东京 -- 福特汽车表示，正瞄准中国竞争对手，并准备在价格上向他们发起挑战，同时通过与中国吉利汽车和江铃汽车的合作吸收专业知识。
TOKYO -- Ford Motor says it is gunning for Chinese competitors and is ready to challenge them on price, while it soaks up expertise through partnerships with China's Geely and JMC.
总裁兼首席执行官吉姆·法利在周四早盘的财报电话会议上强调，这家美国车企的核心战略集中于应对中国，既包括竞争也包括联盟。
President and CEO Jim Farley stressed in a Thursday morning earnings call that the U.S. automaker's core strategy centers on dealing with China, both in terms of competition as well as alliances.
“坦率地说，随着中国车企在我们看到竞争的开放和封闭市场中获得越来越多份额，我们在国际上的表现其实相当不错，”法利说。竞争“最激烈”的领域是拉丁美洲和东南亚，福特在这些地区拥有庞大的Ranger皮卡业务，使公司能够以比中国竞争对手高得多的价位进行竞争。
"Frankly, we've held up really well internationally as the Chinese have gained more and more share in open and closed markets where we see the competition," Farley said. The areas where competition is "most intense" are Latin America and Southeast Asia, where Ford has a large Ranger pickup truck business that enables the company to compete at a much higher price point than its Chinese rivals.
第三季度，福特营收同比下降2%至495亿美元，净利润下降16.3%至20.4亿美元。
For the third quarter, Ford logged a 2% year-on-year decline in revenue to $49.5 billion, while net profit decreased 16.3% to $2.04 billion.
法利表示，现在福特即将在明年“进入他们的价位区间”，并将随着一款名为Fathom的低价中型皮卡上市，向崛起的中国品牌发起进攻。
Now, Farley said, Ford is on the verge of "going into their price point next year" and will go on the offensive against rising Chinese marques with the launch of a low-priced, midsize pickup called the Fathom.
据福特Blue和Model e部门（即公司的传统燃油车和电动车部门）总裁安德鲁·弗里克透露，这款新车型的制造商建议零售价起价为2.8万美元，远低于美国约一半新车定价所在的4万美元左右的水平。
The manufacturer's suggested retail price of the new model starts at $28,000, substantially lower than the roughly $40,000 level where about half of new vehicles are priced in the U.S., according to Andrew Frick, president of Ford Blue and Model e, the company's conventional and electric car divisions.
“我们的运营成本将甚至比主流混合动力车还要低得多，”弗里克说，并强调这款车型应有助于福特吸引广泛的客户群。福特汽车首席执行官吉姆·法利于1月在底特律车展上发言。
"We're going to have much lower operating costs than even a mainstream hybrid vehicle," Frick said, stressing the model should help Ford attract a wide range of customers. Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley speaks at the Detroit Auto Show in January.
Fathom是福特通用电动汽车平台（UEV平台）推出的首款车型，将在位于肯塔基州路易斯维尔的工厂组装。法利表示，UEV平台的设计旨在回答如何与比亚迪竞争这一问题。
The Fathom is the first model coming out of Ford's universal electric vehicle, or UEV, platform and will be assembled at its plant in Louisville, Kentucky. Farley said the UEV platform is designed to answer the question of how to compete against BYD.
“我们一直设定目标，甚至四年前就开始……设想比亚迪在墨西哥能做什么，”他说，强调这家总部位于深圳的电动汽车制造商已成为行业标杆。
"We always set our target, even four years ago ... imagining what BYD could do in Mexico," he said, underscoring how the Shenzhen-based EV maker has become the industry benchmark.
“我们知道，如果那个平台最终要具备竞争力，我们必须确保即使在美国也能完全具备竞争力，”法利解释道。
"We knew that ultimately if that platform is going to be competitive, we had to make sure even in the U.S. it would be fully competitive," Farley explained.
他强调了两项显著的技术飞跃：电子电气架构，包括先进驾驶辅助系统（ADAS），以及“彻底”简化的零部件。法利表示，电机、变速箱和逆变器的效率比比亚迪高出约30%。
He highlighted two notable technical leaps: the electronics and electrical architecture, including the advanced driver-assistance system, or ADAS, and "radically" simplified parts. Farley said the motors, gearboxes and inverters are about 30% more efficient than BYD's.
福特首席运营官库马尔·加尔霍特拉重申，电机和其他零部件的效率提升“现在正被引入我们的混合动力系统，用于我们产品组合的其余部分”，并最终将反映在整个集团中，包括与吉利和江铃汽车股份有限公司（JMC）的合资企业，后者是一家在深圳上市的老牌中国内地实体。
Kumar Galhotra, Ford's chief operating officer, reiterated that the improvements in efficiency in motors and other parts "are now being transported into our hybrid systems for the rest of our portfolio" and will ultimately be reflected throughout the group, including joint ventures with Geely and Jiangling Motors Corp. (JMC), a longstanding mainland Chinese entity listed in Shenzhen.
关于在欧洲与吉利的最新合作——法利认为这是与中国新兴车企竞争最激烈的战场——他说：“我们正在向吉利学习。”7月，双方签署了一项协议，在福特位于西班牙的闲置工厂进行共享生产。同样，福特也在从与江铃合作出口中国汽车的过程中汲取经验。
On its latest collaboration with Geely in Europe, where Farley sees the most serious battle with Chinese upstarts, he said, "We're learning from Geely." In July, the two signed a deal on shared production at the American carmaker's underutilized factory in Spain. Likewise, Ford is taking lessons from working with JMC to export from China.
“福特是从中国出口汽车的第一大传统OEM（原始设备制造商），”他说，称这一策略“非常有利可图”且“成功”。据法利称，从中国的出口量增长了60%，他将“继续利用这一点拓展开放市场”。福特持股32%的江铃汽车报告称，前九个月营收同比增长5.5%至287亿元人民币（约43亿美元），净利润跃升21%至9.06亿元人民币。
"Ford is the No. 1 traditional OEM (original equipment manufacturer) exporting from China," he said, calling the strategy "very profitable" and "successful." Exports out of China have grown by 60%, according to Farley, and he is set to "continue to take advantage of that for the open markets." JMC, 32% owned by Ford, reported revenue growth of 5.5% on the year to 28.7 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) for the first nine months, with net profit jumping by 21% to 906 million yuan.
“我们从向中国出口中学到了很多，”法利强调，包括关于成本和在其他地区的本地化。
"We have learned so much exporting from China," Farley stressed, including about costs and localization elsewhere.
“我们短期内面临的问题真的是欧洲”，那里中国出口产品正涌入市场，尽管欧盟与北京最近同意对混合动力车出货量设定上限。
"The issue for us in the short term is really Europe," where Chinese exports are swarming the market, although the bloc and Beijing recently agreed to put a cap on hybrid shipments.
“我们看到来自中国竞争对手的真正压力在于欧洲”，法利表示。尽管如此，他计划利用福特在中国的经验以及与中国合作伙伴的合作来应对挑战。
"We see the real pressure on our business with the Chinese" in Europe, Farley said. Nevertheless, he plans to use Ford's experience in China and cooperation with Chinese partners to rise to the challenge.
“我们公司的核心灵魂将是这一新工业体系，它由所有那些对标工作所赋能，涵盖供应商、制造效率，一直到我们造车的速度”，这位汽车行业资深人士表示。“这让我们感到振奋，因为这对福特汽车来说是一项相当大的变革。”
"The heart and soul of our company is going to be this new industrial system enabled by all that benchmarking, including suppliers, manufacturing efficiency, all the way to how fast we create the vehicle," the auto industry veteran said. "That's exciting for us because it's quite a big change for Ford Motor."