商业 网上卖车 TrueCar来势汹汹

　　A price-comparison website causes ructions in the motor trade

　　比价网站在汽车销售行业掀起争议

　　AMERICANS looking for a new car nowadays often use online price-comparison sites such as AutoTrader, Edmunds and eBay to find the best deal.

　　如今的美国人若要买辆新车，通常会上一些比价网站来淘最好的价格，诸如AutoTrader, Edmunds和eBay等。

　　Most such sites charge dealers a small fee for passing on sales leads from shoppers who have submitted their details.

　　这些网站多数将注册的经销商提供的销售线索展示在网页上，从中赚取小额报酬。

　　TrueCar, a relative newcomer, does things differently.

　　而TureCar，作为行业相对年轻的成员，却有着不同的经营方法。

　　It charges dealers $300, but only when its introduction of a customer results in a sale, and it makes its dealers guarantee to honour their quotes, no excuses.

　　它只在推荐的客户完成买卖后收取经销商300美元费用，前提是经销商无条件保证履行其价格承诺。

　　TrueCar taps into data from state vehicle-registration offices, car-loan providers and other sources to compile what it says are the most accurate figures available for what motorists pay for the same car locally. This can be several hundred dollars less than the sticker price, and is often below "invoice"—the price that, according to the paperwork sent by the carmaker, represents the wholesale price the dealer paid.

　　TureCar从车辆登记所、车贷机构和其他渠道得到的数据中总结出其所谓的最精准的当地最低车价，这个价格通常便宜几百美元，甚至经常低于"发票价"，即汽车厂商给予汽车经销商的纸面批发价。

　　In fact dealers receive various rebates from carmakers, and make money from such things as loans and service contracts, so a modest profit is still possible.

　　实际上经销商从厂商获取各种回扣，并通过像车贷及售后等服务赚取利润，所以最低利润还是有的。

　　But such heavy discounting alarms carmakers.

　　但如此大幅度的折扣引起了厂商的警觉。

　　Honda's American arm recently told dealers it would cut off their marketing allowances—which can be worth hundreds of dollars for each car sold—if they did not stop offering sub-invoice prices on TrueCar and other sites.

　　本田的美国车厂近日告知其经销商，如果不停止向诸如TrueCar等比价网站提供"低票价"，车厂将削减其营销费用，每车大约几百美元。

　　Honda insists dealers can sell at whatever price they wish, but it will not pay them to market its products as "cheap" or "low-end" cars.

　　本田表示经销商可以自己定价销售，但厂商不会为了将其产品宣传成"便宜货"或是"低档货"而支付费用。

　　It also suggests that some dealers use such sites to "bait-and-switch", offering tantalisingly cheap cars they do not have, to reel in suckers, a practice many states ban.

　　本田更暗示说一些经销商利用网站进行诈骗，利用一些根本没有的超便宜车型吊顾客上钩再掉包销售，这在许多州都是被严令禁止的。

　　TrueCar insists that the contracts it makes dealers sign commit them to deliver the cars they promise at the price quoted.

　　TrueCar坚称其要求经销商签订协议来保证经销商按照约定的价格卖车。

　　David Wilson, who recently told the 16 dealerships he owns in California to stop using TrueCar, says he has reason to share Honda's scepticism: he plays back to The Economist a voicemail from a rival dealer who had quoted him an attractive price via TrueCar on a new Lexus, calling to say that they did not have it in stock but could try to find one for him.

　　大卫。威尔森最近要求其在加利福尼亚州的16家经销商停止使用TrueCar，原因是他有理由相信本田对网站的质疑。他向《经济学人》杂志播放了一段音频，内容是对手经销商在TrueCar网站上给一款新雷克萨斯车型报了一个非常诱人的价格，但打电话过去后对方说没有该车库存并表示会尽力找一辆给他。

　　TrueCar says there had been no hiding of the fact that the model concerned might no longer be available, and thus no question of "bait-and-switch"; that this was a one-off case and that TrueCar has had few complaints so far.

　　TrueCar表示就此事而言，如果经销商没有隐瞒网上展示的车型没有存货，也就不构成"掉包诱售"的罪名。上述的事情只是个案，TrueCar表示至今收到投诉寥寥。

　　But it is awkward that a critic had so little trouble catching a dealer quoting for a car it did not have.

　　而且那么容易就能抓到经销商"诈骗"有些不太正常。

　　Another big chain of dealers, Group 1, has also told its members not to use TrueCar, saying it had privacy worries over the website's requirement that it have access to showrooms' computer systems so as to verify sales.

　　另一个大经销商Group 1也已经通知其成员不要使用TrueCar，原因是该网站要求通过展厅电脑系统确认其销售情况的举动可能存在侵犯隐私的风险。

　　Scott Painter, TrueCar's founder, says that so far such publicity has only drawn dealers' attention to the attractions of using the website.

　　TrueCar的创始人Scott Painter解释到，至今这种公开化的做法只会增加经销商使用这个网站的兴趣，而网站所要做的就是把正在做的事情更加公开透明。

　　All the site is doing, Mr Painter argues, is making more open what is already going on. He says his data show that 23% of all the Hondas sold via TrueCar are below invoice price, only a little above the 22% sold below invoice for all Hondas in America.

　　数据显示通过TrueCar售出的本田汽车中有23%是低于发票价的，只比本田在全美的比例22%高一点。

　　Mr Painter says his website is proving so successful at shifting metal that Honda, and the doubting dealers, will eventually relent: "The power of the market will change their mind."

　　Painter先生认为这个网站的成功，最终会使本田和一些质疑的经销商改变态度，他说"市场的力量会改变他们的想法"。

　　However, several states' regulators are looking into whether the website breaches their laws.

　　然而已经有好几个州的监管官员在调查该网站是否有违法嫌疑，一些州严禁"指向性营销"（获取代销返佣）。

　　Some states specifically ban "bird-dogging"-taking commission for introducing a sale.

　　然而已经有好几个州的监管官员在调查该网站是否有违法嫌疑，一些州严禁"指向性营销"（获取代销返佣）。

　　Some also ban using the word "invoice" in car ads, regarding it as potentially misleading.

　　一些州则认为在车辆广告中使用"发票"的字样有潜在误导性而禁止此行为。

　　Colorado's regulator has warned dealers there that they will be held responsible for any rule-breaking in their TrueCar quotes.

　　科罗拉多州的监管官员警告当地经销商，将为在TrueCar上销售过程中可能产生的违规负责。

　　TrueCar says it will shortly make changes to its website to satisfy the regulators' concerns.

　　TrueCar表示很快会调整网站内容以符合监管规定。

　　In September TrueCar raised $245m for expansion. On January 1st it began an exclusive tie-up with Yahoo! to provide car-buying services.

　　11年9月TrueCar筹措2.45亿美元用于网站扩张，12年1月1日它开始为雅虎提供独家汽车销售服务。

　　It also provides such services for consumer groups such as the American Automobile Association and the United Services Automobile Association.

　　另外还为一些消费群提供该项服务，如美国汽车行业协会，联合服务汽车行业协会。

　　It could look forward to a large slice of the $6 billion a year American car dealers spend on advertising-if it can convince both regulators and dealers that it is operating within the law.

　　TrueCar预计，如果能让监管部门和经销商相信其经营合法，那么它就有望从美国汽车经销商每年支付的60亿美元广告费用中分一杯羹。