British Auto May Find It Tough To Revive

　　In this World Cup the performance of England football team was a bit like a second-rate black comedy. Though there are a bunch of superstars, England team only got two points in the first two games, ranking third in its group. On June 23 England finally won a game in the last competition. In the next game England will compete with German team whose performance was also not that good.

　　Prior to the most critical game England chose red clothes and shorts in order to beg for the favor of luck. In the year of 1966, England won the World Cup for the only time. At that time, the players in England football team wore red.

　　As the founder of modern football, England holds a long history of football. So does British automobile industry. In fact, the condition of football industry is much better than that of football. As to football, English has the top-level Premiership League. In contrast, England has already sold its top auto brand to Tata Motors of India. In Britain, Vauxhall-the sister brand of GM Opel has the most popular production. World Cup is an arena which demonstrates the cultural diversity of different countries. Football culture is the essence of national characteristics. Compared with football, other kinds of sports are not that popular in England. What are the similarities between automobile and football?

　　Our reporter from Auto.sohu.com once asked a British common person: what things do British feel most proud of? The answer is quite surprising. Such a common British person believed that British people were most proud of football rather than British Empire, Industrial Revolution or King Arthur and his Round Table Knights. Looking at the history of modern football, Britain once achieved great success. The world's first football club and first football league were born in Britain. With a glorious history, British football is deeply rooted in the hearts of British people. Unlike Chinese fans, British people's enthusiasm for football is nurtured from family ancestors. British fans are not simply in favor of a strong club with more strength. The residents in some small towns will support their local club. All the members from a family can always go to a stadium to enjoy a football game.

　　There is a saying that the first-level enterprises sell criterion and second-level enterprises sell brands, but the third-level manufacturers sell products. In the early time Britain promoted its set of standards across the globe. In a downturn period, Britain has to rely on brands such as superstars and rumors. Now violence and pornography are the main theme of British football. However, British auto industry cannot be viewed as a third-level one. The brands and products have been sold to other countries. Foreign financial groups have acquired a number of outstanding clubs such as Manchester United and Chelsea. Similarly, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Land Rover, Jaguar, Lotus and Aston Martin have been taken over by overseas capital. British auto industry which is famous for hand-made vehicles has lost all of its brands. However, British people believe that all of those luxury brands still have the noble elements and selling the luxury brands to India which was once a colony can be considered as some comfort. UK once acted as the pioneer of Industrial Revolution, but now she has entered the twilight years. Except football, nothing can stimulate British economy.

　　It is reported that the Jim O'Neill, the Chief Economist of Goldman Sachs, predicted prior to the World Cup that the performance of England's football team will deeply affect British economy. Some people once estimated that each score will bring £126 million sales. If England can enter the final game, the overall retail sales will reach up to 2.1 billion pounds. Faced with economic interest, England team will try its best. Players of England football team have so many scandals. British football has a long and glorious history. Those are the features of England football. We cannot find the reasons why British football should be shining. However, England football team has the most beautiful appearances across the world, attracting everyone's attention. The decline of British football also reflected the downturn of England auto industry. However, the renaissance of British auto industry is quite unlikely. (Translator: Qinguha/Hanxin)

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