2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 1083 "Slapped in the face!"

"haven't seen you for a long time."

"It's been a long time indeed."

In the golden autumn of October, Weilai achieved another victory, with monthly deliveries of new energy vehicles exceeding 40 units for the first time in September, continuing to break the record for monthly sales of new energy vehicles globally.

The unipolar world order with multiple strong powers has been firmly established.

"The flow of water is not about being first, but about being continuous. Weilai's future strategy will no longer be to deliberately pursue absolute sales growth, but to view future development in a sustainable development model."

In September, WILI achieved many good results, occupying a dominant position in multiple niche markets, especially by directly penetrating BYD's core market. WILI can be said to have undergone a qualitative change.

But the good news from Weilai doesn't stop there. The biggest manifestation of this is the change in the secondary capital market. Starting from September 24, the A-share market, which had been dormant for many years, finally showed a strong upward trend.

In five trading days, Weilai's stock price surged 33.84%, and in September as a whole, it rose by more than 36%. Amid calls for a bull market, Weilai's market value soared to 2.18 trillion yuan on the last trading day of September.

With a total market capitalization surpassing traditional financial giants such as Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank, ranking fourth in the A-share market, ahead of Weilai are China Mobile, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Kweichow Moutai. The market capitalization of ICBC and Moutai, at 2.2 trillion yuan, poses no challenge to Weilai.

Currently, China Mobile, the A-share market with the highest market capitalization at 2.35 trillion yuan, is only about eight percent away. Whether the bull market has arrived is unknown, but the market capitalization of Weilai Shares, which has been discussed for several years, has exceeded two trillion yuan, which has officially arrived.

"Having achieved so many excellent results and already firmly established yourself among the top five globally, haven't you ever thought about going even further?"

Breaking global sales records for new energy vehicles, during the National Day holiday, a time of universal celebration, Wei Lai had to do something. As the founder, he could no longer remain "low-key" and needed to say something.

Since leaving Xingtu S01, Tan Jincheng has been active on the internet, but apart from the Two Sessions in March this year, he has rarely appeared in public. Even on Douyin, where he is relatively active, his frequency has greatly decreased.

This appearance on National Day was somewhat of a coincidence, as his old friend Liu Yifei was the one who was responsible for his face-to-face conversation with him.

Speaking of which, this person is quite unlucky. Not long after being officially announced as the MINI EV spokesperson, she encountered the ice cream incident, which triggered a huge public opinion crisis. During the ice cream incident, her Weibo account was also heavily criticized, which had a significant impact on her image.

Correspondingly, this endorsement became useless. At the time, Tan Jincheng was busy dealing with the public opinion crisis and didn't pay attention to her, which was quite embarrassing to admit.

Afterwards, Tan Jincheng promised her that if there was an opportunity, he would let her collaborate with Wei Lai's main brand, and now that opportunity has come.

On National Day, Weilai officially announced Liu Yifei as its brand ambassador.

"In the future automotive industry, it will either be giants or bankruptcies. Of course, Weilai has ideas to go further, but at present, we do not have the strength to do so."

If 50 to 100 million vehicles is a major hurdle, then 500 million to 1000 million vehicles is an insurmountable barrier for automakers; the difficulty of the two is on completely different levels.

"Mr. Tan, are you referring to sales of 1000 million vehicles?"

"Yes."

Tan Jincheng found it somewhat amusing. If the timeline were ten years earlier, he might have burst out laughing right now. The two of them were clearly old friends, but they were acting like they were reciting lines.

She doesn't know anything about sales figures.

"On a side note, it's been almost 20 years since we started working together. How is this collaboration with Wei Lai different from what we did 20 years ago?"

Liu Yifei may have realized that the mechanical question-and-answer format was a bit awkward, so she asked a question that wasn't in the script.

"What's different from 20 years ago?"

Tan Jincheng asked in return, then laughed and said, "The endorsement fee must be even more expensive now."

Twenty years ago, in 2005, Liu Yifei was a household name on the small screen, holding the rights to popular IPs such as "The Golden Powder," "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," "The Return of the Condor Heroes," and the upcoming "Chinese Paladin." At that time, Tan Jincheng and Shan Chi were both unknown.

Securing the cooperation opportunity by paying a one-time fee of 2700 million yuan, thus securing Flash's popularity for the next ten years, can be considered a gamble by Tan Jincheng. At that time, 2700 million yuan was an astronomical figure for Tan Jincheng and Flash, which was pieced together from various sources.

However, it was a very worthwhile deal. The combination of Chun Ge, Liu Yifei, and Zhou Pangzi ensured the sales of Flash Motors two-wheeled electric vehicles in the early stages and also increased the brand's national recognition. It has to be said that back then, betting on a superstar was like subscribing to an IPO, with obvious returns.

Xiao Tan, the boss with a bug, has made three highly cost-effective endorsements, leaving behind a marketing legend in the two-wheeled electric vehicle industry. These three endorsements are now considered classic marketing cases.

"However, compared to 20 years ago, we are both much more at ease this time."

The positive public perception and international image of WILAY perfectly align with WILAY's current technological and aesthetic positioning, and are also part of WILAY's global promotion. Currently, WILAY has a significant presence in the Middle Eastern market, and its collaborations with Middle Eastern airlines and its endorsements as tourism ambassadors are highly compatible with its promotional efforts.

Her commercial value has increased rather than decreased over 20 years, which is unique in the entertainment industry, especially for female stars.

Judging from the current situation, there probably won't be any more female celebrities in the entertainment industry with such commercial value. Every few years, a new batch of them comes and goes, and the speed of iteration is comparable to that of a trolley.

"Is it expensive?"

Liu Yifei raised an eyebrow. This guy was still as "stingy" as he was 20 years ago. From being the spokesperson for MINI EV to becoming the brand ambassador for Weilai, the endorsement fees she actually received were not high; they could be considered a friendly price.

She could charge a premium for endorsements from international luxury brands or tech giants, but she didn't charge a premium for her collaboration with Wei Lai; of course, compared to her endorsement fees 20 years ago, it was indeed much more expensive.

"Haha, just kidding. It's been a pleasure working with you. I hope you don't collapse, so we can work together for a few more years."

These days, a persona can't withstand scrutiny. It's not just celebrities; even entrepreneurs have all sorts of scandals. Their endorsement contracts are often for one or two years, or even just a few months—short-term collaborations.

"That's more like it. Let's get back to the main topic and move on to the next one. The newly launched ET9 has broken Mr. Tan's previous pricing system for Weilai. Why is that?"

In addition to being the brand ambassador for Weilai, Liu Yifei is also endorsing a specific Weilai model: the ET9, which will begin delivery in April 2025. This is the flagship model of Weilai's E series and the last model in the ET series.

"Isn't this a slap in the face?"

"Okay, it was indeed a slap in the face, but not really. According to the traditional automotive manufacturing industry, to become a top-tier luxury brand, successfully launching a D-segment sedan is an important milestone."

“Weilai once launched the ET9 model, but strictly speaking, neither the three-electric technology nor the intelligent driving solution could be considered successful at that time. Now our technology is very mature, so we want to prove that we have luxury genes.”

"Of course, it is also related to the current market competition. As for the pricing system, as the flagship model of the Weilai, its price is a level higher, which does not conflict with our concept of making technology accessible to all."

This face-to-face interview can actually be seen as a warm-up for the new ET9 from Weilai. The reason why Liu Yifei's team was willing to accept the cooperation with Weilai at a "friendship price" is that they are actually interested in the Weilai ET9.

As the brand's flagship model, it is the most expensive vehicle in the entire Lotus lineup, apart from the Lotus all-electric sports car. It is also a model packed with cutting-edge technology and has broken many industry records.

On the ET9, Weilai made a change that had never been done before: it launched both pure electric and range-extended electric versions at the same time.

According to Tan Jincheng's idea, one high-priced model is enough. The ET9 is the flagship model of the company and the top-priced model. With a body length of 5.4 meters and a wheelbase of 3.3 meters, it is positioned as a large luxury executive sedan.

With a starting price of 68.8 yuan and a maximum price of 88.8 yuan, there are a total of four models. Wei Lai now has his own million-yuan luxury car.

The main reason for changing their minds and relaunching a million-yuan luxury car is that the current market competition is too fierce. When BYD launched the Yangwang, Weilai could not care. When the Hongtu X9 was priced at over 50 yuan, creating a sales record for models priced over 50 yuan, Weilai could not care either.

However, if Chrysanthemum and JAC collaborate to launch a million-yuan luxury car, and they do not take action, but instead stubbornly stick to their previous stance of not launching a million-yuan luxury car, then they will be trapping themselves in their own web.

For entrepreneurs, telling a few small lies now and then is perfectly reasonable, right?
The success of Seres has led almost all models that collaborate with JAC to adopt the Smart Selection mode. Among them, the million-yuan luxury car in cooperation with JAC is the most controversial, with most of the jokes being that they are not optimistic about JAC and this model.

Jianghuai, the darling of Anhui Province, has been showered with resources for decades, but the result is that it's getting worse year by year. Forget about million-dollar luxury cars, they can't even build models priced over 20 yuan.

However, no matter how bad JAC Motors is, it's still better than Xiaokang Motors back then, right?
Tan Jincheng is not worried about collaborating with a powerful car company to launch a million-yuan luxury car, because it would prevent both sides from fully utilizing their resources and each would have their own agenda regarding control.

With Li Bing revoking the contract manufacturing rights and JAC Motors nearly starving, isn't their current situation just like that of Xiaokang Motors back then? At this point, survival is the most important thing; as for control, it's completely unimportant.

As long as you give Big Mouth a stage to fully showcase his talents and don't cause him trouble, he will definitely create surprises, just like Seres back then.

Currently, the fierce battle between BYD and Geely in the high-end brand image field has put a lot of pressure on Weilai. Meanwhile, Geely, which has developed rapidly in the past two years and is learning from BYD's experience, should not be underestimated either. Tan Jincheng believes that their luxury electric vehicle will also be launched soon.

Brand power will be the main direction of future competition. Whoever becomes the number one domestic luxury brand will dominate profits.

"We have incorporated a lot of cutting-edge technology into the ET9, which has broken several world records. It is also equipped with high-end chips developed by our own WILTECH Semiconductor, which is a demonstration of WILTECH's technological prowess."

It's a tradition for automakers to flex their muscles with high-end models. Speaking of the ET9, it can be said that it incorporates the most advanced electric vehicle technology that it had mastered at the time. It features the world's first digital platform with AI integrated into chassis control, a chassis system with rear-wheel steering and fully active suspension, supports stable control after a tire blowout, and provides a smooth experience with zero nose-dive and zero-sag.

With its top-of-the-line intelligent cockpit and standard high-level intelligent driving features across the entire range, plus the pre-installed L3 autonomous driving, WILER can be said to have applied all of its most advanced technologies in intelligent vehicles.

The three-electric system, safety features, interior and other standard features of luxury cars are all included. With experience in many high-end models, Wei Lai is not afraid of piling on features and parameters.

"I'm really looking forward to its official delivery. I wonder if Mr. Tan has any expectations for the sales of the ET9,"

"We don't have high expectations. As the brand's flagship, the strategic positioning of the ET9 is high-end and technological benchmark. Specific sales figures are not very meaningful. However, we have designed a production capacity of 2000 vehicles per month for the ET9, which will shorten the delivery cycle to two to three months."

Traditional luxury cars often follow the convention of waiting half a year after ordering. Weilai has broken this tradition. Although Tan Jincheng did not say that he had any expectations for sales, the production capacity plan of 2000 vehicles per month also shows Weilai's ambition.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei's eyes lit up. Before endorsing the ET9, she must have done a lot of research. In the million-level luxury car market, the sales volume of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Porsche and Land Rover Defender in 2023 was between 20,000 and 23,000 units.

The BMW 7 Series and Audi A8 are expected to sell between 12,600 and 11,400 units respectively. According to Weilai's production capacity plan, the annual sales target is set at over 10,000 units.

The two chatted for nearly two hours. During the conversation, Liu Yifei asked if the ET9 could satisfy such random questions when she felt stressed and wanted to drive fast. Tan Jincheng's answer was that she should obey traffic safety rules.

"Let's go home and have a meal."

Throughout the recording, both of them were quite relaxed. Towards the end, many of the questions were actually random, and some of them were even quite naive. Once they strayed from the script, Liu Yifei's true colors were revealed.

Liu Yifei readily agreed: "Okay, I also brought gifts for your family. Let me go get them."

"Okay, hurry up."

Tan Jincheng waited for about ten minutes before Liu Yifei came running over in a flurry. In October, Ningbo still had the lingering heat of late summer. The elegant star, who had just been wearing a gorgeous long dress, had now changed into a white sleeveless top and denim shorts.

"Do celebrities change clothes this quickly?"

Tan Jincheng looked her up and down, and asked with some curiosity, "You're over 30, but your outfit makes you look a bit like a young girl."

"Pretty much. Sometimes you need to change into many outfits on stage, but you can't let it affect the progress of the event. It's all from practice."

"Got it. Have your team coordinate the publicity later. Also, in the future, you must pay special attention to safety issues when participating in activities. Don't ask any naive questions like you did today."

"Vehicle safety is the core of all car manufacturers, and we must pay special attention to it."

Today's recording was a live broadcast. When the issue of driving fast came up, it startled Tan Jincheng. These days, netizens are extremely sensitive. If it were a self-media outlet, and the negative traffic were to guide the discussion, it would become another topic of discussion.

Liu Yifei rolled her eyes: "I know, you still have such a sharp tongue."

"Hehe, you should be secretly happy. I'm giving you face today. Look at me now, which celebrity have I ever attended an event with? It's hard for anyone to be sarcastic to me."

If it weren't for the brand's flagship product and Liu Yifei, he wouldn't even have a chance to attend such an event. Take the Exeed S01 for example; they said they were going to choose a spokesperson, and after going through a bunch of post-2000s celebrities, they didn't choose any of them, yet they still managed to get them to accept the offer.

"Yes, yes, yes, what goes around comes around."

Liu Yifei was nonchalant. When she came to Ningbo for events, she usually only brought one assistant. After arriving in Beicang, she sent the assistant away. She was very relaxed. In fact, she knew that if it weren't for their 20-year friendship, it would be very presumptuous of her to chat with Tan Jincheng like this, given his current status.

"Jinqin is already ten years old. Time really flies."

Liu Yifei suddenly sighed, and Tan Jincheng, who was focused on driving, was taken aback: "Yeah, she's already ten years old. You should have one soon. You can still have one, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue."

Tan Jincheng gave an awkward smile, and then the two fell silent for a while. Fortunately, the journey was not very long, and they soon arrived at Tan Jincheng's house.

On October 8th, the first working day after the National Day holiday, ET9, which had made its main appearance during the holiday, saw Tan Jincheng and Liu Yifei, former collaborators who were rumored to be dating, reunite for an interview after many years, which brought a surge of attention to the event.

"Is the bull market really here? This kind of surge is unacceptable!"

On the first working day after the holiday, the A-share market ushered in a historic rally, with major stock indices surging across the board, trading volume hitting a record high, and market sentiment extremely high. The stock price performance of Weilai Co., Ltd. on that day was even more exaggerated.

Weilai Co., Ltd., which opened at almost the daily limit, surged 18.7% that day, closing at 584.77 yuan, with a market value of 25706 trillion yuan, breaking its own market value record and setting a new record for A-share market value.

5029 stocks rose, 791 hit their daily limit, and only 291 fell. The A-share market has not seen such a trend for a long time, and the A-share market remained hot during the National Day holiday.

"That's about right, it's about time for it to go up."

Given the pattern of short bull markets and long bear markets in the A-share market, after several years of decline, the A-share market did indeed need a rebound under the economic conditions of that year, both in terms of market trends and policies.

If we start counting from September 24th, and considering that a bull market typically lasts about 12 to 15 months, Weilai's stock price will likely experience a period of continuous record highs over the next year.

"How many exactly? I'm really looking forward to it."

A full-blown bull market like the one in 2015 is definitely impossible, but the index will certainly need a boost, and how much it will be boosted is not something Tan Jincheng can decide.

In a peculiar market, anything can happen. In fact, apart from A-shares, Hong Kong stocks had already reacted in advance. Take Xiaomi, which ByteDance currently holds a large number of shares in, for example. From February to the end of September, the overall increase has exceeded 80%.

至10月8日，小米的股价已经恢复到两年前的2021年8月份水平了，港股的小朋汽车九月份暴涨66%，零跑九月份的涨幅也超过55%。

"Keep an eye on it; this wave could be an opportunity to reduce your holdings of some Xiaomi and Xiaopeng stocks."

This is a rare opportunity. After holding these shares for so many years, they are already fully tradable. With the market entering a stock market phase, it's time to make a move, especially with Xiaomi shares. This time, the company plans to reduce its holdings by 10 billion shares, bringing its total holdings down to 4.4 million shares.

"When does it begin?"

"Let's wait for their Ultra launch event and see how they hype it up. Then we'll get a production car to test it out and take it apart."

Xiaomi's production capacity is a major issue. If we include the SU7 Ultra, they will have two models to release in 2025. Recently, road test photos of their third model have started to be released, and judging from its appearance, it is an SUV.

Given their current marketing model, it goes without saying that the next two models will definitely have a lot of orders. However, if the production capacity can't keep up, it will all be for nothing. To produce three phenomenal products at the same time, Xiaomi needs to ensure a production capacity of 50,000 vehicles per month to support the rapid delivery of their orders.

Even by the minimum standard, a monthly production capacity of 30,000 vehicles is required; otherwise, a series of problems will arise, which will have a significant impact on its reputation.

"Boss Lei is screwing in screws, and we're selling stocks; hehe, that's how we make money."

It's not just Xiaomi; it's also time to reap the rewards from the holdings of other companies like Wenjie, Xiaopeng, and BYD.

(End of this chapter)