万花筒 2008-04-13&-4-14 世界上最贵的车, 不是劳斯莱斯哦！

The world's most expensive and fastest production car has arrived in America. The Bugatti Veyron Hermes Edition costs 2.4 million dollars, and that's before taxes. Today in New York I spoke¹ to Bugatti and Hermes executives about the design of this car.

And what makes it worth so much money?

 So the Bugatti Veyron base model retails² for around 1.7 million dollars. Why does a 1.7-million-dollar car need a deluxe³ edition?

 Yeah, well, that's because our customers increasingly ask for more and more individualization on their cars, and so here we've given the option by working with Hermes to have really another step in individualization.

 At least we, we need one month to build this car.

 It takes one month, and it took just 30 hours for the steering⁴ wheel leather, right?

 Yeah, steering wheel is difficult because you see, you have very few space here when you have to stitch in the inside of the steering wheel, it's very difficult, and you have to adjust your leather to come right into the middle on both sides. So it's all done by hands. So it needs a lot of time to do that.

 Is this a good time to launch such a kind of car?

 Well, I mean that's a good question. But effectively America is a very important part of our market. It represents about 35% of the sales that we've already done. And in any recession, there are always people that benefit from recession--people involved in oil, people involved in other parts of the world, maybe people who've got investments in other part of the world. They still, still have their money.

 I find that across the board, really, what you find is that even in times of recession, and a slower market, people still want to have something of great quality. So if you are really only gonna be able to buy one thing, I find that people really want it to be the best thing that they can buy, whether it's an Hermes silk tie or whether it's a Bugatti Veyron.

 So if you buy this car, do you throw in an extra scarf, you know, to throw in an Hermes scarf or anything?

 Yeah! Hahah. If you buy this car, you have an Hermes ambience. So you can bring your scarves and your ties inside, no problem. But what we try to do is to bring maybe serenity⁵, comfort, elegance⁶, and simple ambience that will contrast with the, very fast cars that it is.

 Hermes' fans have to act fast. Only 10-15% of Bugatti's 300 Veyrons will carry the Hermes signature. At least 5 have been sold.

 I'm Elva Ramirez for the Wall Street Journal.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 retails   

n.零售( retail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This book retails at 10 dollars overseas. 这本书的海外零售价是十美元。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This radio retails for ＄ 14.95. 这种收音机的零售价是14美元95美分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 deluxe   

adj.华美的，豪华的，高级的

参考例句：

• This system puts the top hotels in a special deluxe category.这种分类法把最高级的旅馆列为特殊豪华级。
• I liked the deluxe edition,but I could afford only a second best.我喜欢精装版，但我只买得起一本稍差一点的。

4 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

5 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

6 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。