U.S. automaker General Motors says its expansion plans are on track in India despite the troubles it faces in the United States. General Motors is among several global auto companies hoping to tap the potential of emerging markets like India.
美国通用汽车公司表示，尽管在美国面临重重困难，但其在印度的扩展计划已经上了轨道。通用汽车和全球其他几家汽车公司一样，希望开发像印度这样的潜在的新兴市场。
Executives at General Motors in India were enthusiastic when they recently revealed a new version of the compact Spark Chevrolet, which runs on liquefied natural gas.
最近，通用汽车在印度的主管们对新推出的一款小型雪佛兰乐驰充满热情。这款汽车以液化天然气为动力。
The company, which has filed for bankruptcy in the United States, says it is business as usual in India.
已经在美国申请破产的通用汽车表示，它在印度的业务一切正常。
General Motors entered the Indian market in 2003, and sold nearly 66,000 cars last year - up 10 percent over the previous year. That is still way behind the market leader, Maruti Suzuki, which sells more than 10 times that number.
通用汽车2003年进入印度市场。去年售出近6万6千辆汽车，比上一年增加了10%。这个销售成绩仍远低于当地的汽车业翘楚铃木汽车。铃木汽车的销量是通用汽车的10倍多。
General Motors, however, is hoping to expand its footprint in India. Last year, the company commissioned a new plant with a capacity to produce 140,000 cars. It says it is confident of raising funds for its expansion, and has no plans to reduce its 40,000-strong staff in India.
然而，通用汽车希望扩大其在印度的版图。去年，通用汽车建成了一座可年产14万辆汽车的工厂。通用汽车表示，它不但很有信心为其扩展计划集资，而且没有减少在印度工作的4万名员工的计划。
Yogendra Pratap, editor of the Auto Bild magazine in India, says the company has good reason to be optimistic. Sales are expected to grow strongly in the coming years in a country where only seven out of every 1,000 people own a car, and where the economy is growing despite the global recession.
印度汽车杂志的编辑约根德拉.普拉塔普说，通用汽车有理由表示乐观。在这样一个1000个人中只有7个人拥有汽车的国家，未来几年，销售量有希望显著提高。而且，尽管全球经济衰退，印度仍保持着增长势头。
"The planning for these companies has always been for the long term, to get market share and be in a position to exploit the market once the market is up and running," said Pratap. "India is still in its infancy, so all these companies want to be positioned right once the Indian car market matures."
“对这些公司来讲，它们的计划都是长期的。目的是为了在市场恢复运转时能把握住市场份额并开发市场。印度的汽车市场还处在初期形态。所以这些公司想在印度市场成熟之前占领有利位置。”
Like several other automakers, General Motors is pinning its hopes on the compact car segment, which accounts for four out of every five cars sold in India.
和其他几家汽车公司一样，通用汽车把希望寄托在占印度汽车销售80%的小型车市场。
Besides the latest version of the Spark, it is introducing a new mini car later this year to compete with other popular small cars.
除了最新款的乐驰，今年晚些时候，通用还会推出一款新的迷你车来和其他受欢迎的小型车抗衡。
Pratap points out that these cars are very different from the ones General Motors sold in the United States.
普拉塔普指出，这些车和通用汽车在美国出售的汽车非常不同。
"They have got a very strong product portfolio to do well in India. They are small cars, they are fuel efficient, they are not the huge suburban kind of trucks they sell in the U.S," said Pratap.
“在印度，它们的产品优势非常明显。它们是小型车。它们省油。它们和那些在美国卖的大型卡车完全不同。”
General Motors is not the only global automaker which has been making inroads into the Indian market in recent years. Companies such as BMW, Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Ford, Nissan and Audi have also made investments in the country, hoping to gain a foothold in the Indian car market.
通用汽车不是全球唯一一家进入印度市场的汽车公司。像宝马、尼桑、本田、丰田还有奥迪都在印度投资，希望能在印度市场占有一席之地。 |