????想讓業(yè)界公認(rèn)你是業(yè)內(nèi)一線廠商的代價(jià)又提高了。比如本月日產(chǎn)公司（Nissan）在加州的紐波特海灘連續(xù)第四年迎來(lái)了它的“360”試駕活動(dòng)，來(lái)自亞洲、歐洲和美洲的900多名記者云集西海岸，在五條賽道和越野路線上對(duì)125輛車進(jìn)行了試駕評(píng)測(cè)。值得一提的是，這些路線是日產(chǎn)公司專門為了本次活動(dòng)而在一個(gè)廢棄軍用場(chǎng)附近修建的。其余的時(shí)間記者們將在風(fēng)景如畫、能俯瞰太平洋的鵜鶘山度假村里與公司高管進(jìn)行交流。內(nèi)部人士稱，美國(guó)記者問(wèn)的問(wèn)題最多，歐洲記者喝的飲料最多，而中國(guó)記者弄壞的汽車最多。

????舉辦這樣奢華的活動(dòng)，費(fèi)用之高也可想而知。如果把差旅費(fèi)、酒店費(fèi)和場(chǎng)地費(fèi)、用車成本、技術(shù)展示費(fèi)用等各種費(fèi)用都計(jì)算在內(nèi)，那么這場(chǎng)活動(dòng)的總成本可能高達(dá)900萬(wàn)美元，也就是平均每名客人1萬(wàn)美元。不過(guò)就像日產(chǎn)公司的一名高管解釋的那樣：“既然已經(jīng)投了幾十億在研發(fā)上，再花一點(diǎn)錢展示一下硬件，也完全合情合理。”

????日產(chǎn)公司CEO卡洛斯?高森本來(lái)計(jì)劃參加在八月底參加本次活動(dòng)的一個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)，但由于公司高層鬧起了內(nèi)訌需要他親自彈壓，因而只能遺憾缺席。原因是雷諾公司（Renault）的首席運(yùn)營(yíng)官卡洛斯?塔瓦雷斯此前認(rèn)為他接替高森成為雷諾—日產(chǎn)聯(lián)盟的新老板已經(jīng)是板上釘釘?shù)氖?，但是現(xiàn)在大家都看出今年59歲的高森并沒(méi)有任何退休或放權(quán)的跡象。因此55歲的塔瓦雷斯按捺不住心中的不快，公開(kāi)對(duì)彭博社（Bloomberg）一位記者宣布，他將參與競(jìng)爭(zhēng)通用汽車（General Motors）或福特（Ford ）的下一任CEO職位。兩周后，塔瓦雷斯就從雷諾離職了。

????在高森缺席的情況下，本次日產(chǎn)360活動(dòng)中最吸引人眼球的并不是有“怪獸哥斯拉”之稱的GT-R超跑，也不是長(zhǎng)得像面包車一樣并且即將正式加入紐約黃色出租車隊(duì)伍的“明日出租車”，甚至也不是參展的37輛老爺車和概念車?yán)锏娜魏我惠v，而是一輛裝配了各種激光、雷達(dá)、傳感器和攝相頭的日產(chǎn)聆風(fēng)（Leaf）電動(dòng)車，它也是日產(chǎn)公司為了踐行開(kāi)發(fā)量產(chǎn)級(jí)自動(dòng)駕駛汽車的承諾而走出的第一步。

????不過(guò)根據(jù)我從試駕中了解的情況，“半自動(dòng)”或許是對(duì)它更好的描述。因?yàn)檫@輛車的駕駛座上必須坐著一個(gè)看路況的人，以便在緊急情況下可以保持對(duì)車輛的控制。另外在擁擠的城市環(huán)境中也需要駕駛員的操控，因?yàn)檫@輛車的電子眼和軟件算法尚無(wú)法承受過(guò)于海量的圖像。不過(guò)我從后排座位上看到，在沒(méi)有司機(jī)指令的情況下，這輛聆風(fēng)電動(dòng)車自己打了轉(zhuǎn)向燈，超過(guò)了一輛開(kāi)得稍慢的車，在高速上表現(xiàn)得很好，而且還繞過(guò)了一名行人。

????精確的目標(biāo)和最終的成果都是卡洛斯?高森非?？粗氐臇|西。他承諾在2020年前將推出量產(chǎn)級(jí)的半自動(dòng)化轎車。不過(guò)屆時(shí)比起技術(shù)上的挑戰(zhàn)，法律和保險(xiǎn)方面的新問(wèn)題可能是更亟待解決的，此外還有老百姓的某些行為引發(fā)的問(wèn)題。比如如果汽車實(shí)現(xiàn)了自動(dòng)駕駛，是不是意味著坐在方向盤后頭的那個(gè)人就算是發(fā)發(fā)短信或是開(kāi)車前喝點(diǎn)小酒也沒(méi)關(guān)系了？如果他遭遇了車禍，或者他的車制造了車禍，誰(shuí)該來(lái)為他買單？????

????The price of admission to the auto industry's top tier has just gone up. Exhibit One: Nissan's quadriennial 360 event, the latest edition of which concludes this month in Newport Beach, Calif. By the time it is over, more than 900 international journalists from Asia, Europe, and the Americas will be transported to the West Coast to drive some 125 new models and test vehicles on five tracks and off-road courses specially constructed for the occasion at a nearby abandoned Marine airfield. When not behind the wheel, Nissan's guests are socializing with company executives at the lush Pelican Hill resort overlooking the Pacific. Insiders report that American journalists ask the most questions, Europeans consume the most beverages, and the Chinese damage the most cars.

????The bill for this kind of extravaganza is steep. When everything from travel to hotels to the actual costs of staging the event (buildings, cars, technology displays, and so on) is included, the total cost of the event will run about $10,000 per guest -- some $9 million in all. But as one executive explained, "When you spend billions on R&D, investing a few dollars more to show off the hardware makes good sense."

????Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn was scheduled to attend a 360 session at the end of August but became a no-show when he had to tamp down an uprising in his executive ranks. One of his protégés, Carlos Tavares, the chief operating officer of Nissan's partner Renault, had seen himself succeeding Ghosn as head of the Nissan-Renault alliance But when it became apparent that Ghosn, 59, wasn't going anywhere, Tavares, 55, made his impatience publicly known by announcing to a Bloomberg reporter that he was making himself a candidate for the CEO job at General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) or Ford (F, Fortune 500) instead. Two weeks later, Tavares was out of his job at Renault

????With Ghosn absent, the biggest attraction at Nissan 360 was not the GT-R supercar known as "Godzilla" or the van-like "taxi of tomorrow" soon to venture onto New York streets as the city's official yellow cab, or even any of the 37 historic and concept cars on display. Rather it was a homely Nissan Leaf outfitted with lasers, radar, sensors, and cameras that is Nissan's down payment on its pledge to develop the first production-capable autonomous vehicle: a car that drives itself.

????As I learned on a test ride, "semi autonomous" is a more accurate description since the driver's seat must still be occupied by someone who has his eyes on the road and can take control in an emergency. A driver is also required in congested urban situations where the jumble of images would overwhelm the capacities of its electronic eyes and software algorithms. But as I watched from the back seat, the battery-powered Leaf overtook and passed a slower vehicle, exited a highway, and swerved around a pedestrian without any guidance from the driver beyond the activation of a turn signal.

????Ghosn loves precise targets almost as much as he loves results, and he promises to have a semi-autonomous car ready to sell by 2020. Looming larger than the technical challenges are the regulatory and insurance issues that need to be solved by then, along with the adoption of common-sense behavioral issues. Does the ability of a car to drive itself mean that the person behind the wheel can text more intently or drink more heavily? And who pays the bills if a mishap befalls him as he does??