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The fact that China Automotive Group declined all visits and interviews was so unexpected that various speculations arose.

Public opinion poured out like a floodgate being opened.

From the day the project was announced, a large number of people have been questioning whether Tianchao Auto is a shell project used to defraud loans, land, and policies.

Now that companies are proactively closing their doors, not allowing people to see, take photos, or visit, isn't that a sign of their guilty conscience?
Which company doesn't want the whole world to know about its products? So why is this Chinese automaker so unique?

If you really have something, why are you afraid to let people see it?
If you're really building cars, why won't the media be allowed to even enter the door to interview you?

These questions, after being published in the financial sections of several newspapers, quickly went from text to television footage.

One characteristic of the public opinion environment in the mid-to-late 1990s was that everything had to be modeled after the West.

Newspaper commentaries, television interviews, and university academic lectures—whenever industrial technology is discussed, people invariably cite the experiences of Europe, America, and Japan.

The automotive industry has been elevated to the crown jewel of industry, with the three major components—engine, transmission, and chassis—described as divine creations, something one shouldn't even dream of touching without decades of technological accumulation.

In these discussions, domestically produced cars have always been the negative example—crude, copied and imitated, falling apart after three years, and requiring more repairs than driving. These were common terms used by the media at the time to describe domestically produced cars.

Now, a privately owned Chinese automaker has suddenly appeared. It has only been registered for a few days and has not sold a single mass-produced car, yet it dares to build two production bases in Beijing and Qingdao at the same time. It even dares to display three prototype cars at the auto show, claiming that mass production is imminent.

Given the prevailing public opinion at the time, doing something like that was practically courting disaster.

The first to jump out were a group of so-called industry experts.

A newspaper interviewed a retired engineer who had worked in the automotive industry for decades. The reporter handed him the microphone and asked, "Mr. Zhang, what are your thoughts on the Chinese automotive industry?"

The veteran engineer counted on his fingers for the reporter in front of the camera: "Building a car involves four major processes: stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly. Which one isn't a bottomless pit of money? An engine, from design to bench testing to durability testing to mass production, takes at least three to five years to complete. A gearbox, the precision of the gears, the lifespan of the bearings, the reliability of the shifting mechanism—every step requires a large amount of experimental data to support it. Not to mention chassis tuning, which relies on time and mileage to develop. How long has it been since Chinese automakers were registered? What are they using to build cars? This doesn't conform to scientific principles."

The reporter then asked, "Do you think it's possible for the three mass-produced vehicles that Tianchao Auto claims to be ready to roll off the production line on time?"

The old engineer waved his hand, "I don't make predictions, I only speak common sense. Common sense is that there are no shortcuts in building cars."

Another university professor analyzed the business model of China's automobile industry in a television interview.

The professor, wearing thick glasses, sat on the sofa in the studio, meticulously analyzing the situation on camera: "Let's look at the operating model of the Chinese auto industry—first register a brand, then acquire land everywhere to build factories, while simultaneously claiming that mass production is imminent, but refusing all external visits and media interviews. What does this operating model resemble? It resembles some famous foreign financing scams. First, they create a huge buzz, attracting attention with beautiful prototype cars and exquisite promotional materials, then negotiating land concessions with local governments under the guise of building factories, and after obtaining the land, they mortgage it to banks to obtain loans. Whether the cars can actually be manufactured is not their concern."

The host followed up with, "So what do you think consumers should do?"

The professor adjusted his glasses and said, "What can consumers do? Just wait and see. True gold fears no fire, and even scammers can't withstand the test of time. I'm just advising everyone not to easily invest their money before you've thoroughly understood the situation."

These words were broadcast on television again and again, and published in newspapers one after another, quickly planting an impression in the public's mind: there are problems with Chinese cars.

The fire of public opinion has spread from automobiles to real estate.

As the parent company of Tianchao Automobile, Mingju Real Estate naturally became a target of collateral attacks.

Someone wrote a long commentary in the newspaper titled "From Mingju to Tianchao: Suning's Capital Game".

The article thoroughly analyzed Mingju Real Estate's rapid expansion over the past few years, concluding that Suning's expertise lies not in real industry, but in using high leverage to obtain bank funds.

The real estate scheme works because the real estate market is booming, and the rising tide covers all the holes.

But cars are different; cars cannot be leveraged through financial means.

The article's last sentence was particularly jarring: "Owners of Mingju Real Estate, your payments may have been diverted to fill the bottomless pit of the car factory."

This statement is more damaging than all technical analysis combined.

People who buy houses don't care about the engine's thermal efficiency; they only care whether their hard-earned money has been used to buy a bunch of lumps of iron.

After the article was published, the first to be affected were several of Mingju Real Estate's properties for sale in Beijing.

The number of customers in the sales office plummeted.

Previously, the sales office was packed with people on weekends, with salespeople serving several groups of customers at the same time. Now, only two or three people come in each morning, and half of them are just there to watch the excitement and inquire about Tianchao Auto.

Some customers who had already paid deposits went to the sales office to demand a refund after seeing the news.

The salesperson could only explain, "The contract stipulates that refunds are not possible."

The customer slammed his fist on the table in the sales office, yelling, "Your company is about to go bankrupt and you're still talking to me about the contract? I've worked so hard to save this money, it's not for you to throw away!"

Some clients had already agreed on a signing date, but when the day came, they didn't show up.

When the salesperson called to inquire, the other party said on the phone, "Isn't your company involved in car insurance claims? I'll wait and see. What if your cash flow dries up? My house purchase will be left unfinished."

……

Zhuangzhuang witnessed these scenes firsthand in the sales office.

An old customer who had previously bought an apartment from her was planning to buy another one for his son's wedding. Instead, he came to her with a newspaper, slammed it on the table, and demanded, "Xiao Zhuang, tell me the truth, is your company really in trouble? Is what's written here true?"

Zhuangzhuang picked up the newspaper, glanced at it, and then put it down. "Uncle, to be honest, I don't know anything about Tianchao Auto, but I've been selling houses in Mingju for so long, when has the company ever had any problems with its accounts? Has the first house you bought been delivered yet?"

The customer paused for a moment, then said, "It's delivered."

Zhuangzhuang then asked, "Is there a quality problem?"

The customer said, "The quality is fine, but..."

Zhuangzhuang interrupted him: "Uncle, that's fine then. If the company is really short of money, the first to suffer losses will be the projects under construction. Do you see if our construction site has stopped?" The client thought about it, and the construction site had indeed not stopped; the tower crane was turning every day.

Zhuangzhuang added, "Tianchao Auto is an independently operated company, and its funds are separate from Mingju's. If you're still not comfortable with that, I can show you the relevant documents."

The client looked at her for a while, and finally said, "Okay, Xiao Zhuang, I trust you. I won't decide on that house yet, we'll talk about it later. It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't trust your boss."

Zhuangzhuang nodded and did not insist that he stay.

After seeing the client off, Zhuangzhuang returned to the front desk and sat down, letting out a deep sigh.

I don't know how things turned out this way, and I can't help but have doubts about Suning.

Why not focus on real estate instead of car manufacturing? Do all men dream of building cars?
……

Zhang Jie summarized the situation of each property at the sales meeting.

Holding the report, she went around reporting the figures for each property: "Beijing No. 1, completely sold out, and handover to residents is starting gradually. Beijing No. 2, visitor numbers dropped by 50%, and there were zero sales. Beijing No. 3, visitor numbers dropped by 30%, and one unit was sold."

Zhang Jie put down the report and looked at the people in the room. "In several first-tier cities, because of the distance, customers pay less attention to cars, so the impact is not significant. But in Beijing, the overall number of visits and sales in these real estate projects has been declining this week, and this trend is still going down."

The meeting room was silent for several seconds.

After listening to Zhang Jie's report, Su Ning neither got angry nor anxious.

He simply placed his teacup on the table and said, "Continue with normal sales. Push the trays as usual, do the promotions as usual, don't panic."

Zhang Jie asked, "President Su, what should the sales team say when the client asks about Tianchao Auto?"

Suning said, "Just tell them that Tianchao Auto is an independent legal entity and an independently operated sub-brand, and its funds are separate from Mingju Real Estate. Each company repays its own loans and does not misappropriate funds from the other. If they don't believe you, just show them a copy of Tianchao Auto's bank credit documents."

Zhang Jie nodded. "Understood. I'll go back and arrange for all sales offices to use the same information."

Xiao Zhao had been silent the whole time, but after Sister Zhang left, he turned to Su Ning and asked, "President Su, should we also ask someone to speak to those media outlets? Some of the newspapers used excessive language; they were clearly trying to stir up trouble."

Su Ning said, "No need. The more people you ask around, the more they'll think you're up to no good. If they write that you're a loan fraudster now, and you ask someone to shut them up, tomorrow they'll write that you're guilty and trying to keep quiet. The more you respond to these kinds of things, the more lively it gets; the more low-key you are, the less interesting it becomes."

Xiao Zhao said, "So we're just going to let them curse us like that?"

Su Ning leaned back in his chair, his tone still calm: "Xiao Zhao, have you ever seen a swindler spend 50 million to buy a discontinued car factory? Have you ever seen a swindler build a factory around the clock in three shifts? Have you ever seen a swindler bring back production line equipment piece by piece from abroad for installation and debugging? Have you ever seen a swindler submit patent applications to the patent office one by one?"

"..." Xiao Zhao didn't say anything.

Suning continued, "The reason for all the criticism outside is that they haven't seen our mass-produced cars. Experts say we can't build cars, professors say we're a financing scam, and newspapers say we misappropriated housing funds. It doesn't matter how loud these voices are now—once the mass-produced cars roll off the assembly line and hit the road, consumers will drive, use, and compare them themselves. Then, the market will give us the answer without us having to say anything."

"understood."

"Moreover, negative public opinion is sometimes a publicity and promotion strategy, which naturally increases attention, and it's free. Once we achieve mass production, it will create a strong contrast with those negative public opinions."

"Mr. Su, what I'm worried about is that negative public opinion might make consumers hesitant?"

"Definitely! Even without these negative reviews, people subconsciously don't trust domestic cars, so our great nation's automotive industry still has a long way to go."

"..."

Next, Suning asked Xiao Zhao to call over the company's legal department and R&D center.

After everyone arrived, Su Ning said, "From now on, submit all the patents related to the three major components—engine, transmission, and chassis—to the patent office one by one. Technical drawings, experimental data, and explanations of working principles—everything you need must be included; not a single one can be missing. Make sure the patent application materials are solid; the patent office is very strict in its review, so don't let them find any faults."

The R&D center staff said, "Don't worry, Mr. Su, we're already working on it. We've submitted a batch of applications, and we're still processing the rest."

"Good! Don't worry about the chaos in the outside world. We need to have strategic composure, instead of going with the flow."

"clear."

In the following weeks, Suning continued to visit the Shunyi factory every day to monitor the progress and equipment debugging.

He met with the engineers to discuss the final rounds of road test data before the mass production of the Qinglong 1, checking the engine's cold start performance, the smoothness of the transmission's shifting, and the chassis's durability on washboard roads.

The newspapers outside continued to criticize, the television continued to condemn, and the experts continued to question, but Suning pretended not to hear them.

Xiao Zhao once saw a thick stack of patent office acceptance notices on Suning's desk, each one stamped with the official seal of the patent office.

I picked it up and flipped through it; there were at least dozens of documents covering everything from engine valve train design and transmission synchronizer design to chassis suspension structure.

Xiao Zhao suddenly looked at Su Ning with a face full of surprise and said, "President Su, if all these patents are approved, we will have established a technological barrier in the three major components. Then, if anyone says we don't have the technology, we can just throw these acceptance notices in their faces."

Suning put aside the road test report he was reading. "Patents aren't just for attacking others. When our cars reach a certain sales volume, competitors will definitely study our technology. With patents in hand, they'll either have to go around us or pay patent fees. That's the real use of patents."

Xiao Zhao stacked the acceptance notices back on the table and asked, "President Su, are you really not in a hurry at all?"

Su Ning glanced at him. "What's the rush?"

Xiao Zhao said, "They've been criticizing us so much outside."

Su Ning stood up and walked to the window, looking at the transport trucks coming and going in the factory area. "Xiao Zhao, you must remember one thing—facts won't change just because someone shouts the loudest. Our production line is running, our cars are undergoing road tests, and our patents are being submitted for approval. These are the facts. The words in the newspapers and the mouths on TV can't change these facts. Once the mass-produced cars are on the road, the facts will speak for themselves."

...(End of this chapter)