The Art Deco(① Art Deco（装饰艺术风格）起源...) skyscrapers of downtown Detroit, built when money flooded into(大量涌入) the Motor City(① 底特律因汽车工业而被称为Motor ...) in the 1920s, attest to the early years of America’s long dominance of carmaking. Though the industry’s centre of gravity(重心，核心) has shifted to China, the stamp of the “Big Three” on Detroit endures. This year General Motors (GM) opened swish(时尚豪华的) new headquarters. Last year Ford moved house within its home suburb of Dearborn. The American base of Stellantis, of which Chrysler Group is now part (and whose biggest shareholder, Exor, part-owns(部分拥有) The Economist’s parent company), is still in Auburn Hills, another suburb.
底特律市中心的装饰艺术风格摩天大楼建于20世纪20年代，当时资金涌入汽车城，它们见证了美国长期主导汽车制造的早期岁月。尽管该行业的重心已转向中国，但“三巨头”在底特律的印记依然存在。今年，通用汽车开设了华丽的新总部。去年，福特在其家乡迪尔伯恩郊区搬迁了办公地点。斯特兰蒂斯（克莱斯勒集团现为其一部分，其最大股东Exor部分拥有《经济学人》的母公司）的美国基地仍在另一个郊区奥本山。
Signs of confidence, or a circling of the wagons(收缩防御，团结自保)? America’s tariffs and regulatory fixes have favoured gas-guzzlers(高油耗汽车) over the electric vehicles gaining popularity elsewhere. Detroit dominates the making of the giant pickup trucks and monster SUVs(巨型SUV) that Americans love, and which are highly profitable. But in relying on petrol power behind protectionist barriers, America’s carmakers risk falling behind competitors—mainly from China—in an industry that EVs will one day take over.
这是信心的迹象，还是收缩防御？美国的关税和监管政策偏向燃油车，而不是在其他地方日益流行的电动车。底特律主导着美国人喜爱且利润丰厚的大型皮卡和巨型SUV的制造。但依赖保护主义壁垒后的燃油动力，美国汽车制造商在一个电动车终将主导的行业中，面临着落后于竞争对手（主要来自中国）的风险。
The Big Three have a recent “history of retrenchment(紧缩、缩减)”, says Philippe Houchois of Jefferies, a bank. In 1950 three-quarters of the world’s cars were made in America; now barely an eighth are. GM quit Europe in 2017, selling chronically lossmaking(长期亏损的) Opel to Groupe PSA, now part of Stellantis. Ford’s share of the European market collapsed after it discontinued popular smaller models and failed to excite motorists with its EVs. In China, ultra-competitive locals have routed(彻底击败) both GM, whose market share has fallen by roughly half in a decade, and Ford, which has lost two-thirds.
杰富瑞银行的菲利普·霍楚瓦表示，三巨头最近有“收缩的历史”。1950年，世界上四分之三的汽车是美国制造的；现在勉强有八分之一。通用汽车于2017年退出欧洲，将长期亏损的欧宝出售给标致雪铁龙集团（现为斯特兰蒂斯的一部分）。福特在停止流行的较小车型后，其欧洲市场份额崩溃，并且未能以其电动车吸引消费者。在中国，极具竞争力的本土企业击败了通用和福特，通用汽车的市场份额十年间大约下降了一半，福特则损失了三分之二。
