世界500强CEO访谈 第11期:通用里克瓦格纳 开发新型燃料汽车(2)

 　　Reporter: How much do you think that new push comes from, for example, the California Air Resources Board pushing you, saying you’ve got to do it, we’re going to make you do it, we’re going to have restrictions¹, we’re going to have quotas² And how much of it is internal and just related to the customer

　　记者：您认为，从多大程度上来说那些制造新动力汽车的想法来自于比如加州空气资源协会这样的外部环境呢？因为他们说你们必须要那样做，我们要求你们那样做，我们会有一定的限制和定量。又有多少动力是来自于公司内部，是考虑到消费者的需求而产生的呢？

　　Wagoner: Well, I think in the end for this to work, it has got to be driven by the customer base. And I think different people have different views of the role of regulations pushing. What I’ve seen around the world is if the regulatory desires are combined with things that affect consumer behavior-such as in Europe they tax gasoline very heavily-you do get people to move to very fuel efficient cars; trade off bigger vs. smaller cars. What’s in the end important is ‘what do consumers want to buy’ And my sense is that consumers’ attitudes are quite different today than they were when gas was $2 a gallon.

　　瓦格纳：我认为，这项计划最终能够实行就是建立在消费者的基础上的，不同的人对于规章所带来的动力会有不同的看法。我所看到的是，如果能够把规章和能够影响消费者行为的事情结合起来，比如在欧洲，他们对汽油上的税很高，那我们就能够驱使人们去买低油耗的车，以小车代替大车。而在最终，一个重要的问题是，消费者想要买什么样的车。我的看法是，人们现在的态度与以前1加仑汽油2美元的时候的态度相比，已经不同了。

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　　Reporter: So consumers want to buy electric; they want to buy hybrids³ at this point

　　记者：所以消费者想要买电力的、氢燃料的汽车吗？

　　Wagoner: I think so. I think it’s changed quite a bit. I’m not saying all consumers, and what’s important to keep in mind is consumers expect value out of this, so they’re not necessarily willing to pay significant premiums⁴ for these technologies. So our challenge is to develop them, the technologies，get them to market and make sure that we provide them at a price that the consumer sees the value. And if we do all that, I think they will really embrace the technologies.

　　瓦格纳：我想是的，人们的看法已经改变了很多，我指的不是所有的消费者，我们要记住的重要一点是，消费者期望从中得到一定的价值，所以他们不一定愿意在这些技术上额外地多花钱。所以我们的挑战是开发这些技术，然后投入到市场，最终确保我们提供的价格能让消费者看到实际的价值。如果我们都做到了，我想他们会真正欢迎并接受这些技术的。

　　Reporter: What do you say to people who maybe don’t buy that and say the oil companies and the car companies are really invested in keeping us in a gasoline economy, and especially they have been in the past, today

　　记者：有的人不会买那样的车，他们会说，正是石油公司和汽车公司的结合才使我们生活在汽油经济的时代，对于过去来说尤其如此，您会对他们说什么呢？这是真的吗，对于当今来说它还是真的吗？

　　Wagoner: It’s certainly not true today and I don’t think it was true in the past. I mean, the auto⁵ industry and the oil industry have worked together on things like fuel blends, but other than that, I think frankly⁶ we’ve operated pretty much at arms length the entire time I’ve been involved in senior positions. So it’s true, the infrastructure⁷ is petroleum⁸ based, so that’s the easy thing to do with the next car. But I think for a variety of reasons we’re going to need to move away from that. In the auto industry, we have a responsibility to lead that. We can’t do it alone, but we have a responsibility to lead that. And I hear some of the oil companies, the heads, talking about developing alternative kind of energies in the future, so I suspect they’re seeing some of the things we are—maybe on different time frames than we see.

　　瓦格纳：现在当然不是真的，而且我也不认同以前是那样的。我的意思是，汽车公司和石油公司只是在诸如混合燃料等方面有合作，但是除此之外，坦白的说在我在高级职位工作的时间内，我们并没有太多的交集。我们在基础设施方面，是以汽油为基础的，所以对制造下一辆汽车来说，那是件很容易的事情。但是我认为，很多原因都使得我们必须要改变那种情况。在汽车产业中，我们有责任带头那样做，我们不能够单独做，但是我们有责任起到带头作用。我听到一些石油公司的领导人谈论有关未来发展其他能源的问题，所以我想他们也意识到了我们所想到的事情，也许只是时间不同的问题。

　　Reporter: There was a discussion recently in this area, especially with the Tesla (electric car manufacturer) and other car manufacturers, smaller ones, trying to get going, saying, “you know, we wonder if Silicon⁹ Valley may be the next Detroit ” What do you think?

　　记者：最近在这一领域有个讨论，尤其是关于特斯拉（电力汽车制造商）和其他一些小型的汽车制造商，他们试图采取行动，并且说，我们想知道硅谷是否会成为下一个底特律？您对此的看法是什么呢？

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

3 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

4 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

9 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。