I am farming in the real world.

Chapter 222: A dinner party that will shake up the entire automotive industry!

Probably because of the recognition and commendation from above, plus the signing of a large order worth 727 billion, Chen Jue was in a good mood.

Therefore, at the celebration banquet held in the private room of China World Hotel on the last night, a gift package of 6 months' basic salary was collectively distributed to all the Magic Cube Group staff members who came to the capital on business trip to participate in the exhibition.

After saying a few words briefly to liven up the atmosphere at the celebration banquet, Chen Jue turned into a high-end private restaurant called Chengfuyan.

It is said to be very famous and of decent quality, with an average person spending only around 1000 yuan per person.

Since Chen Jue was not very familiar with the imperial capital, he asked Lei Bushi, the host who lived in the imperial capital, to arrange a private room for him.

As soon as we arrived, the Xiang father and daughter of Tsingshan Holdings, the leaders of NIO, Xpeng and Li Auto, including Xiaomi Auto's chief designer Li Yuan and Lei Jun were all communicating with each other at the table.

Seeing the real owner come out, everyone started to make a noise: "Boss Jue is late, you must drink three cups as punishment!"

"Yes! Brother Chen Jue clearly asked for the treat, but he was the last one to arrive. He must drink a penalty drink." Lei Jun and Xiang Qingshan took the lead in applauding.

The remaining few people of lower status naturally followed suit.

Seeing this, Chen Jue apologized and picked up the sparkling fruit wine on the table and drank three glasses.

Found it surprisingly delicious!
I took a look at the imported Chinese characters on the wine bottle label and found that it was Dom Perignon Champagne from France. I wrote down the name of the wine and planned to go back and try to make a similar dry wine myself.

Let’s see if the fruits produced in MC can also be used to make such sweet and refreshing wine.

Of course, this time Chen Jue swallowed his pride and set up a plan to invite these big guys to a dinner together.

In addition to maintaining relationships with these major customers of the Magic Cube Group, there are also several aspects of my future business plan that will require the connections present here.

"I've already punished you for drinking, now I'm going to get down to business!"

Chen Jue put down his glass and sat down. While asking the waiter outside to serve the hot dishes, he asked seriously, "Brother Lei, I remember that some of the shares of Royole Technology are in your hands, right?"

Lei Jun nodded and said, "That's true. I invested in Royole's angel round. But now the company has gone bankrupt and reorganized, and the equity is useless. Why are you interested in flexible screens? The commercialization of flexible screens is not mature. Currently, only Huawei's high-end folding screens can produce some results. The input and output are completely disproportionate."

Chen Jue was delighted to see that Lei Jun seemed to have a say in Royole, and said, "Brother Lei, please pass a message to other investors of Royole, saying that our Magic Cube Group intends to acquire all the shares of Royole, and if you want to offer, give 20 billion."

When Lei Jun heard the price, he was slightly stunned.

Since its establishment, Royole Technology has raised more than 70 billion yuan in financing, with a peak valuation of 430 billion yuan.

But valuation is valuation after all, and it contains too many bubbles.

Currently, Royole has been forced into bankruptcy reorganization by the Shenzhen Court. If someone is willing to pay 20 billion yuan and take it away, it would definitely be a savior sent from heaven.

"Okay! I'll go back and create a small group later. 20 billion should be no problem." Lei Jun weighed the pros and cons and nodded in agreement.

Seeing Chen Jue being so generous, several people nearby, such as Li Bin of NIO, He Peng of Xpeng Motors, and Li Xiang of Ideal, all took the initiative to toast him.

Where can you find an investor who is willing to pay 20 billion to buy a bankrupt company without blinking an eye?
After all, among the three new car-making forces here, except for Ideal Auto, which has just achieved profitability and has hundreds of billions of cash flow, its debt ratio can be maintained at a healthy level of around 50%.

The other two companies, like NIO and Xpeng, are both making cars at a loss and are burning money every day so far.

Especially Li Bin of NIO is under the greatest pressure!
As of the end of the third quarter of 2024, NIO's debts amounted to more than 870 billion yuan, and the net assets of the entire enterprise were only 160.7 billion yuan.

If it fails to turn a profit or introduce a strategic investor before the second quarter of next year, it is estimated that NIO will end up being eliminated from the market like WM Motor.

Even some stupid netizens in the car industry are saying: "NIO has no future!"

So when he met a new rich man like Chen Jue, Li Bin acted very humble: "Boss Jue, this is a toast to you! Previously, Zotye's ZT700 broke the TOP1 record of the Nürburgring Nordschleife, which boosted the confidence of our domestic brands!"

Seeing that the founder of Yiche had fallen into such a servile and begging posture, Chen Jue showed a playful smile on his face.

As the first new car-making force among "NIO, Xiaopeng and Li Auto" to enter the domestic automobile market in 2014, NIO can be said to have gotten up early but arrived late.

Not only has it been losing money for years, but even the direction of its operations is still unclear.

Take the "battery pack leasing + battery replacement" solution first launched by NIO, and the "battery replacement stations" deployed all over the world.

Although the technology is impressive enough, it can remove and replace the battery at the bottom of an electric car within a few minutes.

Even in terms of convenience, it saves time compared to filling up the tank at a gas station with a traditional fuel car.

But it doesn’t matter!
The market did not recognize NIO's battery swap station project at all, and instead followed the mainstream and chose public charging piles with lower investment costs and better popularity.

Except for some small countries in Eastern Europe whose land area is only half the size of a province in China, such as Sweden, Finland and Norway, it is convenient to promote NIO's battery swap solution.

There is no other market with a larger land area where NIO can succeed.

"Mr. Li, do you know why NIO's battery swap station failed?" Chen Jue clinked glasses with the other party and poured a basin of cold water on him.

Li Bin's smiling expression froze in an instant!

Although NIO's battery swap plan is doomed to fail, it has almost become a recognized fact in the automotive industry.

But what could be more embarrassing than having it said to your face at a dinner party?
Just thinking about the predicament of Weilai now, Li Bin still resisted the urge to attack: "I wonder what Mr. Jue thinks?"

Chen Jue saw that the other party was not willing to admit defeat, and probably knew that this person was an entrepreneur with dreams and aspirations. So he directly reminded him: "NIO is clearly positioned as a car company, and it should not compete for the job of building gas stations! That is what PetroChina and Sinopec should do."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the leaders of the new car-making forces present nodded in agreement.

"The general's evaluation is spot on!"

"Old Li, it's time to stop your crappy battery swap station project."

"We've spent billions of dollars, but it's just a bottomless pit."

"We should change the business direction as soon as possible and save the main business." He Peng and Li Xiang both advised.

These people are entrepreneurs who have been in the same circle for many years. They are competitors but also good friends in private.

For example, Li Xiang founded "Autohome" in his early years, and Li Bin founded "Bitauto", and both car websites went to the United States for financing and listing.

This also includes He Peng, who first founded Xiaopeng Motors and also accepted angel investment from Lei Jun.

We all eat from the same pot, so naturally we don’t want our good brothers to fall behind.

However, NIO has a debt hole of nearly 900 billion yuan, and even investors like Lei Jun and Pony Ma, who have huge amounts of cash, dare not come out to save it.

Seeing that everyone was persuading him, Li Bin picked up his glass and drank it all, with a bitter look on his face.

As the saying goes, it is difficult to turn a big ship around!

NIO has already deployed more than 3000 battery swap stations. If it cuts them off at once, NIO will die immediately, without even having to wait until next year.

Because what NIO’s users value is the convenience of battery swap stations.

Stopping at this time means that the credibility that NIO has accumulated among customers over the past 10 years will collapse overnight.

In today's extremely inward-looking automobile market, without rights and credibility, what advantages will NIO have over other manufacturers?

Just as Li Bin was reflecting on himself and struggling over whether to listen to the advice and cancel the battery swap project.

Chen Jue, who was in charge of bringing up the topic, spoke up to explain: "Who said that NIO should stop battery swapping? What I mean is that NIO cannot build gas stations for PetroChina! But it can sell the battery swapping project to PetroChina and get off the road without any burden."

"It just so happens that our Magic Cube Group wants to be PetroChina for once."

“So, Mr. Li, are you interested in selling all of NIO’s battery swap projects to me?”

When these words were spoken, everyone, including Li Bin, all looked “Ah???” with a look of doubt on their faces.

So after all the preparations above, you, the sixth-year man, want to take advantage of NIO?

This cool move of first suppressing and then praising almost made the boss of NIO cry with excitement!
After hearing this, Li Bin was like he had met a savior: "Boss Jue, do you also think that our NIO battery swap solution has great potential?"

Chen Jue shook his head: "No! Weilai's battery replacement solution will definitely not work, but if our Magic Cube Group takes over, it will definitely work!"

Li Bin's face froze: "Is President Jue so confident?"

Chen Jue spread his hands and said, "Of course! The main purpose of inviting everyone to this dinner this time is not only to buy Weilai's battery swap project as a package, but also to join hands with you in a larger follow-up project."

Lei Jun and Xiang Qingshan, who were listening to the whole process, suddenly became excited.

Because they had come into contact with Chen Jue several times, they knew that this guy would not give up until he achieved his goal.

Seeing that everyone began to prick up their ears, they sat up straight.

Chen Jue waved his hand and asked Tie Yi, who was outside the box, to keep watch.

He himself sat at the main seat at the dinner and started to talk nonsense: "I plan to invite you to join the Magic Cube Battery Swap Alliance initiated by our Magic Cube Group. The six car companies, Wei, Xiaoli, Xiaomi, and Magic Cube Auto, will jointly build Magic Cube battery swap stations covering all urban grids and highway service areas across the country!"

When such a radical project came out, everyone present was almost shocked.

Lei Jun was the first to raise a question: "Covering the whole country? How many battery swap stations would we need to build?"

Chen Jue spread out five fingers: "In the first phase, 5 stations will be put into use. The second and third phases will maintain this number increase until the popularity of battery swap stations exceeds the 11.2 gas stations in the country!"

As soon as this incredible number was announced, the chopsticks in Li Bin's hand slammed onto the plate with a clang.

Because this number is more than 50 times that of NIO’s battery swap stations.

If the entire project can really proceed as Chen Jue said, then Li Bin’s dream of being able to find a battery swap station within 1 kilometer anytime and anywhere when the electric car is running low on power can be completely realized!
"There are 15 battery swap stations in the third phase. I remember the cost of NIO's fourth-generation battery swap stations is..." Lei Jun pondered.

Li Bin reminded: "150 million per seat! Including the venue rental fee."

"The total investment for the three phases is 2250 billion. It seems like Brother Jue can handle it by himself!" Xiang Qingshan, who is proficient in capital operations, helped to calculate the total account.

However, Xiang and his daughter could not imagine what such an integrated standard project involving the new energy vehicle industry had to do with their Qingshan Holdings?
Could it be that they are providing stainless steel materials for use in battery swap stations?
Probably seeing Xiang Qingshan's doubts, Chen Jue laughed and threw out the most tempting bomb of the entire 'Magic Cube Battery Swap Alliance': "All the car companies here who are willing to join the Magic Cube Battery Swap Alliance can get the supply of ferroalloy-related metal parts in vehicle manufacturing from the Magic Cube Group at half the market price. For subsequent car companies that join, the discount will be reduced by batch, with a maximum discount of 9%."

"Brother Xiang, we will have to rely heavily on Qingshan Holdings for the supply of nickel-based alloys from now on!"

(End of this chapter)