What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 495 First Experience

Jia Qidong and Cai Junhui are not the first batch of industry executives to join Silicon Carbon Group recently.

Like their predecessors, they arrived in Lingang with questions about new energy, first experiencing "Jiuzhou" products in depth, and then comparing them with competing products in the industry today.

As seasoned professionals, we shared the same first impression.

2.3 tons, 0-100 km/h in under 6 seconds.

This power... how many cylinders does it have...?

Such sentiments have become a standard response. Today, Vice President Cui Zhiyu, who was accompanying his new colleague, was able to casually remark, "Power is not that valuable in electric vehicles. New energy vehicles are different from traditional gasoline vehicles."

Before personally test driving and experiencing it, Cai Junhui was used to the terms "oil car" or "fuel car" in his mind. He felt awkward about the term "traditional oil car" that he often heard when he came to Lingang. But after driving it for a while, he suddenly had some self-doubts.

Has the work I used to do really become more traditional?

There's no need to compare it with struggling domestic cars anymore; just compare it directly with the imported Audi Q5. This acceleration level is comparable to the performance of a 3.0T/V6 engine in the Audi Q5. The Q45's guide price is 58.8 yuan. Although it's domestically produced this year, the configuration has been significantly reduced. The 3.0T engine is no longer available; all models come standard with a 2.0T engine, and the starting price has also been greatly lowered.

Even with the lower starting price, the base model 2.0T Q5 still costs close to 40 yuan on the road.

As a former Volkswagen executive, Cai Junhui naturally thought of the comparison between configuration and price. Audi has faced competition from brands that differentiate themselves by offering different features. Second-tier luxury brands love to compare performance and configuration, but their differentiation is not that effective...

Is power not that valuable?

The power source should be made of gold!

Cai Junhui's thoughts were racing, and he suddenly realized that he had been sitting there for quite a while without any sound from the side. So he asked, "Mr. Cui, what are you thinking about?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Zhiyu laughed and said, "I didn't think about anything. I'm just used to everyone being silent for a while after feeling the motivation."

Cai Junhui: "..."

He had to say, "Comparing this to traditional gasoline cars... it's easy to get the wrong idea. Power is money, you know."

Cui Zhiyu calmly moved on to the extended topic, reminding her, "BYD's Qin DM can also run under 6 seconds."

Cai Junhui was taken aback. He usually didn't pay any attention to BYD. Before coming to Hong Kong this time, he was thinking about foreign car companies like Tesla and focusing on the direction of range-extended and pure electric vehicles. He only had a vague impression of BYD in his mind.

He hesitated for a moment: "Yes, but that Qin is a sedan, much lighter."

Feeling inadequate, Cai Junhui bluntly stated, "I don't know much about BYD. I really need to learn more about it during my visit to Hong Kong."

Cui Zhiyu has met with many people recently and appreciates Cai's attitude. He smiled and said, "BYD's Qin is 1.7 tons with a guide price of 190,000 yuan. After deducting national and local subsidies, it is less than 150,000 yuan. The government just issued a policy on the 1st of this month to exempt new energy vehicles from purchase tax for the next three years. When it is implemented in September, it is estimated to be around 140,000 yuan."

Cai Junhui remained silent for a short while. A car that costs 14 yuan and can go under 6 seconds is quite impressive.

He then asked, "But BYD hasn't been doing well these past two years; the Qin DM's sales are just average."

Cai Junhui's impression of BYD's current situation is the continuous decline in sales and losses. His previous impression was more profound because of Buffett's shareholding. He had occasionally talked to friends about it before and thought that Buffett had also misjudged the situation this time.

"BYD has a 542 strategy this year, which is to achieve 5-second acceleration, electric 4WD, and fuel consumption of less than 2L." Cui Zhiyu became more serious. "We saw BYD's Qin DM with Mr. Yu at the Beijing Auto Show before. It is actually more fuel-oriented, with a pure electric range of 60 to 70 kilometers. From my personal experience, it is not very convenient to use in daily life. Moreover, the target user group of Qin DM may not care too much about such a speed of 100 kilometers per hour."

Cui Zhiyu first met President Yu at the Beijing Auto Show. At that time, he was still working at Great Wall Motors. However, after arriving in Lingang, he also talked about that experience with Hu Zhengnan, who had gone to see the show with President Yu.

Mr. Yu initially said that the core problem with the Qin DM system lies in the combination of the shortcomings of the hybrid system: short driving range when using electricity and jerky shifting when using gasoline.

Looking back at the market now, besides price factors, the actual user experience did indeed have these issues. Cui Zhiyu, when talking about BYD, also mentioned the Roewe Hybrid 550 that debuted at the auto show that year, and noted that the problems Mr. Yu raised at that time have also been confirmed by the market.

Roewe's transmission is the EDU transmission developed by SAIC, which uses a series-parallel structure and achieves power switching through two sets of clutches and two gears, making its structure far more complex than that of traditional transmissions.

There are already complaints and feedback from users about gearbox malfunctions in the market.

Cai Junhui listened intently, then suddenly asked, "Were you attending the 2012 auto show?"

Cui Zhiyu nodded: "Yes."

Cai Junhui was somewhat tempted. His analysis from two years ago was now being validated by the market performance, showing that Lingang had done a good job of researching new energy.

“I heard from Mr. Yu that BYD is working on a new system, which still requires getting rid of the traditional gearbox. The mechanical gear set switching fixed gear ratios just can’t catch up quickly in terms of tuning.” Cui Zhiyu said confidently, “What we need to focus on is the user’s driving experience. In terms of power, it’s enough for us to be superior to traditional gasoline cars in the same class. It won’t be our focus, and families don’t care much about speed.”

“President Cui, what you’re saying…” Cai Junhui shook his head. “It’s superior in comparison with other companies in the same class, and it’s not inferior in comparison with other companies in different classes either. As for the power, well, it’s just that it lacks a bit of excitement.”

Cui Zhiyu smiled slightly, reached out to adjust the settings on the screen, and then gestured for President Cai to speed things up.

As soon as Cai Junhui accelerated, the sound from the 12 speakers inside the car roared up.

"Mr. Cai, what kind of exhilarating feeling do you prefer? Is it the 'hmm hmm' of a Dodge or the 'beep beep beep beep' of a GTR?" Cui Zhiyu turned his head and asked. "Or, you can also give your opinions to the team."

Cai Junhui paused for two seconds, then said, "Beep beep beep."

A moment later, as he drove, he finally shifted his attention from the power to something else and commented, "These two screens in the middle and the passenger seat, hmm, they do look more high-tech, even more so than the Model S."

"Go sit in the back and take a look at that area." Cui Zhiyu then brought up Cai Junhui's work, "We want to bring a better user experience to our products. Based on the same consideration, we want to build a direct sales system so that our silicon carbon group can directly contact customers."

Cai Junhui knew that the Silicon Carbon Group wanted to abandon the traditional 4S store model and build its own retail, delivery and service centers to complete the production-to-sales chain.

He pondered for a moment and said, "I only realized after experiencing it myself that this kind of direct sales model that focuses on 'experience' is what carbon silicon needs. In terms of brand value alone, we are at a complete disadvantage. We must bring users a completely superior experience. For example, Audi cars with rear entertainment screens are priced very high."

Cai Junhui then asked a crucial question: "Mr. Cui, what are the company's expectations for pricing and market sales next year?"

“With the costs factored in, the price will definitely exceed 30 yuan. The exact amount will depend on Mr. Yu’s decision,” Cui Zhiyu said thoughtfully. “As for market sales, it will take time and a process for the domestic market to accept new energy vehicles. Mr. Yu’s goal is 5 vehicles next year.”

The car suddenly braked hard and pulled over to the side of the road.

Cui Zhiyu was caught off guard and pulled by the seatbelt.

Cai Junhui said somewhat awkwardly, "I'll try out the brakes, and they feel pretty good."

“Bosch products are indeed quite good.” Cui Zhiyu unbuckled his seatbelt. “Mr. Cai, why don’t you try sitting in the back?”

Cai Junhui got out of the car and moved to the second row. He was still thinking about the sales targets he had just heard. The low-end Audi Q5 after its domestic production this year will be priced at over 30 yuan, and the annual sales will be around 10 units. The BMW X1 after its domestic production will have a starting price of 26 yuan, and the estimated sales this year will be 5 units.

This price and sales target...

Cai Junhui hesitated, listening to the simulated engine sounds, looking at the open screen in front of him, touching the leather seat, and thinking about the Bosch brakes he had just experienced. He felt both confused and excited.

It's unlikely that Silicon Carbon Group will be sold for that price, but it's also somewhat possible.

(End of this chapter)