????別指望能看到大眾汽車（Volkswagen）的XL1“超級汽車”的電視廣告。這輛技術含量極高的車型根本就不是面向普通消費者的，就算是那些富有的好萊塢明星也沒份兒，甚至輪不到他們對它那噪音極大的陶瓷剎車、平庸無奇的輕型皮卡造型發牢騷。盡管XL1的鷗翼車門獨出心裁，號稱每加侖燃油可行駛261英里的插電式柴油混動引擎也讓人大開眼界，但還是不足以讓杰?雷諾（“脫口秀”主持人——譯注）和拉里?戴維（美國喜劇明星——譯注）這樣的大腕立刻變成粉絲。

????不過可別弄錯了，這輛貌似火箭飛船的XL1不只是一款新車型，它還是大眾汽車總部從德國沃爾夫斯堡發出的最強音宣言，是費迪南德?皮耶十幾年前發起的一項“寵物計劃”（pet project）的副產品。身為大眾的總裁，皮耶要證明自己的公司能造出一輛既符合傳統安全標準，又能用一升油就可跑上100公里的汽車。

????這輛車在全球汽車媒體——以及最終在250位精挑細選出的德國消費者面前的成功亮相清楚地表明，現年76歲高齡的皮耶在大眾管理層的影響力是何等的長盛不衰。這輛車采用的很多技術，比如大量碳纖維材料，可能會用到大眾旗下的其他車型上，讓它們變得更輕、更高效。皮耶現在是大眾監事會主席，而他的愛徒馬丁?文德恩現任公司首席執行官。

????細細端詳這輛XL1，就會禁不住聯想到大眾雄心勃勃、廣而告之的宏大目標——2018年登頂全球銷量最大的汽車廠商寶座。如果大眾最終沒有實現這個目標，也絕不會是因為它遍布全球的35,000名工程師決心不夠，也不是因為管理層的膽量不足。

????談及這輛車所用的0.8升兩缸動力系統時，大眾研發總管烏爾里希?哈肯伯格說：“我們可能會把這臺引擎用到其他車型上。”像大眾UP！這類輕盈小巧又高效的城市小車將會鞏固這家德國車企的總銷量。大眾很可能將與豐田汽車（Toyota）爭奪全球頭號汽車廠商的寶座。而豐田卻是在付出沉重代價后才明白，全球第一的地位可能只是一杯貌似誘人、實則有害的毒酒。

????重僅1,750磅的XL1搭載了不少時尚的高科技裝備，比如閉路電視，它的屏幕將取代傳統的左右后視鏡。大家要花點時間才能習慣看這種屏幕，而不是后視鏡——而哈肯伯格稱，這種價格不菲的技術成本會逐漸降低，使大眾可以把它用到其它車型身上。

????Don't look for TV advertisements of Volkswagen's XL1 "supercar." The technology-rich model isn't meant for consumers, not even rich Hollywood types who might, in any case, squawk about the noisy ceramic brakes or the unimpressive pickup. The gullwing doors and the claim of 261 miles per gallon of fuel consumed by XL1's plug-in diesel hybrid engine, impressive as they are, wouldn't be sufficient to make believers of Jay Leno or Larry David.

????But make no mistake, the rocket ship-like XL1 is a brawny statement by Wolfsburg, Germany-based VW. It's the outgrowth of a pet project started more than a decade ago by Ferdnand Piech, the automaker's chairman, to prove his company could build a vehicle meeting conventional safety standards that can achieve 100 kilometers on a liter of fuel.

????The car's triumphal presentation to the world automotive press—and eventually to 250 handpicked German consumers illustrates the 76-year-old Piech's enduring influence over VW's management. Many of the technologies, such as the liberal use of carbon fiber, might make be used for other VWs, helping to make them lighter and more efficient.Piech serves as chairman of VW's supervisory board; Martin Winterkorn, his protégé, is CEO.

????Looking at the XL1, one can't help but think of VW's open and transparent push to be No. 1 automaker globally by 2018, in terms of sales. It may not get there, but not because of too little determination from its 35,000 engineers worldwide or too little audacity from its executive suite.

????"We might use such an engine on other models," says Ulrich Hackenberg, VW's head of research and development about the 0.8-liter two cylinder power plant. Small, light, efficient city cars like VW's Up! will reinforce the German automaker's sales total. It most likely will tussle for leadership against Toyota (TM), an automaker that's learned the hard way that No. 1 status can be a poisoned chalice.

????Weighing about 1,750 pounds, the XL1 features nifty high-tech touches, such as closed circuit television whose screens replace the conventional right and left rear-view mirrors. It took a few moments to get used to looking at the screens instead of the mirrors—Hackenberg said the costly technology will get progressively cheaper, allowing VW to use it on other models.