SUV在中国大行其道
（发布时间： 2008-6-20 8:48:00 来自：）
When General Motors announced this month that it might sell Hummer, the brand of military-style sport utility vehicles whose sales have plummeted in the west, it seemed that soaring oil prices were halting the era of the big, gas-guzzling car.
Drivers in China have other ideas, however. Even though GM does not officially sell Hummers in China, a booming grey market has developed. In Beijing alone, more than 15 car dealers are selling the tank-like vehicles to China's army of new car-buyers.
Hummers have become particularly popular among the wealthy urbanites who like to spend their holidays on long driving treks across the country.
“As a boy, I always dreamt of owning a big car,” says Zhou Qiang, a real-estate executive in Beijing who bought a Hummer H1 at an auction two years ago and who is not worried about its oil-thirsty image. “There are plenty of other sources of pollution than cars, and life is short so we should enjoy ourselves anyway.”
Several other Chinese car-makers have tried to get in on the act. Dongfeng Auto sells a squat vehicle called the HanMa, a name that sounds the same as Hummer in Chinese.
Beijing Auto has a military-style SUV called the Trojan.
Although demand for SUVs is slumping in most parts of the world, it remains strong in China. Sales rose by 40 per cent in the first four months of the year – more than double the growth rate for the passenger car market as a whole. Car imports have also nearly doubled. Many of these are large luxury cars.
A few years ago, China's new passion for large cars might have been a curiosity of its new consumer culture. But in a world of $140-a-barrel oil, when China is being accused of artificially stimulating demand by capping oil prices at home, such taste in cars is becoming more controversial.
China is now one of the main motors of the global market. With demand for oil growing at 8 per cent a year, mostly met by imports, the country is the biggest contributor to the annual increase in oil consumption. Yet its petrol and diesel prices are as much as 40 per cent below US levels – themselves low by European standards.
Speaking before the latest Sino-US economic talks that began yesterday, Hank Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, said he would urge Chinese officials to use higher prices to limit oil consumption – although the Chinese government argues that the weaker dollar is one of the main causes of surging oil prices.
Closer to home, critics say the oil price controls are distorting demand and favouring the wrong people.
“The oil subsidies do not make sense, as they end up subsidising the rich rather than the poor,” says Frank Gong, head of China research at JPMorgan financial services. “The effect of sustaining low oil prices is higher car imports and more big cars.”
It also works against government efforts to improve energy conservation and efficiency, he argues.
Ha Jiming, an economist at China International Capital Corporation investment bank in Beijing, argues that it is in China's interests to raise oil prices by as much as 50 per cent, which would “improve energy efficiency and reduce long-term inflationary expectations”.
Many economists argue that the link between China's price controls and its booming oil demand is not so clear. Cars are one example. There are some early indications that the Chinese car market might be starting to cool, including some reports of slowing imports, although this could be due to expectations that the government will raise oil prices.
However, many of the new buyers of SUVs in China are more interested in social status than miles per litre. “The sort of people who buy a Cayenne are not that concerned about petrol prices,” says Emily Peng, a Porsche saleswoman in Beijing.
Car usage is also only one aspect of China's increasing oil demand.
A huge fleet of trucks exists to transport goods, and many factories use diesel power generators in the event of blackouts during the summer. These are uses that will be only partly affected by higher prices. The prices of industrial fuels and feedstocks such as naphtha are not capped, yet demand for them is also growing strongly.
China's drivers have one other argument against US critics of its soaring fuel demand: emissions and fuel economy standards for cars are higher in China than they are in the US.
当通用汽车(General Motors)本月宣布其可能出售军旅风格运动型多功能车(SUV)品牌悍马(Hummer)时，给人的感觉似乎是不断飙升的油价将终结高油耗大型车时代。悍马在西方国家的销量大幅下降。
然而，中国车主们却有着不同的想法。尽管通用并未正式在华销售悍马，一个繁荣的灰色市场却已经兴起。仅在北京，就有15家以上的汽车经销商向国内购车大军销售这款外形象坦克一样的汽车。
悍马在城市富裕阶层中尤为盛行，这些人喜欢假期时驾车在全国作长途旅行。
北京一名房地产行业高管周强（音译）表示：“我少年的时候就梦想拥有一辆大型车。”他两年前在一场拍卖会上买下了一辆悍马H1，他并不在乎这款车高油耗的特点。“除了汽车，还有其他许多污染源。人生短暂，我们总应该享受。”
一些国内汽车制造商也想在这个市场上分一杯羹。东风汽车(Dongfeng Auto)销售一款名为“汗马”的汽车，与悍马同音。
北京汽车制造厂有限公司(Beijing Auto)也有一款军旅风格的SUV，叫做“骑士”。
SUV的需求在全球多数地区都在下滑，但在中国仍保持强劲。今年前4个月，中国SUV销量上升40%，为整体乘用车销量增幅的两倍以上。汽车进口也近乎翻倍，其中很多是大型豪华车。
几年前，中国开始兴起大型车热，这或许是对新消费文化好奇心的体现。但在国际油价逼近每桶140美元的形势下，当外界指责中国通过限制国内油价、人为刺激需求之际，人们对这种汽车品味的争议愈来愈大。
中国目前是全球市场的主要驱动因素之一。石油需求以每年8%的速度增长，而且多数是依靠进口，中国已经在全球石油消耗量年度增长中占据最大的比例。然而，目前中国汽油和柴油价格仍比美国低40%，而美国价格又低于欧洲。
在昨日启动中美新一轮战略经济对话前，美国财长汉克•保尔森(Hank Paulson)曾表示，他将敦促中方官员提高石油价格，以抑制石油消费。而中国政府辩称，美元疲软是油价持续飙升的一个主要原因。
在更接近国内的地区，批评人士指出，石油价格管制正在扭曲需求，并使不应受惠的人受惠。
摩根大通(JPMorgan)中国研究部主管龚方雄(Frank Gong)表示：“石油补贴没有意义，因为这最终是补贴富人而非穷人。”“维持低油价的结果，是汽车进口量上升和大型车增加。”
他认为，这也有违政府推行节能和提高能效的措施。
中国国际金融公司(CICC)首席经济学家哈继铭认为，将油价提高50%左右，符合中国的利益，这将“提高能源效率，降低长期通胀预期”。
许多经济学家提出，中国的价格管制与其旺盛的石油需求并无明显关联。汽车就是一个例子。一些初步迹象显示，中国汽车市场或许正开始降温。其中有一些报告显示进口放缓，但这可能是源于政府将提高油价的预期。
但是，中国许多买SUV的人更看重的是社会地位，而不是油耗。保时捷(Porsche)在北京的一名女销售员Emily Peng表示：“买卡宴(Cayenne)的人是不会在意汽油价格的。”
汽车的使用也只是造成中国石油需求持续上升的一个方面。
有大量卡车在运载商品，还有许多工厂在夏季停电时使用柴油发电机。油价提高只会对这些情况产生部分的影响。工业燃料和石脑油等工业原料的价格并未受到限制，但需求也在强劲增长。
中国的车主还可以这样反驳美国对其燃油需求猛增的指责：中国汽车排放和燃油经济标准比美国还高。
Drivers in China have other ideas, however. Even though GM does not officially sell Hummers in China, a booming grey market has developed. In Beijing alone, more than 15 car dealers are selling the tank-like vehicles to China's army of new car-buyers.
Hummers have become particularly popular among the wealthy urbanites who like to spend their holidays on long driving treks across the country.
“As a boy, I always dreamt of owning a big car,” says Zhou Qiang, a real-estate executive in Beijing who bought a Hummer H1 at an auction two years ago and who is not worried about its oil-thirsty image. “There are plenty of other sources of pollution than cars, and life is short so we should enjoy ourselves anyway.”
Several other Chinese car-makers have tried to get in on the act. Dongfeng Auto sells a squat vehicle called the HanMa, a name that sounds the same as Hummer in Chinese.
Beijing Auto has a military-style SUV called the Trojan.
Although demand for SUVs is slumping in most parts of the world, it remains strong in China. Sales rose by 40 per cent in the first four months of the year – more than double the growth rate for the passenger car market as a whole. Car imports have also nearly doubled. Many of these are large luxury cars.
A few years ago, China's new passion for large cars might have been a curiosity of its new consumer culture. But in a world of $140-a-barrel oil, when China is being accused of artificially stimulating demand by capping oil prices at home, such taste in cars is becoming more controversial.
China is now one of the main motors of the global market. With demand for oil growing at 8 per cent a year, mostly met by imports, the country is the biggest contributor to the annual increase in oil consumption. Yet its petrol and diesel prices are as much as 40 per cent below US levels – themselves low by European standards.
Speaking before the latest Sino-US economic talks that began yesterday, Hank Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, said he would urge Chinese officials to use higher prices to limit oil consumption – although the Chinese government argues that the weaker dollar is one of the main causes of surging oil prices.
Closer to home, critics say the oil price controls are distorting demand and favouring the wrong people.
“The oil subsidies do not make sense, as they end up subsidising the rich rather than the poor,” says Frank Gong, head of China research at JPMorgan financial services. “The effect of sustaining low oil prices is higher car imports and more big cars.”
It also works against government efforts to improve energy conservation and efficiency, he argues.
Ha Jiming, an economist at China International Capital Corporation investment bank in Beijing, argues that it is in China's interests to raise oil prices by as much as 50 per cent, which would “improve energy efficiency and reduce long-term inflationary expectations”.
Many economists argue that the link between China's price controls and its booming oil demand is not so clear. Cars are one example. There are some early indications that the Chinese car market might be starting to cool, including some reports of slowing imports, although this could be due to expectations that the government will raise oil prices.
However, many of the new buyers of SUVs in China are more interested in social status than miles per litre. “The sort of people who buy a Cayenne are not that concerned about petrol prices,” says Emily Peng, a Porsche saleswoman in Beijing.
Car usage is also only one aspect of China's increasing oil demand.
A huge fleet of trucks exists to transport goods, and many factories use diesel power generators in the event of blackouts during the summer. These are uses that will be only partly affected by higher prices. The prices of industrial fuels and feedstocks such as naphtha are not capped, yet demand for them is also growing strongly.
China's drivers have one other argument against US critics of its soaring fuel demand: emissions and fuel economy standards for cars are higher in China than they are in the US.
当通用汽车(General Motors)本月宣布其可能出售军旅风格运动型多功能车(SUV)品牌悍马(Hummer)时，给人的感觉似乎是不断飙升的油价将终结高油耗大型车时代。悍马在西方国家的销量大幅下降。
然而，中国车主们却有着不同的想法。尽管通用并未正式在华销售悍马，一个繁荣的灰色市场却已经兴起。仅在北京，就有15家以上的汽车经销商向国内购车大军销售这款外形象坦克一样的汽车。
悍马在城市富裕阶层中尤为盛行，这些人喜欢假期时驾车在全国作长途旅行。
北京一名房地产行业高管周强（音译）表示：“我少年的时候就梦想拥有一辆大型车。”他两年前在一场拍卖会上买下了一辆悍马H1，他并不在乎这款车高油耗的特点。“除了汽车，还有其他许多污染源。人生短暂，我们总应该享受。”
一些国内汽车制造商也想在这个市场上分一杯羹。东风汽车(Dongfeng Auto)销售一款名为“汗马”的汽车，与悍马同音。
北京汽车制造厂有限公司(Beijing Auto)也有一款军旅风格的SUV，叫做“骑士”。
SUV的需求在全球多数地区都在下滑，但在中国仍保持强劲。今年前4个月，中国SUV销量上升40%，为整体乘用车销量增幅的两倍以上。汽车进口也近乎翻倍，其中很多是大型豪华车。
几年前，中国开始兴起大型车热，这或许是对新消费文化好奇心的体现。但在国际油价逼近每桶140美元的形势下，当外界指责中国通过限制国内油价、人为刺激需求之际，人们对这种汽车品味的争议愈来愈大。
中国目前是全球市场的主要驱动因素之一。石油需求以每年8%的速度增长，而且多数是依靠进口，中国已经在全球石油消耗量年度增长中占据最大的比例。然而，目前中国汽油和柴油价格仍比美国低40%，而美国价格又低于欧洲。
在昨日启动中美新一轮战略经济对话前，美国财长汉克•保尔森(Hank Paulson)曾表示，他将敦促中方官员提高石油价格，以抑制石油消费。而中国政府辩称，美元疲软是油价持续飙升的一个主要原因。
在更接近国内的地区，批评人士指出，石油价格管制正在扭曲需求，并使不应受惠的人受惠。
摩根大通(JPMorgan)中国研究部主管龚方雄(Frank Gong)表示：“石油补贴没有意义，因为这最终是补贴富人而非穷人。”“维持低油价的结果，是汽车进口量上升和大型车增加。”
他认为，这也有违政府推行节能和提高能效的措施。
中国国际金融公司(CICC)首席经济学家哈继铭认为，将油价提高50%左右，符合中国的利益，这将“提高能源效率，降低长期通胀预期”。
许多经济学家提出，中国的价格管制与其旺盛的石油需求并无明显关联。汽车就是一个例子。一些初步迹象显示，中国汽车市场或许正开始降温。其中有一些报告显示进口放缓，但这可能是源于政府将提高油价的预期。
但是，中国许多买SUV的人更看重的是社会地位，而不是油耗。保时捷(Porsche)在北京的一名女销售员Emily Peng表示：“买卡宴(Cayenne)的人是不会在意汽油价格的。”
汽车的使用也只是造成中国石油需求持续上升的一个方面。
有大量卡车在运载商品，还有许多工厂在夏季停电时使用柴油发电机。油价提高只会对这些情况产生部分的影响。工业燃料和石脑油等工业原料的价格并未受到限制，但需求也在强劲增长。
中国的车主还可以这样反驳美国对其燃油需求猛增的指责：中国汽车排放和燃油经济标准比美国还高。
