????全新林肯領航員（LincolnNavigator）是福特汽車公司（Ford Motor Co.）產品陣容中一位精心改款的新成員。更重要的是，這輛霸氣的大型SUV表明福特并沒有放棄重新把林肯打造成豪華品牌的決心。

????單獨來看，這輛將于今年年末投產的2015款領航員多少表明，福特在把林肯打造成豪華品牌的道路上已經“打破常規”。原因是，這輛車上看不出明顯的家族符號，也沒什么一眼能認出的設計模式。打造一個豪華品牌是一條艱難曲折、代價高昂的漫漫征途。問問日產汽車（Nissan）就知道了，它為了打造英菲尼迪（Infiniti）已奮斗了將近30年。也可以問問通用汽車公司（General Motors），它為了讓凱迪拉克（Cadillac）重振雄風已經投入了不計其數的資金。

????全新領航員最重要的兩處改款在于經過重新設計的外觀和內部，外觀是極富個性的“雙翼格柵”，內部則是用渦輪增壓、馬力更為強勁的V6引擎取代了V8引擎。

????任何一款車型，不管它是多么讓人過目難忘，都不可能一夜之間打造出寶馬（BMW）、奔馳（Mercedes）或雷克薩斯（Lexus）這樣的豪華品牌。它需要無數工程師、營銷人員和設計師投入10到20年的心血，還得砸上上百億美元。而這些汽車廠商之所以舍得如此投入的原因也很簡單：沒有一個豪華品牌就意味著和巨額利潤絕緣。英菲尼迪的全球總裁約翰?德?尼琛是這樣描述這個定理的：“豪華品牌的銷量僅占全球汽車銷量的11%，但卻賺走了50%的利潤。”

????也許兩輛車的外形和性能都相去無幾。但如果在其中一輛上貼上寶馬標志，客戶立刻就會準備多掏上萬美元。

????日產汽車和豐田汽車（Toyota）都是在20世紀80年代末創立了自己的豪華品牌。但當豐田的雷克薩斯已經變成一棵巨大的搖錢樹時，日產的英菲尼迪卻始終不溫不火。因此，日產的首席執行官卡洛斯?戈恩去年才把德?尼琛從奧迪公司（Audi）挖來，讓他開始承擔把英菲尼迪打造成世界豪華品牌這個漫長艱苦且花費巨大的重任。

????福特汽車首席執行官艾倫?穆拉利和首席營銷官吉姆?法雷兩人共同負責指導林肯的復興使命。這輛改款領航員不會讓很多路虎攬勝（Range Rover）車主移情別戀。但它會給美國的林肯經銷商們提供一款重磅武器，與凱迪拉克凱雷德、路虎攬勝及梅賽德斯奔馳的GL一爭高低。讓經銷商這個群體保持財務狀況良好并充滿激情對重塑一個品牌來說至關重要。

????ALG公司是一家專門評估新車被租用不同時間后所剩殘值的企業。公司總裁拉里?多米尼克稱：“對福特的管理層來說，耐心非常關鍵。”汽車廠商必須做好對新車型和品牌推廣進行長期投入的準備，哪怕因此帶來的利潤增長和品牌影響力提高微乎其微。

????將現在的領航員與一些名氣更大的對手做個對比就能看出利潤的差別。根據汽車網站Edmunds.com的數據，2014款領航員的起價是54,400美元。而2014款凱迪拉克凱雷德起價為61,800美元，2014款路虎攬勝的起價更是高達85,700美元。盡管這三款車并不完全一樣，但其實它們在尺寸、動力和性能上相差無幾——但是它們給自己東家帶來的收入就差別很大了。這種差異也反映出了客戶對幾個品牌的看法。

????長期以來，奧迪一直在追求著成為豪華品牌這個夢想。20世紀80年代末，它因為車輛突然加速問題而受到指控。盡管這個問題從未獲得證實，但也因此掀起了軒然大波。這之后，它花了20年的時間和無數的金錢才得以成功躋身豪華品牌之列。

????福特、通用、日產、豐田和其他廠商的高管們最終目標就是要讓自己的豪華品牌能與寶馬、奔馳和奧迪比肩，正是這三個德國巨頭在全球汽車市場上牢牢占據著最高價的席位。

????福特的林肯可能最終能躋身全球最受推崇、同時價格也最高的豪車之列，但這一天絕不可能很快到來。不過福特下一代的高管們可能有機會首先品嘗到這一代高管艱苦奮斗培育出來的碩果。（財富中文網）

????譯者：清遠

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????The new Lincoln Navigator signifies a spruced-up addition to Ford Motor Co.'s vehicle lineup. More importantly, the big and fancy SUV proves that Ford hasn't lost its determination to recreate the Lincoln luxury brand.

????Taken alone, the 2015 Navigator, which will go into production later this year, gives few hints that Ford (F) has "broken the code" on making Lincoln mean luxury. That's because there is no code, no instant formula. Creating a luxury brand is a long, hard, expensive slog. Ask Nissan, which has struggled for nearly 30 years with Infiniti. Or General Motors (GM), which has spent prodigiously in the quest to fix Cadillac.

????The new Navigator's two most important improvements are a restyled exterior and interior, featuring the characteristic "twin-wing grille," as well as a turbocharged V6 engine that's more powerful than the V8 it replaces.

????No single model, no matter how impressive, can overnight create a luxury brand like BMW or Mercedes or Lexus. It takes 10 to 20 years of determined work by engineers, marketers, and designers, juiced with multiple billions of dollars. The answer as to why any automaker would undertake such a mission is simple: Lacking a luxury brand means forgoing huge profits. The global head of Infiniti, Johan de Nysschen described the propostion this way: "Premium luxury cars account for only 11% of global sales, but 50% of profit."

????Two vehicles may look and perform similarly. Slap a BMW badge on one of them, suddenly customers are prepared to pay tens of thousands of dollars more.

????Nissan and Toyota (TM) created their luxury brands in the late 1980s. While Toyota's Lexus turned into a big moneymaker, Nissan's Infiniti languished. Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's chief executive officer, lured de Nysschen from Audi last year to begin the long, arduous, and costly job of revitalizing Infiniti into a global luxury brand.

????Ford Motor chief executive officer Alan Mulally and chief marketing officer Jim Farley are overseeing Lincoln's renovation. The refreshed Navigator won't tempt many Range Rover owners to switch. But the new model will sustain U.S. Lincoln dealers with a vehicle they can sell against Cadillac Escalade, Range Rover, and the Mercedes-Benz GL. Keeping the dealer body financially healthy and enthusiastic is an important element to repairing the brand.

????"Patience is critical for Ford management," said Larry Dominique, president of ALG, a service that estimates the value of new vehicles after they have been leased for varying amounts of time. Automakers must be prepared to invest in new models and brand promotion for long periods, even if the increase in profit and prestige is slow.

????A comparison of the current Navigator against more prestigious competitors illustrates the point about profit. The 2014 Navigator starts at about $54,400, according to Edmunds.com. The 2014 Cadillac Escalade starts at $61,800, and the 2014 Range Rover starts at $85,700. While not identical, the three vehicles are similar in size, power, capability -- while generating remarkably different amounts of revenue for their makers. The difference reflects how customers regard the brands.

????Audi, which has long aspired to be considered a luxury brand, spent 20 years and untold billions climbing toward the premium pinnacle following a controversy in the late 1980s over accusations -- never proven -- that its cars accelerated unintentionally.

????Ultimately, the goal of automotive top managements at Ford, GM, Nissan, Toyota, and others is for their luxury brands to be considered on a par with BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi, the German triumvirate that commands top prices in all global vehicle markets.

????Ford Motor's Lincoln brand eventually may count itself among the world's most esteemed and pricey, though not anytime soon. A future generation of Ford management might be the first to enjoy the fruits of this one's labors.

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