奔驰母公司戴姆勒集团将“分家”

Daimler Truck and Mercedes-Benz part ways

Cars and heavy vehicles are two very different businesses

GOTTLIEB DAIMLER and Carl Benz built the world’s first motor cars at the same time in 1886, not far apart in Germany. Their names have been tied together since a merger of their firms in 1926. Daimler is the parent company of Mercedes-Benz. Yet the two men never met. So perhaps they would not have minded that on February 3rd it was announced that their names would go their separate ways.

1886年，戈特利布·戴姆勒（GOTTLIEB DAIMLER）和卡尔·本茨（Carl Benz）同时在德国制造了世界上第一辆汽车，两者相距不远。自从1926年他们的公司合并后，他们的名字就被绑在了一起。戴姆勒公司是梅赛德斯·奔驰的母公司。两人却从未见过面。所以，也许他们不会介意2月3日宣布他们的名字将分道扬镳。

表示“（公司、企业等的）合并”，英文解释为“an occasion when two or more companies join together to make one larger company”举个🌰：

She's an attorney who advises companies about mergers and takeovers.

她是位律师，提供公司合并、收购方面的咨询服务。

表示“分道扬镳，各奔东西”，英文解释为“If two or more people go their separate ways, they stop being together.”举个🌰：

In 2001 the group disbanded and went their separate ways.

2001年乐队解散，成员各奔东西。

A majority stake in Daimler Truck, the group’s lorry-and-bus business, will be spun off to existing shareholders and listed in Frankfurt later this year. The luxury-car arm, to be renamed Mercedes-Benz, will retain a minority stake. The manoeuvre has set pulses racing in the staid lorry business. Ola Kallenius, the group’s boss, called it an “emotional and exciting day”.

戴姆勒卡车（集团的卡车和客车业务）的多数股权将分拆给现有股东，并在今年晚些时候在法兰克福上市。豪华车业务将更名为梅赛德斯·奔驰（Mercedes-Benz），将保留少数股权。此举在这个了无生气的卡车行业掀起了波澜。该集团的老板康林松（Ola Kaellenius）称这是“激动人心的一天”。

表示“派生出，衍生出”，英文解释为“to produce a useful and unexpected result in addition to the intended result”举个🌰：

The American space program has spun off new commercial technologies.

美国的太空计划衍生出了新的商业技术。

list作动词，表示“使（公司）上市；（公司）上市”（If a company is listed, or if it lists, on a stock exchange, it obtains an official quotation for its shares so that people can buy and sell them.）举个🌰：

Last month, thirty new companies were listed.

上个月有30家公司上市。

📍listing作名词，除了表示“（表册上的）位置，项目”，也有“上市”的含义，英文解释为“a position or an item on a list”举个🌰：

The company is seeking a stock exchange listing (= for trading shares).

这家公司正在争取上市。

英式 manoeuvre /məˈnuːvə/ 美式 maneuver /məˈnuːvə/，1）作名词，表示“细致巧妙的移动；机动动作”，英文解释为“a movement performed with care and skill”；也可以表示“策略；手段；花招；伎俩”，英文解释为“a clever plan, action or movement that is used to give sb an advantage“。

2）作动词，表示“（使谨慎或熟练地）移动，运动；转动”，英文解释为“to move or turn skilfully or carefully; to move or turn sth skilfully or carefully”举个🌰：

There was very little room to maneuver.

几乎没有什么活动空间。

等同于quicken someone's pulse，表示“使激动”，英文解释为“to make someone excited”举个🌰：

This is a movie that will set your pulse racing.

这是一部激动人心的电影。

表示“严肃呆板的；过时的”，英文解释为“If you say that someone or something is staid, you mean that they are serious, dull, and rather old-fashioned.”

The split is an acknowledgement that making cars and lorries are not the same business. Mr Kallenius noted the different “customer groups, technology paths and capital needs”. Car buyers care about brands, styling and plush interiors. Businesses with wares to ferry are concerned with the total cost of ownership, not what the badge says about them as a person. Electric lorries will probably run on hydrogen, not batteries, which are too expensive.

分拆是承认制造汽车和卡车是不同的业务。康林松先生指出了不同的“客户群体、技术路径和资本需求”。汽车买家关心的是品牌、造型和豪华的内饰。有货物要运送的企业关心的是总拥有成本，而不是车标对他们个人的评价。电动货车可能会使用氢气，而不是电池，因为电池太贵。

1）作名词，表示“绒布；（丝或棉的）长毛绒”，英文解释为“thick, soft cloth, with a surface like short fur, used especially for covering furniture”如：plush cushions/curtains 绒布垫子/窗帘。

2）作形容词，表示“奢侈的，豪华的；舒适的”，英文解释为“expensive, comfortable, and of high quality”如：a plush hotel 豪华的宾馆。

🎬电影《功夫熊猫2》（Kung Fu Panda 2）中的台词提到：My fist in your plush cuddly super soft face. 我那打在你毛茸茸脸的拳头。

复数形式，表示“ （尤指小商贩在大街上或市场里出售的）物品，商品；公司的产品”，英文解释为“things that sb is selling, especially in the street or at a market”举个🌰：

He travelled from town to town selling his wares. 他走乡串镇出售自己的货品。

表示“徽章；像章；证章；纪念章 ”，英文解释为“a small piece of metal, plastic, cloth, etc., with words or a picture on it, that you carry with you or that is fastened or sewn to your clothing, often to show your support for a political organization or belief, or to show who you are, your rank, or that you are a member of a group, etc.”

Splitting also has the advantage of giving investors a clear choice between which business they favour. It could unlock hidden shareholder value. Daimler Truck is the last of the world’s biggest lorry-makers to do so. Sweden’s Volvo split apart in 1999. Volkswagen spun off a 10% stake in its lorry division in 2019 and may go further. Bernstein, a broker, reckons Daimler Truck, which delivered around 500,000 commercial vehicles in 2019, more than any rival, could be worth €35bn ($42bn). That is around half of the undivided company’s current market capitalisation. Mr Kallenius hopes that the car business will also “significantly re-rate”.

拆分还有一个好处，就是让投资者在他们青睐的业务之间有一个明确的选择。它可以释放隐藏的股东价值。戴姆勒卡车是全球最大的卡车制造商中最后一家这样做的。瑞典的沃尔沃在1999年拆分。大众汽车在2019年分拆了其卡车部门10%的股份，并可能进一步采取措施。伯恩斯坦（Bernstein）估计，2019年交付约50万辆商用车的戴姆勒卡车，比任何竞争对手都要多，价值可能达到350亿欧元（420亿美元）。这大约是这家公司未分割前市值的一半。康林松先生希望汽车业务也能“大幅重估”。

The car division needs all the help it can get. Operating profits of $6.6bn in 2020 comfortably beat analysts’ expectations in a year blighted by the pandemic. It has plans for an impressive range of electric vehicles and is on course to cut costs by 20%. But the car industry is changing. Tesla and other newcomers without the legacy of the internal combustion engine will make the business ever more competitive.

汽车部门需要能得到的所有帮助。该部门2020年的营业利润达66亿美元，轻松超过了分析师对于受疫情困扰的2020年的预期。其计划推出令人惊叹的电动汽车系列，并很可能将成本削减20%。但汽车行业日新月异。特斯拉以及从未采用内燃机的新贵会让汽车行业竞争更激烈。

首先来了解一下这个看似充满正能量，实则带有负面意义的词blight。light一词带有点正面意义，比如我们之前讲过的shed/throw/cast light on表示“阐明某事，使某事物更容易理解”。但加了个b后，恰好味道就变了，blight做名词时表示“祸因”，英文解释为You can refer to something as a blight when it causes great difficulties, and damages or spoils other things. 举个🌰：

This discriminatory policy has really been a blight on America. 

这项歧视政策一直以来确实是美国的一个祸因。

但这里很明显不是名词，而是动词，并且是及物动词，表示“使损害；使（地区）遭殃”，英文解释为“If something blights your life or your hopes, it damages and spoils them. If something blights an area, it spoils it and makes it unattractive. 举个🌰，如果想说某个地方的失业率极高，就可以说“an area blighted by unemployment”（饱受失业之苦的地区）。

最后，需要注意该词与另一个词的区别：plight，作名词表示“困境；苦难”，比如the plight of the homeless 无家可归者的艰难困苦。

表示“新来者；新手”，英文解释为“a person who has only recently arrived in a place or started an activity”。

Lorries are a different matter. Yes, the challenges of electrification and self-driving remain. Tesla and other startups are snapping at the incumbents’ exhaust pipes. But the big three have a tight grip. Bernstein reckons they control 75% of the market in important regions, aside from China. Martin Daum, current chairman of Daimler Truck, says that by going it alone his business will be more nimble in “shaping its own destiny”. He can build on an illustrious legacy. In 1896 Gottlieb Daimler also constructed the world’s first lorry.

货车业务则另当别论。是的，电气化和自动驾驶的挑战依然存在。特斯拉和其它初创企业正穷追不舍，跟在现有企业之后。但美国三大汽车公司牢牢控制着。伯恩斯坦（Bernstein）估计，三巨头控制了除中国之外的重要地区75%的市场。戴姆勒卡车公司现任董事长马丁·道姆（Martin Daum）说，以单打独斗的方式，他的企业将更灵活地“塑造自己的命运”。他可以传承卓越，再创辉煌。1896年，戈特利布·戴姆勒（Gottlieb Daimler）制造了世界上第一辆卡车。

表示“（车辆）排气管”，英文解释为“the pipe at the back of a vehicle or on a machine through which waste gas escapes from the engine”。

1）可作名词，也可以作形容词，表示“在职（的）；现任（的）”，英文解释为“having an official position”如：the incumbent president 现任总统；

2）表示“有责任；必须履行”，英文解释为“( formal ) necessary as part of sb's duties ”举个🌰：

It was incumbent on them to attend.

他们必须出席。

🎬电影《政坛混战》（The Campaign）中的台词提到：Our first question will go to the incumbent. 第一个问题是给现任议员的。

这里只查到snap at sb's heels的用法，表示“追着咬（某人）；与（某人）一决高下，对（某人）紧追不舍”，英文解释为“If an animal is snapping at your heels, it is running behind you and trying to bite you. To compete strongly with someone and have a chance of soon defeating or replacing them”举个🌰：

With so many younger women snapping at her heels, this year may be her last chance to win the championship.

今年也许是她夺冠的最后机会，因为许多更年轻的女选手都大有后来居上之势。

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Driving apart" (Feb 4th 2021)

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