????由于涉嫌在尾氣排放測試中作弊，大眾宣布召回六年來生產(chǎn)的各款柴油汽車，而且可能因此遭到天價罰款。不過，這家德國汽車廠商的凈值損失甚至可能更大，因為本次丑聞必將影響大眾的商譽(yù)，而這是該公司資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表上數(shù)額最大的資產(chǎn)之一。

????在許多公司看來，真正有價值的資產(chǎn)很多，商譽(yù)、現(xiàn)金和庫存都是其中的一部分。衡量某家公司的價值時，除了其名下所有的實物資產(chǎn)，還要考慮其品牌價值。它也經(jīng)常和其他難以衡量價值的無形資產(chǎn)自成一組，比如專利及各種知識產(chǎn)權(quán)。通常，商譽(yù)普遍存在于各個行業(yè)。但多年來不斷召回產(chǎn)品并恣意妄為的汽車廠商竟然還有商譽(yù)可言，這也許會讓一些人感到意外。

????為自身品牌明碼標(biāo)價的汽車制造商并非只有大眾一家。通用汽車對自身商譽(yù)的估值達(dá)到令人咋舌的60億美元，而該公司最近才同意支付9億美元來了結(jié)因點火開關(guān)故障引發(fā)的訴訟，通用汽車被控明知這一問題可能會要了車主性命，卻未采取任何行動。至于福特，截至去年底，它估算自己的商譽(yù)和其他無形資產(chǎn)價值1.33億美元。豐田則未將商譽(yù)列入資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表，考慮到它的產(chǎn)品召回史，這也許合情合理。寶馬和戴姆勒對各自商譽(yù)和無形資產(chǎn)的估值分別為120億美元和100億美元。

????就算在德國汽車業(yè)，大眾的商譽(yù)也顯得很高。截至今年上半年，該公司估算的無形資產(chǎn)價值為670億美元。同時，商譽(yù)在大眾凈值中占的比重遠(yuǎn)高于其他汽車公司。該公司的商譽(yù)和其他無形資產(chǎn)約占總資產(chǎn)的16%。在戴姆勒和通用汽車，這個比例分別只有4%和3%。

????大眾認(rèn)為自身品牌價值遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過競爭對手著實有些奇怪。這可能是個會計問題。如果某家公司收購另一家公司的價格超過了后者的實物資產(chǎn)價值，它就得從別處來填補(bǔ)這個缺口，此時它們往往會選擇商譽(yù)。如果品牌受損，就應(yīng)該下調(diào)其賬面價值。但這樣做的公司寥寥無幾。看來，在腳踏實地評估自身品牌價值方面，大眾一直比其他公司馬虎。然而，考慮到當(dāng)前出現(xiàn)的問題，大眾很難再說自身品牌在消費者眼里的價值還和幾周前一模一樣。當(dāng)大眾最終不得不下調(diào)品牌價值，一定會擠出許多泡沫。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：Charlie

????校對：詹妮

????Volkswagen is recalling six years of diesel vehicle models and may have to pay billions in fines to settle allegations that it cheated on emissions tests. But the hit to the German car maker’s net worth could be even bigger. That’s because the scandal is sure to affect one of the biggest assets on Volkswagen’s balance sheet: goodwill.

????Many companies lump goodwill, along with cash and inventory, as one of their many assets with a true value. It is supposed to measure what a company is worth beyond all the stuff it owns, which is largely the value of its brand. And it often gets grouped in with others things that are hard to measure, like the value of patents and other intellectual property. Goodwill is common across industries. But it may be surprising to some that car companies, after their years of recalls and abuses, have any goodwill left at all.

????Volkswagen is not the only automaker to put a dollar amount on its brand. General Motors, which recently agreed to pay $900 million to settle charges that it knew its faulty ignition switches were likely killing people and did nothing about it, amazingly puts its goodwill at $6 billion. At the end of last year, Ford had its goodwill and other intangible assets at $133 million. Toyota doesn’t list any goodwill on its balance sheet, which may make sense given its recall history. BMW and Daimler put their goodwill and intangible assets at $12 billion and $10 billion respectively.

????But even among the German car companies, Volkswagen’s goodwill seems high. As of the middle of this year, Volkswagen listed its intangible assets at $67 billion. And Volkswagen’s goodwill makes up a much larger percentage of its net worth than is the case at other car companies. Volkswagen’s goodwill and other intangibles makes up about 16% of its total assets. Compare that to just 4% at Daimler and 3% at GM.

????It’s odd that Volkswagen would have ever thought its brand was worth so much more than its rivals. It’s probably a function of accounting. When companies buy other companies for more than the worth of their assets, they have to record that value somewhere, and it gets stuck in goodwill. Still, companies are supposed to take a write down when the value of its brands take a hit. Few companies do. And Volkswagen appears to have been more lax than others in realistically valuing its brand. But it will be hard for the company to argue that the Volkswagen name, given what has come out, is worth as much to consumers as it was a few weeks ago. When VW is finally forced to open up its value to deflate it, a lot of air is sure to come out.