经济学人:逐步加速 特斯拉将打入大众市场(下)

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　　On March 24th Tencent, a Chinese internet giant that owns WeChat, a popular messaging service, paid $1.8bn for a 5% stake in Tesla. 3月24日，现下流行的即时通讯服务——微信，其供应商中国互联网巨头腾讯花费18亿美元购买了特斯拉公司5%的股权作为投资。

　　Tencent could help accelerate Tesla's drive into the vast Chinese market, where some 28m cars were sold last year. 腾讯可以帮助特斯拉进军中国这个仅去年就成交了大约两千八百万辆汽车的市场。

　　With Donald Trump¹ trying to dismantle² some environmental standards in America, China seems likelier to push green technologies. 随着唐纳德·特朗普在逐步废除美国一些环保标准，而在中国似乎更有可能发展绿色科技。

　　It is already the world's biggest market for electric cars; some 700,000 plug-in cars are expected to be sold there this year. 加之中国市场已经是世界上最大的电动汽车市场，并且，预计今年将会有大约70万辆电动汽车在中国市场成交。

　　But to compete against low-cost local brands, Tesla urgently needs to start churning out its cheaper car. 为了与低成本的本土品牌进行竞争，特斯拉公司急需在价格上做文章。

　　Many investors³ are betting that Tesla can become a mass producer. 许多投资者都断言特斯拉公司可以成为大厂商。

　　This has pushed up the value of the firm's shares, which have increased by 38% since the start of 2017. 这推动了公司股价的上涨，股价自2017年初涨幅就高达38%。

　　On April 3rd Tesla's market capitalisation exceeded $48bn, overtaking Ford⁴ (at $45bn). 截至4月3日，特斯拉公司的市值超过480亿美元，超过了福特的450亿美元。

　　Ford may not be as technologically⁵ glamorous⁶ but it is well-versed in mass-producing cars, having made 6.7m last year. 福特公司并不以技术为长，但专注生产，仅去年的年产值已经达到了670万辆。

　　An awful lot will be riding on the Model 3. 而特斯拉把宝押在了3系列汽车上。

　　If Tesla fails to hit future targets then a cashflow crisis may loom⁷. 如果特斯拉公司不能完成目标，那就可能出现资金流转的危机。

　　Investors, though, will have an exit: the company's brand and whizzy technology are easily valuable enough to drive the firm into the arms of a bigger manufacturer that can hit its numbers. 然而，哪怕有投资者放弃投资，该公司的品牌和技术的价值也足以吸引更大的生产商投资，最终实现预期目标。

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