????歐洲汽車制造商們每個月都在祈禱，希望上帝能降下圣諭，讓史上最糟糕的市場開始好轉起來。但今年5月，這樣的奢望再次成空，五月份的汽車銷量創下自1993年以來同期的歷史新低。新汽車上牌量同比下降了5.9%，減少至104萬輛。

????更糟糕的是，分析師們認為，由于消費者信心受挫，歐洲市場的狀況在很長時間內都不會好轉。密歇根州薩斯菲爾德的商業咨詢公司Alix Partners最近的一項調查報告稱，歐洲大陸糟糕的汽車銷售情況可能將一直持續到2019年。

????政治與經濟因素對汽車行業造成了巨大影響，因為汽車需求量疲軟迫使工廠產能利用率下降到了半個世紀以來的歷史最低點。政府投入數十億激勵資金，以支撐消費，如今卻不得不面對工廠閑置所導致的工人失業問題。

????尤其是標致雪鐵龍集團（PSA Peugeot）、菲亞特（Fiat）、雷諾汽車（Renault）、歐寶【Opel，已被通用汽車公司（General Motors）收購】和福特（Ford）等車企，以及歐洲南部的工廠，均遭到重創。寶馬（BMW）、戴姆勒（Daimler）和大眾汽車（Volkswagen）等汽車制造商在新興市場順風順水，而且主要出售高檔車，到目前為止避免了最糟糕的經濟困境。

????戴姆勒汽車公司CEO蔡澈正努力展現公司（梅賽德斯-奔馳汽車的制造商）最好的一面。本周，他在接受《金融時報》（Financial Times）采訪時說：“我們感覺到了增長的動力，它們來自我們的（新）產品。上個月，盡管市場環境不妙，我們實現了大幅正增長。”

????歐洲一片蕭條，唯一逆勢而行的是英國，英國5月汽車銷量增加了11%。之所以會出現這種狀況是因為英國退出了歐洲統一貨幣，因此，它并沒有受到歐洲大陸經濟困境太多牽連。

????到底是什么削弱了消費者的信心？又該如何提振消費者的信心？與這些問題有關的理論層出不窮。其中一個因素是今年秋天的德國大選。德國總理安吉拉?默克爾尋求第三次連任，而其競爭對手關注的重點是“財富分配不均”。如果德國出現一個左傾政府，同時提高稅收，德國經濟增長預計將陷入停滯。

????德國被認為是歐洲經濟增長的引擎，對該國經濟前景的任何質疑都會波及到其他鄰國，尤其是德國南部財政問題最為嚴重的國家。

????歐洲制造業因刻板僵化而受到詬病。汽車制造商們抱怨，政府和歐盟的政策束縛了他們的手腳。當需求下降時，他們沒有充分的機會關閉工廠，裁撤工人或減少產量。因此，通用汽車和標致雪鐵龍開始尋求合作，以求削減成本和降低風險就沒什么好奇怪的了。

????福特汽車首席執行官艾倫?穆拉利本周在印度表示，福特汽車將加大印度向歐洲的汽車出口。福特汽車公司計劃今年晚些時候在印度欽奈的一家工廠生產翼博（EcoSport）緊湊型跨界車。

????除了疲軟的經濟需求外，汽車制造商還要面對年輕消費者品味的變化。越來越多的年輕人不再將汽車視為身份的象征。于是，是否擁有一流的信息娛樂系統，對于汽車銷售變得越來越重要，它的重要性甚至不亞于汽車的功率和燃油經濟性等傳統指標。（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/汪浩

????European automakers are keeping fingers crossed every month for a ray of sunshine that tells them the worst market in memory might be ready to improve. It didn't happen again in May, when sales were lower than in any May since 1993. Registrations dropped 5.9% year over year to 1.04 million.

????Worse still, analysts are saying things won't be getting better in Europe for a long time due to shattered consumer confidence. Alix Partners of Southfield, Mich. reports in a new study that car buying on the continent might not improve until 2019.

????The political and economic repercussions are immense for the industry because weak demand for vehicles has pushed factory capacity utilization to lows not seen for more than half a century. Governments have spent billions in incentives to prop up buying and now must contend with layoffs in connection with idle factories.

????PSA Peugeot, Fiat, Renault, Opel -- owned by General Motors (GM) -- and Ford (F) have been especially hard hit, along with plants in southern Europe. Automakers like BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen -- prosperous in global emerging markets and selling to premium buyers -- have so far avoided the worst financial pain.

????Dieter Zetsche, Daimler CEO, tried to put the best possible face on the position of his company, which makes Mercedes-Benz vehicles. He told the Financial Times this week that "we are feeling growth?impulses, but they are coming from our (new) products. In the last months we've had significant positive growth rates in difficult markets."

????The only country running counter to Europe's trend is the United Kingdom, where auto sales rose 11% in May. The U.K. may be faring better because, having opted out of Europe's common currency, it is not as tied to the continent's economic troubles.

????Theories abound as to what might be holding consumer confidence back and what might have to happen for the public to cheer up. One is that the German election this fall, in which Angela Merkel is seeking a third term as chancellor, pits her against a candidate that is talking about "wealth inequality." In the event of a left-leaning government and higher taxes, the expectation is that economic growth might be held back.

????Because Germany is considered to be the financial growth engine for Europe, any doubts about that country's economic future spill over onto neighbors, especially countries to the south, wherefiscal woes have been toughest.

????Europe is notorious for its rigidity in manufacturing. Automakers complain that governments and European Union rules have tied their hands, giving them insufficient opportunity to close plants, lay off workers, or cut production when demand falls. Not surprisingly, some automakers such as GM and Peugeot Citroen are collaborating to cut costs and lower risk.

????Alan Mulally, Ford's chief executive, said this week in India that Ford will be exporting more vigorously from that country to Europe. Ford plans to export its EcoSport small crossover from a plant in Chennai later this year.

????On top of the weak economic demand, automakers are battling changing tastes among young consumers, who more and more no longer regard cars as status symbols. That's one reason why top-notch infotainment systems are becoming more important to the selling of vehicles, perhaps as much as horsepower and fuel economy.