Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 289 The Car is Too Big, Europe is Too Small

In April, Xu Shenxue showed up at the HaiLan Automobile headquarters. On the one hand, he came to see the new model that would be launched this year, a model that would focus on the luxury car market, but would be positioned as a luxury model between a coupe and a traditional luxury car.

On the other hand, we listened to some development reports from Hailan Automobile.

Bao Yongyan said: "In the summer of the year before last, we launched the first generation of the Sea Blue EOS coupe to the market. It created a huge sensation worldwide with its autonomous driving function. It became an instant success and achieved considerable sales. We delivered 40,000 units in the first year and 350,000 units in the second year, which was last year."

"In the first quarter of this year, the Hailan EOS model still achieved impressive sales, with 80,000 units delivered. This summer, we will also launch a new generation of Hailan EOS models to continue to stabilize and further expand the global market, aiming to achieve 400,000 units for the whole year."

"Last year, in order to further expand the market, we launched the large SUV model Hailan ESV, with a price range of 500,000 to 1 million yuan. The main sales model is the standard version of about 600,000 yuan. In the first three quarters of last year, we delivered a total of 50,000 vehicles in the global market. In the first quarter of this year, we have delivered 18,000 vehicles. Considering the continued month-on-month growth rate, we hope to increase the delivery volume of this car to 100,000 vehicles this year."

"We delivered a total of 450,000 of the above two main models last year. At the same time, our vehicles are all high-end models with an average selling price of more than US$100,000, which contributed a lot of revenue to us last year."

"At the same time, in the second half of last year, we began to promote our own electric vehicle insurance business in China and some markets, which also generated some revenue."

"Plus various additional businesses such as charging pile business and temporary generators."

"In 13, we have earned a total of $ billion in revenue. Although our vehicle hardware gross profit margin is not high, the battery cost is still high. At the same time, we maintain a relatively low gross profit margin in order to open up the market. It is roughly the same as that of traditional car companies. However, our automatic assisted driving is an optional function, which is included in the software and value-added services. The gross profit margin of this part of the business revenue is %."

"However, our operating expenses are also very high, especially R&D expenses, which totaled $3.8 billion last year. We mainly used the continuous R&D and upgrading of core technologies in the battery, electronic control and assisted driving fields. The computing power cost of assisted driving technology R&D is gradually rising."

"In addition to R&D expenses, our administrative costs are relatively low. Another major expense is the investment in new factories. We are currently investing in the construction of the second and third phases of factories here at the headquarters base. At the end of last year, we also finalized the investment in the construction of a second automobile factory in Shanghai."

"In addition, we have invested in building a large-scale automobile battery factory in Dongcheng."

"These factories are very expensive to build. Although there are mortgages to support them, the cost of capital, or interest, is also a burden!"

"In terms of overall operations last year, we had high revenue, high gross profit, and high investment, but the net profit was not much. The overall net profit was only 1.36 billion US dollars."

"After all, we are still in the stage of laying the foundation. On the one hand, we need to continue to develop new models, on the other hand, we need to expand production capacity and build charging piles on a large scale. These pressures are very great!"

Xu Shenxue said: "This is already very good. Now is the stage of laying the foundation. Don't worry about the net profit in the short term. After all, I don't plan to take dividends from Hailan Automobile. The money earned should be invested in research and development, expanding production capacity, and building charging piles. These are what we should do."

"Remember, we are different from traditional car manufacturers and traditional manufacturing. Technology is our core competitiveness, and R&D is our core driving force. So don't be fooled by temporary net profits!"
Bao Yongyan smiled and said, "Boss Xu, really, you are probably the most tolerant and technology-focused boss I have ever met!"

There are very few bosses like Xu Shenxue who invest nearly 20 billion yuan in research and development every year.

However, Xu Shenxue said: "But don't do it too hard, don't make a loss."

Xu Shenxue doesn't have too high expectations for whether HaiLan Automobile will make money. As long as it doesn't lose money, he will continue to invest.

Judging from the current situation of HaiLan Automobile, it is still quite good. The revenue and gross profit are both sufficient. The net profit seems to be small, but that is because the profit has been invested in research and development and business expansion. It does not mean that it is not making money.

Speaking of earning power, HaiLian Automobile's earning power far exceeds that of ordinary car companies, and its gross profit margin is quite high.

Because the current HaiLan Automobile actually has almost no rivals in the new energy track!

BYD is still developing low-end electric vehicles and it is unlikely that they will pose any real challenge to HaiLan Auto for a long time.

At the same time, the two sides are actually allies to a certain extent. They still have a lot of cooperation in the fields of batteries, charging pile construction, and the promotion of electric vehicles in the country. Because BYD is also betting its future on the field of electric vehicles, they are very eager to work with Hailan Automobile to develop the domestic electric vehicle market.

As for another competitor, Tesla, their current business performance is actually very average. Their vehicle production capacity is small, and their R&D and factory investments are too large. At the same time, due to the lack of automatic assisted driving, they are beaten by Hailan Automobile in the high-end market... well, especially in the European market.

Even though the price of Hailan car is more expensive, Tesla cannot sell more than Hailan car.

Apart from the two companies mentioned above, there are currently no real competitors in the new energy field.

In such a brand new track, HaiLan Automobile looked around and did not see any capable rivals, which led to their exaggerated revenue.

This is making money without doing anything!
It is only a car company that has been established for a few years and its products have only been on the market for two years, but its annual revenue has exceeded 40 billion US dollars, making it the domestic car manufacturer with the highest revenue and the highest profit.

Even if we only count sales volume, it ranks sixth.

However, HaiLan Automobile has two advantages that other domestic automakers cannot match and envy.

First, Hailan Automobile's sales come from the global market, with overseas markets accounting for 60%. This overseas sales ratio seems incredible to other domestic automobile manufacturers.

Second, HaiLian Auto's profits are super high. Although its hardware gross profit margin is similar to that of some traditional car companies, HaiLian Auto's software and value-added services, that is, the automatic assisted driving business, have a high gross profit margin. More importantly, its revenue is large enough. With a huge revenue of 40 billion US dollars, even with various R&D and construction costs, its net profit can still reach more than 1 billion US dollars.

A large number of other car companies that are said to have entered the new energy field are not making any money from their new energy businesses, and are all suffering huge losses.

Everyone knows that although HaiLan Automobile's net profit is lower, it is because it has invested huge amounts of money in research and development and expansion of production capacity.

The total investment for the Shanghai automobile factory that was finalized last year alone is expected to reach US$8.5 billion, and the Shenzhen automobile factory has also invested nearly US$10 billion in total.

At the same time, battery factories, motor factories, etc. are all very large capital-intensive investments. Even if these investments can seek loans, capital also has costs, and the money must be repaid in the future. These all need to be reflected in the financial statements.

Currently, Hailan Automobile is striving to achieve an annual production capacity of one million vehicles, and hopes to achieve this next year, and then strive to achieve a production and sales volume of two million or even three million vehicles.

During this process, HaiLan Automobile's net profit will actually never be too high, because a large amount of profits needs to be reinvested.

But... once HaiLian Automobile completes its initial production capacity layout and technology research and development, especially reducing the cost of electric vehicles, such as lowering the cost of core components such as car batteries and lidar, it will be able to launch relatively cheap mid-range models and eventually increase its production capacity to one million, two million or even three million vehicles.

Then, you will make a fortune.

Of course... the above is just a traditional approach, and Xu Shenxue has never been a traditional businessman, so even when the time comes to reap the rewards, Xu Shenxue plans to continue to let Hailan Automobile maintain its huge investment in technology research and development and continue to make progress towards new technologies, such as future fully driverless cars, flying cars and the like.

Xu Shenxue has never been in the electric car business just for the sake of making money.

As for money, he has too much. With his family's daily spending ability, he could not spend it all in a hundred lifetimes.

At this time, Xu Shenxue's purpose of doing business had become somewhat pure, such as pursuing technological progress, pursuing more advanced things, satisfying his curiosity and even dreams, and then creating jobs and paying more taxes.

But there is no need to tell these things to outsiders in daily life.

An idealist who is well-fed and well-drinking is easily criticized.

It’s not about idealism, it’s about being well fed and well-drinking…

You, Xu Shenxue, are worth hundreds of billions of dollars, so of course you can say that you don't like money and that you don't run a business just to make money... But to others, it sounds full of sarcasm.

If you have the ability, donate these hundreds of billions of dollars directly to the national treasury, and then we can talk about whether running a business is for making money.

Otherwise, it’s easier to talk while standing!
Xu Shenxue now belongs to this trend.

He knows it himself, so he usually doesn't talk nonsense.

After briefly listening to the financial report of Hailan Automobile, Bao Yongyan took him to see the new generation of Hailan model: Hailan SLC, which had completed various tests and would be launched in a press conference in half a month.

This is a large luxury sedan with a starting price of 700,000 to 800,000 yuan and a price going up to 1 million yuan. It is aimed at the executive and business markets and directly competes with the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

To fill the gap in the high-end car field, Hailan Automobile already has high-end coupes and large SUVs. Now all it lacks is a large luxury sedan for wealthy bosses.

So, here comes the Sea Blue SLC.

The first two models of Hailan Automobile, the Hailan SEC is a coupe model, which was positioned as a high-tech toy in the early stage. This year's model has increased the rear space and increased family suitability to a certain extent, but it is still not a success. Many people think that this thing is just a four-door sports car, which is used for fun rather than family use.

Therefore, in response to the family market and the continued popularity of SUVs around the world in recent years, Hailan Automobile has launched the Hailan SEV at the same price, a large SUV. Although it is equipped with all kinds of high-tech features, it is actually positioned as a family car.

It is worth mentioning that this car has been welcomed by many bosses in the domestic market, contributing about 60% of sales. It is the country's top high-tech large SUV, high-end and classy, ​​and full of technology. It is also a top domestic brand, the same car as Boss Xu... As long as you buy this car, you will be the most handsome boss in the entire surrounding circle.

You can wear a series of labels: rich, socially responsible, concerned about high technology and the future, environmentally friendly, sporty and fashionable... and so on.

The Hailan SEV has been marketed as the best car for successful people and a topic of conversation at the dinner table!
Without a Hailan SEV, do you have the nerve to say that you are an entrepreneur with plenty of money and a sense of social responsibility?
Even if you don't drive it or use it, you must have one in your garage!
Those who can afford BMW and Mercedes-Benz are not necessarily rich people, because many people will buy second-hand cars to save face. Even if they buy a new car, it is most likely for business purposes, which does not mean that they are really capable.

But if you buy a Hailan SEV, needless to say, brother, you really have money... otherwise you wouldn't spend hundreds of thousands, or even nearly a million, to buy a big toy that you can't even drive on the highway, can only drive around in the city, and occasionally go for a wild ride in the suburbs!

By the way, don’t forget to buy your son a sea blue SEC, don’t get him something like a sports car!
If your son drives a sports car imported from abroad, it means he is just living a life of debauchery and is not enterprising.

But if your son drives a domestically produced sea blue coupe, he will be a promising young man, which is great.

In addition, after two years of continuous promotion by the marketing department, a concept was created: those who buy Mercedes-Benz and BMW are not necessarily rich, but those who buy Aquamarine are definitely rich.

Because the families who buy Hailan cars basically already have one or even two gasoline cars.

The large SUV Hailan SEV is more practical than the coupe model and is more in line with market demand, so its sales in China are quite good.

Secondly, sales in North America and West Asia are also good.

But it was not well received in the European market.

Why is the Hailan SEV unpopular in Europe?
A colleague in the marketing department summed it up: cars are too big, Europe is too small...

On the contrary, the relatively smaller sea blue SEC coupe sells better in the European market.

The success of the above two models has given Hailan Automobile the confidence to continue to launch the third high-end model: a large luxury sedan, focusing on the executive business market.

Of course, with the current cost of electric vehicles, if you want to make electric vehicles better, especially with better battery life, you can only make high-end models.

Today's power batteries are very expensive, and components for automatic assisted driving, such as lidar and high-computing chips, are also very expensive. If the price is to be lowered to 300,000 or 400,000 yuan, the only way is to make drastic cuts. By then, not only will the vehicle lack high-level assisted driving, but its pure electric range will also be very poor.

HaiLan Auto will never do anything that would seriously damage its brand.

With the high cost of electric vehicles, how to further expand the market? Apart from high-performance coupes and large SUVs, the only remaining area is large luxury sedans.

This is how the sea blue SLC that Xu Shenxue sees now came into being.

Xu Shenxue walked forward and took a closer look. The appearance of this car was significantly different from traditional large luxury cars, such as the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The overall look was more technological.

And unlike the hidden handles on the Sea Blue SEC coupe, this car's handles are concave, which is relatively traditional.

Mainly because when the hidden handles first came out, they attracted a lot of attention. However, when they were actually used, they attracted a lot of criticism, saying that they were flashy and inconvenient.

Therefore, Hailan Automobile also absorbed the opinions of users and abandoned the hidden pop-up handles on previous SUV models and adopted concave handles, which received good feedback.

This design is still used in large luxury models today.

After Xu Shenxue got into the back seat of the car and experienced it, he felt it was pretty good. The space was spacious enough, and it had all the necessary configurations, including a color TV and refrigerator, which were not necessary. The ride was very comfortable.

Then I went to the front driver's seat and experienced it for a bit which was not bad.

Later, Xu Shenxue personally drove the Hailan SLC to the test site outside and drove it for two laps. The handling was very good, and the stability was also very good. When passing the bumpy test section of the speed bump, there was almost no obvious bump. Then Xu Shenxue asked Bao Yongyan to drive, and he sat in the back seat to experience it, and felt better.

Relatively speaking, this car is more suitable for sitting in the back seat, which is in line with the positioning of a business vehicle.

After the driving experience, Xu Shenxue said: "The car is great. I will brag about it at the press conference and try to make it a great success!"

"Then I also instructed some of my other companies to purchase a batch of these cars as company cars. Oh, and you can also prepare a batch of bulletproof plates. I will give them away when the time comes."

The previous two vehicles were not suitable for giving as gifts, but the one we saw today is more suitable.

Some senior management in our own company, such as Ji Chenghe, can be given one, and so can the bosses of some cooperative enterprises, as well as the bosses of some domestic and foreign high-tech companies, such as the big bosses of some domestic Internet companies, and the bosses of Google and Microsoft with whom we have cooperative relations abroad.

These are all well-known business people. Their cars can be regarded as a kind of advertisement to a certain extent, which can attract orders from ordinary entrepreneurs and wealthy people.

Bao Yongyan said, "No problem, Mr. Xu. We have designed this car with bulletproof features in mind. We have bulletproof plates from the beginning. We also have three bulletproof versions specially prepared for you, Mr. Xu. They are currently being modified and are expected to be delivered in May."

Xu Shenxue said, "Okay."

After touring Hailan Automobile, listening to the business report and looking at Hailan SLC, Xu Shenxue held a brief meeting with some of the company's managers and core technical personnel in Hailan Automobile's small conference room.

The rest of the meeting was unimportant; what was important was the announcement of a plan to repurchase employee option shares.

HaiLan Automobile is not listed and has no plans to go public in the future... After all, the biggest purpose of a company going public is to raise funds, and HaiLan Automobile is not short of money and does not need financing.

At the same time, HaiLan Automobile did not have a large number of strategic investors before, and needed to exit and cash out through listing. So far, although HaiLan Automobile has several shareholders, these shareholder companies are all backed by Liuhe Investment. In addition, Zhiyun Group also holds a certain number of shares in the company through autonomous driving technology and part of the initial capital investment.

Therefore, 92% of the company's shares are controlled by Xu Shenxue, a few points are option stocks belonging to the company's management and technical personnel, and another part belongs to other investors of Zhiyun Group.

HaiLan Automobile has no other strategic investors and does not need subsequent listing financing, so it currently has no plans to go public.

When a company is not listed, it needs to properly handle the stock option issues of management and core technical personnel. Therefore, Hailan Automobile has previously taken certain stock dividend measures to allow these management and technical personnel to obtain certain benefits.

It's just that the dividends are not much.

But less is better than nothing.

We are all workers, who doesn’t want to earn more income?

At the same time, in order to ensure that the option stocks have a certain degree of liquidity and employees have a channel to cash out, this time Xu Shenxue, on behalf of the company, announced an option stock repurchase plan. After employees hold the option stocks for a certain period of time, that is, after the lock-up period, if they are willing to sell the option stocks, they can sell them directly to the company.

At the same time, Liuhe Investment has also been open to acquiring option shares of Hailan Automobile for a long time.

Although the price is not very high, there is always a channel to monetize it.

Overall, these measures are aimed at solving the problem of monetizing option shares of management and technical personnel.

Of course, they can also choose not to sell the shares, but continue to hold them and wait for future dividends or appreciation. It is basically up to you.

There's money to be made anyway.

Xu Shenxue is quite good when it comes to welfare benefits for his employees, and basically all the companies under his control offer high salaries.

Even for ordinary workers in Weiku Industrial, although their wages are not too high, they are much better than those in ordinary private enterprises. They also strictly abide by the Labor Law and other laws and regulations to provide employees with various salary benefits as well as five insurances and one fund.

Whenever Weiku Industrial recruits workers, a large number of people line up to apply for the job.

After dealing with matters at Hailan Automobile, Xu Shenxue took a Hailan SEV bulletproof car. Under the escort of the security team, a convoy of multiple vehicles began to leave the Hailan Automobile base and return home.

After returning home, I happened to meet Lin Yaxian who had just returned with her child.

"Alas, when I haven't seen someone for a long time, I can already feel the strangeness. It's really..."

After returning to the living room, Lin Yaxian couldn't help but sigh: "They are not children from ordinary families. It's not like they haven't seen money. I used to bring Sister Li with me when I went out. Now I just bring a few more people with me, but they are starting to be distant. Sigh... It's not good to be too rich. It's easy to have no friends!"

She went out to play with her children and some close friends today. She doesn't have many close friends, just a few, and they are all from some families in her circle. Xu Shenxue had heard her say before that some of her former close friends are becoming more and more polite to her.

Xu Shenxue said: "What others think is their business, we just need to do our best!"

Her friends felt alienated because she became richer, and Xu Shenxue had nothing to say about this, nor did he have any good solution.

Because it's not just Lin Yaxian who has this problem. Xu Shenxue himself also faces a similar problem, that is, he has few friends...

Not to mention some of the original body’s classmates and friends from childhood, Xu Shenxue is not the original body, so naturally he has no feelings for them. Even before founding Zhiyun, Xu Shenxue had no contact with them.

After Zhiyun achieved great success, many of his original body's familiar people came to him on their own initiative. Xu Shenxue dealt with different people differently according to his original body's memory, but he mostly kept his distance from them.

Most of the people I interact with on a daily basis are my subordinates in the company, such as Bai Qiwen, Ji Chenghe, Fu Zhengyang and others.

However, although they chatted a lot on weekdays, talked about family matters, and got along quite happily... But from this pleasant interaction, it can also be seen that everyone is actually accommodating him...

No matter what, he is the boss of these people, and even if a boss gets along well with his employees, it is difficult for them to become real friends.

For a while, Xu Shenxue felt uncomfortable with this, but later he came to terms with it... This is also good, at least life is comfortable and there are not so many troubles.

Although Lin Yaxian’s situation is somewhat different from his, the difference is essentially the same!
Although her best friends are also wealthy, many of their families have assets worth hundreds of millions or even billions, and they are considered second-generation rich in the eyes of outsiders.

But compared with the current Lin Yaxian, the gap is too big.

Nowadays, when Lin Yaxian takes her children out, they usually take three cars. She and her children ride in one car, and the other two cars are for security personnel and life assistants.

Although her best friends are also rich, they are not as rich as this.

Then there will be a situation where they go shopping and drink with a few girlfriends, and there are a group of bodyguards following them. To be honest, they feel very uncomfortable in this situation...

As for disbanding the security team, that is impossible!
Not to mention Lin Yaxian and the child, even her younger sister Xu Weiwei would be accompanied by security personnel whenever she left the campus.

Xu Shenxue is now a prominent figure, and it is unknown how many illegal elements are targeting him, and they may also be targeting his family.

Therefore, regardless of whether there is such a possibility or not, in order to be prepared for any eventuality, the safety of yourself and your family must be taken seriously.

Being as rich as Xu Shenxue is, one cannot rely on luck. Even if one spends money to buy peace of mind, that would be good.

In this case, Lin Yaxian took her children to go shopping with her best friends, and brought a group of security personnel. Lin Yaxian herself was used to it, but her best friends were not used to it...

Xu Shenxue saw that she looked unhappy, and then said, "In the future, don't go to crowded public places. You can go to some resorts where there are not many ordinary people and tourists. Then you won't have to be followed by too many people, and you can have more fun."

When Lin Yaxian heard this, she became interested: "That's right, I have a cousin who opened a go-kart track, I'll invite them to go and play together!"

Having said that, Lin Yaxian picked up her phone and started calling people!

It didn't take long for him to look up and say, "Done. We'll go go-karting the day after tomorrow, and in a few days we'll go to a resort by the sea. It's the off-season there, so there won't be many people, just right for fun."

Xu Shenxue, who was holding the child, smiled and said, "That's great. I'll ask the office to contact the venue in advance to avoid any trouble later."

After solving the small problem, Lin Yaxian regained her good mood and started talking to Xu Shenxue about her outing today, saying what delicious and fun things she bought, and also bought a lot of clothes, toys and so on for the children.

They were all small details in life, and they were trivial matters to Xu Shenxue, but he still listened while holding his sleeping child beside him.

Although he is the richest man in the world, his daily life is actually not much different from that of ordinary people. He just has more money, eats better, and uses better things. When he goes out, he is followed by a group of bodyguards, and when he works, he is surrounded by a group of people.

But in essence, he is just an ordinary husband and father, not much different from other husbands and fathers...

Well, there is actually a difference...at least an ordinary husband can't be like him, keeping a bunch of women outside.

----

The next day, Xu Shenxue showed up at the company's headquarters campus. After briefly handling some daily work and seeing that there was nothing to do, he left the company at noon and went to a villa area.

Previously, Xu Shenxue purchased several villas here to accommodate Secretary Li and other women.

At first, for convenience, Xu Shenxue placed Secretary Li and several others near his own villa. But after Lin Yaxian became pregnant, Xu Shenxue took these women away from there and placed them in another villa community.

However, given his usual convenience, he still arranged for several women to live in one villa.

It’s not that he can’t afford to buy more villas to accommodate the women, but it’s too troublesome to run around and he’s too lazy to do it.

It’s good like this now. When I get off work at noon, I come to this villa and see three women at once. Secretary Li, Secretary Qian, and Secretary Jin are all there. It’s simple and convenient.

But just as he arrived, he heard Secretary Jin quietly pull Xu Shenxue aside and whisper to Xu Shenxue: "I think I'm pregnant."

After listening to her, Xu Shenxue glanced at her and asked, "Have you checked?"

Secretary Jin said: "I used a pregnancy test stick, and it showed two lines!"

As he spoke, he took out a pregnancy test stick.

Xu Shenxue picked it up and took a look at it, then showed a happy expression: "This is good news. I'll ask Director Li to bring someone over to check it out."

After comforting Secretary Jin, Xu Shenxue did not go to find Director Li immediately. Instead, he called the security chief in charge of these women and briefly asked about Secretary Jin's recent movements.

The security manager reported that Secretary Kim seldom went out in the past two months and stayed at the villa most of the time. She never went out alone, but mostly went out with Secretary Li or Secretary Qian, or the three of them went out together. And every time they went out, there were security personnel following them quietly.

Unless Secretary Kim is a professional agent with a long list of skills to stay out of the public eye, she will have no chance of coming into contact with other men in the near future.

Finally, there will be a DNA test after the child is born... We will know the answer then.

In fact, not only Secretary Kim will be examined when she gives birth to a child in the future, but other women will also be examined when they give birth to a child.

Even before Lin Yaxian gave birth to his first child, Xu Shenxue secretly did a DNA test without telling Lin Yaxian.

In this kind of situation, it’s better to be safe than sorry!

When it comes to hundreds of billions of dollars in assets, anything can happen... Even if it is an illegitimate child, he can obtain a large amount of assets, so Xu Shenxue must make sure that the child is his.

Don't be a sucker!
After listening to the report, Xu Shenxue instructed the office to call the director of obstetrics and gynecology from the cooperative hospital to examine Secretary Jin.

Then he returned to Secretary Kim and continued to play the role of a good boss!
(End of this chapter)