03 小米宣布进军电动汽车市场

小米计划在未来10年投资100亿美元生产智能电动汽车。围绕中国电动汽车市场的竞争越来越激烈了。

全文共521个词， By Ryan McMorrow,Christian Shepherd in Beijing

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is joining the electric vehicle gold rush, pledging to pour $10bn into building a smart car over the next decade.

中国智能手机制造商小米（Xiaomi）正在加入电动汽车淘金热潮，称将在未来10年投资100亿美元生产智能电动汽车。

The Beijing-based company said on Tuesday that it would put in Rmb10bn （$1.5bn） to its initial phase of investment, without specifying a time period.

这家总部位于北京的公司周二表示，首期将投资100亿元人民币（合15亿美元），但没有说明具体时间期限。

The push makes Xiaomi the latest tech company to join the stampede into electric vehicles, with search giant Baidu earlier this year announcing it would launch a new marque with carmaker Geely,and US tech group Apple reportedly considering a similar move.

此举使小米成为最新一家加入电动汽车造车热潮的科技公司。今年早些时候，搜索巨头百度（Baidu）宣布将与汽车制造商吉利（Geely）联手推出新的电动汽车品牌。美国科技集团苹果（Apple）据称也在考虑推出电动汽车。

Xiaomi did not disclose details such as whether the company would be launching a new brand or outsourcing manufacturing to a third party. According to a Reuters report last week that cited sources,the group would work with private Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motors to build the cars.

小米并未透露相关细节，如该公司是会推出新品牌，还是会将制造外包给第三方。路透社（Reuters）上周援引消息人士的话报道称，小米将与中国民营汽车制造商长城汽车（Great WallMotors）合作生产电动汽车。

Xiaomi is one of the world’s largest phonemakers and works with partners to produce a wide range of internet-connected devices, from rice cookers to scooters. But the push into electric cars will be its most ambitious project yet.

小米是全球最大手机制造商之一，还与合作伙伴合作生产从电饭煲到滑板车等各种各样的网联设备。但进军电动汽车将是该公司迄今最雄心勃勃的项目。

“Traditional automakers don’t have the same legacy advantages in making electric cars so it makes sense for highly efficient internet companies who can push software updates to come in and give it a try,” said Yale Zhang, founder of consultancy Automotive Foresight in Shanghai.

上海咨询公司Automotive Foresight创始人张豫（Yale Zhang）表示：“传统汽车制造商在生产电动汽车方面的既有优势不那么大，因此，能够推动软件升级的高效互联网公司进来尝试一下是合理的。”

Zhang said demand for electric vehicles at the high and low ends of the market was very strong at present.

张豫表示，目前市场对高端和低端电动汽车的需求都非常强劲。

The Hongguang Mini EV, a $4,500 car manufactured by private automaker Wuling in a joint venture with General Motors and state-owned Saic, was China’s best-selling electric vehicle model in February.

今年2月中国最畅销的电动汽车车型是宏光Mini EV，这款售价3万元人民币（合4500美元）的电动汽车由五菱（Wuling，中国民营汽车制造商）、通用汽车（GM）和上汽集团（Saic，中国国有汽车制造商）组建的合资公司生产。

Xiaomi enters an increasingly crowded field of automakers, from traditional global brands such as Volkswagen to Chinese start-ups including Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto, all of which are vying to corner China’s strategically important electric car market, the largest in the world.

小米进入的是一个越来越拥挤的领域；从大众（Volkswagen）等老牌外国车企，到蔚来（Nio）、小鹏（Xpeng）、理想汽车（Li Auto）等中国造车新势力，众多车企都在争夺中国这个世界最大且具有战略重要性的电动汽车市场。

Sales of battery-powered and hybrid vehicles in China hit record highs in December, nearing a tenth of the country’s entire automotive market. The Chinese government wants a fifth of all sales to be electric by 2025.

去年12月，电池驱动及混合动力汽车在中国的销量创下历史新高，接近中国汽车市场总销量的十分之一。中国政府希望，到2025年，电动汽车销量能占到总销量的五分之一。

The potential for rapid growth over the next decade has attracted investors keen to find the Chinese carmaker most likely to take on industry leader Tesla, whose Model 3 was China’s best-selling electric car model in 2020.

未来10年快速增长的前景吸引了投资者，他们迫切希望找到最有可能与行业领军企业特斯拉（Tesla）一较高下的中国汽车制造商。特斯拉的Model 3是2020年中国最畅销的电动汽车车型。

Demand from young Chinese consumers for technology-laden vehicles, as well as a low barrier for entry owing to traditional automakers such as Geely offering to provide battery and power-train manufacturing systems, has drawn technology groups to the sector.

中国年轻消费者对充满科技感的汽车的需求，以及行业门槛的降低（因为吉利等传统汽车制造商愿意提供电池和动力总成制造系统），吸引着科技集团进军电动汽车领域。

“Chinese entrepreneurs track what Silicon Valley is doing; there’s envy, so for Xiaomi, which is really a rival to Apple, they see what they’re doing and say, we can be successful at this as well,” said Tu Le, founder of Sino Auto Insights, a consultancy.

咨询公司Sino Auto Insights的创始人涂乐表示：“中国企业家的眼睛盯着硅谷在做什么，这里面有艳羡的成分；小米真正挑战的是苹果，所以当小米看到苹果正在做的事情，他们会认为自己也能做成这件事。”

But Tu noted that while Chinese search giant Baidu brought its AI and autonomous driving capabilities to its electric vehicle project, Xiaomi lacked the same competitive advantage. “They’re going to be pouring billions of billions of dollars into this to enter the most competitive auto market in the world,” he said.

但涂乐指出，中国搜索巨头百度已将其人工智能和自动驾驶技术引入其电动汽车项目，而小米缺乏同样的竞争优势。他说：“他们将为造车投入巨量资金，以进入这个世界竞争最激烈的汽车市场。”