特斯拉的“小目标”,在中国年产50万辆电动车
Still scrambling to sort out production problems at its electric car factory in California, Tesla is taking on another big challenge: building a vast new plant and development center in China.
特斯拉(Tesla)还在忙于解决它在加利福尼亚州电动汽车工厂的生产问题，现在又面临另一项重大挑战：在中国建造一座庞大的新工厂和研发中心。
The automaker said Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with the Chinese authorities to build a battery and automobile factory in Shanghai — its first plant outside the United States — that would eventually be capable of producing 500,000 electric vehicles a year.
该汽车制造商于周二表示，它已同中国当局达成协议，将在上海建造一座电池和汽车工厂——这是它在美国以外的第一家工厂——最终将每年能够生产50万辆电动汽车。
The company did not disclose how much it planned to invest in the venture, but it said it would be the sole owner. Other foreign automakers, including General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota, have been required to form joint ventures with local partners to produce cars in China. But the Chinese government recently said it would ease that requirement.
该公司没有透露它计划投资多少，但表示自己将是唯一的所有者。其他外国汽车制造商，包括通用汽车(General Motors)、大众汽车(Volkswagen)和丰田汽车(Toyota)，都被要求与当地合作伙伴组建合资企业，才能在中国生产汽车。但中国政府最近表示将放宽这一要求。
Tesla said it expected to begin construction as soon as it had obtained the necessary approvals and permits. “From there, it will take roughly two years until we start producing vehicles and then another two to three years before the factory is fully ramped up,” the company said in a statement.
特斯拉表示，它预期一旦获得必要的批准和许可，就可以开始施工。该公司在一份声明中表示，“从那时起，我们需要大约两年的时间才能开始生产汽车，然后再用两到三年实现全速生产。”
Setting up a plant in China will not be easy, and one of the toughest parts may be finding executives to manage the effort, said Ron Harbour, at auto-manufacturing expert at Oliver Wyman, a consulting firm. “They are trying to get going in California, so who are they going to send overseas to do the same thing?” he said. “That is the question in my mind. You usually want to get it right at home first.”
在中国建厂并非易事，其中最困难的一部分可能就是寻找高管来管理这项工作。奥纬咨询(Oliver Wyman)的汽车制造专家罗恩·哈伯(Ron Harbour)表示，“他们正努力在加利福尼亚发展，那么他们要派谁去海外做同样的事情？”他说。“这是我的疑问。你一般会想先把国内的事情弄好。”
The investment in China is the latest initiative that Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, has announced with lofty ambitions, some of which he has fallen well short of achieving.
对中国的投资是特斯拉首席执行官埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)最新的一个高调推出的计划，然而他的一些宏大设想远未达到目标。
Two years ago, Mr. Musk predicted that the company’s plant in Fremont, Calif., would churn out close to 500,000 cars by this year, but the effort has been hampered by overreliance on automated machinery and by production bottlenecks. By the end of June, about 40,000 had been delivered or were in transit.
两年前，马斯克预测该公司位于加州弗里蒙特的工厂到今年将生产近50万辆汽车，但由于过度依赖自动化机械，以及遇到生产瓶颈，这一努力受到了阻碍。截至6月底，已交付或正在运输中的汽车约有4万辆。
Last fall, he unveiled a battery-powered semi truck that he said Tesla would begin producing by the end of 2019. The truck is now being redesigned, and no plans have been announced for a factory to produce it.
去年秋天，他推出了一款电池驱动的半挂卡车，称它将于2019年由特斯拉投产。这款卡车目前正在重新设计，没有任何工厂宣布计划生产它。
And Mr. Musk has also promised that Tesla would produce a version of its first mass-market offering, the Model 3 sedan, costing $35,000. So far, the only versions available sell for $49,000 and up.
马斯克还承诺，特斯拉将为其首款大众市场产品Model 3轿车推出一个新版本，售价3.5万美元。到目前为止，这款轿车仅有的几个版本售价都在4.9万美元或以上。
The Model 3 is a critical vehicle for the company. Mr. Musk has said Tesla needs to be able to produce at least 5,000 Model 3 cars a week to become profitable in the second half of this year. Earlier this month, Tesla said it reached that level in the final week of June, after setting up a new assembly line in a giant tent just outside the Fremont plant.
Model 3是该公司的关键车型。马斯克表示，为在今年下半年实现盈利，特斯拉需要能够每周生产至少5千辆Model 3轿车。本月早些时候，特斯拉表示，在弗里蒙特工厂外一个巨大的帐篷里建立了一条新的生产线后，它在六月的最后一周达到了这个水平。
Tesla has reported losses every year since it was founded in 2003. In recent months, analysts have become worried about its finances and the slow pace of Model 3 production. Moody’s Investor Service downgraded Tesla’s credit rating over concerns about how much cash the company is using up.
特斯拉自2003年成立以来每年都报亏损。最近几个月，分析师们开始对其财务状况和Model 3生产的缓慢进度感到担心。穆迪投资者服务公司(Moody’s Investor Service)出于对特斯拉的现金消耗状况的担忧，降低了它的信用评级。
China is a key growth market for Tesla, and the world’s largest market for electric vehicles. The government there subsidizes and promotes the production and sale of electric cars as part of its efforts to improve air quality and cut tailpipe emissions.
中国是特斯拉的主要增长市场，也是全球最大的电动汽车市场。作为改善空气质量和减少尾气排放的一种措施，中国政府鼓励电动汽车的生产和销售，向其提供补贴。
Tesla began selling cars in China in 2013 and has set up 35 sales centers and some 1,200 charging stations in the country. It sold about 15,000 cars there last year, according to estimates by LMC Automotive.
特斯拉于2013年开始在中国销售汽车，在中国设立了35个销售中心和1200个充电站。据调研公司LMC Automotive估计，去年它在中国销售了大约1.5万辆汽车。
Tesla said its Shanghai-based initiative would include a research-and-development center and a sales operation. The local government said it would be the largest manufacturing project backed by foreign investment in Shanghai’s history.
特斯拉(Tesla)还在忙于解决它在加利福尼亚州电动汽车工厂的生产问题，现在又面临另一项重大挑战：在中国建造一座庞大的新工厂和研发中心。
The automaker said Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with the Chinese authorities to build a battery and automobile factory in Shanghai — its first plant outside the United States — that would eventually be capable of producing 500,000 electric vehicles a year.
该汽车制造商于周二表示，它已同中国当局达成协议，将在上海建造一座电池和汽车工厂——这是它在美国以外的第一家工厂——最终将每年能够生产50万辆电动汽车。
The company did not disclose how much it planned to invest in the venture, but it said it would be the sole owner. Other foreign automakers, including General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota, have been required to form joint ventures with local partners to produce cars in China. But the Chinese government recently said it would ease that requirement.
该公司没有透露它计划投资多少，但表示自己将是唯一的所有者。其他外国汽车制造商，包括通用汽车(General Motors)、大众汽车(Volkswagen)和丰田汽车(Toyota)，都被要求与当地合作伙伴组建合资企业，才能在中国生产汽车。但中国政府最近表示将放宽这一要求。
Tesla said it expected to begin construction as soon as it had obtained the necessary approvals and permits. “From there, it will take roughly two years until we start producing vehicles and then another two to three years before the factory is fully ramped up,” the company said in a statement.
特斯拉表示，它预期一旦获得必要的批准和许可，就可以开始施工。该公司在一份声明中表示，“从那时起，我们需要大约两年的时间才能开始生产汽车，然后再用两到三年实现全速生产。”
Setting up a plant in China will not be easy, and one of the toughest parts may be finding executives to manage the effort, said Ron Harbour, at auto-manufacturing expert at Oliver Wyman, a consulting firm. “They are trying to get going in California, so who are they going to send overseas to do the same thing?” he said. “That is the question in my mind. You usually want to get it right at home first.”
在中国建厂并非易事，其中最困难的一部分可能就是寻找高管来管理这项工作。奥纬咨询(Oliver Wyman)的汽车制造专家罗恩·哈伯(Ron Harbour)表示，“他们正努力在加利福尼亚发展，那么他们要派谁去海外做同样的事情？”他说。“这是我的疑问。你一般会想先把国内的事情弄好。”
The investment in China is the latest initiative that Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, has announced with lofty ambitions, some of which he has fallen well short of achieving.
对中国的投资是特斯拉首席执行官埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)最新的一个高调推出的计划，然而他的一些宏大设想远未达到目标。
Two years ago, Mr. Musk predicted that the company’s plant in Fremont, Calif., would churn out close to 500,000 cars by this year, but the effort has been hampered by overreliance on automated machinery and by production bottlenecks. By the end of June, about 40,000 had been delivered or were in transit.
两年前，马斯克预测该公司位于加州弗里蒙特的工厂到今年将生产近50万辆汽车，但由于过度依赖自动化机械，以及遇到生产瓶颈，这一努力受到了阻碍。截至6月底，已交付或正在运输中的汽车约有4万辆。
Last fall, he unveiled a battery-powered semi truck that he said Tesla would begin producing by the end of 2019. The truck is now being redesigned, and no plans have been announced for a factory to produce it.
去年秋天，他推出了一款电池驱动的半挂卡车，称它将于2019年由特斯拉投产。这款卡车目前正在重新设计，没有任何工厂宣布计划生产它。
And Mr. Musk has also promised that Tesla would produce a version of its first mass-market offering, the Model 3 sedan, costing $35,000. So far, the only versions available sell for $49,000 and up.
马斯克还承诺，特斯拉将为其首款大众市场产品Model 3轿车推出一个新版本，售价3.5万美元。到目前为止，这款轿车仅有的几个版本售价都在4.9万美元或以上。
The Model 3 is a critical vehicle for the company. Mr. Musk has said Tesla needs to be able to produce at least 5,000 Model 3 cars a week to become profitable in the second half of this year. Earlier this month, Tesla said it reached that level in the final week of June, after setting up a new assembly line in a giant tent just outside the Fremont plant.
Model 3是该公司的关键车型。马斯克表示，为在今年下半年实现盈利，特斯拉需要能够每周生产至少5千辆Model 3轿车。本月早些时候，特斯拉表示，在弗里蒙特工厂外一个巨大的帐篷里建立了一条新的生产线后，它在六月的最后一周达到了这个水平。
Tesla has reported losses every year since it was founded in 2003. In recent months, analysts have become worried about its finances and the slow pace of Model 3 production. Moody’s Investor Service downgraded Tesla’s credit rating over concerns about how much cash the company is using up.
特斯拉自2003年成立以来每年都报亏损。最近几个月，分析师们开始对其财务状况和Model 3生产的缓慢进度感到担心。穆迪投资者服务公司(Moody’s Investor Service)出于对特斯拉的现金消耗状况的担忧，降低了它的信用评级。
China is a key growth market for Tesla, and the world’s largest market for electric vehicles. The government there subsidizes and promotes the production and sale of electric cars as part of its efforts to improve air quality and cut tailpipe emissions.
中国是特斯拉的主要增长市场，也是全球最大的电动汽车市场。作为改善空气质量和减少尾气排放的一种措施，中国政府鼓励电动汽车的生产和销售，向其提供补贴。
Tesla began selling cars in China in 2013 and has set up 35 sales centers and some 1,200 charging stations in the country. It sold about 15,000 cars there last year, according to estimates by LMC Automotive.
特斯拉于2013年开始在中国销售汽车，在中国设立了35个销售中心和1200个充电站。据调研公司LMC Automotive估计，去年它在中国销售了大约1.5万辆汽车。
Tesla said its Shanghai-based initiative would include a research-and-development center and a sales operation. The local government said it would be the largest manufacturing project backed by foreign investment in Shanghai’s history.
