????歐洲汽車業最激烈的競爭已經進入了一個新階段。梅塞德斯-奔馳（Mercedes-Benz）和寶馬（BMW）即將檢驗全世界對高端小型車的胃口。自從寶馬甩掉路虎（Rover），梅塞德斯-奔馳與克萊斯勒（Chrysler）撇清關系以來，兩家公司都在極力避免大型車市場，而把重點放在精品小車上。現在隨著追求燃油經濟性的壓力越來越大，加上可供開發的新細分市場越來越少，奔馳和寶馬現在都在尋找其它的增長機會。.

????考慮到兩家公司各自的歷史、地緣和文化，兩者之間的沖突不可避免。梅塞德斯-奔馳的母公司是戴姆勒（Daimler），而戴姆勒的前身成立于1883年，正是它發明了世界上第一臺汽車，而且戴姆勒也總是不厭其煩地向全世界宣傳這個豐功偉業。寶馬成立于1917年，不過它直到1928年才進軍汽車業務，之前它主要生產飛機引擎。梅塞德斯-奔馳的老家斯圖加特是一座陰暗的工業城，一年到頭難得見到幾次陽光。而寶馬的總部則駐扎在燈紅酒綠的慕尼黑。梅塞德斯-奔馳的格言是戈特利布?戴姆勒的那句經典的“要么最好，要么什么都不是”（The best or nothing）。寶馬則把自己包裝成“終極駕駛機器”的生產者——這句廣告語是美國的一家廣告公司替它想出來的。

????以大多數標準來看，寶馬都已經超過了老對手奔馳。不過奔馳正在努力反超。下面我們介紹一下雙方目前的競爭情況。

1.銷量

????強勢增長的寶馬【和奧迪（Audi>）】正在步步蠶食梅塞德斯-奔馳在高端市場上的份額。據IHS Automotive公司的數據，梅塞德斯-奔馳目前控制著21.4%的高端市場，比2001年的25%略有降低。寶馬曾表示要在2020年前將年銷量提升到200萬臺，不過由于寶馬目前炙手可熱，所以公司已經把這個目標提前到了2016年。寶馬3系是目前全球最暢銷的豪華車型。梅塞德斯-奔馳的首席執行官蔡澈曾豪言奔馳的銷量要在2020年前翻一番，同時超過寶馬。不過分析師們卻對此持懷疑態度。

優勢方：寶馬。

2.運營效率

????曾經有人預測，由于寶馬的規模較小，因此它的財務業績注定不會樂觀。不過事實證明，寶馬的盈利水平已經躋身世界一流之列。去年寶馬息稅前利潤為11.8%，而梅塞德斯-奔馳則只有9%。而你在奔馳廣告里看到的那些穿著白大褂的工程師們實際上給奔馳的財務業績造成了不小的壓力。其實奔馳是在雇更多的人造更少的車。奔馳希望未來將利潤率提升到10%，但從2012年第一季度來看，它的利潤只有8.4%。

優勢方：寶馬

????The most intense automotive rivalry in Europe is entering a new phase: Mercedes-Benz and BMW will be testing the world's appetite for small cars with big prices.

????Since BMW dumped Rover and Mercedes shed its relationship with Chrysler, both automakers have shunned high-volume segments of the car business and focused on premium models. Now that pressure is growing for better fuel economy, and there are fewer top-shelf segments to exploit, both are looking for additional growth opportunities.

????Given their disparate histories, geography, and culture, conflict is inevitable. Daimler, Mercedes' parent, is the successor to a company founded in 1883 that invented the automobile and never tires of reminding the world of that fact. BMW got started in 1917 as a maker of aircraft engines and didn't get into making cars until 1928. Stuttgart, home to Mercedes, is a grey factory town where the sun seldom shines, while BMW is rooted to party-happy Munich. Finally, Mercedes, elitist to its core, reveals its true self in its motto "The best or nothing," coined by Gottlieb Daimler. BMW fashions itself as creator of the "ultimate driving machine," a tagline created by an American advertising agency.

????By most measurements, BMW has been outpacing its older rival, but Mercedes is trying to mount a comeback. Here's the current tale of the tape:

1. Sales

????Onrushing BMW (and Audi) is chipping away at Mercedes' share of the premium market. According to IHS Automotive, M-B now commands 21.4%, down from 25% in 2001. BMW used to promise sales of two million vehicles by 2020 but is running so hot that it moved the target date sooner to 2016, and its 3-series is the top-selling luxury car in the world. Mercedes chief Dieter Zetsche has vowed Mercedes will more than double sales by 2020 and pass BMW, but analysts are -- to put it politely -- skeptical.

Advantage: BMW

2. Operating efficiency

????Defying forecasts that its small scale doomed it to substandard financial performance, BMW has been performing at a profitability level among the world's best. Last year's margin (before interest and taxes) was 11.8%, while Mercedes managed only 9%. All those white-coated technicians you see in Mercedes commercials are weighing on the bottom line. The automaker is, in effect, paying more people to make fewer cars. Going forward, Mercedes wants to improve to a 10% margin, but it only managed 8.4% in the first quarter of 2012.

Advantage:BMW