Reporter: How does it feel to lose the top spot on your watch?
记者：通用汽车失去了其世界顶级汽车 品牌的地位，对此您感受如何呢？
Wagoner: It’s not something we’d relish. We’ve been number one in the world for 75 years, and we want to keep that going. That’ll be determined out on the playing field. If they pass us, we’ll get up the next day and go after them. I wouldn’t like it. But if it happens, I’m not going to quit the next morning. But would it bother me? Sure. I’m a competitive guy. I don’t like losing at anything.
瓦格纳：那是我们不希望发生的事情。我 们已经连续75年位居世界第一，我们想要 一直保持下去。就像是要在运动场上决出 胜负，如果他们超过了我们，那么我们在 第二天就会继续起来去追赶他们。但其实 我不喜欢那样。如果那样的事情真的发生 了，那我一定不会在第二天早上就退出。 那会使我烦恼吗？那是一定的。我是一个 好竞争的人，我不希望在任何方面失败。
Reporter: With all the challenges facing you, what tops your priority list?
记者：你们现在面临着很多挑战，那么 你们最优先考虑的事情是什么呢？
Wagoner: We need to drive revenue growth. Frankly, that’s hard to do in a weak market, but that’s what is really going to emphasize the extent of the changes we made and translate our improvements in products, quality and manufacturing into better financial results.
瓦格纳：我们要使收益有所增长，坦白 的说，这在一个疲软的市场环境之中很 难做到，但是那才能更加肯定我们所作 出的调整，我们在产品质量、制造方面 的提高，最终表现为经济收益的增长。
Reporter: How do you do that?
记者：您是怎样做的呢？
Wagoner: We’ve cut $9 billion in fixed costs through plant consolidation and job cuts, and think we can cut another $5 billion or so over the next three years with lower health care, pension and labor costs with the new United Auto Workers agreement.
瓦格纳：我们通过工厂合并和裁员使固 定成本减少了 90亿美元，并且我们认 为，根据新的汽车工人联合会协议，卫 生医疗、退休金和人工成本将会更低， 那么在接下来的3年时间里，我们还能 够继续减少大约50亿美元的成本。
Reporter: A lot of people are talking about a US recession. Can the great American automaker still turn things around?
记者：很多人现在都在谈论美国经济萧 条，伟大的美国汽车制造商有办法使这 种形势有所好转吗？
Wagoner: Sure. There are a number of things that will play out over the next couple of years that should improve our earnings. When we complete the 2007 labor agreement，we will get $4 billion to $5 billion in savings, a half billion when our supplier Delphi gets out of bankruptcy, and if the US industry gets back to average sales, that will be $1 billion to $1.5 billion, conservatively. We don’t have the profitability we want, but we are improving our cash flow. So even in a very difficult US environment, help is on its way. But we’re not waiting for help to get here. We are coming up with other ways to improve our cost structure, including a buyout offer for US.
瓦格纳：当然会有的。在接下来的几年时间里，我们可以做很多事情来提 高我们的收入。当我们完成2007劳 资协议的时候，我们可以得到40— 50亿的储蓄；当我们的供应商特尔 斐脱离破产的困境时，我们可以得 到50亿美元；当美国产业恢复到平 均销售额时，保守来说，我们将得 到10—15亿美元。我们现在并没 有达到希望的利益率，但是我们正 在努力提高现金流转速度。所以即 使美国现在处于一个很困难的时期， 我们也会得到一些帮助。但我们没有等 着靠帮助实现目标，我们也将采取其他 的方法来改善我们的费用结构，包括让 国家来购买我们的股份。
Reporter: A lot of people have pointed to last year's loss as a sign that execution hasn’t come through.
记者：很多人都将公司去年的损失看做 是管理不善的结果。
Wagoner: Nothing could be further from the truth. If anyone is interpreting that, they are not looking at the data. It’s clear the loss was driven by an accounting requirement, and a significant loss in GMAC business. Behind those the automotive business continued to show significant improvements, and North America produced 300,000 fewer units and still showed improvement in earnings. That’s worth a huge amount of money and highlights that we’re doing what we said we would. We’ve executed well, and on top of that, product momentum is moving nicely.
瓦格纳：不是那样的。如果有人那样说 的话，那他们一定没有去看数据。很明 显，损失纯粹是由于金融需求而造成 的，那导致通用汽车金融公司面临了很 严重的损失。紧接着，汽车产业就不断 呈现改善的趋势，北美仅制造了 30万 辆汽车，但是他们的盈利仍然是增加 了。那样的投资很值得，并且向大家展 示了我们正在做以前说过要做的事情。 我们执行的很好，并且除此之外，产品 冲力也发展的很好。
Reporter: GM will have—
记者：通用汽车将会有……
Wagoner: GM will have eight different hybrid models. And I think in things like flex fuel, you know, we’ve committed to have 50 percent of our production flex— fuel capable by 2012. So, if you add all those up, I think over the next several years, we’re going to feel this thing shifting. Is it all going to be done in five or 10 years? That’s probably an overstatement, but we’re going to be moving on a different path than it feels like we’ve been on for the last five years as an industry.
瓦格纳：通用汽车将会有关于混合燃料 的8辆氢燃料动力汽车模型，你知道 在2012年我们将达到50%的产品都使 用混合燃料。所以如果把这也算入内的 话，在接下来几年的时间内，我们就 会感受到事情有所改变。那在5年或者 10年的时间内会全部实现吗？那可能是大话，但是作为一个产业，与近5年相 比，我们会走上一条不同的道路。
Reporter: March’s industry auto sales in the US were dismal, and forecasters’ outlooks are bleak. Why do you think sales will rebound later this year? What do you think the prospects of the industry will be?
记者：3月份美国的汽车销售并不理想， 预言者都觉得未来会很不景气，为什么您 认为在今年年末的时候，汽车的销售额会 出现反弹呢？您认为汽车业前景如何？
Wagoner: Recent reports are somewhat of a concern, but we still expect the aggressive interest-rate cuts and other stimuli to start to have an impact this summer.
瓦格纳：最近的报道都表现出一些忧虑， 但是我们期望利率的下降和其他的剌激物 能够在今年夏天的时候起到一定的作用。
Reporter: Some of GM’s new cars have received critical acclaim, but many consumers still equate GM with lower quality. To your enterprise, this is certainly a disadvantage. However, how do you change that?
记者：通用汽车很多新型车都受到了称赞， 但是很多消费者仍然认为通用汽车的质量 较差。对于你们的公司来说，这当然是劣 势。然而您将如何改变消费者的想法呢？
Wagoner: We have to deliver on the promise of a car, be competitive on quality and reliability, and give the vehicle an appearance so exciting, people want to give it a try. We have significantly improved the number of people shopping in the midsize category for Malibus; we have to translate that into sales. I，d say so far so good, but it’s very early in the game. This is not a one car, two cars, three-year deal. We have to stay on this for a good long time and over time build brands and reputations that can carry us forward. One thing we pushed at is，how do we get a global leadership team. Some 55 percent of our business today is outside the US, so my top leadership team for the first time in our history is now up to half non-Americans. We pushed really hard to get there. It makes for a very different discussion when we get together for our quarterly or semester meetings. I think we’re a lot more challenging of each other.
瓦格纳：我们必须要履行对汽车的承诺， 在质量和可靠性方面有一定的竞争力，并 且使汽车的外形有吸引力，使人们有想要 试一下的念头。我们已经大大提高了想要 购买中型马里巴士的人的数量，我们必须 要使这些转化成销售额。我想说，到现在 为止，一切都还不错，但是我们现在还处 于早期。这不仅仅是一辆车、两辆车的三 年的交易，我们必须要花费很多的时间在 这上面，树立新品牌和声誉，以推动我们 可以不断向前进。有一件我们努力推动的 事情就是，我们应该如何成立一个全球性 的领导队伍。如今企业55%的业务都是在 美国以外的国家进行，因此历史上第一次 出现我们的领导团队有一半以上不是美国 人的情况。这是我们非常努力之后才实现 的，因此当我们在季度会议上碰面的时候， 我们会有一个非常不同于往常的讨论会， 我认为这对我们是一件更具挑战性的事情。
Reporter: While GM，s operations in emerging markets like Brazil have been doing well, Germany has been weak. How is that turnaround going?
记者：通用汽车在新兴市场，比如说巴西做得很好，但是在德国却不太好。那 里的周转情况怎么样？
Wagoner: It’s not time to break out the Champagne, but we’re moving in the right direction. If you look at the economy, it suggests demand over time should improve, so we hope it will get on a positive track, perhaps even this year. But no doubt it’s been tough. We have to work hard to drive our company to the right track.
瓦格纳：现在还不好说，但是我们正朝着 正确的方向行进。如果你去了解一下经 济，你会发现需求会有所增长，所以我们 希望事情可以朝好的方向发展，也许就从 今年开始。但是无疑，那将会是很困难 的。我们必须努力让公司回到正轨。
Reporter: Boosting fuel economy and reducing emissions are increasingly important for automakers. But the technology to do so isn’t cheap, and it’s not yet certain which method will win out. So how do you proceed when money is already tight?
记者：对于汽车制造商来说，推动燃料 经济发展、减少排放量将会是越来越重 要的事情。但是做到这几点所要采用的 技术是很昂贵的，现在我们也不确定哪 种方法会胜出。所以在资金紧缺的时 候，您应该怎样发展呢？
Wagoner: It’s not easy, but we basically have said it’s critical to our future success and to achieve what I think could be strong growth for the industry. It’s very high on our priority list on how we allocate our R&D, engineering and infrastructure spending, so we，re making whatever tradeoffs we need to. But the amount of cash and expenses are pretty high and going to get higher, so we have to structure the rest of our business to accommodate that.
瓦格纳：那不容易，但是那对我们未来的 成功、实现产业实力的有力增长很重要。 怎样拨付我们的研发工程和基础设施所需 款项是我们首先要考虑的，所以我们权衡 一切我们需要的因素。但是现金数量和花 费很高，并且会越来越高，所以我们必须 要组织余下的产业去接受它。
Reporter: What do you say to those shareholders who are fed up with the stock price?
记者：那您将对那些对股票价格感到烦 躁的股东们说些什么呢？
Wagoner: I’m a big shareholder myself; I share the frustration. I’m confident that as the market psychology turns and assumes some of these issues are behind us, we’ll be well positioned. I talk to major investors regularly, and of course they would love to see a higher stock price. But they say, “Keep going and do the right stuff for the future.” So that’s what we are trying to do.
瓦格纳：我本身就是一个大股东，我也 感到很受挫。我相信当市场心理逆转， —些事情已经得到了解决时，我们就会 被放到一个很好的位置上。我定期与主 要投资者谈话，当然他们会很乐意看到 一个高的股票价格，但是他们说：“继 续为了未来做正确的事情。”所以那就 是我们试图做的事情。
Reporter: What is your worst decision?
记者：您所作的一个最坏的决定是什么呢？
Wagoner: Axing the EV1 electric-car program and not putting the right resources into hybrids. It didn’t affect profitability, but it did affect image.
瓦格纳：停止电子动力汽车计划，并且 不使用混合燃料。那没有影响利益率， 但是却影响了我们的形象。
Reporter: What is the best thing?
记者：那您认为最好的事情是什么呢？
Wagoner: Driving any car in the world you want. Plus you do things that are amazing, such as meeting world leaders like George Bush and Tony Blair. I've got pressures in this job—but it’s nothing compared with those guys.
瓦格纳：开到世界上任何你想开的车， 还有，你可以做很多惊人的事情，比如 说和世界领导人乔治布什、托尼布莱 尔会谈。我在现在的职位工作很有压力， 但是跟他们相比，这并不算是什么。
Reporter: What is your strategy for turning around the company?
记者：您使公司好转的策略是什么呢？
Wagoner: First, we're focused on product. I invite you to look at the next generation (sport) utility. The improvement is simply stunning. We need to keep that sort of pace going. Second of all, we obviously have to step back and re-look at how we’re going to market from a sales and marketing strategy. The third area is basically a frontal assault on all areas of cost to make sure we are driving to be the absolute most efficient manufacturer in the world. That’s hard because it’s meant significant capacity reductions and it means continuing to trim down workforces in the high cost countries, like the US and Germany. Fourth is the very challenging issue of addressing health care. We have really a breakthrough agreement with the UAW. It’s historic in its nature, but I would say it’s a very important first step to getting health care costs and particularly the legacy aspect of those under control. It’s a massive competitive disadvantage, which we simply as an enterprise cannot carry and at the same time achieve the objectives that our shareholders have for us and invest in the future of our products. We' ve got a spotlight on that this year. We’ve also made some changes in our salary plan and we’re going to need to keep working on health care. If you carry a $5 or $6 billion bill that your best competitors don’t, that’s a heavy burden.
瓦格纳：首先，我们将注意力集中在产品 上面。我请您看一下下一代的体育公用事 业设备。那些进步是很令人震惊的，我们 需要保持那种行进的速度。第二，很明显， 我们需要后退一步，从销售和市场的角度 来重新看一下我们应该怎样更好的进入市 场。第三是，我们要使各个方面的成本都 降低，以保证我们可以成为世界上性价比 最高的汽车制造商。那是很困难的，因为 那意味着我们要进行能力缩减，意味着我 们要在高消费国家，比说如在美国和德国 继续削减劳动力。第四就是有关很有挑战 性的医疗问题。我们真的与联合汽车工会 签订了一个很有突破性的协议。从其本质 来说，那是很有历史意义的。但是我想说， 那对于掌控医疗费用，尤其是遗赠的费用， 将是非常重要的第一步。在充满竞争的今 天，那是一个劣势；作为一个企业来说， 我们不能有那样的劣势；同时，要达到的 股东所期望我们做到的目标并为我们未来 的产品投资，我们也不能有那样的劣势存 在。今年，公众的注意力都集中到那上面。 我们在工资计冲也做了些许调整，我们将 会在卫生保健方面继续努力。如果你有一个 50亿或是60亿的账单，但是你最强大的竞 争_没有，那会是一个很大的负担。