2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 636 Let's build an electric ride for old people first?
The company promoted the unlaunched new car, Yuechi, and explained its corporate philosophy.

An unexpected event was turned into a promotional event for Weilai Auto by Tan Jincheng. The atmosphere was lively, and more and more people gathered at the Weilai exhibition area.

The staff at the Shanghai Auto Show were both happy and somewhat troubled.

The good news is that such a popular and wealthy person personally came to the exhibition, attracting a lot of people to the event, which is certainly a good thing for the organizers.

However, the exhibition area is not very large, and the large number of people gathered there increases their workload. If something were to happen, it would be a disaster.

Seriously, this young man is really bold. Apart from that tall, focused-eyed man who looks like a bodyguard, doesn't he have any bodyguards at all?
The organizers temporarily added a lot of security personnel to the Weilai Auto booth.

However, this caused hardship for the brands in the two exhibition areas near Weilai, as all their staff had gone to Weilai, leaving their booths with very few customers looking at the cars.

Unfortunately, the booth to the left of Weilai was the booth of Zhongtai. At that moment, the staff of Zhongtai's booth looked at their empty booth and looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What to do?"

"So what? Our cars are what they are, and if it weren't for some car models, there probably wouldn't be many people here."

Even from the perspective of the company's employees, the designs of Zhongtai's various models are considered ugly and poorly made. The reason they sell well is simply because they are cheap and the market demand is increasing.

In fact, their latest models haven't sold very well. The best-selling model is still the Zhongtai 2008, the first SUV marketed by General Manager Tan.

"The first SUV for young people!"

This advertising slogan is fantastic! It sold over 2 units in its first year on the market, which would rival the Chery QQ even today. The company made a killing.

"Hehe, I happen to have some free time now. You wait a bit, then I'll go to Wei Lai's place to get some food."

"Holy crap, isn't this a bit shameless?"

"What's so shameless about it? Mr. Tan is also our little boss, what are you afraid of? How about I get you a hamburger?"

"Okay, you're right. Let's have one then, to tide us over."

At the last Guangzhou Auto Show, Captain Lai pioneered the idea of ​​providing food for visitors. Most car companies thought it was a good idea, but to be honest, not many were willing to follow suit.

There's no other reason than to save money wherever possible. Some car companies don't even provide meals for their employees, so they have to buy them themselves.

Zhongtai is such a company. Compared to Tan Jincheng's capital operations, Zhongtai's capital operations are even more frenzied. In just two years, they bought 70% of Jiangnan Automobile's shares, acquired Fiat's business in China, and bought the production rights of seven or eight car models in one go.

They bought a whole bunch of things, but even though Zhongtai has a financing platform and years of accumulated wealth, their financial resources have encountered some problems in the context of the financial crisis, which has made them hesitant to spend lavishly this year.

With cost-cutting and revenue-generating measures, employee compensation will inevitably be lower than before.

What worries Zhongtai employees the most is the poor performance of its key models this year. As one of the assets acquired from Fiat in China, the Mengbo Dilang, with its fully imported production line and a price of 13.88 yuan, carries the dream of Zhongtai's transformation.

Currently, Zhongtai has a total of four main models: two models named Zhongtai, the 2008 and 5008, and the Jiangnan TT. All three models are priced at less than 8 yuan, with the lowest price of the Jiangnan TT being only 1.8 yuan.

The sales of the three models are indeed good, and Zhongtai is even aiming for total sales of over 10 units this year. However, these three models are not very profitable. To make money, they need to sell models priced above 10 yuan.

The Mengbo Dilang, priced at 13.88 yuan, was highly anticipated under these circumstances.

To be honest, at this point, Mr. Ying still had some ambition. He wanted to learn from Chery and BYD and develop their own technologies instead of just copying. The Mengbo Dilang can be said to be the first tuition fee they paid.

The production line is entirely imported, with most of the parts having to be imported from abroad. Coupled with the fact that their own technology is not up to par, they have paid a heavy price for this.

Claimed to be the first "all-around wide-body" family sedan in China, its body resembles a rectangular box laid sideways. To ensure ample interior space, the front and rear wheels are positioned as close to the edges as possible.

The most bizarre thing is that the front row is equipped with 3 seats. It is only thanks to the car's 1.8-meter width that it doesn't look so crowded when all the people are seated sideways.

Well, I don't know what Zhongtai Original is all about. This car was once rated as one of the ten ugliest car models in its previous life, so you can imagine how low its sales were.

This Shanghai Auto Show marked the first time the Mengbo Dilang had appeared at a major auto show. Visitors who experienced it firsthand were all shaking their heads in dismay, and the auto show staff were also quite worried, as they were entitled to a commission on any cars ordered at the show.

Although Weilai next door also struggles to sell many cars, at least they have a boss to back them up.

Besides, if one of their sports cars happens to be ordered by a sucker, that would be incredibly satisfying.

As noon approached, hearing that more and more exhibitors were coming from Weilai to get food, and seeing the crowd steadily increasing, the exhibition organizers had to remind Tan Jincheng to be careful and ask if they could move the interview to another location. Tan Jincheng, caught up in the conversation, only then noticed how many people had gathered and was quite startled.

"Alright, let's leave then."

Boss Tan is very accommodating; if a mass incident were to occur, things would be completely ruined.

"Friends, that concludes today's interview. I see there are a lot of people here, so please follow the guidance of the staff and pay attention to safety. Also, it's almost lunchtime, so those of you who don't want to leave the exhibition hall are welcome to come to the work area to pick up food. Remember to queue up."

After saying that, he winked at the reporters and, before they could react, told Lai Yiu-fai to clear the way and escort Li Xianjin to retreat.

Since he had no work commitments for this trip to Shanghai, he only brought Li Yaohui with him. Li Xianjin was planning to transfer through Shanghai and was just there to watch the car show. He only had one assistant with him.

The organizers' reminder was timely. If something had really happened, he, being a young man, could have run away quickly, but Li Xianjin would have been in trouble.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Li, I got a little carried away and forgot about the potential safety hazards I might have caused you."

"Haha, it's okay, no one will think about what to do. They're all just ordinary people coming to watch the show, don't worry."

Li Xianjin laughed heartily. He was actually quite engrossed in the conversation, but he wasn't worried about security at all. Since the 08 Olympics, the security situation had improved day by day. Besides, not many people knew him, especially since he was an old man.

If he hadn't been walking with Tan Jincheng, the reporters at the scene probably wouldn't have recognized him, since this wasn't Shandong.

"But Mr. Tan, are you really planning to get into new energy vehicles? Or are you just talking about it?"

"Of course I'm serious. I think what Mr. Wang from BYD said makes a lot of sense. Most of the patents for gasoline cars are held by foreigners. Even if we sell our cars very well, we won't make the lion's share of the profits. So we have to create our own track."

Li Xianjin nodded noncommittally. That was indeed a good point and made a lot of sense: "If Weilai were to build electric cars, it would certainly have some advantages; your battery technology is quite good."

To make big money, you have to carve out your own niche. Two-wheeled electric vehicles are a prime example. Domestic car companies dominate this market, and the profits are quite good.

Any physical enterprise with a net profit margin of over 15% can be considered to be making "excessive profits".

The financial report of FlashDrive Technology shows that the net profit margin of two-wheeled electric vehicle companies is currently very high, and the initial stage of the company is still quite profitable.

"Yes, in fact, we have been cooperating with Dongfeng Motor on power battery research for a long time."

Tan Jincheng did not deny that he also had some plans regarding electric vehicles, namely the elderly-friendly technology he had previously obtained from Sai Ling.

We could try building a low-speed electric vehicle (LSV) first; it seems that electric vehicles are better suited for this type of vehicle than gasoline vehicles.

The low-priced electric vehicles for the elderly still have a good market in rural areas and small towns. In addition, there is more policy flexibility now, and the supervision is not so strict. They can also be sold in big cities.

He had already planned out the production line. The neighboring company, Zhongtai, wanted to create original designs, but ended up suffering a huge loss. The models they acquired sold terribly, and Boss Ying has been having a lot of headaches lately.

In reality, acquiring Fiat's business in China was a terrible move. Fiat has never been popular in China, and the model they acquired has never been popular even in Europe.

Creating original content is fine, but you have to choose the right target. Fiat is clearly not a particularly good target.

From Tan Jincheng's perspective, Boss Ying was probably too eager to expand and got ripped off by the Europeans. Why would he set up a fully imported production line for a model priced at 13.88 yuan, where even the parts had to be imported? How could he possibly do that?
The troubled boss had actually approached Tan Jincheng privately. At that time, Weilai had just been established, and he was worried that Tan Jincheng would take over his Beicang factory.

More than a year later, Boss Ying no longer had such worries. On the contrary, he wanted to sound out Tan Jincheng's opinion.

Although they were a little embarrassed, Zhongtai really wanted to sell the Beicang factory to Tan Jincheng. They had acquired a bunch of industries and now had enough production lines and bases, so the status of the Beicang factory had long since declined.

Tan Jincheng didn't have any particular thoughts on this. Buying it was fine, but he wasn't considering it at the moment, as there was no need for it.

However, you can rent it.

Rent the Beicang factory of Zhongtai, and then try making a car-made car for the elderly. It couldn't be simpler.

As he was leaving, he also noticed the booth of Zhongtai next door. There weren't many people there. Their original model, which they had high hopes for, hadn't sold many units since it was launched at the beginning of the year.

If this auto show can't save the situation, then there probably isn't any other way.

This is absolutely bizarre! They put three seats in the front row. What are they trying to do?

(End of this chapter)