商业报道:专访宝马北美区CEO

Scripts:

The race for the high-end consumer is on. BMW is putting in in the high gear on the green. CNBC auto¹ reporter Phil LeBeau has this tough assignment once again this morning. Ah, I didn't even think about that, Dr. Phil, go forward, Dr. Phil.

Joe, anytime you can spend the morning at Cog Hill, watch the sun rise like this, pretty good gey. I'm here with Tom Purves, the president of BWM North America the man who is in charge of BMW in North America. We are gonna talk about the BMW championship in a little bit and the reason that we are here. But first, I wanna ask you about auto sales, August numbers are gonna be reported later today, and you have the first numbers from BMW, and you had a blockbuster month. Tell me about that.

Yes we did,I mean we had over 26,000 BMWs sold and this is about 18% better than last year which for us is preciously great, we are delighted. And we had extremely good sales of our Mini brand as well, over 4000 vehicles so it's been a record August for us.

So you were looking at sales being up roughly 20% year over year, year to date coming in to August you're up roughly 8 %, you've heard the same commentary out there that consumers are pulling back, people are not going out and buying new cars and trucks. Yet you are not seeing that, why?

Well, first of all, I think anybody who has got great new products is doing well in what is essentially² a flat market. we are seeing some delinquencies with our financial service's company, ah, slightly up on last year. But I really do believe that the package that we are offering the consumers the moment is remarkable³. We are one of the, we are the only brand that has full maintenance included in the price of the car. And I think we are the smart buy at the moment.

You're up, Mercedes is up, Lexus is up, are the luxury brands ,are you insulated from what you are seeing in the economy right now in terms of people saying it is not the right time to buy a new model?

Classically, the luxury brands have some insulation⁴ and you see a turndown in the higher volume products before you do in the luxury market. so I've, some extent, been expecting to see a reduction in demand and I am delighted in the fact that we are not seeing it at BMW at least not as August 2007.

And you told me that back in March of last year when you started to see the data about housing turning down you expected ultimately to see a slowdown,and yet we are only seeing that with mass brands at this point.

Yes,and classically, property foretells⁵ the story for the car business. On the other hand, what we are seeing with property is that it is in sectors⁶, in locations, is not totally all across the markets, and we have some very very strong markets where we are just seeing business continue.

I know Joe Kearney has a question for you,Tom. Joe, go ahead.

I do, and it's a long term question, Phil and Mr. Purves you think BMW, you think performance. you think you are gonna go here to here with some power and with some speed. Long term you think carbon footprints, you think Prius, you think hybrid⁷. Does BMW have to reposition itself with the, with... since that riding is on the loaf and it's not going to be all about performance down the road.

No, I don't believe so, I mean we've taken this whole business of sustainability very seriously for many many years now. No a car company has done more to improve the fuel efficiency of its product range of last ten years, and BMW in fact, we just won an accolade⁸ last week on that very subject. One of the reason we had such a good Auguest we had a great new BMW 3 series with a 2.8 litre, 3 and half litre engines, brand-new engines. They not only produce more power but they are actually more fuel- efficient at the same time. So I believe that together with work we are doing to introduce diesels⁹ into the United States next year. We have hybrid technology coming along and here at Cog Hill we have four of our hydrogen part 7 series which are really the cars of the future. We are in pretty good shape. So long as we deliver to the customer better fuel- efficiency as well as better performance , and BMW is a clever buy.

Alright, um, If you heard where the Nicholson's playing next week?

No, You knew the question was coming. I knew the question was coming I'm sure Phil will do the right thing and when I speak to the commissioner¹⁰ later today. I'm sure I am gonna hear some good news. (Tom Purves, the...) Sounds like he's gonna play.

I hope so.

The president of BWM North America Tom, thank you very much for joining us today on Squawk Box. BMW championship kicks off, tees off I should say Thursday. They've already got some good news with auto sales for August and certainly they're gonna enjoy that here. Guys?Back to you.

All right.

Notes:

tee off: to get started

on the loaf: in a situation of straying or wabbling

1 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。

2 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

5 foretells   

v.预言，预示( foretell的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important. 它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。 来自互联网
• What the Old Testament foretells the New Testament fulfils, in part. 旧约圣经的预言在新约圣经中部分实现了。 来自互联网

6 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

8 accolade   

n.推崇备至，赞扬

参考例句：

• Four restaurants have been awarded the highest accolade of a three-star rating.四家餐馆获授予三星级餐馆的最高荣誉称号。
• The Nobel prize has become the ultimate accolade in the sciences.诺贝尔奖已成为科学界的最高荣誉。

9 diesels   

柴油( diesel的名词复数 )； 柴油机机车（或船等）

参考例句：

• The diesels roared, the conductors jumped aboard, and off the train went. 内燃机发出轰鸣声，列车员跳上车厢，火车开走了。
• The diesels catch and roar, a welcome sound. 柴油机开动，发生了怒吼，这是令人鼓舞的声音。

10 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。