Chinese electric automaker Nio is making its mark in the industry.

正领风骚的电动汽车制造厂商中国蔚来.

Nio, which is the Chinese electric automaker, which many people look at and say, look this is the company that's going to challenge Tesla in China.

中国蔚来,好多人看了真车之后,那是家要在中国挑战特斯拉的汽车公司.

Since its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, in September 2018,

2018年9月在纽约证券交易所首次公开募股

the company's stock has risen from a 52-week low of $2.11 to peak at $57.20 in 2020.

蔚来股价从52周的低点2.11美元涨到2020年的峰值57.20美元.
注:这个说法,是来源于股票行业的。
一个公历年,基本上是 52 周,偶尔会 53 周的。
此时的 52周,相当于一年的意思

That's an increase of more than 2,700%. But this automaker has had its fair share of challenges,

股价虽然增长27倍多,但是蔚来的遭遇的挑战亦不少.
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


including being caught in the middle of U.S.-China trade tensions and dealing with the economic effects of Covid-19.

先是被夹在中美贸易紧张局势中间,后来又要着手应对新冠病毒的经济影响.

So, how did Nio, which was at one point on the brink of bankruptcy,rise from the ashes to become a major player in the electric vehicle industry?

那么,这一度濒临破产的蔚来汽车是怎么面对逆境(灰烬)崛起成为电动汽车行业里主领风骚者的呢?

In 2015, Peking announced a 'Made in China 2025' plan to transform the country from a manufacturing hub of cheap, low-value goods,to one that produced high-tech products in ten areas – one of which was the electric vehicle market.

2015北京公布了一个叫做 “中国制造2025”的计划,推动中国从一个廉价、低价值商品制造中心转变为一个在十个领域生产高科技产品的国家——而其中一个领域就是电动汽车市场

To that end, the government offered subsidies to startups.

为了实现目标,政府向初创企业提供补贴。

This created a fertile ground for 45-year-old entrepreneur,William Li to grow his startup, Nio, which he founded at the end of 2014.

政策利好替企业家李威廉创造了肥沃土壤,使他在2014年创立的创业公司蔚来汽车得以增长。

Nio secured early investments from tech giants, including Tencent and Baidu, and in 2016 released its first model, the EP9.

获得了包括腾讯、百度在内的科技巨头早期投资,并在2016年发布首款车型————EP9。

It was a flashy race car with a top speed of 194 mph, and a price tag of $1.5 million.

一辆外观华丽的赛车,最高时速为每小时194英里,标价150万美元。

This model raised the profile of the Shanghai-based automaker on the electric vehicle map and among China's wealthy circles.

它提升了这家总部位于上海的汽车制造商在电动汽车版图和中国富豪圈中的形象。

Four years after it was formed, the company beat its domestic rivals Li Auto and Xpeng to become the first to file an international IPO.

蔚来成立4年后击败了国内竞争对手李想汽车和小朋汽车,成为首家申请国际IPO的公司。

So unlike Tesla with its Gigafactories, Nio actually doesn't make its own cars,Instead, it outsources manufacturing to a state-owned automaker in Hefei, the capital of Anhui province.

不像特斯拉的超级工厂,蔚来实际上并不自己生产汽车,将生产外包给安徽合肥的一家国有汽车制造商。

And the differences don't end there.

而不同之处不止于此。

Instead of relying on a charging network like Tesla, Nio decided to adopt a different approach to its batteries,a service that many experts have called Nio's competitive advantage.

蔚来没有像特斯拉那样依赖充电网络,而是决定采取不同的方式来提供电池服务,相当多的专家将之称为蔚来的竞争优势。

Through a network of battery swapping stations, Nio users can exchange their battery for a fully charged one in three minutes, eliminating the wait time, which can be as long as 24 hours for big cars.

蔚来通过一个电池更换网络可以在三分钟内将电池充满电,从而省去了等待时间,对于大容量汽车来说,等待时间最长可达24小时。

As of June 2020, the automaker has established 135 power swapping stations in 59 cities in China.

截至2020年6月,蔚来已在中国建立了135个换电站。

The Chinese government plans to standardize battery swapping stations in the country, ensuring that all EV owners can use common batteries at any facility, regardless of their car brand.

北京计划对国内电池交换站制定标准,确保所有电动车车主可以在每家换电站都能换到电池,不受汽车厂牌限制。

This means that a Nio owner will eventually be able to swap batteries at a rival's battery swapping station.

就是说蔚来车主以后可以在竞争对手的电池更换站更换电池。

This has allowed manufacturers to sell EVs without a battery, effectively making the purchase much cheaper,while also giving EV owners the option to upgrade to a larger capacity battery in the future.

电动汽车制造厂商可以在买电动车的时候不装配电池,有效地大大降低采购成本,电动车主能够选择在以后升级到更大容量的电池。

In August, Nio unveiled a battery subscxtion service that allows EV users to choose battery packs of various capacities and pay monthly.

今年8月蔚来推出一项电池订阅服务,允许电动汽车车主选择不同容量的电池组,按月付费
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


While these services gave Nio a loyal following, the company hasn't been immune to the headwinds within the wider auto industry.

虽然这些服务给蔚来带来了忠实的追随者,但未能幸免于整个汽车行业中的风口逆流
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


As the global economy slowed in 2018, trade tensions between the United States and China were brewing.

伴随着2018年全球经济放缓,中美之间正在酝酿的贸易紧张局势。

Domestically, the Chinese government reduced tax breaks for car owners, weakening demand in the largest automobile market in the world.

北京政府对国内车主的税收优惠力度的降低疲软了全球最大汽车市场的需求。

These factors led to a 3% global decline in car sales and production fell by 2.4% in 2018.

这些因素导致2018全球汽车销量下降3%,2018的产量下降2.4%.

Faced with mounting debt, management departures and negative gross margins, Nio was struggling.

债务不断增加,管理层离职,毛利为负,蔚来举步甚艰。

As the electric car startup expanded, so too did its costs.

电动汽车创业公司扩张的成本也在不断增加。

In the third quarter of 2019, some $280 million was spent on marketing and flashy showrooms,25% more than the year before, outpacing its revenue growth of 20%.

2019年第三季度,约有2.8亿美元用于营销和华丽展厅,比去年增加25%,超过收入增长的幅度20%。

To reduce cash burn and stay lean, the company embarked on a cost-cutting campaign, slashing around 2,000 jobs between January and September.

为了减少现金消耗和团队精简,公司消减了活动支出,在1月至9月期间裁减了约2000个岗位。

Just one year after its trading debut at $6.26, the perfect storm tanked the company's stock to below $2 at the end of September 2019.

在其交易首發價6.26美元后僅一年,2019年9月底,完美風暴就將該公司的股價打到了2美元以下。

The cash-strapped company couldn't pay its workers on time at the start of 2020. But then the tide began to turn.

2020年初,这家资金紧张的公司无法按时支付工人工资,随后出现转机情况开始好转

Help came in the form of a $1 billion lifeline from the local government of Hefei,in return for expanding its existing operations, including the creation of a new headquarters in eastern China.

合肥当地政府以10亿美元生命线的形式提供帮助,作为扩大现有业务的回报,蔚来将在中国东部地区建新总部。