Haier, the world’s leading appliance maker by sales volume and one of China’s most famous brands, plans to expand in Europe by acquiring or building production facilities that will bring it closer to EU consumers.
全球销售量领先的家电制造商、中国最知名品牌之一海尔(Haier)计划通过收购或兴建生产设施在欧洲进行扩张，这些生产设施将使其更加接近欧盟(EU)消费者。
For a Chinese mainland brand that wants to make it in Europe, it helps to have a name that sounds European – which means Haier could well realise that ambition.
对于一个希望在欧洲取胜的中国内地品牌而言，拥有一个欧式的名称会有所帮助，这意味着，海尔很有可能实现这一雄心。
The company has built a successful presence in the US, where 30 per cent of households own a Haier product. Overall, 26 per cent of its $23bn global turnover comes from overseas.
海尔已在美国成功构建市场份额，目前30%的美国家庭拥有海尔产品。总体来看，在该集团230亿美元的总营业额中，26%来自海外。
Now Haier wants to boost sales in Europe, where it has more than doubled market share in the past five years but still has only 1 per cent of the major appliance market, a whisker behind Japan’s Panasonicand Sharp, which account for just over 1 per cent each. Haier’s plan is to target the middle to upper end of the appliance market, rather than the low end traditionally associated with Chinese companies that compete mainly on price.
如今，海尔希望扩大在欧洲的销售额，过去5年，该集团在欧洲的市场占有率提高了一倍多，但仍仅占大家电市场的1%，略落后于日本的松下(Panasonic)和夏普(Sharp)，这两家日本公司各自占欧洲大家电市场的1%多一点。海尔的计划是瞄准家电市场的中高端，而非传统上以价格竞争为主的中国企业所瞄准的低端市场。