My Realistic Simulation Game

Chapter 178 The Car Sales War: A Huge Impact

The automobile trade and sales war between Far East Trade and Rogwarts has long transcended simple commercial competition, causing a huge impact in both China and the Soviet Union.

The unprecedented influx of domestically produced cars into the market has, to some extent, alleviated the long-suppressed material needs of the people.

Especially for those people who hold old rubles that are about to depreciate or have become worthless and are eager to convert them into real goods, these relatively "affordable" latas and volgas have become an excellent safe haven.

The picture pieced together by reporters from scattered sales data obtained from various sources shows the recovery of the "national economy".

We have witnessed the enormous economic vitality inherent in the private sector.

These filtered and processed reports and data further reinforced the preconceived notions held by certain members of the Soviet upper class.

The economic and monetary reforms they are implementing are absolutely correct.

They revitalized the Soviet economy.

"Sure enough, the goal was to abolish the rationing system and let the market determine supply. The Volga plant's decision to loosen restrictions yielded immediate results."

Such words kept coming from the mouths of those above.

As for how much actual payment the Volga automobile factory received during this trade frenzy?

What changes have occurred in its financial statements compared to the previous quarter or even previous years?
With so many cars being taken away at factory price, where does the real profit go?
Nobody really cares, and nobody has the "leisure" to investigate further.

No one will nitpick over a minor "flaw" in this hard-won "market boom".

In China, however, the situation is quite different.

The fact that batches of Soviet-made cars were entering the country through legitimate channels was itself a significant event.

Even more coincidentally, the person who brought these cars back to China was the same person as the protagonist of the previously sensational "canned food for airplanes" miracle—Qin Yuan and his Far East Trading Company.

This is where things get really interesting.

Not only did the news media's attention surge instantly, but public curiosity and discussion also reached unprecedented heights.

This brings tremendous benefits.

When Crown Prince Li Chuze sent people to various taxi companies in the southwest region to discuss cooperation, the companies readily agreed without hesitation upon hearing that the vehicles were "Soviet cars transported through trade cooperation with the Far East".

This is not only to give face to Crown Prince Li Chuze, but also an excellent opportunity to connect with the rising Far East Trade!

Now everyone can see that being able to cooperate with the Far East in trade means having a potential channel to the Soviet market and earn foreign exchange!

These taxi companies have intricate networks of relationships, and their shareholders and affiliates often operate various physical factories, especially in the light industry and food sectors.

Following this line of thought, Prince Li Chuze's team astutely extended their reach to regions with highly developed light industries, such as Yiwu in Jinhua, Wenzhou, Laizhou in Shandong, Shishi in Fujian, and the Guangdong market with its massive manufacturing capacity.

Before they even had a chance to access the official vehicle system, the planned thousands of Soviet cars were snapped up by shrewd taxi companies, private business owners, and individual entrepreneurs in these regions!
This powerful purchasing power and demand, generated spontaneously by the market, shocked everyone.

It was against this backdrop that major media outlets rushed to report on the story, with the Economic Daily publishing a front-page feature article that gave it extremely high praise:
Today, the market economy is exerting an unprecedented influence, continuously generating wealth for the country and society with its invisible hand.

Over the past decade of reform and opening up, the gradual withdrawal of the planned economy has led to overcapacity in many sectors. Our current national consumption levels are far from sufficient to fully absorb these products.

Meanwhile, in the fields of heavy industry, key technologies and equipment, the lack of core technologies and insufficient self-sufficiency in spare parts have led to an extreme scarcity of related products, resulting in unmet national needs.

The economic difficulties caused by this structural imbalance continue to affect the speed and quality of my country's economic development.

However, the emergence of a group and a company has offered a glimmer of hope for alleviating this situation.

[Because in the north, there exists a country with an economic structure completely opposite to ours—they lack light industrial products, but possess substantial reserves in heavy industry.]

This is the Soviet Union.

Far Eastern trade served as a bridge between China and the Soviet Union. Initially, these traders traveled between the two countries as backpackers and "middlemen," contributing to the exchange of goods. The establishment of Far Eastern trade undoubtedly propelled this kind of people-to-people exchange to a new peak.

[From 'canned goods for airplanes': 800 train cars of light industrial materials were exchanged for seven passenger planes]

The continued importation of Lada and Avtovan automobiles has effectively alleviated domestic demand pressures and saved the country valuable foreign exchange through the "barter trade" model... The continuous success of Far East trade is by no means accidental.

It accurately grasped the enormous complementarity between the Chinese and Soviet economies, and with the flexibility and efficiency of private enterprises, broke down many barriers in the foreign trade sector, playing the role of an "icebreaker."

Its more profound impact lies in the fact that it greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of domestic enterprises, especially those in light industrial hubs, to participate in international trade, becoming a 'catalyst' for boosting the vitality of private foreign trade.

Against the backdrop of deepening reform and opening up, the practices of Far East trade have provided us with valuable experience. It proves that Chinese private enterprises are fully capable of playing an important role on the international economic and trade stage. Through market-oriented operations, they can not only achieve their own development but also explore new paths and accumulate new experiences for national-level economic and trade cooperation, ultimately achieving mutual benefit and win-win results.

Wuhu, Anhui.

Zhan Qingxia, then the head of Anhui Guotou, read through the front-page feature article in the Jianghuai Daily, which was reprinted from the Economic Daily, word by word, his gaze heavy.

In particular, the main headline, "[A Trade Bridge Across the North—Far East Trade Writes a New Chapter in Sino-Soviet People-to-People Economic and Trade Relations]", is noteworthy.

This made his mind restless.

He slowly raised his head and looked at Manager Zhao, who claimed to be from the Southwest Development Group, sitting on the sofa opposite him.

"Your company is going to build cars?"

Zhan Xialai's voice was steady, yet carried an undeniable sense of caution.

The manager, Zhao Donglai, was entrusted with an important task by Crown Prince Li Chuze and was in charge of the Southwest Development Group.

It was Li Chuze's father who arranged for him to be the "Grand Tutor".

He was among the first batch of college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination. A top student who graduated from Tsinghua University, he originally had a bright future, but he stumbled due to personal life problems.

When I went to the countryside, I married a country girl.

After being admitted to Tsinghua University, his future was bright, but his wife from the countryside was afraid that he would not come back after going to the city, so she refused to let him return.

With no other choice, Zhao Donglai brought his wife from the countryside to Yanjing City so he could study. They attended classes and also had to earn money to help support the family.

Life was tough, and his wife often caused trouble, but they managed to get by because they had a son.

But after he was assigned to work at his unit, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

His wife lacked a sense of security and was suspicious, especially after giving birth to their second son, she suffered from postpartum depression. She insisted that he was having an affair with a very beautiful female classmate at his workplace, causing him to lose face at work.

Enraged, Zhao Donglai resigned and went into business.

Through a referral, Zhao Donglai started working at Li Chuze's newly established Southwest Development Company, where he gradually gained recognition and became the company's de facto manager.

Facing the scrutinizing gaze of Zhan Xialai, the local economic leader, Zhao Donglai remained calm and composed: "President Zhan, to be precise, it is our Southwest Development Group that is cooperating with Far East Trade, hoping to jointly enter the automobile manufacturing field."

"Our purpose in coming here is to seek support from your province, especially in the Wuhu area."

Zhan Qingxia made no comment: "Young people, it's good to have ambition. But you should be clear that the Chinese auto market is now almost entirely controlled by a few major joint venture brands and imported cars. The technological barriers are high and the capital requirements are huge."

"There are very few domestic car brands, and survival is difficult. How easy is it to carve out a path in this red ocean market?"

Zhao Donglai calmly shook his head, his gaze resolute:
"Mr. Zhan, does that mean we shouldn't do it just because it's difficult?"

"Which achievement since the founding of New China and the reform and opening up has not been accomplished by overcoming difficulties and building bridges over rivers?"

"In my humble opinion, it is precisely when domestic car brands are weak that we need people like you and me to get involved and do our part for the development of the domestic car industry."

He paused, his tone becoming more confident and persuasive:

"Moreover, as far as we know, your province is actively seeking industrial upgrading and has decided to regard Wuhu City as an important industrial development base, seeking new and powerful economic growth poles for it."

"As you can see from this report, the Soviet cars introduced by our partner Far East Trade have been unexpectedly well received in the domestic market due to their durability, high cost-performance ratio, and other characteristics!"

"Currently, our group has made extensive contacts with light industry-developed regions such as Jinhua and Wenzhou in Zhejiang, Laizhou in Shandong, Shishi in Fujian, and Guangdong."

"The feedback has been extremely positive, with a large number of taxi companies and private business owners expressing clear intentions to purchase, and some have even placed orders!"

Sensing the change in Zhan Qingxia's expression, Zhao Donglai quickly said:

"Mr. Zhan, this is by no means a fiercely competitive, impassable red ocean."

"In my view, this is a vast, untapped, and rapidly growing blue ocean!"

"What we need is an opportunity, a fulcrum."

"And Wuhu has all the potential to become this fulcrum!"

(End of this chapter)