一代經典的終結 印度大使牌轎車停產

DELHI, India — When the Ambassador car was born in 1957 to a newly independent India, it was the height of style and status. It was standard issue to senior civil servants and government officials; its possession implied status, and its ubiquity was a sign of an earlier, seemingly simpler India.

印度德里——當1957年大使牌(Ambassador)轎車在新獨立的印度誕生時，它代表着極致的風尚與地位。高級公務員和政府官員都統一配了這款車；它曾是身份的象徵，而它的無所不在則讓人想起往昔的那個似乎更簡單的印度。

The country’s highly protectionist economy also made it one of the few cars on the road, with a singular design that has often been compared to a bowler hat.

印度嚴重的保護主義經濟也讓大使牌汽車成爲路上少數的汽車品牌之一，這款車的單一設計常常被比作圓頂禮帽。

But that icon of the Indian road may have reached the end of the line, pushed from its dominance by changing consumer tastes, an opening marketplace for autoMobiles and fierce competition. In May, the car’s manufacturer, Hindustan Motors announced that it would suspend production of its Ambassador, the final stage in a long decline.

但這個印度馬路上的標誌性車型可能已經走到了盡頭，由於消費者品味的不斷變化、汽車市場日益開放，以及激烈的競爭，它的主導地位已不復存在。今年5月，大使牌汽車的製造商印度斯坦汽車公司(Hindustan Motors)宣佈，將停止生產這種車型，其漫長的衰落過程進入了最後階段。

As far back as 1999, Hindustan Motors reported a $9.5 million loss from the lone plant in West Bengal, partly because of an outsized work force. In the year ending March 2014, just 2,200 Ambassadors were sold, according to Reuters. In the year ending September 2013, the company reported losses exceeding its net worth.

早在1999年，印度斯坦汽車公司單從西孟加拉邦的一家工廠就錄得了950萬美元的虧損，這一定程度上是因爲工人過多。據路透社(Reuters)報道，在2014年3月結束的財年，公司僅售出了2200輛大使牌汽車。在2013年9月結束的財年，公司錄得的虧損超過了公司淨值。

In their statement announcing the shutdown, Hindustan Motors cited a “lack of demand” for the Ambassador and a shortage of funds, as well as “growing indiscipline” among factory workers at the West Bengal plant.

在宣佈停產的聲明中，印度斯坦汽車公司給出的理由是需求不足和資金短缺，以及西孟加拉邦工廠的工人“越來越缺乏紀律性”。

In the 1980s, Maruti introduced the Alto 800, an underpowered but inexpensive hatchback that brought car ownership to the masses. In the 1990s when the economy was liberalized, the Indian car market slowly opened up to faster, more convenient options.

上世紀80年代，Maruti推出了Alto800車型，這款動力不足但價格低廉的掀背式轎車讓普通人擁有了私家車。上世紀90年代的經濟自由化之後，印度汽車市場慢慢向更快、更便捷的車型敞開了懷抱。

“The death of the Ambassador may have formally been announced earlier last month, but in reality the Ambassador vanished from Indian roads 10 years ago,” said Siddharth Varadarajan, a journalist who owns three Ambassadors.

“大使牌汽車的死訊可能是上個月早些時候正式宣佈的，但事實上這款車10年前就從印度的馬路上消失了，”印度記者西哈斯·瓦拉德拉簡(Siddharth Varadarajan)說。他自己有三輛大使牌汽車。

The virtual monopoly that Hindustan Motors possessed for decades, he said, was the car’s undoing.

他說，印度斯坦汽車公司幾十年來的壟斷，是這款汽車遭到淘汰的原因。

“There was never any incentive for Hindustan Motors to improve the product,” Mr. Varadarajan said. “They were a highly myopic company.”

“印度斯坦汽車公司一直沒有任何動力來改進產品，”瓦拉德拉簡說，“這是一家極其短視的公司。”

The company, however, has maintained that the halting of its production is temporary, and that the plant in West Bengal will eventually reopen.

然而這家公司宣稱，停產是暫時的，西孟加拉的工廠終將重新運轉。

It is the car of Nehruvian India, its white, be-curtained iteration the conveyance of dignitaries including, at times, the president.

它是尼赫魯時期印度的標誌性車型，其車窗配有窗簾的白色款型曾是許多權貴的座駕，包括印度總統。

In this sense, the Ambassador holds the singular distinction of being one of the few vehicles whose mention evokes power, elegance and something pleasingly retro, even as its manifestation, in the form of taxis and government vehicles in Kolkata and Delhi, often borders on disrepair.

從這種意義上說，大使牌汽車的非凡之處在於，提起它來就讓人聯想起權力、優雅和賞心悅目的復古，而這樣的汽車並不多。與此同時，目前仍在行使的大使牌汽車，主要是加爾各答和德里的出租車和政府車輛，經常破爛不堪。

Drivers complain that pedals break off after a few thousand miles, that the air-conditioners malfunction. Some use turmeric to stop up holes in the radiator — anything to avoid servicing with expensive and increasingly rare parts. Many carry water bottles to cool off radiators that frequently overheat.

司機們抱怨大使牌車的踏板在行駛了幾千英里後會折斷，以及車內的空調失靈。一些人用薑黃粉來堵住散熱器上的窟窿——使用一切方法來避免使用昂貴和越發稀少的零件來維修汽車。許多人攜帶着水瓶，爲經常過熱的散熱器降溫。

But the fondness for some drivers, whose cars took them through decades of India’s history, seems to overpower any inconvenience.

但是一些司機已經駕駛着他們的車見證了幾十年的印度歷史，他們對這款車的鐘愛似乎戰勝了任何不便。

V. P. Verma, a retired engineer, parks his mint green Ambassador proudly outside his south Delhi home. He said the waiting list for the car when his father, a district administrative officer in Bihar, bought it in 1962 was five years.

退休工程師V·P·維爾馬(V. P. Verma)把他薄荷綠色的大使車驕傲地停在德里南部的家門外。他說，他的父親，一名區政府官員，1962年購買了這輛車，當時的等待時間長達五年。

“To possess an Ambassador in 1962 was like possessing an Audi in India now,” said Mr. Verma. “It was status, prestige.”

“在1962年擁有一輛大使牌汽車，就像如今在印度擁有一輛奧迪一樣，”維爾馬說，“那是地位，是威望。”

He recalled how they packed the entire family — 14 people — into the car on road trips between Darbhanga, a town in north Bihar, to Patna, its capital. Twenty years ago, the car took him and his wife on a 1,000-kilometer trip from Ranchi in present-day Jharkhand State, through Uttar Pradesh, up to the hills of Almora at the foot of the Himalayas, and did not break down once. Though friends have pressed him to replace it, it remains his only car.

他回憶了他們全家——14個人——如何擠在車裏，在比哈爾邦北部城鎮達爾邦格阿和首府巴特那之間的公路上旅行。20年前，這輛車帶着他和妻子完成了一次1000公里的旅行，從今天的賈坎德邦的蘭契出發，途經北方邦，直到喜馬拉雅山腳的阿爾莫拉山區，全程車子一次也沒壞過。儘管朋友們催他換一輛車，但這仍然是他唯一的汽車。

“It needs a face-lift now and then,” said his wife, Sabine Verma. “But its heart is still strong.”

他的妻子薩比娜·維爾馬(Sabine Verma)說，“它需要時不時整個容，但它的心臟仍然強壯。”