bite the bullet #2
3月5日，the Geneva Motor Show 2013が開幕しました。83回目を迎える伝統のモーターショーということもあり，不振に喘ぐ欧州メーカーをはじめ，各社がしのぎを削っています。
European Carmakers To Get Serious At Geneva Show
PARIS (AP) — The Geneva Motor Show has long had a reputation as one of the glitziest stops on the global auto show circuit — the place to unveil luxury models and out-of-this-world fantasy concept cars. But this year the dire state of the European auto industry will hang over the exhibition halls. Hit by fleeing customers, struggling economies and idle production lines, the region's carmakers need to make tough decisions if they are going to survive.
... One reason for the poor financial performance is idle factory floors. A report by analysts Alix Partners found that at the height of production in 2007, the industry in Europe was only using 83 percent of its capacity. It's expected to be around 75 percent for the next couple of years. One way carmakers in the U.S. have turned around their operations is by dealing with their own overcapacity problem, shutting 18 factories in four years; Europe has yet to bite the bullet.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=173352576
以前にも表現だけはブログで採り上げられていますが，bite the bulletは昔「無麻酔手術で患者に弾丸をかませて痛みに耐えさせた」ことに由来する表現で，「歯を食いしばって耐える」という意味の表現（『プログレッシブ英和中辞典』小学館）。海外での売り上げに比べて欧州での業績が今ひとつのヨーロッパ自動車メーカーにとっては試練の日々が続きますね。（Koyamamoto）
