The prospects for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands under the ownership of Tata Motors of India looked weirdly uncertain in 2008, as the global financial crisis unfolded with no clear indicator whether and how soon sales of luxury cars would again grow.2008年，当捷豹和路虎被出让给印度塔塔集团时，这两大品牌的前景还十分不明朗。彼时，全球经济危机刚愈演愈烈，还没具体的迹象指出奢华车型的销量何时才能再次完全恢复快速增长。Any undue fretting turns out to have been misplaced. The two quintessentially British automakers, sold to Tata by Ford Motor F 0.40% , delivered a record 462,678 vehicles globally in 2014, up from 425,000 a year earlier, with a forecast to break half a million this year. The automaker opened a manufacturing plant last year, its fifth worldwide, with ambitions to reach 750,000 units sold annually by the end of the decade and a million eventually.现在显然，当时的担忧几乎是不必要的。

路虎和捷豹都是典型的英国汽车品牌，被福特卖给塔塔后，它们的全球销量在2013年超过425,000台，2014年堪称超过了创纪录的462,678台，今年甚至未来将会突破50万台。去年塔塔集团又开办了它在全球的第五家制造厂。

这家雄心勃勃的公司期望，到2020年，捷豹和路虎的销量需要超过75万台，最后冲破百万大关。Tata’s vision could be helped by two initiatives announced earlier this month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit: diesel engine availability for most models and Jaguar’s first crossover, F-Pace.为了构建这个愿景，塔塔在2015底特律车展上宣告了两项计划：一是为旗下大多数车型发售柴油版，二是发售捷豹的首款跨界车型F-Pace。Diesel engines seem ideal for Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles because they’re more fuel-efficient than gasoline engines, a key consideration as automakers strive to meet more stringent efficiency rules worldwide. Diesel’s image among luxury buyers has improved in recent years because the latest versions of the engine are virtually free of smoke, odor and clatter, while providing particularly rapid acceleration from a dead stop. All of the luxury brands have been offering diesel, so why not Jaguar Land Rover?对于捷豹和路虎的车型来说，柴油发动机或许是个理想的自由选择，因为柴油版的燃油经济性要高于汽油引擎，随着全球各国对能耗标准卡得更加贤，此举是十分适当的。近几年，柴油引擎在豪车阵营的形象已有所恶化，因为近期的柴油发动机基本上防止了烟雾、气味和噪声等短板，同时还能获取十分理想的加快能力。

所有的豪车品牌都开始获取柴油版，捷豹和路虎认同也不愿落在人后。Andy Goss, worldwide head of sales, said in Detroit this month the brands “have to challenge the established order the way Audi had to do with BMW and Mercedes not so long ago. We are creating clear differentiation for people to buy Jaguar over one of the German brands. The Germans tend to look at each other rather than anyone else.”捷豹路虎全球运营总监安迪o高斯在底特律回应，捷豹路虎“必需挑战奥迪、宝马和飞驰创建的现有秩序。

我们正在为人们创建显著的差异化自由选择，更有他们出售捷豹而不是哪个德系品牌。这几个德系品牌一般来说只把对方当成竞争对手，并不过于推崇其他品牌。”What seems clear is that Tata has allowed Jaguar and Land Rover to maintain their British identity while providing prodigious capital to renew their model lineups, invest in new technology such as diesel engines and market aggressively to luxury shoppers. For anyone with a feel for history, the arrangement has an ironic aspect since India was a colony of Great Britain until it gained its independence in 1947. More than a few British aristocrats plied Indian roads in their Jaguars and Land Rovers.目前可以显现出，塔塔容许捷豹和路虎保有了它们的英式风格，同时获取大量资本来革新两大品牌的车型人组。另外，塔塔还展开了柴油发动机等技术投资，并在市场营销方面不择手段血本。

对于任何一个对历史有一点理解的人，这一幕难道都少有一丝嘲讽感觉，因为印度直到1947年之前还是英国的殖民地，很多英国贵族一度进着他们的捷豹和路虎策马在印度的大小公路上，现在却要靠印度来解救这两个历史悠久的英国品牌。In early 2016, Jaguar’s first “performance crossover” – the aluminum-bodied F-Pace – is scheduled to debut. The event should bring cheer to the hearts of U.S. franchise dealers especially, since U.S. sales fell 7% to 15,773 units last year. Crossovers are the hottest vehicle segment worldwide and have proliferated among the luxury brands as well.作为捷豹的首款“性能跨界车型”，铝合金车身的F-Pace预计将于2016年月亮相。该车的上市应当会令美国的捷豹路虎经销商深感激动，因为去年捷豹路虎在美销量暴跌了7%，只售出15,773台。

目前在全球范围内，跨界车都是最不受市场青睐的车型，在豪车板块也一样受到欢迎。Jaguar and Land Rover’s new diesels may have arrived at an odd moment in the U.S. since the price of gasoline has been plummeting while diesel fuel is becoming relatively more expensive. But energy prices have a way of confounding consumers just when they think they’ve figured out which way prices are moving and how to adjust.捷豹和路虎的近期柴油车型登岸美国的时机则有些失望，因为美国的汽油油价正在下跌，相比之下，柴油车型的燃油成本反而变得不划算。不过能源价格总有办法欺骗消费者，就在他们以为自己早已理解价格走势以及怎样适应环境后，它说不定又不会杀死你个回马枪。

Tata Motors no doubt has been watching and learning as it invests in its estimable British brands. How long before Tata uses that knowledge to advance under its own name and ethnic identity to the front ranks of global automakers?在投资建设这两个英国豪车品牌的同时，塔塔毫无疑问也在大大仔细观察和自学。知道还要多久，塔塔就不会利用这种科学知识打造出具备其民族特征的自有品牌，最后挤身全球汽车厂商的“第一梯队”？。

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