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Several Chinese carmakers have tried and failed to crack the coveted US market, but if one Chinese car brand can make it, that marque could well be the “Trumpchi”.
多家中国汽车制造商都曾尝试打进令人觊觎的美国市场，均告失败，但如果有一个中国汽车品牌可以做到这一点，它很可能是“传祺”(Trumpchi)。
Made by Guangzhou Automobile Group Company, the first Trumpchi rolled out of the Guangzhou-based factory in 2010 — well before its near namesake sought the US presidency.
传祺由广汽集团（Guangzhou Automobile Group，简称GAC）生产，第一辆传祺车于2010年从广州的工厂下线——这个时间比和它英文名字相近的那位人士竞选美国总统早多了。
Now the sixth-best-selling brand in China is poised to test the waters of the toughest car market in the world. At January’s Detroit auto show, Trumpchi became the first Chinese brand to feature on the event’s main floor, and Yu Jun, general manager, said the automaker was targeting its first US sales in 2019.
如今，这个在中国销量第六的汽车品牌正准备试水全世界最难征服的汽车市场。在今年1月的底特律车展上，传祺成为该车展历史上首个进入主展馆的中国品牌。广汽乘用车总经理郁俊表示，广汽争取2019年开始在美国销售。
“The US is the second-largest car market after China,” said Mr Yu. “If you want to become a global leading brand and enter the global market, we must enter the US market.”
郁俊表示：“美国是仅次于中国的第二大汽车市场。要想成为全球领军品牌并进入全球市场，我们就必须进入美国市场。”
So far the Trumpchi has been exported to some developing countries under the GAC brand, but the company is still unsure whether its auspicious-sounding name would help or hinder it in the US.
目前传祺已经以“GAC”品牌出口至部分发展中国家。不过，该公司仍不确定那个听起来吉利的品牌名称是会帮助还是会阻碍其进入美国市场。
The car is named Chuanqi (“Legendary”) in Chinese, and GAC said the English name was unrelated to the reality TV star-turned-president — rather, it is a compound of the English word trump (“to excel, surpass”) and the first syllable of the word “cheerful”.
传祺中文名称音同“传奇”。广汽集团表示，该品牌英文名和那位曾是电视真人秀明星的美国总统并无关系。相反，该英文名称是英语单词“trump”（意为超过、胜过）和“cheerful”（令人愉快）一词的首音节组成的。
“We were debating whether to use this name [on the US export models] even before Mr Trump was elected,” said Mr Yu, “and now we will have to decide whether to use this name.”
郁俊表示：“在特朗普(Trump)当选之前，我们就在争论是否（在打算出口至美国的车型上）使用这一品牌名称。如今，我们将不得不就是否使用这一名称做出决定。”
The primary challenge in entering the US is the high cost of testing and meeting the highest safety and emissions standards in the world, said Robin Zhu, chief Asia auto analyst at Bernstein in Hong Kong. “The US has infinitely more stringent rules than China,” he said.
伯恩斯坦(Bernstein)驻香港的亚洲汽车业首席分析师Robin Zhu表示，进入美国市场的主要挑战，是与测试和满足全球最高安全及排放标准相关的高成本。他说：“美国有着比中国严格太多的规则。”
Chinese factories already export China-made Buicks and Volvos to the US while a handful of domestic makers such as Geely and Chery have failed to break into the market. Geely appeared at the Detroit auto show in 2006, where its “China Dragon” car flopped, while Chery tried unsuccessfully in 2005.
中国的工厂已经在向美国出口中国造的别克(Buick)和沃尔沃(Volvo)，而吉利(Geely)和奇瑞(Chery)等若干中国厂商却未能打入美国市场。吉利2006年曾出现在底特律车展上，当时它的“中国龙”(China Dragon)汽车未获成功，而奇瑞在2005年的尝试失败了。
Trumpchi cars are roomier than average for Chinese buyers, which Mr Yu said was an advantage in the US.
对中国购车者来说，传祺的空间比常见车型更宽敞，郁俊表示这在美国是一大优势。
“Both Chinese and American consumers like big fancy cars — the bigger the better and the fancier the better,” he said, adding that the company had not decided which model to export and what modifications were required.
他说：“中美消费者都喜欢又大又炫的汽车——越大越好、越炫越好。”他还表示，该公司还未确定出口哪一款车型和需要做什么样的改动。
Xing Lei, editor of China Automotive Review, said the target of 2019 was optimistic, but he believed that Chinese domestic brands would eventually export to the US. “The quality has improved massively in the past decade, so there is really little quality difference between domestic and foreign brands now,” he said.
《中国汽车要闻》(China Automotive Review)主编邢磊表示，2019年开始在美国销售的目标有些太乐观了。不过，他认为中国国内品牌终有一天会向美国出口。他说：“10年来中国车的质量已经大为提升，所以如今国内品牌和国外品牌在质量上其实差别很小。”
However, this might not be the best time to try again, given the trade rhetoric coming out of Washington. President Donald Trump has said he would increase tariffs on Chinese goods, calling China “the greatest abuser of America economically” last August.
不过，考虑到华盛顿方面有关贸易的表态，目前可能不是再次尝试的最好时机。美国总统唐纳德?特朗普(Donald Trump)表示要提高对中国商品的关税，去年8月还说过中国是“经济上对美国伤害最大的国家”。
Imported cars are levied a 2.5 per cent tariff, but this could be raised. Sidestepping trade barriers would require building a plant in the US, which Mr Yu said the carmaker was prepared to do and was scouting locations.
美国对进口汽车征收2.5%的关税，但这一税率可能会提高。要想绕开贸易壁垒，将需要在美国建厂，郁俊表示广汽集团准备这么做，目前正在选址。
