竞争日趋激烈 丰田新战略

丰田汽车正逼迫供应商在今后几年大幅降价。这家日本汽车制造商希望重获业内利润领袖的地位。
Toyota Motor is pressing suppliers to deliver unusually steep price cuts over the next few years as the Japanese carmaker seeks to reclaim its position as the industry's profit leader.
　　
据知情人士称，这家全球最大的汽车制造商本周在一次供应商会议上表示，公司期望在2013年推出新车型时，为多种零部件支付的成本将减少30%。一位与丰田有业务联系的人士说，由于很多供应商都是丰田的子公司，这意味着该声明相当于一则降价“指令”。
The world's biggest carmaker told a gathering of suppliers this week that it expects to pay 30 per cent less for many components by the time it rolls out new models for 2013, according to people briefed on the matter. Many of the suppliers are Toyota affiliates, meaning the statement “amounts to an order” to slash prices, one person who deals with the company said.

丰田昨天采取了进一步措施，宣布重组集团采购职能，将原先的三个采购部门合并为两个。此举是公司全面精简管理流程计划的一部分。丰田首席执行官丰田章男今年6月启动了该项计划。
Toyota followed up yesterday by reorganising its procurement functions, merging three purchasing divisions into two. The move was part of a broader streamlining of management lines since June ordered by Akio Toyoda, chief executive.
　　
丰田根据全球经济衰退局势进行调整的步伐一直慢于本国主要竞争对手。最近几个月，政府的激励措施扭转了其最大市场需求直线下降的趋势，但该集团仍然预计，在截至明年3月的财年将亏损2000亿日元（合22亿美元）。
Toyota has been slower to adjust to the global economic slump than its main Japanese rivals. Government incentives have reversed a free-fall in demand in its biggest markets in recent months, but the group nonetheless expects to lose Y200bn ($2.2bn) in the financial year to March.

挤压成本长期以来一直是丰田的标志性做法，但该公司今年加大了力度。经理们放弃了奖金，就连总部的一些电梯也为了节约电费而被关闭。
Squeezing out cost savings has long been a Toyota hallmark but the company has intensified its efforts this year. Managers have given up their bonuses and even some elevators at its headquarters have been switched off to cut electricity bills.

分析师称，此次对供应商的降价要求是公司近期历史上幅度最大的一次。多年来，丰田一直是汽车业最赚钱的公司，但全球经济衰退加上日元大幅升值使其丢掉了这一头衔。
Analysts said the price cuts demanded of suppliers were the largest in the company's recent history. Toyota had for years been the motor industry's most profitable group before the recession combined with a sharp increase in the value of the yen knocked it from its perch.

研究公司思迈汽车信息咨询(CSM Worldwide)的西本正敏(Masatoshi Nishimoto)表示，仅靠供应商不大可能满足丰田的要求。“丰田自己不得不做大量的工作，包括更迅速地切换到全球平台，使用更多通用部件等，”他说。
Masatoshi Nishimoto of CSM Worldwide, a research group, said suppliers would be unlikely to meet Toyota's demands on their own. “Toyota is going to have to do a lot of work itself, by switching more quickly to global platforms and using more common parts,” he said.