与北京市整合的事情。地方政府的权力之大难以言表。”
