塔塔(Tata)定价约2,000美元的基本款小型汽车Nano于2009年推出，当时它的卖点是，它将会改变印度和其他发展中国家有追求的消费者出行的方式。但这场低成本汽车革命失败了。Nano在印度国内销售惨淡，出口也逐渐枯竭，已经成为关于"雄心勃勃但惨遭失败"的警示故事，同时也拖累了塔塔汽车(Tata Motors Ltd.)的销售额和利润。塔塔是印度第四大汽车厂商，拥有捷豹(Jaguar)和路虎(Land Rover)等豪华车品牌。
When the Tata Nano, a stripped down minicar priced at around $2,000, was introduced in 2009, it was marketed as a car that would transform the way aspiring consumers in India and other developing countries got around.
人们发现，进入印度中产阶级行列的人想要便宜的汽车，但并不想要显得廉价的汽车——而且他们愿意为形象更高档的汽车付出的代价高于塔塔的估计。
But the low-cost automotive revolution fizzled. Selling poorly at home and with exports drying up, the Nano has become a cautionary tale of misplaced ambitions and a drag on sales and profit at Tata Motors Ltd., India's fourth-largest auto maker and the owner of Jaguar and Land Rover luxury vehicles.
如今，Nano正试图重塑形象，从"大众的汽车"变身"潮人的汽车"。这款车本身的外形经过了大改造，增加了铬合金饰件、轮毂和一个立体声系统，提高了价格，并开始新的营销活动，试图让它获得新的声望。
It turns out that those climbing into India's middle class want cheap cars, but they don't want cars that seem cheap--and are willing to pay more than Tata reckoned for a vehicle that has a more upmarket image.
如果这一改造行动不能提振Nano的销量，塔塔可能面临相当暗淡的前景。Nano是塔塔的支柱产品。塔塔汽车一直在裁员并减产。分析人士说，如果不能重振Nano的需求，塔塔明年可能进一步裁员。
Now, Nano is trying remake the 'people's car,' into the 'cool people's car.' It has given the car itself a face-lift, adding chrome trim, hubcaps and a stereo, raised the price and started a new marketing campaign to give it more cachet.
行业咨询公司IHS Automotive的分析师夏尔马(Anil Sharma)说，这是乘用车市场的旗舰产品，令人失望的销售状况对该公司相当不利。
If the remake fails to boost sales of the Nano, a Tata mainstay, the company's outlook could be grim. Tata Motors has been laying off workers and cutting production. Analysts say without a revival in Nano demand, Tata Motors could cut further jobs next year.
塔塔在Nano上投下了重注。该公司斥资近4亿美元开发这款汽车，又耗费数亿美元修建一个每月可生产1.5至2万辆这款小型汽车的工厂。
'This was the flagship product for the passenger-car market. The disappointing sales are a pretty big negative for the group,' said Anil Sharma, an analyst at IHS Automotive, an industry consulting company.
现在这款车每月销量徘徊在2,500辆左右，大大低于2012年4月约1万辆的峰值。这意味着位于印度西部古吉拉特邦的工厂有大量闲置产能，以及全国各地有众多失望的塔塔经销商。
塔塔今年9月在印度的销售额同比下降40%。第二财季公司整体 收入同比下降23%，尽管捷豹和路虎的销售收入大幅增长。这是该公司连续第三个财季利润下滑。
Tata made a big bet on the Nano. It spent close to $400 million developing the vehicle and hundreds of millions more building a factory capable of manufacturing 15,000 to 20,000 of the tiny cars a month.
今年印度经济急剧减速，打击了整个汽车业销售，对于塔塔来说也是雪上加霜。
负责塔塔乘用车业务的阿罗拉(Ankush Arora)说，我觉得说我们并不担心就太不明智了，我们确实忧心忡忡。
With sales now hovering around 2,500 a month, down from a peak of about 10,000 in April 2012, that means a lot of idle capacity at the plant in the western state of Gujarat, and a lot of frustrated Tata dealers around the country.
少数亮点之一是位于英国的捷豹路虎豪华车子公司，塔塔2008年从福特汽车(Ford Motor Co.)收购了该公司。截至6月30日的三个月，该子公司利润增长33%，至6.75亿英镑（合10.7亿美元），销售额同比增加11%，至40亿英镑。
Tata's September sales in India were down 40% from a year earlier. Second-quarter net income for the company as a whole was down 23% year-to-year despite a large increase in income from sales of Jaguars and Land Rovers. It was the company's third straight quarterly decline in profit.
今年8月，塔塔的捷豹XF轿车销量与Nano差不多。在美国市场购买一辆XF基本款的价格差不多可以买19辆Nano。
A sharp deceleration in the Indian economy this year that has hit auto sales across the board isn't helping.
Sean McLain
- luxury [´lʌkʃəri]
n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词) - willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
- capable [´keipəbəl] a.有能力；能干的 (初中英语单词)
- capacity [kə´pæsiti] n.容量；智能；能力 (初中英语单词)
- western [´westən] a.西的；西方的 (初中英语单词)
- income [´inkʌm] n.收入，所得 (初中英语单词)
- despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
- indian [´indiən] a.印度的 n.印度人 (初中英语单词)
- economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
- transform [træns´fɔ:m] v.转化，转变；改造 (高中英语单词)
- campaign [kæm´pein] n.战役；行动 vi.从军 (高中英语单词)
- negative [´negətiv] a.否定的 n.否定词 (高中英语单词)
- poorly [´puəli] a.不舒服的 ad.贫穷地 (英语四级单词)
- vehicle [´vi:ikəl] n.车辆；媒介物 (英语四级单词)
- trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
- outlook [´autluk] n.眺望；景色；展望 (英语四级单词)
- revival [ri´vaivəl] n.苏醒；复活；复兴 (英语四级单词)
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