????由于涉嫌在尾氣排放測(cè)試中作弊，大眾宣布召回六年來(lái)生產(chǎn)的各款柴油汽車,，而且可能因此遭到天價(jià)罰款,。不過(guò)，這家德國(guó)汽車廠商的凈值損失甚至可能更大,，因?yàn)楸敬纬舐劚貙⒂绊懘蟊姷纳套u(yù),，而這是該公司資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表上數(shù)額最大的資產(chǎn)之一。

????在許多公司看來(lái),，真正有價(jià)值的資產(chǎn)很多,，商譽(yù)、現(xiàn)金和庫(kù)存都是其中的一部分,。衡量某家公司的價(jià)值時(shí),，除了其名下所有的實(shí)物資產(chǎn),，還要考慮其品牌價(jià)值。它也經(jīng)常和其他難以衡量?jī)r(jià)值的無(wú)形資產(chǎn)自成一組,，比如專利及各種知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán),。通常，商譽(yù)普遍存在于各個(gè)行業(yè),。但多年來(lái)不斷召回產(chǎn)品并恣意妄為的汽車廠商竟然還有商譽(yù)可言,，這也許會(huì)讓一些人感到意外。

????為自身品牌明碼標(biāo)價(jià)的汽車制造商并非只有大眾一家,。通用汽車對(duì)自身商譽(yù)的估值達(dá)到令人咋舌的60億美元,，而該公司最近才同意支付9億美元來(lái)了結(jié)因點(diǎn)火開(kāi)關(guān)故障引發(fā)的訴訟，通用汽車被控明知這一問(wèn)題可能會(huì)要了車主性命,，卻未采取任何行動(dòng),。至于福特，截至去年底,，它估算自己的商譽(yù)和其他無(wú)形資產(chǎn)價(jià)值1.33億美元,。豐田則未將商譽(yù)列入資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表，考慮到它的產(chǎn)品召回史,，這也許合情合理,。寶馬和戴姆勒對(duì)各自商譽(yù)和無(wú)形資產(chǎn)的估值分別為120億美元和100億美元。

????就算在德國(guó)汽車業(yè),，大眾的商譽(yù)也顯得很高,。截至今年上半年，該公司估算的無(wú)形資產(chǎn)價(jià)值為670億美元,。同時(shí),，商譽(yù)在大眾凈值中占的比重遠(yuǎn)高于其他汽車公司。該公司的商譽(yù)和其他無(wú)形資產(chǎn)約占總資產(chǎn)的16%,。在戴姆勒和通用汽車,，這個(gè)比例分別只有4%和3%。

????大眾認(rèn)為自身品牌價(jià)值遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手著實(shí)有些奇怪,。這可能是個(gè)會(huì)計(jì)問(wèn)題,。如果某家公司收購(gòu)另一家公司的價(jià)格超過(guò)了后者的實(shí)物資產(chǎn)價(jià)值，它就得從別處來(lái)填補(bǔ)這個(gè)缺口,，此時(shí)它們往往會(huì)選擇商譽(yù),。如果品牌受損，就應(yīng)該下調(diào)其賬面價(jià)值,。但這樣做的公司寥寥無(wú)幾,。看來(lái),，在腳踏實(shí)地評(píng)估自身品牌價(jià)值方面,，大眾一直比其他公司馬虎,。然而，考慮到當(dāng)前出現(xiàn)的問(wèn)題,，大眾很難再說(shuō)自身品牌在消費(fèi)者眼里的價(jià)值還和幾周前一模一樣,。當(dāng)大眾最終不得不下調(diào)品牌價(jià)值，一定會(huì)擠出許多泡沫,。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：Charlie

????校對(duì)：詹妮

????Volkswagen is recalling six years of diesel vehicle models and may have to pay billions in fines to settle allegations that it cheated on emissions tests. But the hit to the German car maker’s net worth could be even bigger. That’s because the scandal is sure to affect one of the biggest assets on Volkswagen’s balance sheet: goodwill.

????Many companies lump goodwill, along with cash and inventory, as one of their many assets with a true value. It is supposed to measure what a company is worth beyond all the stuff it owns, which is largely the value of its brand. And it often gets grouped in with others things that are hard to measure, like the value of patents and other intellectual property. Goodwill is common across industries. But it may be surprising to some that car companies, after their years of recalls and abuses, have any goodwill left at all.

????Volkswagen is not the only automaker to put a dollar amount on its brand. General Motors, which recently agreed to pay $900 million to settle charges that it knew its faulty ignition switches were likely killing people and did nothing about it, amazingly puts its goodwill at $6 billion. At the end of last year, Ford had its goodwill and other intangible assets at $133 million. Toyota doesn’t list any goodwill on its balance sheet, which may make sense given its recall history. BMW and Daimler put their goodwill and intangible assets at $12 billion and $10 billion respectively.

????But even among the German car companies, Volkswagen’s goodwill seems high. As of the middle of this year, Volkswagen listed its intangible assets at $67 billion. And Volkswagen’s goodwill makes up a much larger percentage of its net worth than is the case at other car companies. Volkswagen’s goodwill and other intangibles makes up about 16% of its total assets. Compare that to just 4% at Daimler and 3% at GM.

????It’s odd that Volkswagen would have ever thought its brand was worth so much more than its rivals. It’s probably a function of accounting. When companies buy other companies for more than the worth of their assets, they have to record that value somewhere, and it gets stuck in goodwill. Still, companies are supposed to take a write down when the value of its brands take a hit. Few companies do. And Volkswagen appears to have been more lax than others in realistically valuing its brand. But it will be hard for the company to argue that the Volkswagen name, given what has come out, is worth as much to consumers as it was a few weeks ago. When VW is finally forced to open up its value to deflate it, a lot of air is sure to come out.