A profit warning at Brilliance China Automotive, BMW’s Chinese business partner, has cast a further cloud over the outlook for premium car sales in the world’s largest car market.
宝马(BMW)的中国商业伙伴华晨中国汽车(Brilliance China Automotive)发布盈利预警，给世界最大汽车市场的高档车销售前景蒙上了一层新的阴影。
Brilliance said first-half profit attributable to shareholders would be around 40 per cent lower than during the same period last year, which it blamed mostly on the performance of its 50-50 joint venture with BMW.
华晨中国表示，今年上半年其净利润将比去年同期下降约40%。华晨中国认为，主要原因是其与宝马对半持股的合资公司业绩欠佳。
Brilliance attributed the expected profit decline to the “higher selling costs incurred . . . as a result of the slowdown in growth of the Chinese economy and the automotive industry” as well as costs related to the launch of new models and production facilities.
华晨中国将预期的利润下降归因于“由中国经济和汽车业增长放缓导致的……销售成本上升”、以及与推出新车型及新生产设施有关的成本。
As the Chinese economy slows, sales of big-ticket items such as cars have come under pressure. China has clamped down on the issue of new car registrations to combat pollution and congestion and a government crackdown on corruption has also tempered consumption.
随着中国经济放缓，像汽车这样的高价商品的销售面临压力。中国为应对污染和交通堵塞限制新车上牌，政府的反腐运动也影响了消费。
Meanwhile, China’s domestic car manufacturers have also ratcheted up competition in the highly-profitable sport utility vehicle sector.
同时，在高利润的运动型多功能车(SUV)领域，来自中国本土汽车制造商的竞争也加强了。
BMW was, until recently, accustomed to large double-digit sales growth in China, but in June its China sales were flat year-on-year while in May sales declined by 4 per cent year-on-year — the first decline in China for a decade. In the first six months of this year BMW’s China sales increased 2.5 per cent.
在中国，宝马已习惯于两位数的销售增长，但今年6月，其在中国的销售与去年同期持平，而5月份的销售则同比下降4%——这是10年来宝马在中国市场的销售首次下降。今年上半年，宝马在华销量仅增长了2.5%。
Dealers have therefore been obliged to offer discounts to defend their market share, which has forced BMW to pay rebates to local sales representatives.
因此，经销商们不得不提供折扣、以保住自己的市场份额，这迫使宝马向当地销售代表支付回扣。
BMW has long forecast a “normalisation” of the Chinese car market and concedes it has been spoiled in the past by high growth rates there.
长期以来，宝马一直预测中国汽车市场将“趋向正常”，并承认自己已被此前在中国享受的高增长率宠坏了。
The carmaker forecast in March that sales growth in China in 2015 would moderate to a single-digit percentage compared with 16.5 per cent last year.
宝马在3月预测，2015年其在中国的销量增长将降至个位数，而去年这个数字是16.5%。
The Brilliance warning did not come as a big surprise: analysts had already moderated their expectations for China income at BMW this year following a first-quarter fall in equity income from the Brilliance joint venture.
华晨中国的预警并不让人大跌眼镜：第一季度来自华晨宝马的股权收益出现下降后，分析师已下调了对宝马今年在华收入的预期。
Nor have BMW’s China problems been reflected at all of Germany’s carmakers. Porsche’s Chinese sales rose 71 per cent year-on-year in June. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz boasted a 38.5 per cent sales increase in China in June compared with a year ago, after it overcame issues at its distributors and thanks to its young line-up of models.
并非所有德国汽车制造商都遭遇了宝马在中国遇到的难题。6月份，保时捷(Porsche)在华销量同比增长71%。克服了分销商问题后，梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)的新车型阵容使其6月份在华销量同比增长了38.5%。
In a recent note Arndt Ellinghorst, analyst at Evercore ISI, said: “Whilst sales momentum [in China] has been cooling off since middle of last year, this is still a market that offers growth and serves as a considerable earnings pillar for western [carmakers]”.
Evercore ISI分析师阿恩特•埃林霍斯特(Arndt Ellinghorst)在最近的一份报告中表示：“尽管去年中期以来（中国市场的）销售势头一直在减弱，中国依然是一个提供增长的市场，是西方（汽车制造商）的一大盈利支柱。”