適者生存??
一個世紀以來，美國汽車市場好比一個與世隔絕的恐龍島,，其他國家的汽車和美國車一比都成了侏儒。美國道路寬闊,，油價便宜,，人口富足，促成了汽車業(yè)的繁榮,，其中不少車型為美國所獨有,。
在上世紀五六十年代，由于環(huán)境特珠,，加上重洋阻隔,，導致美國人造出了很多8汽缸的大塊頭轎車，它們通身點綴著大量電鍍裝飾,。到了八九十年代,，美國人又造出了皮卡，以及由皮卡演生出的大梁式車身的多功能運動車（即俗稱的SUV）,。而隨著其他各大洲汽車廠商紛紛開始研發(fā)前輪驅(qū)動,、搭載了多氣門發(fā)動機甚至是油電混合動力系統(tǒng)的汽車，美國汽車廠商漸漸喪失了競爭優(yōu)勢,。
放眼未來，汽車的設計風格必然要由規(guī)模更龐大,、增長更快的中國市場來決定,。而隨著燃油經(jīng)濟性標準日趨嚴格,，汽車的尺寸、重量和發(fā)動機的大小也必將受到限制,。這意味著某些美國消費者鐘情的車型或?qū)㈦y以適應新的世界秩序,，因此終究難逃滅絕的宿命,。以下謹列出幾款行將就木的車型,。 |
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Survival of the fittest
For a century, the North American auto market was an island of dinosaurs surrounded by an ocean of pygmies. Open roads, cheap gasoline, and an affluent population led to the rise of automotive species seen nowhere else in the world.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the combination of special circumstances and geographical isolation produced chrome-bedecked, V-8 powered, behemoth passenger cars. In the 1980s and 1990s, they gave birth to pickup trucks and their offspring, body-on-frame sport utility vehicles. Detroit lost its engineering edge as manufacturers on other continents pioneered front-wheel-drive, multi-valve engines, and hybrid gas-electric powertrains.
In the future, the larger, faster-growing market of China, will drive design preferences, while stricter fuel-economy standards will dictate size, weight, and engine size. That could mean extinction for some models that are beloved by American car buyers but aren't adaptable to the new world order. Herewith, some candidates for the scrap heap. |
