跨国车企越来越离不开中国

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.

贸易壁垒，加上北京方面几乎每月都会出台的新监管要求，都未能阻止外国汽车制造商在中国赚取丰厚利润，即便这些公司抱怨受到不公平对待。

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，大多数大型汽车制造商的利润至少四分之一(在某些情况下超过一半)来自中国，大多都远远超过他们在中国销售的汽车的占比。

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.

这还是在中国政府针对外国汽车企业出台了许多政策的情况下取得的，比如汽车进口关税高达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.

绕过这些贸易壁垒的唯一方法是在当地建厂，而这只有与中国国有企业建立合资企业才行得通。伯恩斯坦(Bernstein)驻香港分析师Robin Zhu表示，合作伙伴往往不过是充当了“收费员”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.

柏林和华盛顿的政策制定者已开始对北京方面施压，要求其放松针对外国汽车制造商的限制性政策。中国政府今年4月表示，将会取消关于汽车行业的外国投资者必须建立合资企业的规定，但没有给出时间表或者任何细节。

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.

安可顾问(APCO Worldwide)北京公司的董事长麦健陆(James McGregor)表示，汽车制造商并没有怎么施压。他说：“他们不想多事，他们在这里赚得盆满钵满。”

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

很难说清楚他们究竟赚了多少钱——按照惯例，汽车制造商不会在财报中披露在华盈利的具体数额。

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.

尽管外国集团只拥有合资企业的部分经济权益(通常是50%)，但它们还有其他盈利的方式，包括许可费、特许权使用费以及向合资企业出售零部件，这些都有很高的利润率。

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

除了从销售的每辆车上赚取丰厚利润以外，外国汽车公司还受益于中国市场的高速增长。

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，宝马(BMW)在美国市场销量下降4%，在欧洲市场仅上升2.2%，但得益于在中国市场18.4%的增长，整体销量增长5%。中国是宝马最大的市场。

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.

从今年1月到7月，梅赛德斯(Mercedes)在美国市场的销量下降1.8%，但中国市场销量增长34%。梅赛德斯在7个月的时间里在中国销售了341267辆汽车，几乎是美国市场销量的两倍。

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年大众汽车(Volkswagen)在中国市场的利润大多来自其合资企业——35亿欧元(合41亿美元)。但Evercore估计，大众还从汽车进口业务中获得了3.15亿欧元的利润，从零部件进口获得了12亿欧元的利润，在特许权使用费上赚得19亿欧元的利润。

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，高档车在中国市场的利润尤其高——中国市场的高档车主要是进口的。他说：“在中国市场销售的奔驰S级或者宝马7系的利润是其他地方的两倍多。”

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的数据显示，奥迪在中国市场的销量仅占其总销量的31%，部分通过进口，部分是本地制造的，但中国市场的利润占到其利润总额的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估计，宝马税前利润的28%来自中国市场——主要来自进口车的销售——而销量只有22%来自中国市场。伯恩斯坦的Robin Zhu则估计，宝马来自中国市场的利润可能高达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，合资企业因使用外国品牌商标而必须支付的特许权使用费通常是车价的2%-4%。另外合资公司还需向外国公司支付后者派遣人员协助生产的劳务费。

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

对汽车制造商来说，零部件销售比整车销售更有利可图。

“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：“你处于一个利润非常高的环境，代工厂商在中国每生产一辆车赚的比其他多数地方都多，即便把利润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，股市投资者似乎忽视了中国。

“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.

他说：“这似乎很可笑，但即便十年来已经在中国市场取得巨大成功，西方汽车制造商的中国业务、盈利和股利没有对市值带来任何价值。”他补充说，德国汽车制造商的这种情况尤其明显。

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.

中国欧盟商会(European Chamber of Commerce in China)发布的调查显示，52%的受访高管相信，本土汽车制造商与外国竞争对手相比受到了优待。

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.

一个例子是汽车召回：在去年中国国家质量监督检验检疫总局(General Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine)发起的汽车召回中，外国品牌占到了被召回汽车的99%，而外国品牌占到同期中国市场销售的汽车的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.

中国欧盟商会还在今年3月的一份报告中抱怨称，电动汽车生产法规可能迫使外国汽车制造商与本土合作伙伴分享技术，可能使技术被窃取。

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，目前的丰厚利润缓解了这种苦恼。Robin Zhu表示：“他们在这里赚了很多钱，因此与中国政府做朋友是必需的，这样才能留在这个市场。而且，让一个似乎决心推动其议程的政府改弦易辙的希望不大。”

Additional reporting by Patrick McGee in Frankfurt

帕特里克•麦吉(Patrick McGee)法兰克福补充报道