????有些汽車(chē)制造商就如同汽車(chē)界的僵尸或是行尸走肉一般。他們的產(chǎn)品線萎縮、經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商低迷、前景黯然。這些制造商就如同那些永遠(yuǎn)也打不進(jìn)季后賽的職業(yè)大聯(lián)盟球隊(duì)，雖然仍在銷(xiāo)售汽車(chē)，但是整個(gè)汽車(chē)業(yè)界已經(jīng)基本已經(jīng)無(wú)視它們的存在。每個(gè)人都能列舉出一些僵尸車(chē)廠，而三菱（Mitsubishi）、沃爾沃（Volvo）和來(lái)自意大利的藍(lán)旗亞（Lancia）就已明顯地正在步邁巴赫（Maybach）、悍馬（Hummer）和帕卡德（Packard）的后塵。

????很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間以來(lái)，路虎（Land Rover）似乎也在擺脫不了“僵尸車(chē)廠”的宿命。20世紀(jì)90年代和21世紀(jì)的頭十年，路虎僅僅依靠著過(guò)時(shí)的制造工藝和效率低得可笑的工程技術(shù)——四個(gè)平臺(tái)生產(chǎn)四種不同的車(chē)型——茍延殘喘。那時(shí)，路虎汽車(chē)的品質(zhì)就是個(gè)笑話。而路虎品牌也在不停地易主，從一開(kāi)始的羅孚（Rover Group），到后來(lái)的寶馬（BMW）和福特（Ford），每個(gè)車(chē)廠都試圖復(fù)興路虎品牌，但最終卻發(fā)現(xiàn)無(wú)力回天，只能把這個(gè)品牌轉(zhuǎn)手賣(mài)給更傻的接盤(pán)者。這些年來(lái)，路虎的轉(zhuǎn)手率甚至超過(guò)了冷凍豬腩期貨。

????2008年，隨著福特將這家有著65年汽車(chē)制造歷史的英國(guó)越野車(chē)品牌連同捷豹（Jaguar）一起打包出售給了印度塔塔集團(tuán)（Tata ），路虎品牌似乎即將步入窮途末路。如今這個(gè)時(shí)代崇尚燃油經(jīng)濟(jì)性，同時(shí)排放標(biāo)準(zhǔn)也日益嚴(yán)苛，路虎公司旗下那些過(guò)時(shí)、笨重的油老虎越野車(chē)似乎根本就沒(méi)有未來(lái)。新的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者，比如梅賽德斯-奔馳（Mercedes）、雷克薩斯（Lexus）甚至連保時(shí)捷（Porsche）都開(kāi)始推出越野車(chē)型，蠶食著路虎的市場(chǎng)份額。即便是最死忠的路虎車(chē)迷也越來(lái)越無(wú)法忍受一次次地往返4S店修車(chē)。2007年，路虎在美國(guó)的銷(xiāo)量達(dá)到最高的49,550輛，之后就一路下滑至2009年的26,306輛。

????雖然經(jīng)歷過(guò)如此種種的波折和磨難，路虎品牌還是頑強(qiáng)地存活下來(lái)并等來(lái)了轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)。這家汽車(chē)制造商在固守著最核心的業(yè)務(wù)——生產(chǎn)終極越野機(jī)器——的同時(shí)，開(kāi)始兩頭發(fā)力，一方面推出更為低端的車(chē)型，另一方面也開(kāi)始重新打造售價(jià)超過(guò)六位數(shù)的高端車(chē)系。隨著威廉王子、凱特王妃和熱播劇《唐頓莊園》（Downton Abbey）帶動(dòng)的英倫風(fēng)尚興起，消費(fèi)者逐漸開(kāi)始注意到，路虎汽車(chē)又重新變得迷人了。

????2013年，美國(guó)市場(chǎng)上的汽車(chē)總銷(xiāo)量上漲了8%，而路虎汽車(chē)的銷(xiāo)量則激增15%。獨(dú)家經(jīng)營(yíng)權(quán)是關(guān)鍵。美國(guó)很多地方，無(wú)論是在公路還是野外，人們都很難看到一輛路虎汽車(chē)。雖然路虎在11月的銷(xiāo)量創(chuàng)下新高，但月銷(xiāo)量也僅有區(qū)區(qū)的4,601輛，而福特只需要用不到兩天的時(shí)間，就可以賣(mài)出同樣數(shù)量的F系列皮卡。

????雖然總銷(xiāo)量看起來(lái)不足掛齒，但路虎每一臺(tái)車(chē)的利潤(rùn)卻十分可觀。在豪華SUV車(chē)型領(lǐng)域，降價(jià)銷(xiāo)售的現(xiàn)象十分普遍，但路虎汽車(chē)的價(jià)格卻十分堅(jiān)挺。今年1月，隨著全新一代路虎攬勝的上市，它的平均售價(jià)從93,451美元躍升到了101,436美元，而且一直將10萬(wàn)美元以上的售價(jià)維持到了今天。專(zhuān)業(yè)汽車(chē)網(wǎng)站Edmunds.com的杰西卡?卡德維爾說(shuō)：“我一直在關(guān)注路虎攬勝的售價(jià)，我很驚訝它可以一直維持這樣的高價(jià)?！?/p>

????另外，路虎品牌旗下車(chē)型也一直維持著熱銷(xiāo)的狀態(tài)?？ǖ戮S爾指出路虎在11月份的庫(kù)存周轉(zhuǎn)率少于10天，而它競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手車(chē)型的庫(kù)存周轉(zhuǎn)率則接近2個(gè)月?？ǖ戮S爾對(duì)消費(fèi)者表示了同情：“我可以想象，由于熱銷(xiāo)車(chē)型很難買(mǎi)到，路虎4S店里肯定會(huì)有不少失望的顧客?！?/p>

????They are like zombies, the walking dead of the auto world. Their product lines are decimated, their dealers disheartened, and heir prospects declining. They are still selling cars, but the whole enterprise has a ghastly pall about it -- like teams playing out the NFL schedule with no chance of making the playoffs. Everybody has their own list of zombie brands, but Mitsubishi, Volvo, and Italy's Lancia are clearly in danger of joining Maybach, Hummer, and Packard.

????For a long while, Land Rover seemed headed in the same direction. For most of the '90s and the 00's, it made do with manufacturing operations that were antique and engineering -- four different platforms for four different models -- that was laughably inefficient. Land Rover quality was a joke. A succession of owners, including Rover Group, BMW, and Ford(F, Fortune 500) had tried to revive it, but, finding themselves unable to, sold it off to the greater fool. Land Rover was traded more often than frozen pork belly futures.

????When Ford sold the 65-year-old British based maker of off-road vehicles to India's Tata along with Jaguar in 2008, the end seemed near. The existing product lines consisted of outmoded, overweight, gas hungry off-road vehicles that seemed to have little future in a world of product engineering dictated by fuel economy and emission standards. Newer competitors from Mercedes, Lexus, and even Porsche began to make inroads. Even dyed-in-the-wool Land Rover fans were losing patience with constant trips back to the dealership for repairs. U.S. sales, which had peaked in 2007 at 49,550 slid all the way to 26,306 in 2009.

????Through all those trials however, Land Rover has shown remarkable staying power and has managed to turn itself around. Without deviating from its original mission -- delivering the ultimate in off-road driving machines -- the automaker has expanded its product line at the low end and reengineered its high-end vehicles that sell for six figures. Customers have noticed, and Land Rovers have become cool again, along with Prince William, Kate Middleton, and the cast of Downton Abbey.

????In the U.S., Land Rover has boosted sales 15% this year in an industry that overall is up 8%. Exclusivity is key. There are still vast swaths of the country where you never see one on the road or off. When sales reached an all-time November high last month, they still amounted to only 4,601 units. Ford sells that many F-series trucks in little more than two days.

????But while its volume is scant, Land Rover makes every sale count. Discounts are rife among luxury SUVs, but Land Rover has been able to hold prices. With the introduction of the redesigned Range Rover in January, the average transaction price leapt from $93,451 to $101, 436, and it has remained above $100,000 ever since. "I've been watching for awhile now and am very surprised they've been able to keep their prices so high," says Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds.com.

????Moreover, the vehicles are selling almost as fast as they can be unloaded at dealerships. Edmunds figures that Land Rover's days-to-turn in November was less than 10 days vs. nearly two months for its competitors. Caldwell is sympathetic: "I imagine there are a lot of frustrated people in the Land Rover dealerships since these are hot sellers are not easy to get."