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泰国——“东方底特律”

Thailand is gaining a reputation as the “Detroit of the East” for its booming automobile² industry. It is now the world's third largest maker³ of commercial vehicles, behind only the United States and China and ranked ninth in total vehicle production. Many foreign-branded auto¹ makers⁴ are producing vehicles in Rayong for Southeast Asia’s growing middle class.

因为蓬勃发展的汽车工业，泰国正在获得“东方底特律”的美誉。泰国现在是继美国和中国之后全球第三大商用汽车生产国。泰国的机动车生产总量全球排名第九。东南亚正在壮大的中产阶级吸引了很多外国汽车厂家，泰国的罗勇府就聚集了多家来自国外的汽车生产商。

This is one of the estimated two-and-half million vehicles rolling off Thailand's assembly lines this year.

这是今年泰国生产线生产的250万辆汽车中的一辆。

Ford⁵'s regional president, Matt Bradley, praised the country as a highly successful model for manufacturing.

福特汽车公司东南亚区总裁马特?布莱特利 (Matt Bradley) 称赞泰国是汽车制造业的一个非常成功的典范。

"Thailand, I think, has made a concerted effort from government policy in the last 15 years to plan to support the automotive industry. Ford has been in Thailand about 17 years and just since 2007 we've invested over a billion dollars in our manufacturing and product cycle plant footprint in Thailand," he said.

他说：“过去十五年来，泰国作出了一致努力，从政府政策到规划来支持汽车工业。福特在泰国已经17年了。仅在2007年以来，我们投入了超过10亿美元，用于在泰国的生产和扩张。”

The automotive sector⁶ is now Thailand's third largest industry comprising 12 percent of the country's GDP and employing 400-thousand workers.

现在汽车生产已经成为泰国第三大产业，占泰国GDP总量的12%， 并雇用了大约40万人。

Bangkok's clogged⁷ roads attest⁸ to the success - with sales accelerated by government tax rebates⁹ to first-time buyers.

泰国拥堵的道路也证明了汽车工业的成功--第一次购车者还会从政府那里得到部分退款， 这促进了汽车的销售。

But can these vehicles rival those made in Japan, Europe or the United States?

但是，这些汽车可以与来自日本、欧洲和美国的汽车竞争吗？

Honda executive vice¹⁰ president Pitak Pruittisarikorn said the Japanese automaker was making high quality vehicles here at a competitive cost.

本田汽车泰国公司执行副总裁 皮塔克?普罗伊特萨里科恩（Pitak Pruittisarikorn）说，日本汽车生产商以具有竞争力的成本在生产高品质的汽车。

"For Honda, cost efficiency is one of our key strategies. So we have established the good relationship with the strong and the highest quality parts suppliers, global suppliers and local suppliers," said Pitak.

他说：“对本田来说， 成本效率是我们最关键的战略之一。我们与强大的高质量的零部件生产商，包括全球供应商和本地供应商建立了良好的关系。”

Some automakers operating in Thailand import critical parts, including engines, from overseas.

一些在泰国运营的汽车生产商从国外进口关键的零部件，包括引擎。

However, GM Powertrain plant manager Jennifer Bigelow said the American automaker not only assembled its engines on site but also sourced their components¹¹ in Thailand.

但是，通用汽车动力设备厂的经理詹妮弗?比奇洛（Jennifer Bigelow）说，美国生产商不仅在当地装配引擎，他们还将零部件生产分流到泰国。

“It is definitely cost effective. We reduce shipping¹² costs, we develop partners here that we can then work with and develop that partnership¹³ to help improve our engine and our product,” said Bigelow.

她说：“这个绝对是符合成本效率的。我们降低了运输费用，我们在这里建立伙伴关系。 然后，我们与他们合作，建立这样的伙伴关系来改进我们的引擎和我们的产品。”

Manufacturers must also tailor their vehicles to meet regional demand, designing components such as four-cylinder diesel¹⁴ engines, which take advantage of the widespread availability of affordable¹⁵ diesel fuel.

“The product engineering teams do extensive research in each of the markets in which we operate to make sure that we are developing a product that is suitable for not only the environment but also the driving habits of the markets in which we are selling vehicles to,” said  GM executive Michael Perez.

Thailand's dominant¹⁶ auto production industry, led by Toyota and other Japanese manufacturers, faces obstacles, even though it exports vehicles beyond Southeast Asia (ASEAN) to Japan, the Middle East and North America.

泰国的汽车生产线目前由丰田和其他日本汽车生产商所主导，尽管泰国的汽车产品销往东南亚，甚至出口到日本、中东和北美，但是他们也面临障碍。

Expansion is hampered¹⁷ by a shortage of labor¹⁸ in a country with nearly full employment. That has led to opportunities for women, who comprise nearly one-third of the workforce¹⁹ at some Thai auto plants.

劳动力缺乏是影响扩张的第一原因。泰国的就业率几乎是百分之百，这也给妇女就业创造了机会，在泰国的一些汽车工厂里，女性占了劳动力总人数的三分之一。

And when extensive flooding in 2011 shut down manufacturing plants and parts suppliers, upstart Indonesia briefly²⁰ overtook Thailand in production, ushering²¹ in a rivalry²² certain to continue for many years to come.

2011年，泰国的洪灾导致汽车生产厂家和零部件供应商关门。这一度使得印度尼西亚超过了泰国的生产。预计，这样的竞争会持续很多年。