To Survive in China, Global Automakers Tap Local Tech Giants


中国市场目前的竞争既体现在价格战方面，也体现在自动驾驶和软件系统的开发方面。为了夺回被本土对手抢走的市场份额，与中国科技巨头合作成了外国车企显而易见的选择。


自动驾驶和软件系统的发展使中国的汽车自主品牌跻身世界上技术最先进的品牌之列。

丰田(Toyota)、现代(Hyundai)、梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)等许多跨国汽车制造商正把目光越来越多地投向中国科技巨头，试图在这个全球最大且变化最快的汽车市场之一夺回市场份额。 6park.com
Toyota, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and a host of other global automakers are increasingly turning to Chinese tech giants in a bid to claw back market share in one of the world’s largest—and fastest-changing—auto markets. 6park.com
  
近日，韩国现代汽车和起亚汽车(Kia)公布了与中国互联网巨头百度(Baidu)的合作计划，将开发用于中国自动驾驶和汽车软件系统的地图与人工智能(AI)技术。日产汽车(Nissan Motor)也表示将和百度在AI领域开展合作，丰田汽车则与游戏巨头腾讯(Tencent)联手，后者为其提供AI模型、云服务和大数据方面的支持。 6park.com
In recent days, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor and Kia have unveiled plans to work with Chinese internet giant Baidu on mapping and artificial-intelligence technologies for auto-driving and vehicle software systems in China, while Nissan Motor said it would partner with Baidu on AI and Toyota has tapped gaming giant Tencent for help on AI models, cloud services and big data. 6park.com
   
与此同时，梅赛德斯-奔驰宣布，腾讯的一款热门赛车手游将被引入其汽车娱乐系统，使奔驰汽车变身驾驶者的“个人街机”。中国是梅赛德斯-奔驰最重要的单一市场，但去年该公司在中国市场上销量减少。 6park.com
Mercedes-Benz, which saw sales fall last year in China, its single most important market, said it would sell models with an entertainment system featuring a popular mobile racing game from Tencent, helping make its cars a “personal arcade” for drivers. 6park.com
   
这些合作关系有许多是在刚刚结束的北京车展上宣布的。目前中国市场的竞争日趋激烈，这种竞争既体现在长达数月的价格战，也体现在自动驾驶和软件系统的开发方面，这些系统正在使中国本土品牌跻身全球技术最先进的汽车厂商之列。 6park.com
The tie-ups, many of them announced at the just-ended Beijing auto show, come as competition in China’s market is ratcheting up, both in the form of a monthslong price war and in the development of auto-driving and software systems that are making China’s homegrown brands some of the most technologically sophisticated in the world. 6park.com
   
在创新的推动下，中国汽车制造商去年在本土的销量首次超过外国竞争对手。向电动汽车的日益转型也削弱了跨国内燃机汽车制造商一度享有的优势。 6park.com
The innovations helped Chinese automakers sell more vehicles at home than their foreign rivals for the first time last year. A growing shift toward electric vehicles has also eroded the one-time advantage of global makers of internal-combustion-engine cars. 6park.com
  
“外国汽车制造商不想失去中国市场”，因此需要适应，建银国际(CCB International )分析师曲克说。“中国电动汽车制造商则尽力满足消费者，用相对低廉的价格提供一系列的功能。” 6park.com
“Foreign automakers don’t want to lose their China market” and need to adapt, said CCB International analyst Qu Ke. “Chinese electric-vehicle makers are spoiling customers” in the suite of features being offered at relatively low prices, he said. 6park.com
   
自动驾驶就是其中之一。本土厂商在这项技术上投入巨资，通常是与擅长大数据和AI计算的中国科技公司合作。而迄今为止，受中国主管部门对数据问题的担忧影响，特斯拉(Tesla)一直未能在中国市场投放其世界领先的“完全自动驾驶”系统。 6park.com
One of those features is auto-driving. Local players have invested heavily in the technology, often in tandem with Chinese tech companies skilled in big data and AI computing. Chinese authorities’ data concerns have so far prevented Tesla from rolling out its world-leading, full self-driving system. 6park.com
   
包括赛力斯(Seres)、理想汽车(Li Auto)、小鹏汽车(XPeng)和蔚来集团(NIO)在内的电动汽车和插电式混合动力汽车制造商都提供了某种形式的自动驾驶功能。 6park.com
EV and plug-in hybrid makers including Seres, Li Auto, XPeng and NIO all offer some form of autonomous driving. 6park.com
   
中国电信设备制造商华为(Huawei Technologies)上个月推出了一套软件系统，支持辅助驾驶、辅助泊车和其他自动驾驶功能，包括东风汽车(Dongfeng Automobile)、长安汽车(Changan Automobile)、赛力斯汽车和吉利汽车(Geely Automobile)在内的本土品牌都计划今年在其汽车上使用这套华为系统。 6park.com
Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies last month launched a software system to support assisted driving, assisted parking and other auto-driving features, with local brands including Dongfeng Automobile, Changan Automobile, Seres and Geely Automobile all planning to use the Huawei system in their cars this year. 6park.com
   
海通国际分析师Barney Yao说，对于希望提供自动驾驶服务的外国车企来说，与中国科技巨头合作是显而易见的选择。 6park.com
For foreign companies hoping to offer auto-driving, “collaborating with Chinese tech giants is kind of an obvious choice,” said Barney Yao, an analyst with Haitong International. 6park.com
   
野村分析师应重熙(Joel Ying)表示，今年应该是‘智能驾驶’功能向中国大众市场渗透的标志性的一年，外国车企必须迎头赶上。 6park.com
“This year should mark the penetration of ‘intelligent driving’ features into China’s mass market,” and foreign automakers “have to catch up,” said Nomura analyst Joel Ying. 6park.com
   
交互式控制系统也是一个竞争焦点，其功能包括分析驾驶员的健康数据和压力水平以提供驾驶建议，并让驾驶员和乘客通过语音和手势控制汽车系统。最佳的交互式控制系统需要访问本地数据，比如用户的驾驶偏好以及中国的交通和道路状况。 6park.com
Another battlefield is in evolving interactive control systems that can perform functions such as analyzing drivers’ health data and stress levels to provide driving suggestions, and allowing drivers and passengers to control car systems by voice and gesture. The best of such systems require access to local data such as user driving preferences and traffic and road conditions in China. 6park.com
   
建银国际的曲克说，只有中国的科技巨头才拥有中国用户的数据。 6park.com
“Only Chinese tech giants have Chinese users’ data,” said Qu of CCB. 6park.com
   
一些车载功能本质上比较简单，比如卡拉OK、冰箱和按摩座椅。但分析师指出，正是这些功能加强了本土汽车制造商作为新一代汽车创新者和领军者的光环，对于失去市场份额的跨国汽车制造商也不无启发。 6park.com
Some in-car features are simpler in nature, such as karaoke offerings, refrigerators and massage seats. But they have burnished local automakers’ credentials as innovators and leaders of a new generation of cars, and offer lessons for global automakers losing market share, analysts say. 6park.com
  
咨询公司GlobalData Automotive亚洲预测总监John Zeng说，在中国驾驶汽车正变成一种体验而不是单纯的交通方式。他表示，当驾驶员不用再握方向盘的时候，他们就会想要更好的娱乐。 6park.com
“In China, driving a car is becoming more of an experience than simply a means of transportation,” said John Zeng, director of Asian forecasting at consulting firm GlobalData Automotive. When drivers free their hands from the steering wheel, they’ll want better entertainment, he added. 6park.com
  
海通国际的Yao称，对外国汽车制造商来说，要么现在就加入竞争，要么就彻底没机会了。 6park.com
“For foreign automakers,” added Yao of Haitong International, “it’s either enter the race now, or never.”