In his scheme, multinationals began when 19th-century firms set up sales offices abroad for goods shipped from factories at home.

在他的计划中，跨国公司的滥觞可以追溯到19世纪公司在海外成立的营业部——来销售由国内工厂运送过来的商品。

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Nevertheless, the system is crudely efficient, merchants can all easily access factories, and the factories in this geographically isolated city now have sales networks that span the globe.

不过这种系统的效率还算高，商家们都能很容易的联通工厂，而且这个地理位置孤僻的城市现在拥有遍布全球的商业网络。

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But another Japanese maker, Honda, reported an eleven percent increase on strong sales of cars.General Motors announced it will close four truck factories in North America and expand car production.

但是，另一家日本制造商本田，报道表明其强劲的汽车销售量增加了11%。通用汽车宣布将关闭北美的4个卡车工厂，并且会扩大汽车生产。

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But GM retook the sales crown in 2011 when Toyota's factories were slowed by an earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

NPR: GM 1Q Global Sales Rise 3.6 Percent To Beat VW

Natural disasters in Thailand and Japan in 2011 had halted production Honda's factories and impacted its sales.

BBC: Honda sees quarterly profits rise but cuts annual forecast

Firms had cut production to below the level of sales in order to shed excess inventories, so now they need to reopen factories.

ECONOMIST: Emerging Asian economies