2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 612 A High-Profile Signing Ceremony
2009 1 Month 19 Day.

On the traditional Lunar New Year in southern China, Ningbo, an industrial city, was less bustling than usual, with significantly reduced traffic, a stark contrast to its usual scene.

The Sheraton Hotel, located on Caihong North Road in Jiangdong District, was bustling with activity from early morning.

"Make sure everything is well prepared, especially double-check the equipment. Today's exhibition is very important; many important people are coming, so we can't afford any mishaps."

Since its opening in 2006, the Sheraton Hotel has hosted many large-scale events, and they take each event very seriously.

These days, there aren't many micro-businesses. Anyone who can hold an event at a five-star hotel is quite powerful, and the hotel wouldn't dare to neglect them, especially since today's event is hosted by Ningbo's most popular entrepreneur this year.

The partner is a foreign company, and there are many high-level leaders coming. The province has even sent a high-ranking leader to participate, so we can't afford any mistakes.

Mitsubishi Group and Weilai Motors will officially sign a memorandum of understanding in Ningbo today, dropping a bombshell on the automotive industry in 2009.

Weilai Motors, which was established less than a year ago, was not taken seriously by anyone. Shanchi Group was making great strides in the electric vehicle field, but electric vehicles require technology that is completely incomparable to automobiles.

Initially, the automotive industry didn't really pay much attention to Tan Jincheng, this new player. Even Ying Jianren of Zhongtai, who had a partnership with Shanchi, didn't think that Tan Jincheng could make Weilai Auto successful in a short period of time.

To be honest, he was initially worried that Tan Jincheng would take over his Beicang branch, and there were indeed rumors that Tan Jincheng would take over the Beicang branch as the starting point for Weilai Motors.

To be honest, Boss Ying was quite panicked at the time. If Tan Jincheng really wanted to do that, it would be entirely feasible to join forces with the Beicang government.

The Zhongtai 2008 continued to sell very well, and the 2008EV version, developed in collaboration with Shanchi, was also launched. Although it was a hybrid of styles, it helped Zhongtai obtain a new energy vehicle license.

The boss's ability to act is still very strong. In addition, in 2008, they also acquired the production line of Mengdibolang and created Mengdibolang, which belongs to Zhongtai. The listing price was 13.88 yuan.

However, sales were not good. Brand upgrades are always painful. To be honest, the pricing is not competitive at all. The competition in the 10 to 15 yuan range is too fierce, and the Mondeo Braun does not have much of an advantage.

In less than a year, through mergers and acquisitions, equity investments, joint ventures and other means, Weilai Auto has developed its own parts supply system and a complete brand matrix chain. The speed of its development is surprising.

Now they've teamed up with Mitsubishi, which is a legitimate joint venture, not just some gimmick.

With its shares in this joint venture and the appeal of foreign brands in the domestic market over the years, Weilai Auto can now be considered a legitimate large-scale automaker.

Ying Jianren was familiar with Tan Jincheng's methods; wasn't this his usual routine of buying and buying? But he was also envious; this kid was too lucky and his methods were too clever.

Taking advantage of the government's strong support for mergers and acquisitions in the automotive industry, they acquired the crumbling Changfeng Automotive supply chain, creating a shell company for themselves and also getting involved with Mitsubishi.

"It's been a few months since I last saw you, Mr. Tan. You've become even more successful. I'm really looking forward to Wei's first car model."

As the year draws to a close, Boss Ying also needs to cultivate relationships and build connections. The operation of the Beicang factory is basically managed by his brother-in-law, but he, as the de facto boss, cannot ignore it.

The biggest problem with the M&A model is money. The establishment of Weilai Automobile has reduced Zhongtai's status in the eyes of the Beicang government to some extent. A godson is never as good as a biological son.

For the sake of future loan convenience, Ying Jianren also needs to come to Beicang to maintain their relationship.

"Not at all, I'm still a junior in the automotive industry and have a lot to learn from Mr. Ying and others. But I also hope that our first model will be launched soon."

Ying Jianren smiled slightly: "Was Weilai Auto's first model an SUV?"

"Yes, the competition in the SUV and sedan markets is too fierce; we simply can't compete."

Tan Jincheng honestly admitted it; there was nothing to hide. Judging from the acquisition direction, it was impossible to conceal from industry insiders. Using SUVs as a breakthrough point and the acquisitions were actually learning from the Zhongtai model.

There was nothing wrong with the initial peptide model; on the contrary, it was very worthwhile for new players who wanted to enter the industry to learn from it. Tan Jincheng had reason to believe that Ying Jianren was actually still thinking about making cars properly at this time.

However, their integration capabilities are too poor, and the models they acquired are too diverse, including all types, resulting in a very chaotic product line.

Tan Jincheng's idea was simple: learn from Zhongtai's start, use Mitsubishi's technology to gain a foothold in the gasoline car market, and there's no need to develop so many models. Just have a few models to sell and hold out until the era of new energy vehicles arrives.

"That's true. There's relatively less competition in the SUV market. When will these smaller companies finally get their turn?"

Ying Jianren checked his phone; it was already 9 o'clock. There was only half an hour left until the signing ceremony at 9:30. Most of our team members had arrived, but none of the representatives from Xiao Rizi had shown up yet.

"They should arrive on time. They always pride themselves on being polite and punctual, so I don't believe they would do anything underhanded in this regard."

Ying Jianren was there by chance. He was in Beicang and was originally scheduled to return to Yongkang today, but he accepted Tan Jincheng's invitation to be a guest of honor. After the ceremony, he immediately returned to Yongkang.

The old man was checking the time, probably worried that something might happen that would delay his trip.

"That seems to be true. I haven't heard any news about them being late many times."

It's hard to say anything more about Tan Jincheng. They are all public figures, and in the context of the global village, they can't express their emotions about their daily lives too obviously, as that would not be in line with political correctness.

Ying Jianren clearly understood this as well, and smiled without replying. While feelings towards other states might differ, the vast majority of people likely felt the same way about their daily lives.

At 9:20 a.m., the Mitsubishi delegation entered the venue.

The Mitsubishi delegation included members from China, but most came from their headquarters. Mitsubishi attaches great importance to this signing because of the news coming back from China.

Mitsubishi's personnel in China obtained some ambiguous information, which led headquarters to have a higher assessment of Weilai Motors' capabilities.

Foreigners also understand the situation in their own country; having connections at higher levels makes things easier.

The leaders of Beicang District were all smiles. Even a memorandum was a great opportunity to show off. According to preliminary statistics, Beicang District's GDP is expected to exceed 400 billion yuan, ranking fourth in the city.

The growth rate was also higher than that of the city and the country. Most importantly, in 08, the reputation of Beicang District was much higher nationwide than before.

Flash Group has played a significant role in both contributing to the GDP of Beicang District and enhancing its reputation. The district has a celebrity entrepreneur who makes some big moves from time to time, which can indeed greatly contribute to the reputation of a city.

The two newly listed companies in Beicang District in 08 both belonged to the Shanchi Group or Tan Jincheng's system. Also in 08, Beicang District had listed companies in A-shares, Hong Kong stocks and US stocks.

Having listed companies on all three major stock exchanges is an achievement that few districts and counties across the country can match.

Ningbo is a separately planned city, and its administrative level is higher than that of a typical prefecture-level city. As the Mitsubishi delegation entered the venue, they saw so many government officials present, including many high-ranking ones, and they whispered something to the staff from headquarters.

The person in charge from Mitsubishi headquarters nodded from time to time, then quickly walked towards Tan Jincheng: "President Tan, it's been a long time."

"Long time no see, Mr. Nagasawa," Tan Jincheng said with a smile, shaking hands.

Yutaka Nagasawa was a member of the negotiation team at Mitsubishi headquarters. He is considered a young and promising executive at Mitsubishi Motors and has extensive experience in overseas expansion. Given that he is leading the team, he is very likely to be the person in charge of Mitsubishi's domestic operations.

Compared to the older generation, the younger generation was more accepting of Tan Jincheng's style. In the previous negotiations, Tan Jincheng's assertiveness did not elicit any particular resistance from Changze Yu.

After the headquarters contacted several major domestic automakers without receiving a response, it was Nagasawa Hiroshi who promptly instructed Mitsubishi's domestic management to conduct a full investigation into Tan Jincheng and the background of the Flash Group, thus preventing the negotiations from reaching a stalemate.

"The New Year is just around the corner in your country. I heard that President Tan is going back to his hometown for the New Year. It's such a pity. I was hoping to get together with you during the New Year."

The two communicated in English, so no translator was needed. Tan Jincheng was somewhat surprised that Nagasawa Yu would say that.

"Does this mean you're planning to stay in our country for the New Year? Or has the person in charge of Mitsubishi in China been decided?"

Nagasawa Yu smiled and said, "Yes, President Tan guessed it, right? I hope we can have more exchanges in the future."

"Congratulations, Nagasawa-kun. However, I haven't been back to my hometown for two years, so I can only apologize this time. I will come back and contact Nagasawa-kun as soon as possible after the New Year."

Tan Jincheng smiled and said that it was always better to deal with the younger generation than with the old men.

The main figures at today's signing ceremony were not Tan Jincheng, but rather the government officials and Mitsubishi headquarters personnel led by Nagasawa Yu. Tan Jincheng was merely a tool, responsible for introducing them to each other.

Ying Jianren, who came to observe the ceremony on short notice, was also surprised by the high level of the signing. In the words of General Manager Tan, this means things are getting better.

And you know what? He actually became a familiar face.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the actual signing process began, followed by a Q&A session with reporters. Tan Jincheng was quite familiar with this procedure.

The most important thing about joint ventures is setting up factories. The leaders of Beicang District were all smiles. According to Tan Jincheng, he still wanted to put the new joint venture factory on Meishan Island. The place that was originally a desolate place was developed ahead of schedule.

"The cooperation between Mitsubishi and Weilai Motors will involve the construction of at least two new production bases in the future. Before the new bases are built, we will continue to sell the Pajero. We will also consider introducing new models to achieve the localization of multiple Mitsubishi models."

Nagasawa Hiroshi's answer left the leaders and reporters present with much to ponder.

With Changfeng Motors' withdrawal, the trademark rights for Pajero were automatically transferred to Weilai Motors, and the production base remained in Xiangcheng.

Pickups in Chuzhou, Pajeros in Xiangcheng, and the newly built Sailing sports car 4S store this year.

In 2009, even though its own brand was not yet publicly listed, Weilai Auto still had no trouble selling cars!

Today's press conference was reported by Zhejiang News. The joint venture between Weilai and Mitsubishi plans to establish two new production bases, and as the news spreads, it will inevitably attract attention.

There's no doubt that Beicang has a production base. The remaining production base is highly unlikely to be in Ningbo, as that would contradict the industrial structure. It's even unlikely to be located within Zhejiang Province.

In the twentieth month of the lunar calendar, the broadcast of Zhejiang Provincial News Network revealed that Weilai Automobile, another subsidiary of Tan Jincheng, had become a hot commodity for local governments.

(End of this chapter)