保時(shí)捷的甜蜜與哀愁
????沒有什么比生日派對(duì)更讓人開心了。保時(shí)捷(Porsche)正在慶祝它的傳奇跑車保時(shí)捷911面世50周年,人們的注意力也暫時(shí)從保時(shí)捷與對(duì)沖基金的官司中轉(zhuǎn)移了出來。 ????1963年,保時(shí)捷在法蘭克福車展上發(fā)布了第一款911跑車。這款車型也是保時(shí)捷356的后續(xù)車型。[有些人可能還記得356跑車的高速版本,它也是美國影星簡?方達(dá)在1978年的電影《回家》(Coming Home)中送給她丈夫的禮物。】1963年的時(shí)候,沒人能想到911跑車后來會(huì)成為時(shí)尚和極致工藝的縮影。它甚至成了一個(gè)身份的象征,是醫(yī)生、律師、投行家等成功人士和富人的專寵。 ????911系列中最高檔的一款稱做保時(shí)捷GT3,起價(jià)大約13萬美元。如果選擇9,000美元的陶瓷剎車盤,價(jià)格可能還會(huì)再高上2到3萬美元。除了它的性能和工藝之外,很多人認(rèn)為這款車的外型也非常勻稱,比例協(xié)調(diào),姿態(tài)優(yōu)美?!度塑囍尽罚–ar and Driver )雜志的前主編薩巴?瑟熱曾說過:“它的外觀幾十年來一脈相承,與其它汽車相比,911跑車展示了鮮明的品牌化設(shè)計(jì)的好處?!?/p> ????由于4年前保時(shí)捷謀求收購大眾汽車公司(Volkswagen)的交易半路流產(chǎn),現(xiàn)在全球各大對(duì)沖基金都在德國起訴保時(shí)捷控股公司,要求該公司支付總價(jià)50多億美元的罰金?,F(xiàn)在保時(shí)捷反倒被大眾收購了,但是關(guān)于誰必須為保時(shí)捷收購大眾汽車失敗買單的爭(zhēng)論卻塵囂塵上。保時(shí)捷公司的前任財(cái)務(wù)總監(jiān)和CEO由于涉嫌操縱市場(chǎng)而雙雙被告上法庭,要求追究他們的刑事責(zé)任。 ????毫無疑問,很多起訴保時(shí)捷和大眾汽車的對(duì)沖基金經(jīng)理自己就開著保時(shí)捷911。他們要么開著它上班,要么周末開著它度假。他們?cè)诜ㄍド蠣?zhēng)論說,保時(shí)捷沒有盡到義務(wù),向公眾披露它當(dāng)初收購大眾汽車股票的原因。 ????而大眾汽車通過出人意料的手段收購保時(shí)捷,實(shí)現(xiàn)了建立高中低檔結(jié)合的全系列汽車品牌的戰(zhàn)略,為它帶來了效益和規(guī)模經(jīng)濟(jì)。大眾汽車宣布,它計(jì)劃在2018年前成為全球第一大汽車品牌。《人車志》前主編瑟熱說:“盡管保時(shí)捷的規(guī)模不算很大,但是它填補(bǔ)了大眾的中高檔品牌奧迪(Audi)與最高檔品牌蘭博基尼(Lamborghini)和布加迪(Bugatti)之間的空白。更重要的是,保時(shí)捷突出了大眾汽車的德國血統(tǒng)?!?/p> ????如果大眾汽車的監(jiān)事會(huì)主席費(fèi)迪南?皮耶希決定今年為保時(shí)捷911點(diǎn)燃生日蠟燭的話,他肯定會(huì)得到一種特殊的滿足感。皮耶希也是保時(shí)捷家族的一員,而且從年輕時(shí)起就在保時(shí)捷公司工作。由于與表兄弟不睦,皮耶希出走保時(shí)捷,一開始他去了奧迪,后來又去了大眾?,F(xiàn)在,由他的先人費(fèi)迪南德?保時(shí)捷于1931年創(chuàng)立的保時(shí)捷公司終于被他收入囊中,同樣任他發(fā)號(hào)施令的,還有一個(gè)更大的汽車帝國。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) ????譯者:樸成奎 |
????Nothing like a birthday party to cheer things up. Porsche is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its legendary 911 sports car, providing a brief and fleeting distraction from mounting litigation by hedge funds. ????In 1963 the German automaker introduced the first 911 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the successor to Porsche's 356. (Some may remember the Speedster version of the 356 as Jane Fonda's gift to her husband in the 1978 film Coming Home.) No one in 1963 could have guessed how much the 911 would come to epitomize elite style and engineering. The 911 grew into a status symbol -- eventually a cliché -- for doctors, lawyers, and investment bankers of a certain mindset and pocketbook. ????The top-of-the-line version of the 911, which Porsche calls GT3, starts at about $130,000 for the base model. Popular options such as the $9,000 ceramic brakes can add another $20,000 or $30,000 to the sticker. Besides the 911's performance and engineering, the design of the exterior appeared to many to be balanced, proportional, poised. "With its consistent look over the decades, the 911 has demonstrated, more than any other car, the benefit of clear, brand-specific design," said CsabaCsere, former editor-in-chief of Car and Driver magazine. ????Hedge funds worldwide are suing Porsche SE in Germany, seeking more than $5 billion over the automaker's abortive bid four years ago to take over Volkswagen AG. VW turned the tables and now controls Porsche -- but the legal wrangling over who must pay for the fiasco is mounting. The former chief financial officer and CEO of Porsche are facing criminal charges for market manipulation. ????No doubt a few of the same hedge fund managers suing Porsche -- VW, actually, now that the German automaker owns the sports car company -- are driving 911s, either to their Wall Street offices or on the weekends. They're arguing in court that Porsche wasn't clear, as was its obligation, to disclose why it was buying VW stock. ????For VW, gaining control of Porsche through unexpected means played into its overall strategy of assembling an array of automotive brands, which create efficiencies and economies of scale. VW has declared it intends to be the No. 1 global automaker in terms of units sold by 2018. "While Porsche's volume is not large," Csere said, "it fills the niche between Audi and VW's exotic Lamborghini and Bugatti brands. Moreover, Porsche emphasizes the German heritage of the parent company." ????Ferdinand Pi?ch, the chairman of VW's supervisory board, can gain special satisfaction if he decides to light birthday candles for the 911 this year. He is a member of the Porsche family and worked at the company as a young man. Tension with his cousins led to his exit and a career first at Audi, then at VW. Now Piech wields the ultimate power over what became the company his ancestor Ferdinand Porsche started in 1931 -- and a much larger automotive empire as well. |