路虎復興傳奇

????有些汽車制造商就如同汽車界的僵尸或是行尸走肉一般。他們的產品線萎縮、經銷商低迷、前景黯然。這些制造商就如同那些永遠也打不進季后賽的職業大聯盟球隊，雖然仍在銷售汽車，但是整個汽車業界已經基本已經無視它們的存在。每個人都能列舉出一些僵尸車廠，而三菱（Mitsubishi）、沃爾沃（Volvo）和來自意大利的藍旗亞（Lancia）就已明顯地正在步邁巴赫（Maybach）、悍馬（Hummer）和帕卡德（Packard）的后塵。

????很長一段時間以來，路虎（Land Rover）似乎也在擺脫不了“僵尸車廠”的宿命。20世紀90年代和21世紀的頭十年，路虎僅僅依靠著過時的制造工藝和效率低得可笑的工程技術——四個平臺生產四種不同的車型——茍延殘喘。那時，路虎汽車的品質就是個笑話。而路虎品牌也在不停地易主，從一開始的羅孚（Rover Group），到后來的寶馬（BMW）和福特（Ford），每個車廠都試圖復興路虎品牌，但最終卻發現無力回天，只能把這個品牌轉手賣給更傻的接盤者。這些年來，路虎的轉手率甚至超過了冷凍豬腩期貨。

????2008年，隨著福特將這家有著65年汽車制造歷史的英國越野車品牌連同捷豹（Jaguar）一起打包出售給了印度塔塔集團（Tata ），路虎品牌似乎即將步入窮途末路。如今這個時代崇尚燃油經濟性，同時排放標準也日益嚴苛，路虎公司旗下那些過時、笨重的油老虎越野車似乎根本就沒有未來。新的競爭者，比如梅賽德斯-奔馳（Mercedes）、雷克薩斯（Lexus）甚至連保時捷（Porsche）都開始推出越野車型，蠶食著路虎的市場份額。即便是最死忠的路虎車迷也越來越無法忍受一次次地往返4S店修車。2007年，路虎在美國的銷量達到最高的49,550輛，之后就一路下滑至2009年的26,306輛。

????雖然經歷過如此種種的波折和磨難，路虎品牌還是頑強地存活下來并等來了轉機。這家汽車制造商在固守著最核心的業務——生產終極越野機器——的同時，開始兩頭發力，一方面推出更為低端的車型，另一方面也開始重新打造售價超過六位數的高端車系。隨著威廉王子、凱特王妃和熱播劇《唐頓莊園》（Downton Abbey）帶動的英倫風尚興起，消費者逐漸開始注意到，路虎汽車又重新變得迷人了。

????2013年，美國市場上的汽車總銷量上漲了8%，而路虎汽車的銷量則激增15%。獨家經營權是關鍵。美國很多地方，無論是在公路還是野外，人們都很難看到一輛路虎汽車。雖然路虎在11月的銷量創下新高，但月銷量也僅有區區的4,601輛，而福特只需要用不到兩天的時間，就可以賣出同樣數量的F系列皮卡。

????雖然總銷量看起來不足掛齒，但路虎每一臺車的利潤卻十分可觀。在豪華SUV車型領域，降價銷售的現象十分普遍，但路虎汽車的價格卻十分堅挺。今年1月，隨著全新一代路虎攬勝的上市，它的平均售價從93,451美元躍升到了101,436美元，而且一直將10萬美元以上的售價維持到了今天。專業汽車網站Edmunds.com的杰西卡?卡德維爾說：“我一直在關注路虎攬勝的售價，我很驚訝它可以一直維持這樣的高價?！?/p>

????另外，路虎品牌旗下車型也一直維持著熱銷的狀態?？ǖ戮S爾指出路虎在11月份的庫存周轉率少于10天，而它競爭對手車型的庫存周轉率則接近2個月?？ǖ戮S爾對消費者表示了同情：“我可以想象，由于熱銷車型很難買到，路虎4S店里肯定會有不少失望的顧客?！?/p>

????They are like zombies, the walking dead of the auto world. Their product lines are decimated, their dealers disheartened, and heir prospects declining. They are still selling cars, but the whole enterprise has a ghastly pall about it -- like teams playing out the NFL schedule with no chance of making the playoffs. Everybody has their own list of zombie brands, but Mitsubishi, Volvo, and Italy's Lancia are clearly in danger of joining Maybach, Hummer, and Packard.

????For a long while, Land Rover seemed headed in the same direction. For most of the '90s and the 00's, it made do with manufacturing operations that were antique and engineering -- four different platforms for four different models -- that was laughably inefficient. Land Rover quality was a joke. A succession of owners, including Rover Group, BMW, and Ford(F, Fortune 500) had tried to revive it, but, finding themselves unable to, sold it off to the greater fool. Land Rover was traded more often than frozen pork belly futures.

????When Ford sold the 65-year-old British based maker of off-road vehicles to India's Tata along with Jaguar in 2008, the end seemed near. The existing product lines consisted of outmoded, overweight, gas hungry off-road vehicles that seemed to have little future in a world of product engineering dictated by fuel economy and emission standards. Newer competitors from Mercedes, Lexus, and even Porsche began to make inroads. Even dyed-in-the-wool Land Rover fans were losing patience with constant trips back to the dealership for repairs. U.S. sales, which had peaked in 2007 at 49,550 slid all the way to 26,306 in 2009.

????Through all those trials however, Land Rover has shown remarkable staying power and has managed to turn itself around. Without deviating from its original mission -- delivering the ultimate in off-road driving machines -- the automaker has expanded its product line at the low end and reengineered its high-end vehicles that sell for six figures. Customers have noticed, and Land Rovers have become cool again, along with Prince William, Kate Middleton, and the cast of Downton Abbey.

????In the U.S., Land Rover has boosted sales 15% this year in an industry that overall is up 8%. Exclusivity is key. There are still vast swaths of the country where you never see one on the road or off. When sales reached an all-time November high last month, they still amounted to only 4,601 units. Ford sells that many F-series trucks in little more than two days.

????But while its volume is scant, Land Rover makes every sale count. Discounts are rife among luxury SUVs, but Land Rover has been able to hold prices. With the introduction of the redesigned Range Rover in January, the average transaction price leapt from $93,451 to $101, 436, and it has remained above $100,000 ever since. "I've been watching for awhile now and am very surprised they've been able to keep their prices so high," says Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds.com.

????Moreover, the vehicles are selling almost as fast as they can be unloaded at dealerships. Edmunds figures that Land Rover's days-to-turn in November was less than 10 days vs. nearly two months for its competitors. Caldwell is sympathetic: "I imagine there are a lot of frustrated people in the Land Rover dealerships since these are hot sellers are not easy to get."