背景介绍：
在大约15年前，中国车企迈出了进军海外市场的第一步，但因为包括质量、技术在内的种种原因，最终以失败告终。如今，随着中国汽车工业的不断发展以及在电动汽车领域的异军突起，中国车企又一次做出了进军海外市场的尝试。那么，这一次，中国车企能否杀入西方市场？Chinese marques try to make
inroads into Western markets
中国车企试图杀入西方市场
第二次会有好运吗？
The failure of the first serious attempt
by China’s carmakers to conquer European markets, around 15 years ago, was
self-inflicted. Their cars were terrible. The shabby quality of Brilliance’s
“BS” range (no joke) was matched with looks that scarcely merited the word
“design”. 大约15年前，中国汽车制造商第一次真正出征欧洲市场，最终以失败告终，这完全是咎由自取。它们的车很糟糕。华晨汽车“BS”系列（没有开玩笑，真的叫这个名）品质低劣，与之相配的是几乎谈不上“设计”的外观。
Since then the Chinese car industry has become the world’s biggest and its products have improved immeasurably. It churns out more electric vehicles (EVs) than any other country, and many are anything but BS. It is also an EV-battery superpower.自那以后，中国的汽车工业逐渐发展壮大，规模成为世界第一，其产品相比当年也有了长足进步。中国生产的电动汽车比其他任何国家都多，其中许多都不再如华晨BS系列一般。同时，中国也是动力电池的超级大国。
EV-friendly Europe is again in China’s
sights. Norway, where generous tax breaks mean that four out of five cars sold
are fully electric, has served as a bridgehead. Now Chinese firms are launching
a wider assault on the continent. 对电动汽车友好的欧洲再次进入中国的视线。挪威有着优厚的税收减免政策，在那里，电动汽车占总销量的五分之四，它已成为中国车企进军欧洲市场的桥头堡。现在，中国车企正在向欧洲市场发起更广泛的攻势。
In Berlin on October 7th Nio, a Tesla wannabe, showed off three new models. At the Paris motor show, which opens on October 17th, BYD and Great Wall Motors (GWM) will give more details of their plans for Europe.10月7日，对标特斯拉的蔚来汽车在柏林展出了三款新车型。在10月17日开幕的巴黎车展上，比亚迪和长城汽车将公布他们欧洲计划的更多详情。
Rich subsidies have created a vast home
market for Chinese EVs, encouraging established firms and startups alike. BYD’s
plug-in cars (some are hybrids rather than full EVs) now outsell Teslas
worldwide. 丰厚的补贴为中国电动汽车创造了一个巨大的国内市场，激励了传统车企和造车新势力。比亚迪的插电式汽车（有些属于混动车型，而非纯电车型）如今在全球的销量已经超过了特斯拉。
Subsidies contingent on local production have deterred imports, obliging firms such as Tesla to set up in China, strengthening domestic supply chains. A ban on foreign battery-makers has made China their predominant manufacturer. And cheap money supplied by central and local government has given Chinese firms access to buckets of capital.能否获得补贴取决于是否在本地生产，这遏制了进口，也迫使特斯拉等公司在中国建厂，加强了国内供应链。一项外国电池制造商禁令是中国成为了电池的主要产地。中央和地方政府提供的廉价资金让中国企业获得了大量资本。
Scale at home has helped Chinese firms
keep costs low. Their cheaper EVs are now filling the European market
ill-served by Western carmakers, which have focused on higher-end rides.
Chinese brands already accounted for nearly one in 20 EVs sold in western
Europe in the first eight months of 2022, according to Schmidt Automotive, a
consultancy. 国内市场的规模效应帮助中国企业维持了低成本。西方车企一直以来专注于高端车型，而中国的低价电动车正在填补欧洲市场的空缺。咨询公司施密特汽车的数据显示，今年的前8个月，中国品牌已占到西欧电动汽车销售的近二十分之一。
Around half of those sales, some 22,000 cars in 14 countries, were budget EVs from MG, a division of SAIC, a Chinese state-owned giant. GWM will soon aim at the same segment with its “Funky Cat” EV, from its Ora marque.中国车企在该地区14个国家售出了约2.2万辆车，其中约一半是中国国有巨头上汽集团旗下品牌名爵生产的经济性电动车。长城汽车很快也将带着其旗下欧拉品牌的“好猫”电动汽车进军这一细分市场。
The Chinese are trying to establish
trusted brands, not always from scratch. Geely has owned Sweden’s Volvo since
2010 and an affiliated investment vehicle owns 10% of Mercedes-Benz. Last month
Geely bought 8% of Aston Martin, a struggling British sports-car firm. Its
experience of making cars to European standards may be why its Polestar EVs,
part of Volvo until 2017, sell nearly as well in Europe as MGs do. 中国人正试图建立值得信赖的品牌，但并非完全从零开始。吉利汽车在2010年收购了瑞典的沃尔沃，并通过一个附属投资公司持有梅赛德斯-奔驰10%的股份。上个月，吉利收购了陷入困境的英国跑车公司阿斯顿马丁8%的股份。或许正是由于有了按欧洲标准生产汽车的经验，吉利旗下的极星电动汽车（2017年之前属于沃尔沃）在欧洲的销量几乎和名爵一样好。
The U5 from Aiways, a five-year-old startup, was a finalist this year in the prestigious European Car of the Year contest. BYD’s recent deal with Sixt, a German car-rental firm, to supply it with 100,000 EVs by 2028 may help to familiarise motorists with its cars, including a small, cheap SUV.刚刚创立五年的爱驰汽车生产的U5车型今年入围了著名的欧洲年度风云车大赛。比亚迪最近与德国汽车租赁公司Sixt达成协议，从现在到2028年向其供应10万辆电动车，这可能有助于让驾驶者熟悉比亚迪汽车，包括一款小型经济型SUV。
Competition will be tougher in the more
lucrative premium segment, observes Matthias Schmidt of Schmidt Automotive.
BYD’s larger models cost about as much as similar Western cars. 施密特汽车咨询公司的马蒂亚斯·施密特认为，在利润更丰厚的高端市场，竞争将更加激烈。比亚迪较大车型的售价与西方品牌类似车型差不多。
Fancier Chinese brands such as Nio, Xpeng and GWM’s Wey may have missed their chance as Germany’s premium carmakers belatedly roll out more upmarket EVs. And if they do too well, one industry boss notes, their European rivals can always plead for more protection. As anti-Chinese sentiment grows in the West, politicians are in the mood to grant it.随着德国豪华品牌姗姗来迟地推出更高端的电动汽车，蔚来、小鹏和长城魏牌等更高档的中国品牌可能已经错失了机会。一位业内老板指出，如果中国车企表现得太好，其欧洲竞争对手将会请求更大的行业保护。随着西方反华情绪日益高涨，政客们也乐于这么做。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
重难点词汇：
immeasurably [ɪ'meʒərəblɪ] adv. 无限地；广大无边地
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