Business Channel 2007-05-22&24

Toyota passed GM in global sales early this year, and the Japanese carmaker now expects to end the Detroit giant's 76-year reign² as world NO. 1.

The world's most profitable automaker has earned over three billion dollars in the last three months. That compares with GM's mere³ 62 million dollars.

The maker¹ of the Camry, America's most popular car as well as everything from hybrids⁴ to robots, is hiking output from Texas to Russia. Celebration might be in order, but at a news conference Wednesday, Toyota's president, Katsuaki Watanabe was not blowing company horns too loudly.

Rather than being conscious of what our rivals are doing, it's important for us to focus on ensuring global customers' satisfaction, and putting all efforts into reaching our own 8.9 million sales target.

On the road to being Number One, Toyota has faced a series of recalls in Japan and the U.S, raising concerns success may have stretched too thin. Except for China, Asian sales actually declined last year, so Toyota has added factories in the region. And even with acceleration⁵ to the global winner's circle, the share price of Japan's Number One has idled. Still, Toyota's market value exceeds 217 billion dollars. That's more than twelve times General Motors, or nearly double Detroit's Big Three combined.

Dan Sloan, Reuters, Tokyo.

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

3 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

4 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

5 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。