2021年经济学人 卡洛斯·戈恩与日产的恩怨纠葛(1)

Carlos Ghosn and Nissan

卡洛斯·戈恩与日产的恩怨纠葛

Car trouble

汽车纷争

Collision Course. By Hans Greimel and William Sposato.

《阴谋始末》。作者汉斯·格雷梅尔和威廉·斯波萨托。

The main events of the scandal that brought down Carlos Ghosn,

导致卡洛斯·戈恩(Carlos Ghosn)下台的主要丑闻事件起因于乘坐公务机。

whose restless energy made other globetrotting bosses look work-shy, are appropriately book-ended by flights on corporate¹ jets.

戈恩的充沛精力让其他满世界飞的老板们黯然失色。

The drama began with grainy television footage of Japanese prosecutors² boarding the plane that delivered an unwitting Mr Ghosn to his arrest in Tokyo in November 2018.

这场闹剧的开场是一些模糊的电视画面：2018年11月的东京，日本检方登上一架飞机，突然将不知情的戈恩逮捕。

It culminated³ in his skipping bail⁴ on several charges of financial impropriety around a year later.

大约一年后，他因几项财务不当指控而在保释期间潜逃，由此这出闹剧达到了高潮。

Stripped of his leadership of a giant conglomerate⁵, he was smuggled⁶ out of Japan on another private jet, this time hidden in a box.

在被剥夺一家大型企业集团的领导权后，他搭乘另一架私人飞机偷运出日本，这次是藏身于一个箱子里。

Because of that clandestine⁷ escape, “Collision Course” by Hans Greimel and William Sposato, two Tokyo-based journalists, at times reads like a spy thriller⁸.

由于那次秘密逃亡，两位驻东京记者汉斯·格雷梅尔和威廉·斯波萨托的《阴谋始末》有时读起来像间谍惊悚小说。

But their main aim and achievement is to give the clearest account yet of the deep-rooted causes of Mr Ghosn’s predicament.

但他们的主要目标和成就是对戈恩陷入困境的深层原因给出最清晰的解释。

Underpinning⁹ the entire tale—and Mr Ghosn’s status as a corporate superstar—was Renault’s rescue in 1999 of near-bankrupt Nissan,

戈恩作为企业超级明星的地位得到巩固是在——1999年，雷诺拯救了濒临破产的日产，

an alliance, later joined by Mitsubishi, which he built into the world’s biggest carmaker.

后来三菱也加入了这个联盟，戈恩将日产打造成了世界上最大的汽车制造商。

The terms of Nissan’s bail-out gave Renault, in which the French government has a large shareholding¹⁰, control of the Japanese firm,

对日产的纾困条款给予雷诺(法国政府持有其大量股份)对这家日本公司的控制权，

but Nissan got no say over Renault in return.

但作为条件，日产对雷诺的相关问题没有发言权。

The alliance stopped short of a full merger¹¹, which, in the car industry, had usually ended in disaster.

该联盟尚未实现全面合并，而在汽车行业，全面合并通常以灾难的结果告终。

This arrangement led to seething¹² resentment¹³ at Nissan, which gradually became the bigger company and the main source of profits.

这一安排引发了日产的强烈不满，该公司逐渐发展为规模更大的公司和主要的利润来源。

Mr Ghosn kept a lid on the tensions between the two carmakers—their engineers rarely agreed on anything—through the force of his personality.

戈恩凭借他的个人性格压制了两家汽车制造商之间的紧张关系——两家的工程师很少能就某一问题达成一致。

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

2 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

3 culminated   

v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• a gun battle which culminated in the death of two police officers 一场造成两名警察死亡的枪战
• The gala culminated in a firework display. 晚会以大放烟火告终。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

5 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。

6 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

7 clandestine   

adj.秘密的，暗中从事的

参考例句：

• She is the director of clandestine operations of the CIA.她是中央情报局秘密行动的负责人。
• The early Christians held clandestine meetings in caves.早期的基督徒在洞穴中秘密聚会。

8 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

9 underpinning   

n.基础材料；基础结构；（学说、理论等的）基础；（人的）腿v.用砖石结构等从下面支撑（墙等）( underpin的现在分词 )；加固（墙等）的基础；为（论据、主张等）打下基础；加强

参考例句：

• Underpinning this success has been an exemplary record of innovation. 具有典范性的创新确保了这次成功。 来自辞典例句
• But underpinning Mr Armstrong's technology changes is a human touch. 但阿姆斯特朗技术变革的支柱是人情味。 来自互联网

10 shareholding   

n.股权

参考例句：

• Shareholding commercial banks must exercise an independent system of board of directors. 股份制商业银行必须实行独立董事制度。 来自互联网
• Asset re-structuring: to conduct shareholding reform for high quality assets. 资产重组：对优质资产进行股份制改造。 来自互联网

11 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

12 seething   

沸腾的，火热的

参考例句：

• The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
• The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。

13 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。