????無論從哪個角度看，2014年都是本田汽車公司寧愿忘卻或掩蓋的一年，看看本田為2015年提出的宏大口號——“本田之年”就知道了。

????2015年，本田將開始銷售用于民航業的首款飛機——HA-420本田噴氣機，以及一款全新的氫燃料電池汽車FCV。該公司還將攜一款全新的賽車重返F1方程式賽道。真正的重磅力作可能是謳歌NSX，這是一款將少量投產并銷售的油電混合超級汽車。

????本田公司希望NSX將再度彰顯其技術致勝的美譽，也希望NSX能提升本田作為高端汽車和卡車制造商的品牌形象。去年美國汽車市場銷售增長5.9%，但本田在美銷量僅微增1%——這意味著該公司失去了一部分市場份額，最重要的是，本田在與其兩大主要對手豐田和日產的角逐中落于下風。

????作為本田的高端品牌，謳歌去年共售出167,843輛，同比微增1.5%。而在美國這一備受豪華車品牌青睞的市場上，豐田的高端品牌雷克薩斯銷量增幅為13.7%，寶馬增幅為9.8%，奧迪增幅為15.2%，梅賽德斯-奔馳增幅為6.5%。

????1月，因本田未按要求向美國國家公路交通安全管理局匯報各類車輛上發生的1700多起傷亡事故，美國政府向該公司開具7000萬美元的高額罰單。

????本田執行副總裁里克?斯考斯特克在一項聲明中表示：“我們已經解決了這一問題。本田已經在早期預警報告中采取了一些重大舉措來解決過去的缺陷問題，現在我們將更進一步，加強這些舉措。我們將繼續與國家公路交通安全管理局充分合作，提高透明度，改進報告工作。”

????本田的幸運之處在于，它在美國的客戶對其擁有深厚的好感和忠誠度，還因為優質低價的極高性價比受到第三方評測機構的好評。不過，因安全氣囊爆開后碎片四濺傷及乘客這一產品缺陷導致的爭議，在一定程度上削弱了這個客戶基礎。

????本田已在美國召回了1000多萬輛汽車，修復其安全氣囊一項潛在的致命缺陷。這種氣囊由日本供應商高田公司制造，其充氣裝置在發生車禍時會突然爆裂，濺出金屬碎片傷及乘客。本田已確認有三起死亡和48起受傷事件與這一問題有關。

????投資者也關注到了本田的這一困境。盡管在席卷全球的金融危機中，本田是全球少數幾家能獨善其身、避免嚴重虧損的汽車廠商之一，但在過去幾年中，其普通股股價下跌了17.2%，而同期日經225指數卻上漲了7.4%，豐田汽車的股價也上漲了19.5%。

????一位本田高管私下里將該公司的很多問題歸咎于“運氣不好”，而不是內部管理不當或有意失職。也許確實如此。不過本田管理層確實應該認真反省，反復自查，并控制好其管理系統和生產流程，確保客戶好感度不再每況愈下。（財富中文網）

????譯者：清遠

????審校：任文科

????By more than one measure, 2014 is a year the Honda Motor Co. would prefer to forget or to obscure, reflected in a roundabout way by its grand slogan for 2015, “The Year of Honda.”

????It will be a year when the automaker begins selling its first airplane, the HA-420 Hondajet for general aviation, as well as a new hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the FCV. Honda will return to the Formula One circuit with a new race car. The cherry on top may be Acura NSX, a gas-electric hybrid supercar that will be built and sold in low volume.

????Honda hopes NSX will burnish its reputational halo for technical expertise. The automaker also wants NSX to help boost Acura’s brand image as a maker of premium cars and trucks. Last year, Honda’s U.S. sales rose 1% against a market that increased by 5.9% – resulting a loss of market share, most importantly, lost ground against its two main rivals, Toyota and Nissan.

????As a brand, Acura sold 167,843 cars and trucks last year, a 1.5% increase. Lexus, Toyota’s premium brand, was up 13.7%; BMW was up 9.8%, Audi was up 15.2% and Mercedes-Benz was up 6.5% in a U.S. market that was very favorable for luxury vehicle manufacturers.

????On January the U.S. government levied a $70 million fine on Honda for failing to disclose, as required, more than 1,700 deaths and injuries in its vehicles to the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA).

????“We have resolved this matter and will move forward to build on the important actions Honda has already taken to address our past shortcomings in early warning reporting,” said RickSchostek, Honda executive vice president, in a statement. “We continue to fully cooperate with NHTSA to achieve greater transparency and to further enhance our reporting practices.”

????Fortunately for Honda, it benefits from a deep reservoir of customer goodwill and loyalty in the U.S., as well as a reputation for building high-quality vehicles that are rated highly by objective third parties for their low cost of ownership. The reservoir was drained somewhat by a product defect controversy resulting from airbag deployments that scattered shrapnel on its victims.

????Honda has recalled more than 10 million vehicles in the U.S. to fix a potentially fatal defect in air bags made by Japanese supplier, Takata. The air bag inflators can rupture after a crash and injure occupants with shards of metal. Honda has confirmed three deaths and 48 injuries in connection with such incidents.

????Investors have noticed Honda’s troubles. The automaker was one of the very few worldwide to avoid deep losses during the global financial crisis. Still, its common shares are down 17.2% over the past year, while the Nikkei 225 Index is up 7.4% and Toyota Motor shares are up 19.5%.

????A Honda executive privately attributed much of its troubles on “bad luck,” as opposed to shoddy business practices or deliberate misbehavior on anyone’s part. Perhaps. The company’s leadership is certain to check, double-check and lock down its systems and processes to ensure the level sinks no lower on its reservoir of good will.