2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 1060 "Crisis Public Relations for Tan Sales"

“BYD has the Cloud Chariot, and we have the Star Chariot. There’s no need to belittle ourselves.”

In just one quarter, Wynn increased its market share in the new energy vehicle market by nearly ten percentage points, but companies including BYD and Geely are also expanding their market share at an extraordinary pace.

On April 10, BYD released its Cloud Carriage system, an intelligent vehicle body control system. Its working logic can be simply described as perception, decision-making, and control, forming a high-level closed loop.

To put it simply, through the Cloud Carriage system, BYD can control the entire car in a way similar to controlling a computer, making the car more intelligent, which is currently a high-end technology.

BYD will first equip this system on their newly released high-end model, the Yangwang U8, which has a pre-sale price of over one million yuan, making it the most expensive mass-produced model among domestic brands.

However, the most expensive electric car in the world is from Lotus. Lotus has a limited-edition electric supercar, the EVija, which is known for its cool appearance and extreme specifications. Only 130 units were sold worldwide, and the price exceeded 2000 million yuan, making it the most expensive mass-produced pure electric vehicle in the world.

In addition, Lotus's electric SUVs are also priced high, maintaining consistency with high-end models from brands such as Porsche, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, which can be considered one of Lotus's flagship products.

Lotus's overall prices are relatively high, and I personally don't have much interest in models priced over a million. However, there are still three models in the ES and ET series that haven't been launched yet.

In the ES series, there will be a higher-priced model, but it will not exceed one million.

Looking up and riding the cloud-borne vehicle garnered significant attention in early April. Short videos of the U8 spinning around circulated across various social media platforms. BYD showcased its capabilities in a unique way, demonstrating its technology and high-end ambitions.

For a long time, BYD has been suppressed by Tesla in terms of both sales and technological breakthroughs. Its low-end brand image has also been a thorn in BYD's side. From Han to Yangwang, BYD has been trying to change its brand image.

Last year, BYD's sales surpassed Tesla's, making it the world's second-largest new energy vehicle company. This excited everyone at BYD. Now, the only obstacle standing in their way is Wei.

"That's how technology works. Once one company makes a breakthrough, it's not difficult for others to follow suit."

At the beginning of the year, at the celebration and press conference, Weilai released its own Star Control System and Star Quadrant Platform. A few months later, BYD's Cloud Carriage System and Yi Sifang Platform were launched. The time difference of a few months between the two represents their respective moats in the field of technology.

StarDrive vs. Cloud Carriage, Star Quadrant vs. Easy Four Directions are all explorations based on a brand-new intelligent vehicle architecture. They are not independent products, but a product family. Taking the StarDrive system as an example, it includes four product forms, each covering different price ranges of vehicles.

The new platform places greater emphasis on security.

"BYD is a nice-sounding name, and it suits their language design approach quite well."

"It feels closer to the chrysanthemum than the chrysanthemum one."

The technological breakthroughs in intelligent vehicles have led to major automakers using increasingly elaborate and colorful naming conventions for their technologies. Companies like BYD, Chrysanthemum, and Geely are using names inspired by traditional culture and mythology.

BYD's Cloud Carriage, Yi Sifang and their intelligent driving system renamed Eye of the Gods, Geely's Thor, Haohan and such naming conventions, while Chrysanthemum is the entire Classic of Mountains and Seas.

These naming methods alone have generated a lot of online buzz. Regardless of how much people criticize them, they have indeed increased traffic and improved brand exposure.

In terms of naming, Weilai differs somewhat from companies like Geely, BYD, and Chrysanthemum, emphasizing technology and a futuristic feel, with an overall celestial theme. Among a series of naming systems, it stands out as unique.

Shanghai International Auto Show, April 18.

As the first global A-class auto show after the full opening, it served as a stage for domestic car brands to completely transform from followers to leaders, generating a constant stream of topics and hot news.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is our brand new ES6, which is based on the Star Drive system and the Star Limit Platform. This is our first pure electric SUV, and it has been more than ten years since then. The sales volume is quite good so far."

"The dual-motor four-wheel drive system has a total power output of 360KW, a peak torque of 700NM, and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 4.5 seconds. The power battery uses lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary batteries produced by Jinxin Times, with three battery modes to choose from."

CEOs or global executive teams from multinational automakers such as Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota made a collective appearance at the exhibition area. Volkswagen Group CEO Jürgen Obermu and others looked serious, while elites from around the world pointed and commented on the ES6.

"Tan, has this car been on the market for over ten years? What are its current sales figures? I mean globally."

Omubo was somewhat surprised. Weilai is the most popular new energy vehicle company in recent years, and its popularity has surpassed that of Tesla. In particular, their leader is only 38 years old, making him the youngest leader and founder in the global manufacturing industry.

Tan Jincheng, who owns three major conglomerates, is currently close in wealth to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer and India's richest man, Abbani, firmly holding the title of China's richest man and ranking second in Asia.

"Yes, if we look at the timeline, this model can be traced back to 2009. It has been more than 14 years since it was designed, and it has been on the market for more than ten years. It is one of our most classic models."

The CEO of Volkswagen may know about the company, but it's normal that he might not know much about a specific model.

"As for sales, after last year's price adjustment, this model has been able to stabilize at an average of 8000 to 10,000 units per month. Oh, by the way, its starting price is 300,800 yuan."

At this year's Shanghai Auto Show, new energy vehicles were the absolute stars, while gasoline-powered cars were almost ignored. All the spotlights were on new energy vehicles, and the booths of domestic brands were packed with people, while some traditional joint venture gasoline car booths were deserted.

The stark contrast between their current situation and their current predicament has forced these multinational corporations to humble themselves and learn about the technology of domestically produced new energy vehicles. This is the second group of multinational visitors that Tan Jincheng has received today.

Before them, Tan Jincheng had already received a group of Middle Eastern tycoons. These tycoons had a strong interest in high-tech new energy vehicles, moving between the various brand exhibition areas and inquiring about product features and export policies.

The ES and L series from Weilai are both mid-to-large SUVs, which perfectly suit the tastes of these wealthy people. In particular, the L series, a hybrid model, is very suitable for their usage scenarios.

Under Tan Jincheng's persuasion, the white-robed men from Dubai ordered a total of more than 100 ES8 and L9 vehicles. Tan Jincheng had already experienced the extravagant spending ability of these white-robed tycoons at the Canton Fair years ago.

It wasn't just Wei Lai who ordered over 100 of BYD's newly launched Yangwang U8, priced at over 1 million yuan. Boatman couldn't stop smiling. Even without considering the increased price due to tariffs and other factors, just based on the domestic price, that's over 100 million yuan in revenue.

"Its interior is beautiful, and its exterior design is very high-tech. The fact that it has been a bestseller for more than 10 years speaks to its excellence. It is a model that is very worthy of study."

After experiencing the ES6, Toyota executives gave it considerable praise. A model with a starting price of 300,000 yuan that can guarantee monthly sales of 8000 to 10,000 units is at a top-tier level.

It is quite rare for a new energy vehicle to maintain its market popularity for more than ten years after its launch. Currently, the only models on the market that can be compared with the ES6 are a few Tesla models.

The ES6 is not Weilai's most classic model, nor is it its best-selling model, but it is certainly Weilai's most important model. If Weilai ever builds its own car museum, the ES6 will definitely be placed in a prominent position.

Volkswagen executives were arguably the "hardest working students" at this year's auto show. They spent a long time in the W8 booth, observing and studying the ES and L series models, and even lying down to examine the chassis.

The price war at the beginning of the year has not yet subsided. Although the auto show is a stage to showcase technology, all car companies have felt enormous cost pressure and the cruelty of market competition. Survival has become a consensus among many executives.

It was the price war launched by the three giants of new energy vehicles that shocked gasoline vehicle companies for the first time. Compared with the first quarter of last year, the market share of gasoline vehicles dropped by 21.8 percentage points in the first quarter of this year.

Even with significant price cuts, they couldn't turn the tide. The three German luxury brands (BBA) can still maintain a certain market share by projecting a high-end image, but for Toyota and Volkswagen, which focus on the mass consumer market in China, this is quite painful.

Toyota has global sales to support it, so it is not as dependent on the domestic car market. Volkswagen is different; both FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC-Volkswagen are very important to the entire Volkswagen Group.

"So, how many cars did you sell? Pretty good sales today, right?"

"Haha, not bad. Just like you said, these Middle Eastern tycoons are really generous. They don't even ask about the price."

The opening day was incredibly busy for Tan Jincheng and Boatman. Batch after batch of international clients and visiting groups arrived, and Tan Jincheng spent almost the entire day at the Weilai exhibition area, constantly introducing the various models.

Ordinary consumers and influential figures attending the exhibition, unable to squeeze into the various luxury car booths, simply started filming Boss Tan, and the video of Tan Jincheng enthusiastically introducing the car spread all over the internet.

Netizens jokingly called him the busiest "salesperson" at today's auto show. "That's right. When I attended the Canton Fair, I liked these people in white coats the most. As long as you provide them with enough emotional value, you don't even have to ask about the price."

"Is this why you've been so aggressively promoting the Middle East market this year?"

In the hotel restaurant late at night, Tan Jincheng and the boatman sat facing each other. This was the only time they were "relaxed". If you were to ask which car company boss was the busiest today, it would definitely be the two of them.

"Yes, BYD can speed things up in this regard, but let's agree that we shouldn't play the same game of infighting as in the domestic market in overseas markets."

During this year's auto show, Weilai organized nearly 5000 overseas guests and partners from over 30 countries and regions, setting a new record for the number of foreign faces. In addition to visiting the Weilai, Exeed, and Yuechi booths at the Shanghai Auto Show, they also organized visits to Weilai's headquarters and Luzhou Industrial Park, among other activities.

Weilai began to fully showcase itself to its global partners.

The boatman nodded: "That makes sense. There's no reason for our own industry to be cheaper for them."

Regarding companies going global, Tan Jincheng is most averse to internal strife. In the domestic market, you can engage in price wars without any problem, as the cheapest goods are always from your own people. But to play this game in the overseas market is not only unacceptable on an emotional level, but it also damages the brand image.

The internet today is not what it used to be; all sorts of news can now get through.

“We can differentiate our models to avoid direct competition. In addition, we can try to cooperate with overseas channels to reduce channel costs.”

If you want to make money, you have to do export business. The domestic market is too competitive and the profit is limited. The profit in the overseas market becomes a guarantee. Tan Jincheng's secret meeting with the boatman was also to discuss the distribution of the overseas market.

According to Tan Jincheng, domestic companies could secretly form an alliance for overseas exports, with each brand focusing on different price points, models, and even market segments to avoid direct competition.

Of course, this alliance must not be known to outsiders; it is limited to a few people. If it were to spread, it would cause a huge uproar.

"Yes, strictly speaking, apart from some overlap in price, our two companies' models don't have much direct competition. There's really no need to compete like this in overseas markets as we do in China."

BYD focuses on hybrid power, while Weilai is committed to pure electric and range-extended electric vehicles. If the domestic market were not so fiercely competitive, the two companies would not really be considered competitors.

"Then it's settled. I have to go to Luzhou tomorrow. I'll contact Mr. Li, and you can also let Mr. Yin know."

The boatman smiled and said, "Alright, get some rest. You must be tired today."

If the outside world knew what they were talking about during what seemed like an ordinary late-night snack, it would be hard to imagine the sensation it would cause. The reason for this decision was largely due to the price war.

In the price war, WTI and BYD worked in perfect harmony, with Tesla following closely behind. The three major automakers seized a large share of the gasoline vehicle market through a "cooperation" without prior communication, which can be described as a very successful "cooperation".

"I wouldn't say I'm exhausted, but I'm still very happy dealing with these big clients."

Tan Jincheng, who had already stood up, smiled and said that large-scale auto shows are not only a platform for technology display, but also a large-scale promotion stage. If major customers think the products are good, they will place orders directly.

"That's all for today. We can continue to communicate if anything happens. Are you going to Luzhou tonight?"

"Yes, let's rest when we get to Luzhou. A few more hours won't make a difference."

This year's Shanghai Auto Show lasts for ten days, and his schedule is very tight during these ten days. After appearing at the auto show today, he will be shuttling between Luzhou, Ningbo and Zhangjiagang in the following days, without stopping for a moment.

After a long journey of several hours, Tan Jincheng arrived in Luzhou at 5 a.m. He fell asleep immediately and woke up at noon on the 19th.

He was awakened by a series of chaotic cell phone rings. It was Qin Zhi calling, and his voice sounded somewhat hurried.

"Boss, something happened."

Still somewhat sleepy and groggy, Tan Jincheng asked, "What happened?"

"Let me briefly explain. Something happened at the MINI booth. Apparently, two sales staff treated attendees differently when distributing ice cream. I've already sent the video to Assistant Zhao's phone; please take a look."

"This incident was captured by a prominent online figure and uploaded to the internet, where it has already gained considerable attention."

The Shanghai Auto Show, packed with people, also attracted a large number of self-media outlets. The era of self-media has reshaped the communication model of auto shows, with self-media outlets of all sizes transforming from information disseminators into ecosystem co-builders.

Simply put, a top influencer can influence the sales of a car model or even a brand. Their influence is so great that even large car companies dare not ignore them.

"What did BMW say? Have they responded?"

Upon hearing the word "ice cream," Tan Jincheng snapped back to reality. He vaguely remembered this incident from his previous life; its impact was no less than Tesla's customer rights protest at the auto show years ago, and it dominated the trending topics on major platforms for several consecutive days.

If he were an ordinary person, he probably wouldn't have overlooked this matter, but he was too busy with his daily life and had long forgotten about it.

"There has been no response from BMW yet, which is why I'm calling you to avoid affecting our own brand. Could you please suggest a response strategy from Wei Lai?"

Qin Zhi had no choice but to be anxious. Crisis management has a golden four hours. If a response strategy is quickly developed within four hours of an incident, the initiative can be taken.

MINI is selling well these days and is even available for sale on the Weilai APP, which is inextricably linked to Weilai.

Qin Zhi was truly furious. He was determined to make a name for himself at Weichi Power and be transferred back to Weichi, but these two salespeople were simply obstacles in his career.

It's just an ice cream, you think you'll get rich by keeping it?

"Damn it, what a bunch of incompetent teammates! Forget about BMW for now. You guys need to issue a statement as the owners of Weichi Power. You must adopt a proper attitude. Remember, don't try to shift the blame. Admit your mistakes, admit your mistakes, admit your mistakes, understand?"

Zhao Xinyi hadn't arrived yet, but Tan Jincheng had already found the specific video content on his other phone.

"You must immediately express your high level of concern and your absolute disapproval of this, and avoid giving it the cold shoulder. You must first issue a sincere apology statement, and I will have my public relations department cooperate with you."

"Oh, by the way, don't try to delete the video, okay?"

BMW's public relations in China have always been disastrous, even worse than Tesla's arrogant behavior back then. With such a partner, Tan Jincheng doesn't expect them to do anything in terms of public relations.

Weilai's current task is to distance itself from the company and minimize the impact on the Weilai brand.

"Alright, go ahead and make the arrangements. Remember to be sincere in admitting your mistake. I'll contact Zhou Ao right now."

"Okay, I understand. I'll arrange it right away."

After receiving a positive reply from Tan Jincheng, Qin Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't care whether the BMW brand was affected or not; he was just afraid that this oversight would affect the Weilai brand, and then he would be the one to suffer.

"Old Zhou, you saw the MINI incident, right? Have the online army steer the conversation towards BMW, and do everything possible to avoid getting involved with us. Also, come up with a public relations crisis strategy and give it to Qin Zhi. It should be a plan based on BMW's ZG thinking. You two discuss the specifics."

(End of this chapter)