VOA慢速英语2020 新冠疫情后美国二手车销量大增（在线收听）

In April, as America shutdown to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, used-car salesman Alex Tovstanovsky bought as many cars as he could find. His business in the Illinois town of Naperville was filled with used vehicles, cars that are no longer new and up for resale.

今年4月，随着美国停工以阻止新冠病毒的传播，二手车商亚历克斯·托弗斯塔诺夫收购了他所能找到的尽可能多的汽车。他在伊利诺伊州内珀维尔镇的公司里停满了二手汽车，这些都不是新车，准备用于转售。

The price of these cars had fallen to the lowest levels he had ever seen. He believed the market for used cars was about to grow a lot – and he was correct.

这些汽车的价格降到了他所见过的最低水平。他认为二手车市场将会大幅增长，他的观点是对的。

Now, as Americans return to work, car buyers are mostly looking at used cars. With his large number of cars, Tovstanovsky can offer lower prices than his competitors. His sales are up 38 percent when compared to May 2019.

现在，随着美国人复工，购车者大多数将目光投向了二手车。凭借他收购的大量二手车，托弗斯塔诺夫可以提供比竞争对手更低的价格。与2019年5月相比，他的销售额增长了38%。

Growing demand has now pushed used car prices about 20 percent higher than they were when Tovstanovsky began buying in April.

需求的增长目前让二手车价格比托弗斯塔诺夫4月份开始收购时的行情上涨了20%左右。

"I just wish I'd bought more cars when prices were low," he said.

他说：“我真希望当时价格低廉的时候我收购了更多汽车。”

American economic activity has fallen very sharply because of restrictions meant to control the spread of the coronavirus. Americans do not want to spend money on things like new cars. Instead, they are trying to save money by buying used cars, often less than 60 percent the cost of a new one.

由于遏制新冠病毒传播的限制措施，美国的经济活动急剧下降。美国人不想把钱花在新车等商品上。相反，他们试图通过购买二手车来省钱，二手车购车成本通常不到新车的60%。

Used car dealers are now trying to buy as many used vehicles as they can, although the economy still looks shaky.

尽管经济形势仍不稳定，二手车商现在正尽力收购尽可能多的二手车。

"We don't have enough inventory," said George Arison. He is co-chief executive officer of online used-car seller Shift. By the end of April, Shift's sales returned to levels the company had seen before the coronavirus arrived in the United States.

乔治·阿利森表示：“我们没有足够库存。”他是网络二手车商Shift公司的联合首席执行官。到4月底，Shift公司的销售额恢复到了新冠病毒在美国开始传播前的水平。

Americans usually choose used cars in difficult times. Cars are important in a country where in most places it can be difficult to get to work without a vehicle.

美国人通常在困难时期选择二手车。大部分地区没车上班就很困难，在这样一个国家汽车非常重要。

But growing used car sales are a problem for the big automakers. They want people to buy new cars. They need to sell those cars to get the money they lost when sales stopped during the two-month shut down for coronavirus.

但是二手车销量不断增长对大型汽车制造商来说是个麻烦事。他们希望人们购买新车。他们需要出售新车以弥补因新冠病毒停工两个月期间销售停滞所蒙受的损失。

According to Cox Automotive, new car sales for the week ending May 28 were down 28 percent, but sales of used cars rose 6 percent. The prices of used cars also rose 5.7 percent in the beginning of May, reported Cox Unite Manheim.

根据Cox Automotive公司的数据，截至5月28日的这周的新车销量下降了28%，而二手车销量增长了6%。据Cox Unite Manheim公司报道，5月初二手车价格上涨了5.7%。

The company Carmax Inc. is the country's No. 1 seller of used vehicles. It has asked nearly 60 percent of its 15,500 employees to return to work.

Carmax公司是美国第一大二手车商。该公司已经要求其15500名员工中近60%的人复工。

Its chief marketing officer Jim Lyski said he believes the company will become stronger as used car sales increase in the months ahead.

该公司首席营销官吉姆·莱斯基表示，他认为随着未来几个月二手车销售的增长，该公司会变得更加强大。

Right now, used car salesmen say their companies and buyers are finding it easy to get loans for used cars. However, one major bank, Wells Fargo & Co, said this week it will stop offering loans to many used car companies because of economic uncertainty.

二手车销售员表示，他们公司和买家目前发现很容易获得二手车贷款。但是富国银行这家大型银行本周表示，由于经济的不确定性，该行将停止向大部分二手车公司提供贷款。

Used-car dealers say recent buyers have included those who recently received a government check for $1,200. The government issued these checks to most Americans to help the economy.

二手车商表示，最近的买家包括了收到了1200美元政府支票的那些人。政府向大多数美国人发放了这些支票以拯救经济。

"I've seen a lot of down payments this month of exactly $1,200," said Scott Allen. He is the owner of Auto Land in Fort Worth, Texas, which sells older used vehicles. After being closed for nearly a month from March 23, Allen's sales in May were up 55 percent over his usual sales for that month.

斯科特·艾伦表示：“本月我看到了很多笔首付款刚好是1200美元。”他是得克萨斯州沃斯堡市销售老旧二手车的Auto Land公司的老板。从3月23日起关闭了将尽一个月时间之后，艾伦5月份的销售额比他该月的正常销售额增长了55%。

But both the new and used car industry is worried about the future. Many Americans lease vehicles for two years and then return a nearly-new car. More than 4 million are due to be returned to the market this year, nearly 340,000 each month. These cars could flood the market and force prices down.

但是新车和二手车行业都对未来感到担忧。许多美国人租上两年新车，然后退还了这辆几乎全新的车。今年预计将会有超过4百万辆这样的车返回到市场，相当于每个月将近34万辆。这些汽车可能会充斥市场并迫使价格下跌。

I'm Susan Shand.

我是苏珊·尚德。