Automotive officials predicted slower growth in China's market this year, even as big car makers prepared to unveil new models at the Shanghai auto show─an event that will highlight the country's importance to the global industry.

　　正當大型汽車制造商為在上海車展推出新車型而摩拳擦掌時，汽車業(yè)官員卻預計，今年中國汽車市場增速將放緩。上海車展將凸顯出中國對于全球汽車業(yè)的重要性。

　　Speaking at a forum Monday, a day ahead of the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, a senior government official warned that auto makers in the world's largest car market risk being left with excess capacity if they don't adjust to slower sales growth.

　　 Bloomberg News在周一舉行的上海汽車展開幕前，人們在觀看一輛全新設計的大眾甲克蟲。上海國際汽車工業(yè)展覽會(Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition)開幕前一天，中國政府一位高官周一在論壇上講話時提醒說，中國這個世界上最大的汽車市場銷售增速將減緩，如果汽車制造商不能適應這一局面，可能會面臨生產能力過剩的風險。

　　"We haven't seen overcapacity in China's auto market in the past few years, but if auto makers keep output growth at the current pace, China's auto market will see overcapacity sooner or later," said Su Bo, deputy industry and technology minister.

　　中國工業(yè)和信息化部副部長蘇波說，過去幾年，我們認為中國汽車市場不存在產能過剩的問題，但如果汽車制造商保持目前的產量增速，中國汽車市場遲早會出現(xiàn)產能過剩。

　　China's annual auto shows─which alternate between Beijing and Shanghai─have become a major event for the industry, as China overtook the U.S. in 2009 to become the world's biggest car market. But a sales slowdown in China is presenting new challenges for auto makers, who are adopting different strategies to cope.

　　隨著中國2009年超過美國一舉成為全球最大的汽車市場，中國每年一度的車展(由北京和上海輪流舉辦)已成為汽車業(yè)的一大盛事。但中國汽車銷售減速正給汽車制造商帶來新挑戰(zhàn)，這些制造商正紛紛采取不同的應對戰(zhàn)略。

　　Car sales in China rose 8.8% from a year earlier in the first quarter to 4.98 million vehicles, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, sharply lower than the growth of 71.8% recorded in the first quarter of 2010.

　　據(jù)中國汽車工業(yè)協(xié)會(China Association of Automobile Manufacturers)的統(tǒng)計，今年一季度中國汽車銷量同比增8.8%，至498萬輛，遠遠低于2010年一季度71.8%的增速。

　　Foreign auto makers differ in their response to the slowdown. Some, such as General Motors Co. of the U.S., are coming up with low-cost China-only brands to appeal to middle-class buyers.

　　外國汽車制造商對中國汽車銷售減速持不同看法。美國通用汽車公司(General Motors Co.)等一些汽車制造商為吸引為中產階級，正在推出只面向中國市場的低成本汽車品牌。

　　GM plans to unveil at the Shanghai show the first car produced under the company's new China-only brand, Baojun. Made with local joint-venture partners Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co., the car "will address the growing demand across the country for affordable personal transportation," GM China President Kevin Wale said in a written statement.

　　 通用汽車計劃在上海車展上推出中國市場專有品牌寶駿(Baojun)的首款車型。這款汽車由通用汽車與中國合資企業(yè)伙伴上海汽車工業(yè)(集團)總公司(Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.)和柳州五菱汽車有限責任公司(Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co.)共同生產。通用汽車中國公司總裁甘文維(Kevin Wale)在一份書面聲明中說，寶駿汽車將滿足中國人不斷增長的對負擔得起的個人交通工具的需求。

　　GM's China auto sales rose 10% from a year earlier in the first quarter, about one-third as fast as they rose in the year-earlier quarter. Still, GM also said Monday that it expects to double its sales in China to about five million vehicles by 2015 from about 2.35 million in 2010─in part by introducing more than 60 new models and major product upgrades in the country.

　　通用汽車中國公司今年一季度汽車銷量同比增10%，是去年一季度增幅的約三分之一。盡管如此，通用汽車周一說，預計該公司在中國市場上的銷量到2015年將增至500萬輛左右，是2010年約235萬輛的兩倍，實現(xiàn)這一目標的方式之一是要推出60余款新車型，并對中國銷售的汽車進行大規(guī)模的產品升級。

　　Luxury car makers such as Daimler AG of Germany say they believe any challenges that are facing the mass market don't apply to China's new rich. China sales of Daimler's Mercedes-Benz vehicles surged 86% in the first quarter, although the brand's total number of cars sold was a small fraction of GM's.

　　 德國戴姆勒公司(Daimler AG)等豪華汽車制造商說，他們認為中國市場面臨的任何挑戰(zhàn)都不適用于中國的新富階層。戴姆勒公司旗下的梅賽德斯——奔馳(Mercedes-Benz)汽車在中國市場上今年一季度的銷量猛增86%，不過這一品牌售出的汽車總量只相當于通用銷量的很小一部分。

　　Daimler's Northeast Asia chairman, Ulrich Walker, said last week he expects China sales of Mercedes-Benz cars to rise 20% this year. Premium-car sales haven't been affected as much by the slowdown as small-car sales, Mr. Walker said.

　　 戴姆勒東北亞地區(qū)董事長華立新(Ulrich Walker)上周說，他預計中國市場梅賽德斯-奔馳的銷量今年將上升20%，豪華汽車銷量受中國汽車市場整體銷售減速的影響并不像小型汽車那么大。

　　The Shanghai auto show will also be overshadowed by questions about the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, as well as a continuing nuclear-power crisis, on Japan's big car companies.

　　3月11日地震和海嘯以及仍在上演的核電危機將對日本各大汽車公司產生何種影響，這方面的問題也將給上海汽車展蒙上陰影。

　　Despite domestic production problems, Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co., and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. all said their chief executives plan to attend the Shanghai show. Toyota Motor Corp. said it will monitor its quake-disrupted domestic operations before deciding whether President Akio Toyoda will attend.

　　雖然國內生產有問題，本田汽車(Honda Motor Co.)、日產汽車(Nissan Motor Co.)和三菱汽車(Mitsubishi Motors Corp.)說，它們的首席執(zhí)行長都計劃參加上海車展。豐田汽車公司(Toyota Motor Corp.)說，它將在監(jiān)測受地震中斷的國內運營之后，再決定總裁豐田章男(Akio Toyoda)是否出席。

　　Honda CEO Takanobu Ito's planned attendance at Shanghai was initially canceled after last month's disaster, a Honda spokeswoman said. 'But eventually we concluded he should go' given China's growing importance as a growth driver for Honda, she said.

　　本田一位發(fā)言人說，上個月災難發(fā)生后，公司先是取消了CEO伊東孝紳(Takanobu Ito)出席上海車展的計劃。但她說，考慮到中國作為本田增長助推器越來越重要的地位，最后我們認為他應當前往。

　　Nissan decided to attend the event because the company's foreign rivals, which are less troubled by the disruption in Japan-made parts procurement, are set to unveil a series of new concept cars to entice local customers at the show, a Nissan spokesman said.

　　日產一位發(fā)言人說，該公司決定參展，是因為其國外競爭對手受日制零部件供應中斷的困擾沒有其那么大，預計將在展會上公布一系列新型概念車吸引中國客戶。

　　The broad market slowdown in China has been driven by several factors, including higher oil prices, restrictions on car purchases in cities such as Beijing to alleviate traffic conditions, and the expiration of tax incentives for the purchases of smaller cars, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

　　中國汽車工業(yè)協(xié)會(China Association of Automobile Manufacturers)說，中國汽車市場的整體放緩是受到了多種因素的影響，其中包括油價升高、北京等城市限制汽車購買以緩解交通狀況，以及購買小排量汽車的稅收優(yōu)惠措施到期等。

　　The association has forecast that car sales will rise in a range of 10% to 15% this year. But at a briefing earlier this month, the group expressed concern that growth may fall behind even those relatively modest estimates. Total sales rose 32% last year to 18.1 million vehicles, following growth of 46% in 2009.

　　 汽車工業(yè)協(xié)會曾預計今年汽車銷量增幅在10%到15%之間。但在本月早前的一次吹風會上，該協(xié)會擔心實際增幅可能比這種相對不高的估計數(shù)字還低。去年總銷量是1,810萬輛，增長32%，2009年增速為46%。

　　Zeng Qinghong, vice chairman of Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., said he believes China's auto market can post sales growth of at least 10% this year, as auto sales usually rebound from May.

　　廣州汽車工業(yè)集團有限公司(Guangzhou Automobile Group Co.)副董事長曾慶洪說，他相信今年中國市場銷售增長率至少可以達到10%，因為汽車銷量常常從5月份開始反彈。

　　Others were less optimistic. Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Motor Co.'s Asian-Pacific and Africa operations, said he expects China's overall auto sales to rise in a range of 5% to 10% this year, a pace that he described as "more rational" than in previous years.

　　其他人沒有這么樂觀。福特汽車公司(Ford Motor Co.)亞太與非洲區(qū)總裁辛瑞奇(Joe Hinrichs)說，他預計今年中國市場汽車總銷量增長幅度在5%到10%，他說，這樣的增速相比前幾年“更加理性”。

　　The automobile manufacturers association has argued that the auto industry is a "pillar industry" for China, and that some of the small-car tax subsidies that have expired will likely be restored if auto-sales growth falls behind economic growth, which is generally expected to be about 9.5% this year.

　　 中國汽車工業(yè)協(xié)會曾說，汽車工業(yè)是中國的“支柱產業(yè)”，如果汽車銷量增長落后于經濟增長，那么已經到期的部分小排量汽車稅收補貼措施可能會恢復。今年中國經濟增長速度普遍預測為9.5%。

　　Mr. Su, the vice minister, said the "unsustainable sales surge" of 2009 and 2010 isn't likely to be maintained. But he also emphasized that the industry has strong long-term prospects.

　　 工信部副部長蘇波說，2009年和2010年不可持續(xù)的銷量增長不太可能維持。但他也強調說，汽車行業(yè)長期前景不錯。

　　"China still has big potential for a long-term sales growth, and China will be the largest auto market for a long time," Mr. Su said, citing the pickup in demand in rural areas and China's second- and third-tier cities. China has only 58 cars per 1,000 people currently, he added, showing vast room for further growth.

　　蘇波說，中國市場仍有很大的長期銷售增長潛力，中國將長時間維持最大汽車市場的地位。其理由是農村地區(qū)和二三線城市需求的增長。他說，中國當前每1,000人只有58輛汽車，說明還有巨大的進一步增長空間。