汽车制造王国风光不再？

We have been hearing a couple of things about this, this news that Ford¹ Motor Company is slashing² up to 30, 000 jobs, shutting down 14 plants nationwide, American automakers trying to get in on the road to recovery, and industry they once dominated. So, what if the unthinkable happens, and America never, ever gets its mojo back in motor vehicles. Then what happens? What if we are prominently alsorans to the likes of Asia and Europe. Is that such a big deal? If we do all the buying but none of the making.

With us now, is Malcolm Bricklin, he is the CEO, and a founder⁴ of Visionary Vehicles. He plans to sell Chinese-made vehicles to the American market by 2007. And Mark Gillies is the executive editor of Automobile⁵ Magazine. Mark, at it with you, begin with you, is it a big deal if we are no longer manufacturing these cars?

I think it's a huge deal, I mean the, the companies are massive employers both directly and indirectly⁶. If you look at Ford after their restructuring, they've actually got 87, 000 employees which is twice as many as Microsoft have worldwide. Moreover, if you look at the, the . . . , those, those jobs, they are very high-paying jobs, these are people who can afford to buy their own products, unlike , er, the employees at Wal-Mart or people of flipping⁷ burgers at McDonald, do you know, they can't afford to buy an F150. The guys on the line at Ford can.

Er, it's a good point, Malcolm, and the one that seems to indicate a big hit for our economy if these jobs go bye-bye. What do you make of that?

Yeah, I agree. By the way, I, I mean it's a really sad day for America, but I will tell you, it goes deeper than just pension, and it goes deeper than just expensive labor⁸. You know, 'cause we're down to the dealer⁹, it's not a pleasant experience to go buy cars right now, and I think there is a major restructuring that the major car companies have to do.

Yeah, but it's not any more pleasant going to a Nissan or Toyota dealer, right?

That, that's true, by the way, I have navigated¹⁰ a whole change in the whole industry. (Right)

The whole way is being done.

But, Neil, now Ford and GM have an opportunity. Unfortunately the word's bankruptcy¹¹.

Yeah.

But it's an opportunity to restructure and may be take a lead in the industry that definitely needs a lead.

You know, Mark, I am not wishing this upon anyone here. But if we were to lose our auto³ industry manufacturing in this country, many feared disastrous¹² consequences if we were not (at) the place making VCRs, if we were not the place making televisions and yet, the American economy went merrily on even as those type of jobs did not. What do you make of that?

I, I think that's slightly naive¹³ because one of the beauties about the car industry is these are very very high-value items, I mean, one of those things is that if you look at the financial situation of the companies, GM, for instance, doesn't actually turn over much less than Wal-Mart does. Wal-Mart has 1. 3 million employees, I think. And if you look at GM, they, they, in 2005, they had 181, 000 employees.

But Mark it's not as if cars are stopped being made, right? That, the likes of Toyota, and, and, and so many these others do have plants in this country, and are making vehicles in this country, they are just not American companies doing so.

Well, there is still, you know, there is still a large number of cars being made by American manufacturers, I think people forget that. More than half of the American cars sold in America are American for instance, so what's happened over time is that as the market share has fallen, foreign car companies have come in, and they have taken over plants. Effectively they've set up new plants, and they have taken over that capacity. So, it's not like, there are less cars being produced in America than there were 30 years ago.

Well, Malcolm, let me ask you about the Chinese coming in, er. . How serious is that threat? what would it mean to American jobs, if and when that happens?

Well, it's a serious threat, of course, it is. We are gonna go right in the middle market, in the 20s, which is a market that has been held by most of the manufacturers very comfortably because they sell cars in the 30s to 50s. So, it's gonna be serious but I think it's gonna give an opportunity to the American manufacturers to look seriously at where their place is in this world, and I think there is a very major place for them. It just has to be restructured again from top to bottom. (Right)

I, I, Excuse me if I can butt¹⁴ in that, I. . . I disagree with that, the Chinese cars we have seen so far aren't that great and they don't have the branding that's necessary to make a huge impact in the world, world stage.

Well, neither were the Japanese cars, neither were the South Korean cars, when they first came in, they were considered you know, tin cans with wheels and I think they've come a long way.

Mark, you are right, by the way, the cars you have seen from China do not meet what I just told you. But nobody has actually seen the cars I am talking about, except the one at the Shanghai Auto Show, that won car of the show I believe this year.

All right, Malcolm and Mark, thank you both very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

3 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

4 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

5 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

6 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

7 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

10 navigated   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的过去式和过去分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• He navigated the plane through the clouds. 他驾驶飞机穿越云层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ship was navigated by the North Star. 那只船靠北极星来导航。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

12 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

13 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

14 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。