2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 1000: A Trillion-Dollar Market Value, A New Beginning.

Since reaching an initial consensus with Jimmy Farley, negotiations with Ford have progressed much faster. With the top officials from both sides present and both valuing efficiency, the negotiation process has taken a qualitative leap.

"Boss, today is a memorable day."

"Mr. Tan, congratulations."

After 5 p.m. on May 31, domestic time, Tan Jincheng, who was in North America, received all kinds of phone calls and congratulatory messages. Today was indeed a memorable day for Wei Lai.

Influenced by the booming new energy industry in the past two years and external factors such as fund clustering, Weilai Co., Ltd. entered a period of accelerated stock price increase from the end of 2019, starting from a low of less than 80 yuan to a historical high of 459.56 yuan on May 31.

With its momentum soaring and gains exceeding 500%, Weilai Co., Ltd. reached a market capitalization of one trillion yuan today, becoming the first company on the ChiNext board to achieve this milestone.

"Wow, that's already a trillion-dollar market capitalization?"

Due to the time difference, it was a little after 3 a.m. in Michigan. Tan Jincheng, who had just fallen asleep, was woken up by the sound of phone calls and text messages. The ringing of the phone also made Tan Jincheng, who had just fallen asleep, fully awake.

This year's stock market can be described as a stark contrast between boom and bust. After last year's bull market driven by speculative buying, large-cap blue-chip stocks across various industries, represented by Kweichow Moutai, saw astonishing gains. With a market capitalization of 2.7 trillion yuan, Moutai has spurred the growth of various other stocks, with Weilai Shares being jokingly referred to as "New Energy Moutai" or "Automotive Moutai."

On the other hand, small-cap stocks are in dire straits, falling continuously. However, since the Spring Festival this year, the blue-chip stocks that were heavily invested in have experienced a significant correction that lasted for a whole quarter, and Weilai shares have also been deeply affected.

However, starting from May 14, due to rising sales in Europe and rumors of acquiring a Ford factory, Weilai's stock price began to stop falling and rebound, rising by as much as 23.64% over 12 consecutive trading days.

"Yes, we are the 13th company in the country to break the trillion-yuan mark in market value. Boss, do you want to post a congratulatory message or something?"

It is the first company listed on the ChiNext board, the 13th nationwide, and the seventh on the A-share market. It is also one of only two companies in the A-share market with a market capitalization of over one trillion yuan that are not outside of banking and finance; the other is Kweichow Moutai.

With the world's largest power battery manufacturer and a leading enterprise in the global new energy vehicle industry, Weilai Group's trillion-dollar market value is absolutely worthy of its position in the currently booming new energy sector.

In other words, if it were listed on the A-share market, the market value of Weilai Group would probably double again. Tesla's current total market value is approximately 3.65 trillion RMB. As leading companies in the new energy vehicle sector, Weilai's market value is still much lower.

"Alright, it is indeed something worth remembering. Let me think about it."

In the new competitive landscape, if a company's market capitalization surpasses one trillion, it would seem pretentious to remain silent. This would also serve to divert domestic public attention from the ongoing discussion surrounding the Ford factory acquisition.

In China, Weilai Group and Tan Jincheng are not entirely supported; there are also many who oppose them or dislike them. This acquisition has also drawn considerable criticism from within the country.

After hanging up the phone, Tan Jincheng thought for a moment and then edited a message on his WeChat Moments and other social media platforms.

"From zero to ten thousand, this is a victory of technology, and even more so, the trust of all users and partners. Thank you all for your unwavering support. The boasts we made have finally been partially achieved, but the real stars and the sea are still ahead. A market value of trillions is just the starting point for the future."

After editing the text, adding a few photos from the early and mid-stages of his startup that he had saved on his phone, and checking that there were no problems, he sent it out. It was four o'clock in the morning in Michigan, and Tan Jincheng was no longer sleepy.

The planning for Weilai Auto began in 2007, and it went public on November 3, 2014. It took 15 years from start to finish, and it has been almost seven years since it went public. It is quite fast to achieve a market value of one trillion yuan.

In fact, since the beginning of this year, when Weilai Co., Ltd. will break through the trillion-yuan market value has been a focus of discussion. Every once in a while, Weilai's stock price will be on the hot search list. Compared with other car companies, Weilai has been given too many concepts, and its growth rate is also the best.

It's the early morning here in North America, but not in China; it's right around the time people are leaving get off work. Tan Jincheng's posts on Weibo quickly attracted comments from his followers. These days, there aren't many entrepreneurs active on Weibo.

In terms of the number of followers, Kai-Fu Lee and Jack Ma of Innovation Works have more followers than Tan Jincheng. However, Kai-Fu Lee's social media account is not active, and Jack Ma has stopped updating since his incident last year.

As of May this year, Ali has been fined a total of 182.28 billion yuan for the incident last year, setting a record for anti-monopoly fines in China. Compared with the 34.42 billion yuan fine imposed on Meituan and the 10 billion yuan fine imposed on Tencent, it can be said that one is in heaven and the other is on the ground.

Orange Technology was also fined in this incident, but not much, only 300 million yuan, which is the smallest fine among OTAs. In fact, the entire Internet industry, such as Baidu, ByteDance, JD.com, and even Suning, have all been fined to varying degrees. This wave has left everyone feeling cheated.

However, relatively speaking, Ali is the most miserable. Even just from a financial perspective, the cash fine of over 180 billion yuan is enough to make Ali feel the pinch, not to mention that the meaning it represents is completely different.

Old Ma has almost disappeared. Currently, the only entrepreneurs active on social media besides Tan Jincheng are Lei Jun, Zhou Hongyi, and others. Apart from these true entrepreneurs, there are only people like Luo Yonghao and Wang Jianlin, who cannot be completely categorized as entrepreneurs.

The comment section on Tan Jincheng's Weibo was unusually active. As soon as the post was published, fans jokingly asked if he should send red envelopes to celebrate. Tan Jincheng has always had the habit of giving red envelopes to his company employees on various commemorative events.

Moreover, most of the red envelopes were paid for by Boss Tan himself. This rather unusual behavior earned Tan Jincheng a lot of goodwill from the public. After all, who would refuse a boss who is generous to his employees?

"We won't issue any this time. A market value of one trillion doesn't mean anything. Weilai is still a young company and needs everyone's support."

I picked a comment to reply to, which completely ignited the enthusiasm in the comment section. Everyone joked around even more enthusiastically. In addition, there were quite a few comments showing off their profits with pictures. Tan Jincheng had stated in public a long time ago that Weilai is a company worth holding for the long term.

For ordinary investors, the high stock price of Weilai has a certain investment threshold. Since the first day of listing, Weilai's stock price has always been at a relatively high level. Even in 2018, when the decline was the most severe, it remained in the range of 60 to 70 yuan.

Most investors don't look at the total number of shares outstanding or the market capitalization. They have a natural aversion to high stock prices, so there aren't many ordinary investors who dare to invest in high-priced stocks, and even if they do buy, they won't hold too many shares.

However, it's not impossible. There are 100 million stock investors in the A-share market, and quite a few dare to buy, especially ordinary investors who have made money from Flash Technology. When making investments, ordinary investors should pay attention to the company's total share capital and market value, rather than just looking at the price.

Weilai Co., Ltd., with a market value of one trillion yuan, has become a trending topic. Whether it is overvalued is a matter of debate, but in any case, the emergence of a company with a market value of one trillion yuan in the A-share market, apart from liquor, banking and finance, is an event worth remembering.

The rise in the stock price of Weilai, a company that integrates technology and manufacturing, reflects a change in consumption and investment trends. Technology and traditional manufacturing industries that can solve problems such as employment and consumption are beginning to receive attention.

After replying to a few messages, Tan Jincheng started to feel sleepy.

The next morning, another difficult negotiation ensued. Although both sides had reached a consensus on the price and other aspects, the specific details regarding the transfer of which technology and equipment were still very detailed.

From Ford's perspective, transferring less is a win. This time, Wei's offer was reasonable, and Ford didn't gain much advantage. In fact, it even lost money. According to the actual price, Ford's German factory is worth far more than that.

Unfortunately, there are no buyers to be found right now, not even a competitor. German automakers have many idle factories, so they can't buy them, and Tesla is out of the question too.

The only company that could take over was Oriental Capital. However, the car companies from Oriental that were seeking to go global either lacked sufficient funds or did not have the sales volume to warrant it. In addition, due to the mess that Lao Wang made in Southeast Asia back then, there has been much less malicious competition among domestic companies going global since then.

Ford couldn't possibly get a good price. Jimmy, through his investigation and understanding of Wall Street capital, knew Tan Jincheng's personality. If he asked for an exorbitant price, the other party would definitely end the negotiations directly, leaving no room for negotiation.

The only thing that could bring Ford any benefit was the technology transfer negotiations. As for Wei Lai, it was good to get more technology and equipment. Even if he didn't like some of the technologies, it was still better than nothing.

Moreover, the technology can be transferred to lower-end models. If it's not suitable for high-end models, it's not impossible for low-end models, and even electric tricycles and elderly people's vehicles can be adapted.

As the acquisition progressed, more details of the negotiations became known to the public. Although Tan Jincheng deliberately downplayed the background of Oriental Capital in the acquisition process through the design of the firewall, it still caused great controversy in the world's three major economic regions.

"Damn, these foreigners are really fragile. It's just a car factory, a business worth a few hundred million euros, and they're making such a fuss about it."

On June 1st, trouble broke out again in Europe over the acquisition of a car factory, which seemed to have caused a huge uproar among foreigners.

"I can understand it. If a poor relative you used to look down on has not only become rich, but also wants to buy your family's land, how can you not be upset?"

Li Xiang, who flew to North America to participate in the negotiations, smiled, but he also knew that if things got out of hand, he would be very busy.

Sure enough, the boss assigned a task: "Go to Europe and handle this, try to minimize the impact."

This incident won't have any specific impact on the acquisition, and it was already planned in the previous acquisition black swan contingency plan, but it is indeed quite unpleasant.

"Don't clash with them. Try to cooperate with the government to resolve this. These guys may seem abstract, but we really can't afford to mess with them." Li Xiang also sighed and said, "That's right. If it's 'nigger is right' in North America, then it's 'environmental protection is right' in Europe."

Europeans have become obsessed with environmental protection in recent years. They have either demolished or shut down coal-fired power plants, and any project that they deem not environmentally friendly cannot be allowed to proceed.

Even Elon Musk recently suspended his decision to purchase Tesla vehicles using a certain cryptocurrency, citing the environmentally unfriendly nature of mining as the reason. This is simply an attempt to appease these people, and it has even caused Tesla's German factory to be shut down and delayed.

Musk is arguably the biggest manipulator of these cryptocurrencies, constantly releasing information to control them and making a fortune. However, Tan Jincheng is no slouch either, secretly making a large sum of money as well.

If it weren't for the need to collaborate with multiple parties, Cheng Yue's account balances in these currencies alone would have been sufficient to easily complete this acquisition. In terms of cash flow, Tan Jincheng's ability to liquidate his overseas assets is equally impressive.

In Europe, the issue was a protest by environmentalists near a factory. It wasn't a big deal, but it was disgusting and needed to be addressed. These people are incredibly good at making a big news story.

After communicating with Ford, Li Xiang flew to Germany immediately. The first thing he did upon arriving in Germany was to find an authoritative television station to broadcast the event live.

“We are more radical than carbon neutrality; we have dismantled factory chimneys.”

Facing the camera, the newly appointed CEO of Weilai Group, Li Xiang, spoke eloquently, his eyes radiating confidence. The head of Ford Europe standing next to Li Xiang also spoke with equal eloquence.

The live broadcast showed viewers witnessing the demolition of the factory's coal-fired boiler room by a bomb, which was then reduced to rubble.

In reality, this boiler room had already been shut down and was of no use. Even if environmental rights advocates did not protest, it would still be demolished after Wei Lai officially took over. This time, the timeline was simply moved forward.

For Ford, this is actually a good thing, because the demolition costs are now shared by the two companies. Ford is afraid of these environmentalists who might sabotage the acquisition.

Because the acquisition proposal has a very positive effect on Ford, and with the support of Wall Street capital, Ford's stock price has performed very strongly in the recent stock market.

If the acquisition falls through, the stock price will revert to its original level, and Ford will either have to continue operating or, if it cannot find a second buyer, spend 20 billion euros to shut down the factory.

Neither of these points is something Ford and Wall Street capital want to see.

The solution that Wei Lai quickly offered left them no choice but to accept.

"We can do more live streams in Europe later. Besides generating buzz, this can also solve some other problems. I wonder what Goldman Sachs thinks of this plan?"

Having dealt with the environmentalists, Tan Jincheng then proposed to Goldman Sachs, the negotiating middleman, that the reason this acquisition had been so hotly debated was because it satisfied the aesthetics of conflict: the clash between Eastern and Western cultures, labor unions and corporations, gasoline-powered cars and electric cars, and the symbolism of the transformation of industrial civilization.

All of this has made this acquisition a hot topic worldwide. To put it bluntly, even if the acquisition fails, it will still be a good thing for Wei Lai, as it has made him a big name in the global spotlight.

"No problem, we'll provide a solution right away. Mr. Tan has been frequently involved in the live streaming industry in China, so please give us your feedback."

The intermediary from Goldman Sachs knew Tan Jincheng very well and had a background in China. Goldman Sachs was able to make a huge profit from facilitating the transaction between the two parties. In addition to Goldman Sachs, other large institutions such as Deloitte also joined in.

The impressive lineup for the acquisition is not only aimed at successfully completing the acquisition, but also at seizing various trending topics.

Tan Jincheng was generous, offering much higher fees than usual, but he also had high demands: that he help complete the negotiations and secure the North American government as quickly as possible, provided that he had secured the Ford CEO's support.

All negotiations must be completed before June 15th.

The buzz generated by this acquisition has not only boosted Weilai's global reputation, but its biggest benefit has also been in sales. Weilai's monthly car exports have surged to 1.5 units, surpassing Changan for the first time and entering the ranks of the top three importers and exporters.

Of these 15,000 vehicles, 12,000 are new energy vehicles, and more than 10,000 of them were exported to Europe.

Currently, Europe accounts for more than 50% of new energy vehicle exports, mainly from SAIC MG, BYD, and Weilai, with SAIC and Weilai having the largest export volumes.

This year, BYD has begun to open up overseas export channels with its self-designed Han series. In the domestic B-class sedan market, the competition among the Han EV series, ET5, and Maodou 3 has become increasingly fierce.

The Han EV and Han DM series sold a total of 10105 units. The Maodou 3's sales fell below 10,000 units in May due to the April auto show incident. The Weilai ET5, on the other hand, achieved sales of more than 9700 units thanks to its pure electric version.

Compared to the Han series, the ET5, which only has a pure electric model, is somewhat weak in the fiercely competitive market. However, even so, Weilai has no plans to develop a hybrid version of the ET5.

In addition to these three, the competition in the B-segment sedan market is far more extensive. The newly launched Xiaopeng P7 is quite competitive, selling 3800 units in a single month, while the latest-launched Jike 001 has also sold 2000 units.

Both of these models have the potential to become bestsellers. In addition to the entry of Xiaopeng and Geely, there are also brands such as BMW and Hongqi that have a certain degree of competitiveness. As for the new forces, Li Bing's newly released Wenjie R5 has also received good pre-orders.

Li Bing is quite impressive when it comes to playing with concepts. The Wenjie R5 claims to use a solid-state battery and will be mass-produced in 2022. Coupled with their battery swapping stations, there are quite a few people willing to pay for his promises.

Compared to the fiercely competitive B-segment sedan market, the Exeed S01 is unrivaled in the A-segment sedan market.

In May, Exeed S01 delivered 15127 units in a single month, and the order volume has been scheduled until October of this year. Without adding production lines, it can be said that Exeed S01's production capacity for this year has been fully utilized.

If we include the 5268 Aion S deliveries this month, the Aion S, with monthly deliveries exceeding 20,000 units, has seized BYD's former leading position in the A-class car market, especially in the 100,000 to 200,000 yuan price range, from latecomer to leader.

With the Exeed S01 selling well, the combined deliveries of BYD Qin EV and Qin DM this month have been reduced to less than 10,000 units, with a cumulative total of 8651 units delivered. The Qin EV, which no longer has an advantage in terms of price and technology, has seen its sales further reduced to 3109 units.

Looking at the A-class sedan market, whether it's pure electric or plug-in hybrid, only the Exeed S01 has achieved a single-model delivery volume of over 10,000 units. Its advantage is currently unshakeable. To use the exaggerated language that self-media is used to, the emergence of the Exeed S01 means that BYD is not the only company that needs to worry.

In fact, BYD has already begun to react. The starting price of the Qin DM has been reduced to 10.58 yuan. Although the Qin EV is still resisting price reduction, its promotional slogans have already included a starting price of 10.58 yuan.

Billboards advertising the BYD Qin starting at 10.58 yuan are ubiquitous in subways, shopping malls, and public places across the country. This price is already the lowest in the country for A-class new energy vehicles, except for the ORA Good Cat.

The ORA Good Cat starts at 10.39 yuan, but this model, designed purely for female consumers, only sells about 2000 units per month and is not very competitive.

The Qin DM, with its hybrid powertrain, ultra-low fuel consumption, and ultra-low price, can't beat the Exeed S01 even if its price is reduced to the 100,000 yuan range, demonstrating the advantages of pure electric vehicles.

"Simply lowering prices is not the best approach. Qin EV's decision to stick to its price line and not blindly lower prices because of competitors' pricing is the right thing to do."

When Li Xiang, the newly appointed CEO of BYD, attended a public event in Europe, he also talked about the competitive relationship between BYD Qin EV and Exeed S01, and publicly expressed his support for Qin EV not to blindly lower its price.

Whether you call Li Xiang cunning or say this is his or Wei Lai's viewpoint, the reality is that the car market, as a major consumer product, is quite magical. On the one hand, consumption is downgrading, but on the other hand, consumers seem to buy cars without hesitation.

This year, sales of new energy vehicles have surged not only in China but also globally, with records being set one after another. Where did these sales figures come from?
Don't assume that all foreigners are rich or that their consumption habits are different. The poor economic environment is a global phenomenon, and foreigners also have to be careful with their money. On the one hand, there is a downgrading of consumption, but on the other hand, car sales are frequently breaking records, which is quite magical.

It is clear that car sales are not solely driven by price. When a car becomes a bestseller and continues to be favored by consumers, price becomes less important. The Qin series is a successful example of this.

If a brand blindly lowers its price simply because a threatening model is launched, it will damage the brand's image and be unfair to existing car owners.

Of course, it's not true that Li Xiang didn't set a trap for BYD. With competitors holding them back, BYD will have to be more cautious about pricing. Li Xiang's first shot in office was aimed at BYD.

On June 15, Li Xiang, who was in Europe, officially announced that Weilai Automobile Group and Ford Motor Company had reached a strategic agreement, and the Saar Louis plant would usher in a new era of electrification.

The acquisition of Ford's German plant by Weilai has entered a new phase.

(End of this chapter)