2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 420 6000 million, given away for free!
For the second year in a row, they've pulled off a big stunt, and it's getting bigger and bigger each time.

During the largest electric vehicle exhibition in China, there are countless exhibitors, and news spreads much faster than usual. Moreover, larger companies have public opinion monitoring capabilities, and the level of importance they attach to the exhibition is even higher.

Unlike last year, when Flash's sneak attack only targeted ChipSun and other manufacturers just watched from the sidelines, this year's extravagant marketing tactic is aimed at all competitors.

"I'm not targeting you personally, I'm saying everyone here is trash!"

That night, countless electric vehicle manufacturers couldn't sleep. A lithium battery-powered two-wheeled electric vehicle could be purchased for as little as 700 yuan, although this was only for the first batch of 3.8 Flashcar buyers.

In terms of sales volume, 3.8 units are not enough to have any impact on other medium-sized and larger manufacturers in today's booming market, but that's only 700 yuan!

For 700 yuan, you can buy a brand new lithium-ion electric vehicle with no downgrades. Even if you only sell 380 units, let alone 3.8, that would be an incredibly impressive marketing feat.

It's truly unprecedented in any industry to allocate over 6000 million yuan to subsidize users without any barriers to entry.

No other company is this extravagant.

Spending 600 million yuan in real money on marketing subsidies would be enough to brag about for a year, but this whole thing is just too much. With Flash's marketing prowess, you can imagine how explosive it must be.

This is truly a game-changer. From now on, whenever consumers buy an electric car, their first impression will definitely be of Flash Motors, which is spending a whopping 6000 million yuan to subsidize users' car purchases.

Even if you follow suit now, the brand marketing effect you can achieve is very limited.

Unless you can come up with more money and a better reason.

"Damn it, even if we took a hundred million, it wouldn't be effective. What reason do you have to promote this? This little bastard says it's to thank users for helping him start his business. We've been established for so many years, what are you thanking them for?"

This reason is something that other companies, especially those established in the early 2000s, simply cannot replicate. Back then, if you bought an electric car, you were lucky if they gave you a receipt. Who would bother keeping this thing? The car might not even exist anymore.

So even if you want to jump on the bandwagon and ride the wave of popularity, copying the entire plan won't work. Besides, bosses rarely have that kind of willingness to spend; marketing is a tough business.

Damn, the marketing director at Flashpoint is having the time of his life. With such a generous boss, how could the marketing plan not be easy to come up with?

What could be more impressive than spending real money on marketing?

That night, none of the electric vehicle manufacturers slept well. The staff who participated in the exhibition went to work the next day with panda eyes, and those who were far away from the Flash Motors booth stared resentfully in the direction of the Flash Motors booth.

The situation was even more frustrating in the area near the Flash booth.

Their exhibition area had been very busy these past two days, and we could occasionally catch a few visitors. But after what they did last night, the company's senior management couldn't sit still anymore, and it was the lower-level staff who suffered.

All night, the manufacturers were thinking of ways to deal with the situation. It wasn't that they were afraid that Flash would take away all their market share—the market was so big that Flash's production capacity couldn't possibly take it all—but that once consumers had the impression that Flash was the best, then no matter what they did in the future, the effect would be much worse.

The act of sending 6000 million to users has had a huge impact.

Firstly, leading manufacturers like ChipOne are having a major headache. These leading manufacturers are more concerned about their brand image, as consumers' impressions of the brand image directly impact the market.

The 6000 million yuan investment will greatly increase the goodwill of Flash Motors among consumers and enhance its brand image. On the other hand, Flash Motors' method of exchanging discount coupons for lithium battery models will also affect the production plans of manufacturers.

The 3.8 lithium battery vehicles offered at low prices act as a lever to stimulate the market. With these 3.8 vehicles and the purchasing power of people who are curious about lithium batteries, the promotion of lithium battery vehicles will definitely be much faster.

This year marks the first year of promoting lithium battery-powered vehicles, and manufacturers are generally being quite conservative, with limited promotional efforts.

To put it bluntly, the cost is too high, the profit is limited, and there may even be losses. Lead-acid battery technology is mature, the cost is lower, and it is so profitable that many manufacturers are unwilling to sacrifice production capacity to vigorously promote lithium battery-powered vehicles.

In terms of lithium battery cost, Flash has a significant advantage over other manufacturers. Firstly, they started planning their lithium battery research and development in cooperation with key institutions more than a year ago. In addition, Flash also holds shares in contract manufacturers.

With its own technology and its own contract manufacturers, Flashcar has a cost advantage that is lower than any other electric vehicle manufacturer. Therefore, Flashcar dares to do this and dares to use 6000 million to smash the market.

Other companies, even Chipone, wouldn't dare to do this. They don't have these advantages; they have to purchase lithium batteries from manufacturers, which puts too much pressure on their costs.

With 60 million invested, the company is likely to lose at least 100 million a year on lithium batteries, which greatly impacts its profits. Since Xinri has plans to go public, they are very concerned about profit margins.

Leading manufacturers are relatively better off, as they have their own defensive capabilities. However, for the small workshops at the bottom, this move by Flash Motors is truly fatal. Not only do they lack the capacity to produce lithium-ion battery vehicles, but in an era of increasingly strict regulations on non-compliant electric vehicles, their survival is already precarious; vehicles in the thousand-yuan price range are their only means of survival.

These models are primarily marketed as inexpensive, and while the materials used are generally average, there is still some profit margin. Large manufacturers, concerned about their reputation, don't value this segment of the market, thus creating a space for small workshops to survive.

Now, the Flash is using this promotional method, offering a price as low as 700 yuan to shake up the market, which is quite a blow to models in the thousand-yuan price range.

The number of vehicles deployed is not large, but often a change in quantity can trigger a terrifying qualitative change.

Consumers are naturally inclined to seek bargains. If Flash Motors can fully refund the first year's purchase price, then there's a possibility of a second refund. In the future, whenever Flash Motors launches a new model, as long as the price is right, it will become a popular choice in the market.

What if they refund it in the future? Right?
While causing a major shock in the industry, the news of Flash's refund to consumers also spread rapidly among consumers. This was in 2007, an era when inflation had not yet fully taken hold, and the purchasing power of 100 yuan was roughly equivalent to 590 yuan in 2023.

More than 6000 million yuan, which is equivalent to about 4 million yuan in 2023, is incredibly shocking.

Even disregarding inflation, the more than 6000 million yuan in refunds proactively given to consumers in 2023 would be enough to dominate the trending topics list for several days.

"Holy crap, Boss Tan is not only generous to his employees, but also to his consumers. He just threw out more than 6000 million yuan."

"Damn it, my monthly salary is only a little over a thousand yuan. I don't even dare to dream of sixty thousand. I really don't understand the world of the rich. They can just throw away more than half a billion yuan like that."

"Tsk tsk tsk, the first batch of users who bought Flash Electric cars are lucky. Damn it, I didn't choose Flash because I hated Brother Chun. I didn't expect Boss Tan to play this trick on us. Is it too late for me to regret it now?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, I wonder how the user who threw away the invoice is feeling now. 2000 yuan just disappeared like that."

There are still two days left in the Labor Day holiday. Although most employees of private companies will not be able to enjoy the full seven-day holiday, it does not stop Chinese people from immersing themselves in the holiday atmosphere.

What do people do during holidays? Travel, party, binge-watch TV series, play games and gossip. It's the same in any era. On the last two days of the holiday, Flash dropped a bombshell worth over 6000 million yuan into the market.

This has spurred the entire industry and all consumers to action. Media outlets from all walks of life rushed to the scene upon hearing that the president of Flash Group was still attending an electric vehicle exhibition in Shanghai, hoping to get firsthand information.

Zhou Ao, the marketing director of Flashpoint, has been receiving a barrage of calls. He has changed the battery twice, but it is still dead. Online media, print media, and even marketing colleagues are all asking about the details.

Local governments connected with Flashlink were also shocked. They said they had never seen anything like this before, as businesses were involved in marketing, and it was the first of its kind in China.

For the first time, the popularity of two-wheeled electric vehicles has surpassed that of automobiles, topping the headlines of major media outlets and ranking first in real-time Baidu hot search terms.

Kaixin.com

To coincide with FlashTech's major promotional event, a special section was created for the first batch of car buyers to upload pictures of their invoices for interactive purposes, and the section has remained consistently popular.

Who could refuse such a smug offer of getting 2000 yuan for free?
Offline directly operated stores and primary distributors cooperated with the marketing department to hang up banners that read, "6118 million yuan, given away for free!"

It's simple and straightforward. Although this freebie can't be exchanged for cash, who cares?

Meanwhile, just like last time, promotional slogans have been put up for free on buses, bus stops, and tourist attractions in major cities.

In less than two days, Flashpoint Technology's reputation was propelled to a whole new level.

Not long ago, people were questioning the financial situation of FlashDrive, but in less than a month, Tan Jincheng not only used the moral high ground to beat up these so-called experts who dared to speak out.

Furthermore, with an unprecedented marketing strategy, they not only gained great favor with consumers but also refuted previous questions about their cash flow.

Didn't you say I had no money? I have plenty!

6000 million yuan was just thrown away like water. I'm asking you if you have the money!

At Kingsoft headquarters, a middle-aged man going through the resignation process stared at a news report about FlashDrive on his computer, lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)