????起亞汽車公司（Kia Motor）推出的全新全尺寸K900豪華車不由得讓人想起了底特律1989年1月的一天。就在那一天，亞洲的另一家汽車制造商豐田汽車公司（Toyota Motor Corp.）為自己的首款豪華轎車LS400舉辦了揭幕儀式。

????那時(shí)底特律和德國(guó)的車企們根本沒把豐田和它仿照梅賽德斯（Mercedes）S級(jí)打造的豪車太當(dāng)回事。畢竟豐田只是廉價(jià)省油的代名詞，跟高端無緣。哪怕雷克薩斯（Lexus）與性能相似的車相比大幅打折，又有多少愛面子的消費(fèi)者會(huì)買它呢？（后來事實(shí)證明，買的人大有人在。）

????而作為韓國(guó)車企現(xiàn)代汽車公司（Hyundai Motor Co.）的子公司，起亞也走上了豐田的這條路子。不過這次，我想底特律、斯圖加特、沃爾夫斯堡和東京的那些車企高管們恐怕不敢小看起亞了。K900的駕控、外觀和乘坐感受都和寶馬（BMW）7系幾乎毫無二致，而且它的起價(jià)只有65,000美元，比寶馬要便宜25%。

????噢，對(duì)了，那些大佬們已經(jīng)看過這出好戲了，他們可不怎么喜歡它的結(jié)局。

????但眼下，起亞并沒把自己當(dāng)成巨人的終結(jié)者。恰恰相反。

????起亞的銷售、營(yíng)銷和公關(guān)執(zhí)行副總裁邁克爾?斯普拉格說：“K900的銷量不會(huì)很大。它主要是為了打造起亞的品牌?！?/p>

????如果起亞能賣出3000輛K900，這對(duì)首發(fā)上市的車型來說會(huì)是個(gè)很不錯(cuò)的銷量，但也不至于讓雷克薩斯的高管們睡不著覺。起亞主要是希望能借此讓它旗下的遠(yuǎn)艦（Optima）、凱尊（Cadenza）、索蘭托（Sorento）和其他車型能借助K900的光環(huán)讓消費(fèi)者明白，起亞這個(gè)他們不怎么了解的品牌也能造出足以和寶馬媲美的豪車來。

????K900將在起亞的經(jīng)銷商那里與起亞其他相對(duì)便宜的車型一起銷售。而在像雷克薩斯這樣的典型豪華車經(jīng)銷商那里，他們會(huì)十分投入地提供細(xì)致周到的服務(wù)。周邊不會(huì)出現(xiàn)豐田車的身影。

????斯普拉格和他的同事很清楚，要打造一個(gè)真正的豪華品牌——而不是單單一款豪華車——需要花上幾十年，砸下大筆銀子。而這目前還不是起亞的頭等大事。不過，三星（Samsung）剛開始也只是作為索尼（Sony）的廉價(jià)替代品登上的歷史舞臺(tái)。就像三星一樣，總有一天，起亞也許也會(huì)被視為高端品牌，那時(shí)候再推出什么豪華車型乃至建立獨(dú)立經(jīng)銷體系就都是順理成章的事了。

????與此同時(shí)，起亞去年在美國(guó)市場(chǎng)的銷量為535,179輛，由于新車型推出較慢導(dǎo)致這個(gè)數(shù)字下降了4%，而大眾汽車（Volkswagen）的銷量是438,134輛。但據(jù)汽車網(wǎng)站Kbb.com稱，大眾每輛車的平均交易價(jià)是26,107美元，起亞僅為24,161美元。起亞的主要目標(biāo)之一就是要不斷提高平均交易價(jià)，而K900可能會(huì)對(duì)此產(chǎn)生積極影響。

????起亞的超級(jí)碗（Super Bowl）廣告《黑客帝國(guó)》由男星勞倫斯?菲什伯恩擔(dān)綱，吸引了眾多觀眾的注意，也顯著提高了消費(fèi)者對(duì)K900的認(rèn)知度。

????凱利藍(lán)皮書（Kelley Blue Book）資深分析師卡爾?布勞爾稱：“K900無論是做工的精致程度，還是性能，都滿足了人們的預(yù)期。起亞深知，要讓傳統(tǒng)的豪華品牌消費(fèi)者考慮它的品牌需要面對(duì)艱巨的挑戰(zhàn)；但那些能不那么在意這個(gè)牌子的人將對(duì)這款車的品質(zhì)留下深刻印象?！?/p>

????要為一款豪華轎車起名字可并不容易。這款車在韓國(guó)叫K9，英語國(guó)家的人會(huì)覺得這個(gè)名字頗為可笑。自從豪華車用字母加數(shù)字來命名的方式流行起來后，策劃者們又想出來K900這個(gè)名字。

????對(duì)于擁有遠(yuǎn)艦和秀爾（Soul）這樣的名字的產(chǎn)品線來說，K900這個(gè)命名是個(gè)另類。不過，這也挺好的。只要起亞能維持目前的發(fā)展速度，終有一天，它也會(huì)設(shè)法建立起屬于自己的豪華品牌特許經(jīng)銷店。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：清遠(yuǎn)

????Kia Motor's new fullsize K900 luxury sedan evokes memories of a January day in 1989 in Detroit when a different Asian automaker, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), lifted the veils from its first luxury sedan, the LS400.

????In those days Detroit and German automakers didn't take Toyota and its Mercedes S-Class knockoff too seriously. After all, Toyota was a synonym for inexpensive and efficient, not premium. How many self-respecting shoppers would choose Lexus, even at a deep discount to cars with similar features? (Many, many, it turns out.)

????Kia, the South Korean affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., has swiped a page from Toyota's playbook. But this time, I doubt executives in Detroit, Stuttgart, Wolfsburg, and Tokyo are taking Kia lightly. The K900 drives, looks and feels very much like a BMW 7 Series and, at prices starting at $65,000, sells at about 25% off.

????Oh, yes: The big boys have seen this movie, and they don't like the ending.

????For the moment, Kia isn't positioning itself as a giant killer. Quite the opposite.

????"The K900 isn't going to be a big volume seller," said Michael Sprague, Kia's executive vice president of sales, marketing, and communications. "It's really about the Kia brand."

????If Kia sells 3,000 K900s, that will be a fine debut, nothing to make Lexus executives lose sleep. The company mainly is hoping that its Optima, Cadenza, Sorento, and other models will benefit from K900's halo as consumers realize Kia -- a name they don't know well -- can put a BMW surrogate on the road.

????K900 will be sold at Kia dealerships alongside the brand's less expensive models. At a typical luxury franchise, like Lexus, the dealer is dedicated to dispensing kid-glove service. Toyotas aren't seen in the vicinity.

????Sprague and his colleagues know that to create a true luxury brand -- as opposed to a single luxury model -- takes decades and loads of capital. That's not the highest priority yet. But just as Samsung started as a cheap alternative to Sony, Kia one day might be seen as premium, justifying further models and perhaps a separate franchise.

????Meantime, Kia sold 535,179 vehicles in the U.S. last year, down 4% due to slow launches, compared to 438,134 for Volkswagen. But VW's average transaction price per vehicle was $26,107, according to Kbb.com, compared with Kia's $24,161. One of Kia's key business goals will be to keep raising average transaction prices, which K900 could positively influence.

????Kia's Super Bowl commercial spoofing The Matrix, starring Lawrence Fishburne, captured strong viewer attention during the game, measurably lifting shopper awareness of the K900.

????"K900 meets expectations on a refinement and feature level," said Karl Brauer, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "Kia knows it will face an uphill battle in getting traditional luxury shoppers to consider its brand; but those that look past the hood emblem will be impressed."

????Coming up with a name for the new luxury sedan was tricky. In South Korea it's known as "K9." English-speaking societies would mock such a name. Since alphanumerics for luxury cars are all the rage, planners came up with K900.

????The K900 designation is a departure for a model line that has names like Optima and Soul. It will be just fine, however, if Kia keeps progressing at its current pace and one day makes a bid for its own luxury franchise.