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Soon, three prototype cars, all handcrafted, appeared at the Shunyi factory. Suning had the cars lined up and parked on the test track in the factory area.

The Qinglong sedan is a black three-box car with a stable line and a business-oriented front design, clearly targeting the government and family market.

The White Tiger SUV is a whole size larger than the Green Dragon, with a raised chassis, off-road tires with large tread patterns, thickened steel bumpers at the front and rear, and a roof rack mounting point.

The Zhuque City SUV is positioned between the Qinglong and Baihu models, with a lower body than the Baihu and a higher body than the Qinglong, and its styling lines are more rounded and smooth.

The three cars were parked there, none of them with license plates, and their paint reflected the sunlight.

Xiao Zhao circled the three cars several times, then stood in front of the White Tiger SUV and patted the sturdy bumper. "President Su, to be honest, two months ago I was wondering if we were expanding too much. Now, seeing these three cars, I think we really can do it."

"..."

Suning ignored his assistant's surprise and praise. Tianchao Auto never developed cars behind closed doors from the beginning. Instead, it disassembled all the comparable models from joint venture and imported brands that were available on the market and then conducted benchmarking analysis.

The Azure Dragon is positioned to compete with the Santana and Jetta, the White Tiger with the Mitsubishi Pajero and Toyota Land Cruiser, and the Vermilion Bird with the Honda CRV and Toyota RAV4.

The results of the disassembly analysis were compiled into a thick technical document, with the parameters, materials, and processes of each key component listed separately for comparison.

Suning held a meeting inside the company. Huge renderings of three cars were displayed on the walls of the meeting room, and scale clay models of the three cars were placed on the table.

The heads of the engineering department, purchasing department, quality department, and finance department all arrived.

Suning stood in front of the whiteboard, picked up a pen and drew a vertical line on it. He wrote "self-produced" on the left and "outsourced" on the right.

"Let's establish a major principle today." Su Ning tapped the whiteboard with his pen. "China Automotive will only produce the three major components of gasoline-powered vehicles: the engine, transmission, and chassis. These three are the heart, skeleton, and nervous system of a car, with the highest technological content and the highest profit margins. This is where we differentiate ourselves from others. Apart from these, all other components, such as the four doors, front and rear bumpers, dashboard assembly, seat assembly, air conditioning system, wiring harness assembly, glass, tires, brake pads, headlight assembly, etc., will be outsourced and subject to open bidding nationwide."

After listening, Manager Han, the head of the purchasing department, adjusted his glasses and said, "President Su, the common practice in the industry now is to manufacture as many parts as possible in-house and use as few outsourced components as possible. Manufacturing in-house allows us to control costs, while outsourcing makes it easy to be held hostage by suppliers. Isn't it too risky for us to outsource so many components right from the start?"

Suning shook his head. "That's outdated thinking. If you manufacture every single part yourself, you have to buy specialized equipment for each part, hire technicians for each part, and manage quality control for each part. In the end, the management costs are higher than outsourcing. Our advantage lies in system integration and the three core components. Tuning the engine and chassis well is our core competitiveness. We leave the peripheral parts to professionals. As long as we control the quality, suppliers are just extensions of our workshops."

He placed the pen in the slot under the whiteboard, turned around, and faced the room full of people: "In addition, open bidding has another advantage: it helps us gain recognition in the national auto parts industry, letting all suppliers know that Tianchao Auto is looking for partners. We are just starting out and need friends; bidding is like extending a hand. Whoever is willing to take our orders will be our partner."

Manager Han quickly jotted down a few lines in his notebook, then looked up and asked, "How should the scope of the tender be determined?"

Suning said, "Both domestic and joint venture factories are acceptable for bidding. Since our Tianchao cars are domestically produced, we should strive for the highest possible domestic production rate. Whichever company can meet our standards and offers a reasonable price will be the one we sign with. After the bidding announcement is issued, Manager Han, you will be responsible for leading the team to screen bidding companies, the technical department will be responsible for developing the technical specifications for each component, and the quality department will be responsible for on-site supervision."

"clear."

Suning then turned to Manager Zhou, the head of the quality department, and said, "Manager Zhou, I need you to send technical supervisors to the production site of the winning bidder. Every batch of key components, from the arrival of raw materials to the departure of finished products, must be tracked throughout the entire process. If anyone's product is substandard, it will be returned for rework the first time, and the second time, the cooperation qualification will be revoked directly. There will be no leniency."

Manager Zhou frowned and thought for a moment, "President Su, the task of on-site supervision requires a lot of manpower. We need to send someone to monitor each winning factory, and the current staff in the quality department is simply not enough."

Suning said, “Recruit people. Recruit from technical school graduates and retired soldiers. You need to build a large enough quality team for me, train them, and get them on the job. Don’t skimp on their salaries. If there are too few or too few quality personnel, any problem with any part on the production line will cause huge trouble when it reaches the customer. At that point, it won’t just be a matter of the supplier losing money; it will be a matter of ruining the reputation of our Tianchao Auto. You can do the math.”

Manager Zhou nodded and said, "Understood, I'll go back and work on the recruitment plan."

……

In the following period, China Automobile's bidding announcements were published in several major industrial newspapers and professional journals across the country.

The announcement was very detailed, listing out the specifications, materials, and process standards required for each type of component, the estimated annual procurement volume, and the deadline for submitting bids.

During the first week after the tender notice was issued, Manager Han's phone never stopped ringing.

The number of parts manufacturers from all over the country calling to inquire was far greater than he had expected.

There were parts factories under FAW Group, joint venture parts companies that supply parts to Shanghai Volkswagen, private enterprises in Zhejiang that make plastic parts, township factories in Hebei that make stamping parts, and even several old third-line factories that originally made military parts called to inquire whether they could participate in the bidding.

Manager Han's staff were hoarse from answering phone calls, and the bidding documents in the conference room were piled up like a small mountain.

Manager Han, wearing his reading glasses, flipped through the documents one by one, selecting a batch of companies with complete qualifications, sufficient production capacity, and relatively mature quality systems to enter the preliminary review list.

Then, Manager Han immediately took the preliminary list to Suning for review.

Suning looked through the list and asked, "How many suppliers were retained for each component category?"

Manager Han said, "Most of them have two or three suppliers, but for some categories, only one supplier meets the standard."

Suning closed the list. "That's not enough. We need to keep at least three shortlisted companies for each component category. Two companies can easily create a supply monopoly, while competition from three or more companies ensures both quality and price. Those that don't meet the standards should go back and make corrections before submitting again."

Manager Han hesitated for a moment: "President Su, there are only a few factories in China that can produce some of these products. Isn't three factories too demanding?"

Suning said, "Then we should expand the scope. We can invest in joint ventures and foreign-invested joint ventures in China. We pursue domestic production rates, but it doesn't necessarily mean that everything must be domestically produced. Introducing some disruptive elements will have a better effect. You can't put all your eggs in one basket; I don't need to elaborate on that."

"clear."

Suning was involved in the entire process of writing the technical specifications.

For each type of component, Tianchao Auto's technical department has provided enterprise standards that are far higher than national standards, with several indicators directly matching or even exceeding the requirements of similar foreign products.

During an internal discussion, a young engineer from the technical department cautiously raised his hand, holding the technical specifications for the plastic parts of the dashboard: "President Su, is the aging resistance standard we set for the plastic parts of the dashboard too high? Even Volkswagen's standards aren't this strict. There are probably very few domestic suppliers that can meet the standard."

Su Ning glanced at him. "What's your name?" The young engineer replied, "Mr. Su, my name is Liu Wenli."

Su Ning said, “Engineer Liu, you need to understand one thing: Chinese cars are not like Volkswagen. Volkswagen has decades of brand building experience; even if a part is slightly inferior, consumers will accept it. We don’t have that kind of capital. If we want the market to believe in a completely new brand, we have to do better than others even in unseen areas. Volkswagen’s standard is the passing grade; our standard must be a step above that. If a supplier says they can’t do it, then let them find a way to do it. Whoever does it will become our core supplier, and we will give them priority for all future orders for all our models.”

After listening, Engineer Liu nodded, took the technical specifications back, and said nothing more.

……

The training for on-site technical supervisors is conducted concurrently at the training center of the Shunyi factory.

The first batch of sixty supervisors were all dressed in dark blue work uniforms with the Tianchao Automobile logo printed on their left chests.

Every morning, we learn about quality systems and inspection standards in the classroom, and in the afternoon, we follow engineers in the workshop to do practical testing training.

They were divided into pairs, one responsible for tracking the production process and the other for spot-checking the quality of finished products, supervising and restraining each other.

On the first day of the training course, Manager Zhou stood on the podium.

The classroom was a temporary structure made of prefabricated panels, with new desks and chairs, and the air was filled with the smell of sawdust mixed with new paint.

Manager Zhou looked at the sixty people sitting neatly below, cleared his throat, and said, "From today onwards, you are the first generation of quality supervisors for Tianchao Auto. What you hold in your hands is not calipers or testing instruments, but the lifeline of our brand's survival."

There was complete silence below.

Manager Zhou continued, “After your training, you’ll be sent to supplier factories all over the country. You’ll eat and live in the factories, watching their production lines every day. There will definitely be people trying to pull strings, offering cigarettes, trying to get close to you, inviting you to meals, and some might even ask for money. I’m telling you this upfront, so you need to be firm about your standards. Standards are standards; not a millimeter off. If any supplier’s product has a quality problem and you don’t find out, and it gets installed on our truck, the customer might slam on the brakes and it could be fatal. If someone dies, the first person held accountable will be the quality department, and the second will be you.”

The classroom was so quiet you could hear the sparrows chirping outside.

“I, Zhou Sanmin, personally recruited you all. I don’t want to see anyone ruin their future because of a pack of cigarettes or a drink. Do you all understand?”

The sixty people answered in unison, "We understand."

……

The 4th Beijing International Exhibition Center, 1996.

Although the scale of the domestic auto show that year could not compare with that of later years, it was already the biggest event in the domestic automobile industry at that time.

Joint venture brands, imported brands, and several long-established state-owned car manufacturers all came, each setting up their own booths and displaying their best cars.

Santana, Jetta, and Fukang, these three models, occupy the core position in the joint venture camp.

Occasionally, you can see a few nice Japanese and German cars in the imported brand section, but the string of zeros following the price tag makes most visitors just look and not touch them.

China Auto's booth is in Hall 2.

The booth was quite large, but the location wasn't the best; it was on the inside, next to two auto parts suppliers.

The day before the opening, the exhibition hall was in chaos during the setup, with sounds of tightening bolts, wiping car paint, and adjusting lights everywhere.

The staff of Tianchao Auto drove the three cars off the transport truck one by one, lifted the dust covers on the cars, and parked them according to the pre-marked locations.

The lighting technician climbed onto the truss at the top of the booth and adjusted the angle of each spotlight one by one until every beam of light hit the car body perfectly.

……

On the morning of the opening day, as soon as the exhibition hall doors opened, crowds poured in.

The flow of people in Hall 2 was initially quite dispersed, with most people crowding towards the booths of joint venture and imported brands.

Only a few people passed by the Tianchao Auto booth. Some glanced at the brand name on the booth—"Tianchao Auto"—muttered "Never heard of it," and walked past without stopping.

A middle-aged man stopped briefly as he passed by, tilted his head to look at the banner hanging above the booth, which read "China's Superior Country Automobile Technology Co., Ltd." He read it aloud and then asked the staff member next to him, "Are these domestically produced cars?"

"Yes! It's a completely domestically produced car," the staff member replied with a smile.

A young man wearing glasses was heading towards the auto parts booth next door, but when he passed the Tianchao Auto booth, he suddenly slowed down and stopped.

Surprisingly, it wasn't one of those exhibitions where you were only allowed to look but not touch, but rather an open display...

The car doors could be opened, the hoods could be lifted, and there were no models leaning against the cars. The three cars were simply parked quietly under the spotlight, waiting for people to come and see them.

This was a rare sight at the 1996 auto show, and no one who noticed it could ignore it.

"Is this really a domestically produced car?" the young man couldn't help but ask in surprise.

Then he walked to the first-generation Qinglong sedan, "Qinglong Yi," reached out and touched the door handle, and looked back at the staff with a questioning expression.

...(End of this chapter)