美国国家公共电台 NPR Jeep: Why This American Icon Could Soon Be Part Of A Chinese Company

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

There are few brands more quintessentially American than Jeep. And now it seems possible that a foreign company could purchase Jeep from Fiat¹-Chrysler, its parent company. At the moment these are just rumors². Those rumors point to larger trends in the auto³ industry, though. Jeep traces its history to World War II and helped create the sport utility vehicle. NPR's Sonari Glinton is with us to talk Jeep, SUVs and China.

SONARI GLINTON, BYLINE⁴: Hey, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Tell us about this Chinese company that wants to buy Jeep.

GLINTON: The company is Great Wall Motors. And like many Chinese companies, it has these grand global ambitions. China is the largest auto market, and it's continuing to grow. Tariffs⁵ there and taxes and the way things are set up mean that some Chinese companies have been protected from competition and protected from some of the markets. So they have grown. And they have these deep pockets. And they're looking to sort of acquire other companies. An example would be Geely, which owns Volvo.

SHAPIRO: Why specifically would Jeep be a target for acquisition?

GLINTON: Well, in one way, as, you know, me and my colleagues were arguing at the business desk - we were talking about the word iconic - Jeep...

SHAPIRO: Whether we overuse the word?

GLINTON: Yeah. We...

SHAPIRO: But Jeep is an icon⁶, you're going to say (laughter).

GLINTON: Yes, Jeep is definitely an icon 'cause it represents America. You can - when you see a Jeep, you know, you see the American GI going over a hedge row or fording a river. It represents who we are. And it also represents the growth market in the auto industry. The Chinese have a love affair with the SUV just like we are. IHS market, which predicts these sort of things, looked back and said that in 2010, when the market in China was 10 percent SUVs, by 2020 it's going to be 40 percent SUVs. So all the growth is in this SUV segment, and they're really, really profitable. So if you're a car company, you want an SUV brand that's really strong.

SHAPIRO: That explains why a Chinese company would want to buy Jeep. Why would Fiat-Chrysler want to sell it?

GLINTON: Well, Chrysler has been considered the sick man of Detroit for a while. It's the company that received two government bailouts. It's switched owners many times. And it's had a hard time having a long-term strategy. It also has a quality problem. It ends up being, you know, sort of at the bottom of, say, Consumer Reports reliability⁷ studies. But those brands are valuable. I mean, you know, Jeep and Ram⁸ represent well over 90 percent of profits at Chrysler. So it's a profitable bauble⁹ that Fiat has probably wanted to get rid of for a while. And the CEO, Sergio Marchionne, has said just as much.

SHAPIRO: Do you think this is going to happen?

GLINTON: I can't see, Ari, this particular deal happening. But, you know, the Jeep brand is so valuable. And so are, actually, some of the other brands associated with Chrysler. They - Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of the company, has been shopping the idea of a sale around for a few years now. So you can see that he kind of wants to do it. I definitely see that there's someone, you know, looking at Jeep because in part it represents America. It is so - you know, I have this photo of Steve McQueen standing¹⁰ in a river holding back a Jeep. It is - it is a great brand, and people are going to want it.

But will this one happen? I don't see it. Also, there is some pressure not only here about selling to a Chinese brand. And that's hard to see when this brand is so important to jobs in places like Detroit. It's one of the few brands actually built inside the city of Detroit. Detroit, Toledo and Kokomo - and that region, Kokomo, Ind. - they really do depend on this brand. It is really valuable to sort of the industrial, you know, center of the country.

SHAPIRO: That's NPR's Sonari Glinton. Thanks a lot.

GLINTON: Thank you, Ari.

1 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

2 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

6 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

7 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

8 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

9 bauble   

n.美观而无价值的饰物

参考例句：

• That little bauble is not to be compared with this enormous jewel.那个小摆设不能与这个大宝石相比较。
• A bauble is a showy ornament of little value.廉价珠宝是华而不实的装饰品。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。