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132005/09/20通用将继续开发混合动力汽车GM backs its hybrid vehicles in spite of losses美国汽车制造商通用汽车公司(General Motors)的最高负责人表示，公司预计新的油电两用型节油汽车业务将出现亏损，但将继续推动开发进程，因为公司认为这些汽车将对公司形象有益。

General Motors expects its new hybrid fuel-saving vehicles to incur losses but is pushing ahead with development because it believes they will help its image, the US carmaker's top executive has said.通用汽车公司董事长兼首席执行官里克•瓦格纳(Rick Wagoner)在接受采访时说，没有一家制造商能够在油电两用型汽车业务上赚钱。

这种汽车正在美国热销。

Rick Wagoner, chairman and chief executive, said in an interview that no manufacturer was able to make money on hybrid petrol-electric vehicles, sales of which are booming in the US.但他表示，通用正推动混合动力汽车的开发，以改善其环保方面的形象，这种做法将和丰田汽车(Toyota)受益于成功开发Prius混合动力汽车的方式一样。

丰田是仅次于通用的全球第二大汽车制造商。

But he said GM was pushing ahead with hybrids to improve its environmental credentials in the same way that rival Toyota, the second-biggest carmaker after GM, benefited from the success of its Prius hybrid hatchback.―我们的混合动力车将亏损，‖他说，―它的技术仍处于早期阶段，产量也较低。

‖―Our hybrids will lose money,‖ he said. ―It is early stage technology and the volume is low.‖通用计划在2007年年底推出其Chevrolet Tahoe与GMC Yukon大型多功能运动型跑车(SUV)的混合动力型汽车，在此之后推出混合动力型皮卡，其技术由该公司和戴姆勒克莱斯勒(Daimler-Chrysler)及德国宝马(BMW)共同开发。

GM is planning to launch hybrid versions of its Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon large sport utility vehicles in late 2007, followed by hybrid pick-up trucks, using technology developed jointly with Daimler-Chrysler and BMW of Germany.但瓦格纳先生表示，除非汽油价格涨到目前价格的三倍，达到每加仑8美元，否则将很难说服客户掏出足够多的钱，来弥补制造混合动力汽车的额外成本。

这种汽车需要一个电动马达和电池，还有一个发动机。

But Mr Wagoner said unless petrol prices hit $8 a US gallon triple the current level it would be hard to persuade customers to pay enough to cover the extra costs of building hybrid vehicles, which require an electric motor and battery aswell as an engine.财务分析师担心，人们对于燃料效率的关注度提高，可能会对通用在明年初推出新款大型多功能运动型车和皮卡造成负面影响。

由于医疗保健成本不断上升，以及现有大型多功能运动型车的销售正在放缓，通用正承受压力。

公司北美汽车业务今年上半年亏损了25亿美元。

Financial analysts are concerned that the increased focus on fuel efficiency could hurt GM's US launch early next year of its new range of large SUVs and pick-ups. GM is under pressure from rising healthcare costs and slowing sales of its existing big SUVs, and its North American automotive division lost $2.5bn in the first half of the year.通用的混合动力汽车在视觉效果上将明显不同于仅使用汽油的同类车型，这正是丰田的Prius所采取的做法。

GM will make hybrids visually distinct from their petrol-only counterparts, the approach Toyota took with its Prius.2005/09/19美国拟大量购药应对禽流感US in talks to buy a record supply of pandemic flu drug据制药商罗氏(Roche)介绍，美国正商讨购买创纪录数量的抗病毒药物达菲(Tamiflu)，以应对日益增长的关于流感爆发的国际担忧。

The US is in discussions to buy record volumes of the antiviral drug Tamiflu in an effort to respond to growing international concern about the threat of pandemic flu, according to the manufacturer.《金融时报》的估算显示，这笔交易的价值可能超过10亿美元，它可能将达菲提升到治疗和预防流感―畅销‖ 药的地位，虽然要生产足够数量的这种药或许会遭遇产能制约。

The value of the deal, which Financial Times calculations suggest might exceed $1bn, could lift Tamiflu to the status of a ―blockbuster‖ drug to both treat and help prevent flu, though the production of sufficient volumes may encounter manufacturing constraints.此次谈判之前，美国刚刚遭受卡特里娜飓风的袭击，布什政府正竭力证明其应对国内紧急情况的能力。

The talks come as the Bush administration is struggling to demonstrate its ability to cope with domestic emergencies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.瑞士制药公司罗氏的病毒学负责人戴维·莱迪(David Reddy)说：―我们正与美国政府就采购相当数量的达菲进行谈判，此次采购将使美国成为全球准备最充分的国家之一。

‖David Reddy, head of virology at Roche, the Swiss manufacturer, said: ―We are currently in discussion with the US for the purchase of significant quantities of Tamiflu that would put it among the best prepared in the world.‖他不愿透露采购的价格或数量，但作为防止流感大面积爆发计划的一部分，罗氏在近几个月已向30多个国家出售了达菲，这些国家均已配置了足够供应全国25%人口的库存。

He would not elaborate on price or quantity but Roche has sold Tamiflu to more than 30 countries in recent months as part of pandemic plans, most of which have allocated stockpiles of the drug sufficient to cover 25 per cent of the population.美国的这笔大额新订单，将与其现有库存数量形成对比，目前的库存只能供不到440万人使用。

按照现有政策，库存将增加到刚好2000万人的用量，占美国总人口的7%。

A significant fresh order in the US would stand in contrast with its current stockpiles, which hold sufficient quantities for fewer than 4.4m people, and which are earmarked to grow to just 20m, or 7 per cent of the population, under existing policy.临床研究表明，达菲对于包括H5N1型禽流感在内的目前各类流感均有疗效。

很多科学家担心，H5N1禽流感可能成为人类流行疾病大面积爆发的源头。

Clinical studies have shown Tamiflu to be effective against all existing flu strains as well as the H5N1 strain of bird flu that many scientists fear could become the basis for a human pandemic.但是，达菲的效果限于在最长一天半的时间里减轻症状，而且在所需剂量以及未来广泛使用后的抗药性等方面仍有疑问。