-
Unlocking the Climate Puzzle
解开气候之谜
(1)Life
has prospered on this planet for nearly four
billion years. In that time, climate
had fluctuated drastically, from ice
ages lasting tens of thousands of years to epochs
of steamy heat. With each change,
sundry species have benefited and flourished.
Others adapted, faltered, or died. Now,
many experts believe, humans are imperiling
their own ecological niche with the
threat of global warming. The vaporous
by-products of civilization, in the
form of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide
(C0
?
), have
trapped enough heat in the atmosphere to raise
Earth's average surface air
temperature
a half degree Celsius (one degree Fahrenheit)
during this century. If the
trend
continues, it could alter climate patterns
worldwide-thawing glaciers, boosting
sea level, scorching plains into
deserts, and shifting vegetation zones.
（
1
）生命在这个星球上已经发展了近四十亿年。在这段时间
里，气候有大幅波
动，从冰河时代到蒸汽时代延续了几千年。每一次改变，各种物种受益
和繁荣。
其他适应，步履蹒跚，或死亡。现在，许多专家认为，人类正在通过全球变暖危
及自己的生态位。在本世纪，文明的气态副产物，以二氧化碳（
C0
?
）等温室气
体的形式，把足够的
热量困在大气中，来提高地球表面平均气温半摄氏度（
1
华
氏度）
。如果这种趋势继续下去，它可能会改变世界范围内的气候模
式—融化冰
川，提高海平面，把平原烤成沙漠，以及改变植被区。
(2) Or it might not. Global climate
depends on combinations of factors interacting in
subtle and complex ways that we do not
yet fully understand. It is possible that the
warming observed during this century
may have resulted from natural variations, even
though the increase has been much more
rapid than what the planet has witnessed
over the past hundred centuries.
Moreover, the supercomputer simulations used to
project future conditions may not be
accurate.
（
2
）或者不可
能。全球气候取决于各种因素的组合，这些因素以微妙和复杂的
方式相互作用，
我们还没有完全了解。
这是可能的，
在本世纪中
观察到的变暖可
能是由于自然的变化，
即使增加已远远超过这个
星球在过去的几百个世纪已经见
证过的。此外，用于展现未来条件的超级计算机模拟可能
是不准确的。
(3)
Nonetheless, in 1995, after years of intense
study, the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC),
sponsored by the United Nations, concluded
tentatively that
global
climate
affect the rate of
temperature change. It may take a decade or more
of additional
research to resolve those
uncertainties.
（
3
）
然而，
由联合国发起的政府间气候变化专门委员会，
经过数年集中的研究，
在
1995
年，初步得到了“对照所有证据表明，人类对全球气候有明显的影响”
这个结
论。该委员会同时提到，由于“关键因素的不确定性”
，包括云层和海洋
对温度变化率的影响程度，
人类对全球气候的影响量是未知的。
解决这些不确定
因素可能需要十年乃至更长时间的额外研究。
< br>
(4) Meanwhile, much is
known. And although the specific consequences of
human
activity remain ambiguous, our
ability to alter the atmosphere is incontestable.
（
4
）同时，大多是已知的。尽管人类
活动的具体后果仍不明确，我们改变大气
的能力是不可否认的。
(5) What causes climate
change?
Weather is what
happens outside your home this
morning.
Climate is what you can expect to happen outside
during your 30-year
mortgage. Over time
small changes can make a big difference. Driven by
tremendous
flows of heat over the
surface of the planet, Earth's climate system is
influenced by
innumerable interacting
variables.
（
5
）是什么
导致了气候变化？天气是这个早上出现在户外的自然现象。气候是
在
30
年内可以预测的发生在户外的自然现象。随着时间的流逝，微小的变化会
造成巨大的影响。
由于星球表面上的巨大热流，
无数相互作用的变量影响着地球
的气候系统。
Solar Input
(6)
Having traveled 93 million miles, solar energy
hits the upper atmosphere at about
the
intensity of three 100-watt bulbs per square
yard
—
one-third of which is
reflected
back into space. The rest of
the energy warms Earth and fuels its weather
engine.
太阳能输入
（
6
）已经走了
9300
万英里，太阳
能达到高层大气时，每平方的强度大约是
3
个
< br>100
瓦灯泡—其中三分之一被反射回太空。
其余的能量
使地球变暖，
并引起天
气改变。
The Atmosphere
(7) A delicate balance of gases gives
Earth an average temperature of 15
℃
(59
℉
).
Greenhouse
gases
一
water vapor,
C0
?
, methane, nitrous oxide,
and others
一
absorb
heat energy, then re-radiate a portion
of it back to the surface.
大气
（
7<
/p>
）气体的一种微妙平衡使地球平均温度为
15
℃（
59
℉）
。温室气体一水汽，
C0
?
，甲烷，一氧化二氮，和其他气
体一吸收热能，然后再辐射一部分返回地面。
The Oceans
(8) Covering 70
percent of Earth's surface, oceans are the chief
source of water vapor
in the air.
Oceans store heat efficiently and transport it
thousands of miles. When
warm water
collects in one place, evaporation and cloud
buildup may increase.
Marine organisms
consume huge amounts of C0
?
.
海洋
（
8<
/p>
）覆盖地球表面的百分之
70
，海洋是空
气中的水蒸气的主要来源。海洋能有
效地储存热能和把它运输数千英里。
当温水聚集在一个地方，
蒸发和云层积累可
能会增加。
海洋生物消耗大量的
C0
?
。
The Water Cycle
(9) Higher air temperatures can mean
increased water evaporation and the melting
of sea and land ice. Although water
vapor is the most potent greenhouse gas,
evaporation also leads to cloud
formation, which can have a cooling effect.
水循环
（
9
）更高的空气温度可以增加水的蒸发和融化海洋和陆地的冰。虽然水蒸气是
最有效的温室气体，蒸发也导致云的形成，它可以有一个冷却效果。
Clouds
(10) The role of clouds is
poorly understood, but they are known to both cool
Earth by
reflecting solar energy and
warm Earth by trapping heat being radiated up from
the
surface.
云层
<
/p>
（
10
）
人类对
云层的作用了解很少，
但是知道它们会通过反射太阳能使地面温度
下降，且通过储存地表散发的热量使地面温度上升。
Ice and Snow
(11) Bright
white expanses of ice and snow reflect sunlight
back into space, cooling
the planet.
Melting sea ice draws heat from the ocean. In the
Northern Hemisphere,
snow cover has
decreased about 10 percent in the past 21 years,
but no significant
melting of the
Antarctic ice sheet has been detected.
冰和雪
（
1
1
）
广阔区域的明亮白色的冰和雪把阳光反射回太空，
使地球冷却。
融化的海
冰从海洋中吸取热量。在
北半球，雪覆盖在过去的
21
年中减少了约百分之
10
，
但没有明显的南极冰盖的融化已经被检测到。
Land Surface
(12) When solar energy penetrates the
land surface, it is converted into heat, most of
which radiates upward quickly. Still,
topography and land use can have major effects
on climate. Mountain ranges can block
clouds, creating dry
Sloping land
allows more water runoff, leaving the land and air
drier. A tropical forest
will soak up
C0
?
，
but once
cleared for cattle ranching, the same land becomes
a
source of methane.
（
12
）
当太阳能渗入地表时，
会转化为热能，
其中大部分会很快上升散发到空气
中。地形和
土地使用仍然对气候有主要的影响。在下风口，山脉会挡住云层，形
成缺乏雨水的
“阴影地”。
坡地让更多的水分流失，
使得土地和空气更加干燥。
热带森林会吸收二氧化碳，
但是一旦允许牲畜农场经营，
这块土地将会产生大量
的甲烷。
Human
Influences
(13)
Adding to the mix of greenhouse gases naturally
present in the atmosphere,
human
activities magnify warming effects. Fuel
combustion is the chief cause of
rising
C0
?
concentrations.
Ranching, rice farming, and landfills have raised
methane
levels. Aerosols, such as smoke
and sulfates from industry, reflect sunlight and
have
temporary, localized cooling
effects.
人类的影响
（<
/p>
13
）
增加在大气中自然存在的温室气体
的混合，
人类活动放大变暖的影响。
燃
料燃烧是
C0
?
浓度上升的一个主要原
因。牧场，水稻种植，和垃圾填埋场已经提
高甲烷的程度。
悬浮
颗粒，
如来自工业的烟尘和硫酸盐，
能反射阳光，
有暂时的、
局部的冷却效果。
(14) If
C0
?
emission increases are
to blame for global warming, skeptics say, then
temperatures should have risen
appreciably during the postwar economic boom, when
fossil fuels were burned in escalating
quantity. Jerry Mahlman, director of NOAA's
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
at Princeton, however, has calculated that
the surge in coal and oil use quickly
increased the amount of sulfates aloft, prompting
the cooling. After 1970 the longer term
effect of C0
?
and methane
overwhelmed the
short-lived aerosols,
accounting for the temperature rise since then.
（
14
）
质疑者们
说，
如果
CO2
的增加应该对全球变暖
负责，
那么在战后经济繁荣
期间化石燃料被越来越多的燃烧时，
温度应该很明显的增加。不管怎样，
Jerry
Mahlma
n
，美国国家海洋和大气局位于普林斯顿关于地球物理流体动力学实验室
的主任，
曾计算过煤和油的使用量的激增会迅速增加空气中大量的硫酸盐，
并促
进它们冷却。
从
1970
年后，
CO2
和甲烷覆盖了短期效应的气溶胶从而带来的
长期效应，导致了温度的上升
。
(15) An
enhanced greenhouse effect may not necessarily be
catastrophic. Indeed, it
might be good
news for some farmers. High concentrations of
C0
?
can have a
fertilizing effect on plants, which is
why some commercial greenhouses use an
artificial indoor atmosphere containing
C0
?
at about three times the
level outside.
Because plants use
photosynthesis to turn C0
?
into living tissue, more vegetation also
might mean more
C0
?
scavenged from the
atmosphere, perhaps slowing global
warming.
（
15
）
增强的温室效应可能不一定是灾难性的。
事实上，
这对一些农民来说可能
是好消息。
高浓度
C0
?
对植物可以有施肥的效果
，这就是为什么有些商业温室使
用
C0
?
浓度约为室外三倍水平的人工室内空气。
由于植物利用光合作
用将
C0
?
转换
为细胞组织，更多的植被也可能意味着更多来自于大气的
C0
?
被清除，可能减缓
全球变暖。
(16) Furthermore, higher
temperatures might be most welcome where they are
most
likely to occur. Since 1900, the
greatest warming has been observed between 40
degrees and 70 degrees north latitude-
including Europe, Russia, and the northern half
of the U.S.
—
where
much of the world's industrial greenhouse gas
emissions originate.
Most of the
warming has taken place at night-presumably
because increased cloud
cover shades
the land by day and traps outgoing heat at night.
The growing season in
the northern U.S.
has lengthened by about a week.
（
16
）此外，高温在最可能发生的地方也许会最受欢迎。从
< br>1990
年开始，在人
们北纬
4
0
°—
70
°之间观察最主要的温室变
化。包括欧洲、俄罗斯和美国北部
半数地区，
这些地区是世界上
工业温室气体主要的排放地。
大多数的温室变化是
发生在晚上的
，
大概是因为在白天增加的阴云遮住了大地并且晚上高温的散发受
到了限制。在美国北部植物的增长期被延长了差不多一周左右。
(17) Some scientists argue
that hasty measures are pointless: Any appreciable
alterations in climate, they say, are
likely to be gradual enough that we will be able
to
adapt. And even if all greenhouse
gas emissions stopped tomorrow, the planet almost
certainly would continue to warm for
several decades because of the gases' long
atmospheric lifetime.
（
17
）一些科学家认为，草率的措施是毫无意义的：他们说，任何可预见的
气候
变化，
有可能是渐进的，
我们将能
够适应。
即使所有的温室气体在明天都停止排
放，地球几乎肯定
会继续温暖几十年，因为气体的长的大气寿命。
(18)
On the other hand, there is evidence that some
kinds of events could change
climate
radically in the span of decades. Perhaps the most
feared is an abrupt collapse
in the
huge Atlantic
equator, keeping Europe several degrees
warmer than it would otherwise be.
Evaporation of this incoming flow
leaves the belt with a higher salt content than
the
rest of the North Atlantic, which
is fed by substantial freshwater runoff from
continental watersheds. The belt cools
and becomes denser as it approaches
Greenland, where it sinks. It then
travels far below the surface in a south-moving
return flow.
（
18<
/p>
）
从另一方面说，
有证据表明一些事件会
在数十年的时间内从根本上改变气
候。也许人们大多数的担忧是巨大的大西洋“传送带”
会发生一种突然的崩溃。
这个“传送带”从赤道北部带来了温暖的水，使它比原来的温度
高几度。这种流
入水的消失会使
“传送带”
变得比北大西洋其它地区的盐度都高，
北大西洋其它
的地区
存储着大量从陆地流域流入的淡水。
这个
< br>“传送带”
中的水在接近格陵
兰岛时会变得冰冷而且稠密
，
在那里它下沉了。
然后它随着向南流动的回流表层
下部远去。
(19) But what if human-induced global
warming altered the delicate temperature
difference between the flows and at the
same time caused increased rainfall over the
oceans, diluting the salinity of the
northward flow? The whole Atlantic conveyor belt
could simply shut down, as ocean-
sediment evidence suggests it has several times in
the past. The effect would be locally
disastrous. By one estimate, Ireland would have
about the same temperature as present-
day Spitsbergen, which is hundreds of miles
above the Arctic Circle. Much of
northern Europe would be largely uninhabitable.
（
19
）
但是人类
引起的全球变暖改变了水流之间的微妙的温度差，
同时在海洋上
引起的降雨量增加，
稀释北上水流的盐度又怎样？整个大西洋输送带可以简单地
关闭，
因为海洋沉积物的证据表明，
它在过去发
生过好几次。
影响会是局部灾难
性的。
根据一个预测，
爱尔兰将会和现在位于北极圈数百英里以上的斯匹次卑尔
根有大约相同的温度。欧洲北部的大部分将不适合居住。
(20) No one knows for
certain whether such things will happen. Beyond
that the
specific human effect on
climate change will remain hauntingly indefinite
until our
knowledge increases and the
models improve.
（
20
）没人确信这些事情是不是真的会发生。除了对气候做出特别的人为影响，
这种不确定性将会一直萦绕人们的心头直到我们的知识增加和
理论提高。
The Greenhouse
Effect
温室效应
(l)The air we breathe keeps us alive in
more ways than one. Without our
atmosphere,
average global
temperature would be about minus 18℃ (minus
0.4℉)
instead
of
the
present
15℃
(59℉).
All
the
incoming
sunlight,
with
energy equivalent to about three
100-watt light bulbs per square yard,
would strike Earth's surface, causing
it to emit infrared waves like a
giant
radiator.
That
heat
would
simply
travel
unimpeded
back
out
into
the
void.
（
l
）我们呼吸的空气不止从一个方面确保我们活着。没有大气层，全球平均温
度大约是零下
18
℃（零下
0.4
℉）
，而不是现在的
15
℃（
59
℉）
< br>。所有入射的太
阳光，
每平方码的能量相当于
3
个
100
瓦的灯泡，<
/p>
会撞击地球表面，
使它像一个
巨大的散热
器一样发射出红外波。
这种热将简单地传播，
无阻碍地返回到虚
空中
去。
(2)
Because
of
the
atmosphere,
however,
only
a
fraction
of
that
heat
makes
it
directly
back
into
space.
The
rest
is
trapped
in
the
lower
air
layers,
which contain a number of
gases
一
water vapor,
C0
?
, methane, and
others
—
that absorb the
outgoing infrared radiation. As those gases heat
up,
some
of
their
warmth
radiates
back
down
to
the
surface.
The
entire
process
is
called the greenhouse effect, and most of it is
caused by the
predominant greenhouse
gas, water vapor·
（
2
）然而，由于大气，只有一小部分的热量，使它直接回到太空。剩下的热量
被困在低层大气中，其中含有一些气体—水汽，
C0
< br>?
，甲烷和其他气体—吸收外
面的红外辐射。
由于这些气体加热，
它们的一些温暖辐射回地面。
整个过程被称
为温室效应，大部分是由主要的温室气体，水蒸气引起的。
(3)
With
increased
heating,
more
water
evaporates
from
oceans,
lakes,
and
soils.
Because
a
warmer
atmosphere
can
hold
more
water
vapor,
this
creates
a powerful feedback
loop:
the hotter it
gets,
the higher
the water vapor
content of the air, and thus the
greater the greenhouse warming.
（
3
）因为热量增加，更多的水从海洋、湖泊和土壤中蒸发掉。由于一个温暖的
大气可以容纳更多的水蒸气，
这创造了一个强大的反馈回路：<
/p>
它得到的热量越多，
空气中水蒸气含量越高，从而温室变暖越严重
。
(4) Human beings have little direct
control over the volume of water in
the
atmosphere.
But
we
produce
other
greenhouse
gases
that
intensify
the
effect.
The
IPCC
estimates
that
rising
C0
?
emissions,
mostly
from
burning
fossil
fuels,
account
for
about
60
percent
of
the
warming
observed
since
1850.
Carbon
dioxide
concentration
has
been
increasing
about
0.3
percent
higher than it was before the
industrial revolution. If current rates
continue, it will rise to at least
twice pre-industrial levels by about
2060-and by the end of the century
could be four times as high. That is
particularly worrisome because
C0
?
has a
lifetime of more
than a hundred
years in the atmosphere, compared with
eight days for water vapor.
（
4
）人类对大气中的水的体积几乎没有直接的控制权。但我们生产的其他温室
气体可以加剧影响。
IPCC
估计，
C0
?
排放上升，大部分来自化石燃料的燃烧，
占据了自
1850
年开始观察的气候变
暖的
60%
。二氧化碳浓度比工业革命之前持
< br>续增加了约
0.3%
。如果目前的速度持续下去，到
2060
左右至少会上升到工业化
前水平的
两倍—到本世纪末，
可能高达四倍。
这是特别令人担忧的，
因为与水蒸
气的八天寿命相比，
C0
?
在大气中的寿命超过一百年。
(5) Pushing their way through emerging
cities like Barakar, India,
automobiles
carry unwanted cargo
一
C0
?
emissions. Since the late
1700s,
the burning of fossil fuels and
other human activities have increased
atmospheric C0
?
concentrations more than 30 percent. While the
amount
added to the air by humans,
roughly 7 billion metric tons a year, is a
tiny fraction of the total held by the
atmosphere-750 billion tons-and
an even
smaller figure compared with that held in the
oceans
—
about 35
trillion tons
—
it
remains a significant amount. The reason: Natural
processes are in balance, drawing about
as much C0
?
from the air as
they
deposit. Human activity, however,
only adds C0
?
.
（<
/p>
5
）通过印度
Barakar
这样的新兴城市推动它们的方式，利用汽车运载无用的
货物—
C0
?
排放。自
18
世纪晚期，化石燃料和其他人类活动燃烧使大气
C0
< br>?
浓度
超过
30%
。
然而人类向空气中每年大约增加
70
亿吨量的
C0
?
，
是大气
C0
?
总容量的一小部分
的—
750
亿吨—与海洋中的容量相比是一个更小的数字—大约
35
兆吨—它仍然
是一个重要的数量。原因是：自然过程是平衡的，空气吸收的
C0
?
和它们存储的
差不
多从。然而人类活动，只是增加
C0
?
容量。
(6) Much remains to be
learned about Earth's carbon cycle and the role
of
the
oceans
as
a
for
CO
2
.
Despite
such
uncertainties,
the
computer
programs used to
model Earth's climate are improving rapidly.
Current
models do well in simulating
seasonal variations and climate over
thousands of years, leading most
scientists to take their overall
projections seriously.
（
6
）地球的碳循环和海洋汇集
CO
2
作用还有许多有待了解。不管有这些不确定
性，<
/p>
用于模拟地球气候的计算机程序正在迅速改善。
目前的模型很好地
模拟了几
千年的季节性变化和气候，导致大多数科学家认真地接受他们的全部预测。
(7) Methane, the principal
ingredient of natural gas, has caused an
estimated
15
percent
of
the
warming
in
modem
times.
Generated
by
bacteria
in
rice fields, decomposing garbage, cattle ranching,
and fossil fuel
production, methane
persists in the atmosphere for nearly a decade and
is now about 2.5 times as prevalent as
it was in the 18th century. Other
major
greenhouse
gases
include
nitrous
oxide-produced
by
both
agriculture
and industry-and various solvents and
refrigerants like
chlorofluorocarbons,
or CFCs, which are now banned by international
treaty
because
of
their
damaging
effect
on
Earth's
protective
ozone
layer.
（
7
< br>）甲烷是天然气的主要成分，在现代已造成约
15%
的气
候变暖。在稻田细菌，
分解垃圾，
养牛，
和化石燃料生产的过程中产生，
甲烷在大气中持续了将近十年，
现在是在第十八世纪普遍存在的
2.5
倍。其他主要的温室气
体包括
NO
—在农业
和工业中产生—各
种溶剂和制冷剂如氯氟烃，或者
CFCs
，现在已经被国际条约
禁止，因为它们会破坏保护地球的臭氧层。
(8) The relentless accumulation of
greenhouse gases has led the IPCC to
project that in the next hundred years
global average temperatures will
rise
by 1 to 3.5 degrees C. That may not seem like
much. Yet the
ice
age
an
anomalous
cold
snap
that
peaked
from
1570
to
1730
and
forced
European farmers to
abandon
their fields, was caused by a
change
of only
half a degree
C.
(8)
温室气体的不断积累，令
IPCC
预测在下一个百年全球平均气温将上升
1
到
3.5
℃。看起来可能不太多。然而，
“小冰河时代”
，一个异常寒冷的瞬间，使最
高温
度从
1570
变为
1730
，并迫使欧洲农民放弃他们的田地，只是由一个半度的
变化引起的。
(9) But how credible are
current projections? The computer models used
to
project
greenhouse
effects
far
into
the
future
are
still
being
improved
to
accommodate
a
rapidly
growing
font
of
knowledge.
And
it
is
remarkably
difficult to detect a definitive
world's widely fluctuating climate
record.
（
9
）但目前的预测
有多可信？用于预测遥远将来温室效应的计算机模型仍在改
进，
以适应快速增长的知识。
而且世界上广泛波动的气候记录很难检测到一个明
确的人类活动的“签名”
。
Toyota’s Story in Eur
ope
丰田汽车在欧洲
(1) It’s
Monday afternoon inside Toyota Motor Corp.’s
Valenciennes
plant
northern
France,
where
workers
turn
and
bend
over
the
assembly
line
to
meet
demanding
hourly
production
target.
Red
neon
numbers
mounted
high
above the river of
moving cars blink steadily, comparing the rate of
completed
autos
with
the
company’s
goal.
Demand
for
the
Yairs
subcompacts
this pristine plant cranks out is
outstripping the 920-per-day output.
So
Valenciennes
has
hired
500
more
workers
and
this
month
is
adding
a
third
shift foR
round-the-clock production
—
a
first in Toyota manufacturing
history.
“We produce a car every minute. That’s the
maximum. The
solution is to try three
shifts,” says Didier Leory, senior
vice-
president of Toyota
MotoR Manufacturing, France.”
（
1
）
一个周一的下午，
丰田汽车制造公司旗下位于法国北部的瓦朗西安工厂内，
工人们为达到每
小时的生产目标，
熟练且有条不紊的在装配线上忙碌着。
在汽车
生产流水线上方，
红色霓虹灯数字持续地闪烁着，
表示与公司目标对比下的汽车
生产率稳步增长。
对于
这个新工厂迅速出产的丰田威姿微型汽车，
公司要求日产
量超过
920
辆。
因此，
瓦朗西安工厂雇佣了
500
多个工人，
并且这个月实行三轮
班制度不分昼夜地生产，
这在丰田汽车
制造史上尚属首次。
法国丰田制造公司的
高级副总裁
Didier Leroy
说“我们每一分钟就能生产出一辆汽车，这已经
是最
大限度了，相应的解决方案就是尝试三轮班制度。
”
(2)Toyota, a
marginal player in Europe, is becoming a fearsome
market
force as it applies itself to
winning a bigger share of the Old World’s
roadways.
Sales
in
Europe
rose
20.6%
in
the
first
four
months
of
this
year,
following a 10.4 % leap in 2003, to
835,000 cars. Those gains, fueled
partly
by
the
redesigned
Yaris,
pushed
Toyota’s
market
share
in
Western
Europe
to
5.3%
in
April,
up
from
4.5%
a
year
ago,
overtaking
Mercedes
and
Audi and ending close to
Italy’s Fiat. “Every point Toyota
gains
is
hurting the others badly,” says
Peter Soliman, partner at Booz Allen
Hamilton’s Disseldorf
office.
（
2
）
在欧洲并不起眼的丰田汽车，
随着其在东半球公路市
场赢得了更大的份额，
正在成为一
股不容小觑的市场竞争力量。
今年前四个月，
丰田汽车在欧洲的
销量
上升了
20.6%
，
紧接着在
2003
年销量又提高了
< br>10.4%
，
销售达到
8350
00
辆汽车。
重新设计的丰田威姿汽车在一定程度上促进了这些
成绩的取得，
推动丰田汽车四
月份在西欧的市场份额从去年的<
/p>
4.5%
上升到今年的
5.3%
，其份额超过了梅塞迪
斯汽车和奥迪汽车，并逐渐接近意大利的菲亚特汽
车。
“丰田的每一点收益都在
严重打击着其他对手，
”
博思艾伦咨询公司合伙人彼得·苏莱曼说。
(3) Toyota is determined to
snare even bigger gains in Europe. Its goal
is to up its market share there to 8%
by 2010. The world’s No. 2 auto
maker
spent the 1990s slowly acquiring a hefty 11% chunk
of the $$457
billion U.S. auto market.
Industry experts say the Japanese giant has a
good shot at becoming one of the
leading auto brands in Europe and could
well exceed its 8% target. “They are
producing
cars European really
want,”
says
Garel
Rhys,
professor
of
automotive
economics
at
the
Cardiff
Business
School
in
Wales.
“Toyota
will
become
a
major
competitive
threat
in Europe now.”
（
3
）
丰田决心在欧洲获得更大的收益。
它的目标是到
2010
把它的市场份额
上升
到
8%
。
世界第二大汽车制造商在
20
世纪
90
年代缓慢地从
4570
亿美元的美国汽
车市场中获得
11%
的份额。业内专家
说，日本巨人有一个很好的机会成为欧洲领
先的汽车品牌之一，并可能超过其
8%
的目标。盖瑞尔·里斯说，
“他们生产欧洲<
/p>
人真正想要的汽车”
，
他是威尔士卡迪夫
商学院的汽车经济学教授。
“丰田将成为
欧洲的主要竞争威胁。
”
(4)
Soaring sales are also helping Toyota’s bottom
line. European
revenues rose 35.3% in
2003, to $$19.5 billion. Operating profit rose
nearly
ninefold,
to
$$654
million.
Behind
the
sales
surge
are
investments
in local design
and production
—
a strategy
Toyota has followed with
success
in
the
U.S.
Half
the
Toyotas
sold
in
Europe
are
built
at
factories
in
Britain,
France,
and
Turkey.
In
2005,
when
a
joint-venture
plant
with
PSA Peugeot Citroen
starts operations, Toyota’s local production will
rise to 60%, nearly matching the level
of local production in the U.S.
By 2010
the company aims to sell 1.2 million cars in
Europe, maching the
scales levels
of Peugeot and Ford Motor Co. brands.
“Toyota’s success
are real. People are
taking serious notice, but no one has a good plan
to combat it,”
says Booz Allan’s Soliman.
（
4
）
飙升的销量也有助于丰田的底线
。
欧洲的收入在
2003
上升
35.3%
，
达到
19
5
亿美元。营业利润增长近
9
倍，达到
6
亿
5400
万美元。销售潮的背后是对当地
设计和生产的投资—丰田在美国占据欧洲一半销售额的一
个成功战略是建立在
英国，法国和土耳其的工厂里。在
2005
年，当合资工厂以及标致雪铁龙开始行
动，
丰田在本地的产量上升至
60%
，
接近美国在本地的产量。
公司的目标是到
2010
年在欧洲出售
1.2
万辆汽车，接近标致雪铁龙和福
特汽车公司的规模。
“丰田的
成功是真实的。
< br>人们正认真关注，
但没有一个有好的计划抗衡它”
，
Booz
Allan'
s
Soliman
说。
(5) Thanks to its new design studio in
southern France, near Nice,
Toyota’s
recent models look distinctly Mediterranean. Its
whimsical
Yaris, which starts at
$$12,000, exudes Latin flair with its cute snout
and peppy stance. “The first good
result to come out of our effort was
the Yaris,” says Toyota Motor
Euro
pe CEO Shulei Toyoda, one of the
founding
family
scions.
Toyota’s
new
compact
minivan,
the
Corola
Verso,
at
$$25,000,
matches
the
avant-garde
styling
pioneered
by
French
and
German
rivals. Once-blah
interiors sport higher-quality fabrics,
dashboards,
and knobs, while clean
diesel engines are helping to power sales.
（
5
）多亏了丰田公司在法国南部靠近尼斯的新设计室
，丰田最近的模型看起来
明显的具有地中海风格。
丰田旗下起步
价
12000
美元的威姿，
其可爱的车
头和活
泼的车型散发着拉丁风格。
“我们努力换来的第一个好成
果是威姿，
”
丰田汽车欧
洲创始家族的
成员、
丰田首席执行官徐雷说。
丰田的新型简约小型货车花冠微
型
面包车，售价
25000
美元，可以
与竞争对手法国和德国开创的前卫造型相匹敌。
单调的内部高品质面料、
仪表盘和旋钮，
以及清洁柴油发动机有助于汽车的销售。
(6) European auto makers
have more to fear from Toyota than a handful of
hot models. While the Japanese
powerhouse was figuring out how to build
cars attractive to Europeans,
it was also bearing
down on
costs
to wield
the
efficiency
n
eeded
to
prevail
in
one
of
the
world’s
lowest
-margin
auto
markets. Toyota’s
management asked engineers to propose an
innovative,
cost-saving design for the
Valencienne facility. The result, a compact,
star-shaped
factory,
was
a
first
at
Toyota.
It
features
a
production
area
with limited space to store parts or
components. The 21/2 hours’ worth