The global auto industry starts 2010 with an almighty hangover. Last year was awful but momentous. The US saw two of Detroit's “big three” automakers collapse into Chapter 11, then emerge, slimmer and under new ownership, after billions in taxpayer bail-outs. China, meanwhile, toppled the US from its decades-long position as the world's largest auto market. But what made 2009 less awful than it might have been – as well as propelling the Chinese car buyer – was government support, above all “scrappage” incentives.
全球汽車業帶著嚴重的後遺症步入2010年。去年是糟糕的一年,但也具有重大意義。美國底特律「三大」汽車公司中,有兩家申請了破產保護,在接受納稅人數十億美元的救助之後浴火重生,規模有所收縮,也更換了新東家。與此同時,中國成爲全球最大的汽車市場,奪得了美國佔據數十年之久的寶座。然而,讓2009年的情況顯得不那麼可怕,同時鼓勵了中國購車者的,是來自政府的支持——特別是「舊車換新車」的刺激措施。