2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 988 Richest Man VS Richest Man
During this special period, the policies in the Yangtze River Delta region (Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai) are slightly more relaxed compared to other regions. However, as the year draws to a close and the return-home rush approaches, the relevant policies are tightened accordingly.

Sunday, October 1, 2021.

With more than a month to go before the Spring Festival, a corporate press conference of a modest scale is being held in the banquet hall of the Weilai Building in Shanghai.

Every attendee in the audience wore a mask and maintained a safe distance from each other. There were also some green plants placed in the middle, making the atmosphere less oppressive.

"Hello everyone, it's been a long time! Happy New Year to all of you!"

Holding the microphone, Tan Jincheng smiled and greeted the audience. As always, this press conference was also broadcast live on multiple online platforms, which has become a routine for important press conferences in Weilai.

"It's been a long time since we held a press conference, and I'm a little unsure how to start. I've seen discussions online about whether Weilai is broke and hasn't been holding press conferences lately."

"That's true. Several years ago, we invested more funds in basic research and development, factory construction and mergers and acquisitions. We had to be careful with our money. That's what it means to be poor."

"In the words of netizens, it's about saving where you should and spending where you should."

Special times also have their advantages. The increase in the number of people in various places at the end of the year, coupled with the cold weather and stricter policies, meant that although it was a holiday period, there was no large-scale travel surge like during the National Day holiday.

With more and more people staying home for the holidays, live streaming has become one of the best ways to pass the time.

This year, live streaming has seen explosive growth, with increasingly diverse formats, such as government officials doing live streams to help farmers sell their agricultural products, doctors and experts doing science popularization live streams, and online concerts by the National Centre for the Performing Arts, among others.

More and more entrepreneurs are doing online live streaming. A few years ago, Tan Jincheng's foray into live streaming was still a novelty, and not many entrepreneurs followed suit. But starting this year, it's really not a novelty anymore.

For whatever reason, many business leaders have begun to embrace the internet.

The diverse live streaming formats throughout the day diverted a significant portion of the audience, but Tan Jincheng has consistently maintained high popularity. His press conference live stream on Douyin attracted over 10 online viewers right from the start.

The internet industry was in turmoil after Jack Ma's speech. With the launch of the anti-monopoly investigation, many companies were affected to varying degrees. Alibaba and Tencent, among others, received an initial fine of 50 yuan as an appetizer.

Entrepreneurs have become much more low-key, so there's naturally less entertainment. At this time, even a normal press conference hosted by the richest man can attract a large audience when he goes live.

"On a weekend, we're watching our richest man perform a comedy routine; and I must say, the opening was quite interesting."

The humorous opening enlivened the atmosphere and also boosted the scrolling of the live stream screen. As is typical for live streams, small gifts were given away from time to time, which were still some of the merchandise from Weilai Auto.

The gift-giving function in the live stream has also been turned off. During this special period, it's best not to provoke the viewers.

"This past year has been tough for everyone, and the entire automotive industry has also faced significant challenges and anxieties. Fortunately, we've all pulled through. I wish everyone a wonderful new year ahead."

This statement caused a stir among the audience. For the automotive professionals present, the suffocating market environment in the first half of the year was simply overwhelming. Needless to say, the situation in the first quarter was even worse than in the second quarter.

Although we returned to normal in the second quarter, things were not normal anywhere in the world. Major manufacturers reduced orders for key components, including chips, and made misjudgments about the market in the second half of the year. This was not without reason.

The topic became a hot topic of conversation in the live stream, and it got quite lively.

"Everyone knows what happened in the first half of the year, but fortunately the market was still quite good in the second half; of course, I'm not saying this to play the victim, but just to state a fact."

"Alright, enough with the emotional stuff. Now let's get down to business. First, let's talk about our achievements in 2020."

Because of different statistical models, some count wholesale, some count retail, some look at insurance, and some look at vehicle registration, there are all sorts of differences. Therefore, there will be a lot of discrepancies in the statistical data, with some even exceeding 100,000 in discrepancies.

Consumers often find it difficult to discern exactly how many cars a car company sells throughout the year. While the data released by car companies may be inflated, it is generally considered reliable, especially for publicly listed companies.

After all, this matter is not something that can be weighed on a scale. If you think it's just bragging, it could be suspected of falsifying sales figures, although many console manufacturers have done this before.

The data released by Weilai has always been the most credible; no car company would intentionally lower its sales figures.

"Benefiting from the market recovery in the second half of the year and the explosive growth of the new energy vehicle market, Weilai achieved good sales figures in 2020. First of all, we would like to thank our consumers for their trust."

"Secondly, I would like to thank all my colleagues for their hard work. Your perseverance during this special period has given us a great advantage in terms of production capacity and other aspects, so that Weilai will not be constrained by production capacity and lose its competitiveness."

In the early stages after work resumed, most employees were still quite scared, especially after seeing the data released by Jiangcheng. Very few people were not worried, and the majority preferred to go to work rather than have money.

There are many employees like Wei Lai, but through reasonable treatment, early renovation of the workshop, and necessary psychological counseling, they have overcome these difficulties.

In the initial stages, the major core production bases in Ningbo and Luzhou adopted strict closed-loop management for employees who met the resumption of work policies, except for those working from home. The factories implemented a policy of "no entry, no exit".

The employees live and eat at the factory, which provides sleeping bags and mattresses. They stay on the floor in a designated area, and the factory also provides shower, entertainment and dining spaces. For transportation, single-seat buses are used to take employees to and from the factory.

Employees with private cars are also subject to strict management to avoid potential cross-infection. In addition, the work system has been adjusted, with all day shifts replacing the previous two-shift and three-shift system in the early stage of resuming production.

A 12-hour shift, six days a week, plus necessary inspections—to be honest, the workload and environment are quite oppressive.

The employees' cooperation ensured production, which was a result of the good treatment they had accumulated over the years. In addition, the company was willing to spend money during that period, and the subsidies they were entitled to were all paid in full and arrived in the account immediately.

In terms of hidden benefits, for employees who initially met the conditions for resuming work and voluntarily returned to work, the company also promised to give certain priority to the families of these employees in this year's recruitment.

Those who meet the job requirements will be given priority in hiring the family members of these employees. Regarding supplies, although there has been no explicit statement, the family members of these employees will also be given priority in receiving supplies privately.

As for those employees who refuse to return to work, receive full wages, and are always trying to take advantage of others, management doesn't need to do much; there are plenty of ways to deal with them.

A large company definitely needs to bring in fresh talent, but it can't just keep bringing in people without letting them out; necessary optimization is essential.

"Throughout 2020, the industry encountered some difficulties, but at the same time, it also presented opportunities. As you can see from the usual sales data, industry resources are increasingly concentrated on leading companies."

"If Weilai wants to remain competitive, it must stay at the top. In the future, the market will not need so many car brands."

"It's cruel, but that's reality. If Weilai doesn't want to be eliminated, it has to stay at the top, and sales volume is the most practical data."

"Fortunately, we maintained this advantage. In 2020, we sold a total of 117.12 million vehicles, of which 35.86 were new energy vehicles."

At this point, Tan Jincheng paused for a moment, then helplessly spread his hands: "It's just a bit of a pity that we're no longer number one in the world."

Weilai's sales figures are mainly based on two categories: Weilai Auto's statistics cover new energy vehicle sales, including passenger cars and commercial vehicles, while Yuechi Auto's statistics cover fuel-powered vehicle sales. The statistical methods are the same.

The Yuechi series continues to be a bestseller, occupying a leading position in the mid-to-low-end gasoline SUV market. However, starting next year, this statistical pattern will not be so obvious, as Yuechi Auto will also be developing new energy vehicles.

The sales of 35.86 new energy vehicles included the brands Weilai and Aion. Compared with the overall sales of 136.7 million vehicles in China, Weilai's market share in the new energy vehicle market further declined to 26.43%.

The moment Tan Jincheng uttered the phrase "losing the world's number one," the live stream became incredibly lively, erupting into debate. The focus of the debate was none other than Wei Lai and Tesla, which had snatched the world's number one sales position from Wei Lai.

As the biggest dark horse in the global market in 2020, Tesla's year was simply too exciting compared to its steady development. Production capacity expansion, sales surge, price adjustments, policy support, controversies, and soaring stock prices all ran through Tesla's year.

Tesla's market capitalization currently exceeds $6000 billion, and Musk has become the world's richest person with a net worth of $1580 billion.

The world's number one new energy vehicle company in terms of sales volume is the world's richest person, and the country's number one new energy vehicle company in terms of sales volume is the country's richest person. This is very symmetrical.

At the delivery ceremony of the first batch of domestically produced Elephant 3 in China this year, Musk was so happy that he jumped for joy and danced with joy. This year is definitely a turning point in his business history, as the old man who was at odds with him also stepped down.

Musk has also made many controversial statements this year, including moving his family to Texas and announcing the sale of all his personal properties. He claimed Tesla didn't need subsidies, yet the Model 3 still saw price reductions to meet subsidy requirements. There was also a public spat with Tan Jincheng regarding Level 5 autonomous driving technology, with Musk claiming they could achieve basic Level 5 autonomous driving functionality by 2020, completely widening the gap with NIO's autonomous driving system.

Tan Jincheng bluntly retorted that he was just bragging for the sake of the stock price, and that it would be good enough if autonomous driving technology could be achieved by 2025. Moreover, given the current traffic environment, no country has the foundation for large-scale commercial use of driverless cars.

The two companies have been competing fiercely this year, especially in the European market. The US has made large-scale investments in the European market, with the ET5 and Model 3 going head-to-head, while the newly upgraded ES3 is fully targeting Tesla's latest Model Y.

These two models have been very popular in Europe. In addition to the Nordic market where they were first established, this year WILAY has also established good relations with Germany through its fully operational lithium battery factory in Germany.

Along with this, they also leveraged the channel resources of Lotus and Jinshidai to begin a comprehensive expansion in the German market.

Thanks to strict carbon emission regulations and policy subsidies, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in Europe jumped from 3.3% in 2019 to 10.2% in 2020, making Germany the largest new energy vehicle market in Europe.

With huge investments and limited by the year-end chip shortage, coupled with its affordable and attractive appearance and specially designed models that suit European tastes, WIL's market share in Germany has risen rapidly.

Throughout 2020, WILTE delivered a total of 1.2 new energy vehicles in the German market, mainly the ET5 and ES3, accounting for 3% of the German new energy vehicle market share, second only to Tesla's 4.4%.

During his visit to the German factory in the second half of the year, Tan Jincheng also stated that at the appropriate time, another vehicle assembly plant could be built in Germany to realize the localization of Weilai Automobile in Germany.

Musk also made no secret of the fact that Tesla also has plans to build a factory in Europe, making the competition between the two in the European market a very interesting one.

Although they are important partners, they are equally competitive and unwilling to back down when it comes to arguing and bickering.

In addition, as Tesla's sales in China have increased, just like with Apple phones in the past, there has been more and more controversy about Tesla on the Internet. Moreover, due to the rapid increase in sales in a short period of time, Tesla's after-sales service and public relations have not kept up, and it has even been criticized by state media.

There was no way around it; too many interests had been affected. Wei Lai had experienced something similar before. While the sales of Yuechi A1 skyrocketed, there was also a lot of negative news in the market. Tan Jincheng knew this all too well.

Musk was certainly aware of all this, but he was very cunning and subtly implied that Wei Lai was behind it all. In reality, Wei Lai had never done anything like this to smear his competitors; the most outrageous thing he did was the recall scandal back then.

That incident, in fact, wasn't exactly a smear campaign.

It has to be said that Musk's move was really effective. Only Tesla was smeared, while other new energy vehicle companies could only watch the show. However, he dragged Wei Lai into the battle, which not only distracted the attention but also forced Wei Lai to respond.

After all, no company wants to bear such a reputation; even if they have done it, they have to deny it to the death.

In fact, the smear campaign against Tesla during this period was not mainly initiated by new energy vehicle companies. Although Tesla's sales growth in China has captured a significant market share, it has only benefited domestic new energy vehicle companies.

Tesla's vehicle design, apart from being somewhat similar to that of other automakers, does not affect the market of other OEMs; on the contrary, it has boosted the popularity of the new energy vehicle market.

With one domestic and one international player, the two star companies, Weilai and Tesla, drove the increase in sales throughout the year. As for where this market share came from, it naturally came from gasoline vehicles.

Throughout this year, very few gasoline-powered vehicle manufacturers have achieved positive growth. Even the top-selling domestic brand saw a decline in sales. For companies like Great Wall Motors, which primarily produce gasoline-powered vehicles, the decline was even more severe.

SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC-GM-Wuling, and SAIC-GM all saw their sales of gasoline-powered vehicles decline by more than 20%. Baojun, a previously popular brand, experienced an even more dramatic drop in sales, almost to the point of exiting the market.

Hyundai suffered the most severe sales decline throughout the year, with its annual sales falling to less than 50 units. The market share of Korean cars shrank further, and even the launch of new models could not reverse the situation.

Japanese brands weren't doing much better either. Only Toyota and Honda saw positive growth, while other Japanese brands like Nissan, Mazda, and Mitsubishi experienced declining sales.

Looking at these automakers, the fundamental reason for the decline in sales in China is still the focus on sales of gasoline-powered vehicles, the failure to update their models in a timely manner, and the lack of significant adjustments in the field of new energy vehicles.

By the time the problem was discovered, it was too late to update the vehicle model.

The focus of the controversy in the live broadcast room was naturally the sales comparison between Tesla and Weilai. Tesla supporters felt that the number one spot was well-deserved, while Weilai supporters believed that Tesla was able to enter our market on its own.

However, due to various reasons, Weilai has not yet entered the North American market.

In the field of new energy, Tesla dominates the North American market with no competitors whatsoever. Compared to us, the new energy vehicle startups in the US are simply trash; even Faraday Future is considered a good one.

"If Wei Lai can also enter the North American market, it's hard to say who will be number one. Just look at Wei Lai's performance in Europe."

The press conference has progressed to the stage where Tan Jincheng introduces the new model. Regarding the sales figures for 2020, Tan Jincheng only briefly mentioned them, stating that these are the earliest figures released so far.

Other companies' statistics are not yet available, but judging from the sales figures from January to November, WILAY still maintains its position as the second-largest domestic brand, and is showing positive growth.

The sales share of new energy vehicles has increased to over 30%, and Weilai is no longer a company that relies on only one leg for its business.

To be honest, Weilai's sales are actually very average. The only range-extended L1 model, although it is not very popular online and is quite controversial, still sold more than 3.5 units throughout the year, which is close to an average of 3000 units per month.

The average new car price of the 2020 Weilai L1 is stable at around 32.8 yuan. The price of used cars varies depending on the condition of the car, with an average price ranging from 20 to 27 yuan. The resale value is also good.

There's also the Aion S, a representative model targeting a specific market segment. It's also the "cheapest" model currently sold by Weilai, with an average monthly sales volume of over 4000 units, making it a representative of Weilai in the B-end market.

Based on the current ride-hailing market and the order trends of the Aion series, the Aion S is expected to sell more than 70,000 units next year, making it a sure-fire model with annual sales of 100,000 units.

In addition to these, the ES6, the first pure electric high-end model from Weilai, has also performed remarkably well this year. It boasts outstanding performance, rich features, and an impressive appearance. If you have a sufficient budget and charging facilities, the ES6 can be considered a pure electric vehicle with virtually no shortcomings.

While the ES8 is equally excellent, the ES6 offers better value for money. This is a deliberate move by Weilai to force users to choose a similar, higher-end, and more expensive model.

Although the ES6 has maintained a relatively stable annual growth rate since it was launched many years ago, it is exactly what Wei Lai wants to see. This kind of evergreen model is the best sales model.

"Now that we've covered sales figures, let's move on to the latest models from our two sub-brands, which are the focus of today's launch event."

While taking a sip of water, Tan Jincheng roughly learned about the debate in the live stream about him, Musk, and Wei Lai and Tesla.

"That's fine, let them be. It'll give us some topics to talk about."

By 2020, Zhang Yiming's ByteDance had become a behemoth, with its live streaming platform boasting the highest activity across the entire internet. In the future, ByteDance will undoubtedly allocate more marketing resources to Douyin.

There's no way around it. Even though Orange Live is a company he controls, in terms of actual commercial value, it's much more cost-effective for Wei Lai to advertise on Douyin than on Orange Live, so Zhang Yiming has to earn that money.

As an automotive platform incubated by Douyin, Dongchedi has seen its penetration rate in the automotive information industry increase in 2020, with 15.3 new users per day, second only to Yiche and Autohome.

From a business development perspective, in 2020, Dongchedi was already the largest automotive live streaming platform in China, with one in three domestic dealerships broadcasting on Dongchedi, and 20,000 users contacting dealerships through Dongchedi live streaming every day.

Unfortunately, this is an internal project of ByteDance and has not been spun off, so there is no investment opportunity at all.

"First, let's introduce our own sub-brand, Exeed. Thanks to the continuous efforts of all colleagues at the Weilai Research Institute, Exeed's first model has been officially unveiled. Please welcome our Exeed S01."

The name "Starway S01" was previously used internally, but Tan Jincheng is too lazy to change it now. S01 is also good, simple and easy to remember.

Of course, if the market feedback is not good, improvements can be made later. Anyway, there are still several months before the official launch. According to the plan, the mass-produced model of Exeed S01 will be officially unveiled at this year's Shanghai Auto Show.

Also unveiled were new models from Zhidou Rainbow and Weilai E-series.

Of course, there are also the new models of Yuechi. Although new energy vehicles cannot yet dominate the market, it is true that gasoline vehicles are becoming increasingly difficult to sell. The sales of the Yuechi series this year have also declined slightly.

(End of this chapter)