????在近期舉辦的紐約車展上，通用汽車公司（General Motors）正式宣布：全新推出的2013款雪佛蘭邁瑞寶將擁有2014年的改款——這至少比原計劃提前了兩年。通用改變原定的改款計劃，匆忙推出改動的工藝和設計，結果讓客戶們對這輛車大為不滿。在這一改款過程中，通用因為一心想提振業績，很可能放棄了大幅改動。通用北美總裁馬克?羅伊斯向《汽車新聞》（Automotive News）透露，此次改款的重點是車的外形，同時簡化了“復雜的內飾”。并且他補充道，通用等不到產品周期末期再做改款了，“我們現在就需要改。”

????因此，通用成了最新一家承認競爭激烈、不容有絲毫閃失的汽車廠商。位于美國西岸的設計與營銷咨詢公司太平洋汽車（AutoPacific）總裁喬治?彼得森稱：“鑒于目前消費者都見多識廣，再加上大家對路上的汽車都是口口相傳、高度關注，推出一款不入流的車將是極其重大、也極其昂貴的錯誤。一旦消費者知道了某款車的弱點，他們就會棄它而去。”

????本田汽車（Honda）算是返工改款的先鋒。當初發現消費者和媒體對思域（Civic）的簡配版簡直怒不可遏時，它立刻對2013款思域的內飾做了改進。同時，菲亞特-克萊斯勒公司（Fiat-Chrysler）的馬爾喬內已證明自己是改款宗師。彼得森說：“賽百靈（Sebring）改款到200是個巨大成功。同樣地，道奇Charger和挑戰者（Challenger）升級到300在沒有花大錢的情況下也做得很到位。這算是克萊斯勒公司很高明的一招。”

????馬爾喬內下一個挑戰是2014款大切諾基。關于其他車型的改款——有些已公布，有些還只是暗示——請大家接著往下看。

????General Motors recently made it official at the New York auto show: It is giving the all-new 2013 Chevy Malibu a makeover for 2014 -- at least two years ahead of schedule. Customers were so unhappy with the car when it was launched that GM tore up its plans for scheduled updates and rushed some engineering and design changes. In the process, it probably forfeited a good chunk of change that it will hope to make up in lower incentives going forward. GM North America President Mark Reuss told Automotive News that the focus of the refresh will be the exterior and cleaning up "the complexity of the interior." GM couldn't wait to make the changes later in the product cycle, he added: "We need it now."

????GM (GM, Fortune 500) thus became the latest manufacturer to acknowledge that the intensity of competition is leaving even smaller margins of error. "Given how well-informed consumers are these days, and how vocal social media is concerning cars on the road, having a substandard vehicle in the market is a very serious and expensive mistake," says George Peterson, president of AutoPacific, a West Coast design and marketing consultancy. "Once consumers learn of the weaknesses of a particular vehicle, they can turn against it."

????The poster boy of do-overs is Honda, which enhanced the interior of the 2013 Civic after seeing how angrily customers and the media reacted to the bargain-basement original. Meanwhle, Fiat-Chrysler's Sergio Marchionne is proving to be the master of the makeover. "The changes to the Sebring making it into the 200 has been a spectacular success, says Peterson. "Similarly, upgrades to 300, Charger, and Challenger have been right on the mark without spending billions of dollars. Very intelligent moves on the part of Chrysler."

????Marchionne's next challenge is the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. For it and other makeovers -- some announced, others suggested -- keep reading.