From knock-off old-man's electric vehicles to industrial giant

Chapter 161 The Dawn of Domestically Produced Air Suspension

"You'll have several things to do next."

One approach is to establish warehouses overseas. Alibaba International Station or other cross-border e-commerce platforms can connect with third-party warehouse service providers to send vehicles to establish warehouses in advance, reducing the shipping logistics time for exports from one month to within one week. It is also important not to overlook any relevant export product certifications.

Secondly, we will establish a separate foreign trade team. Our Xingchen brand electric kettles will not only be listed on Alibaba International Station, but also on Amazon and other third-party international platforms as soon as possible, so that foreigners can easily see and search for our products.

Thirdly, in accordance with the road standards of Europe and the United States, we will develop new models and modify the production of existing models. In addition, we will incorporate the reflective strips, three-point seat belt standards, and appearance markings stipulated by developed countries. To facilitate production capacity utilization, all models can be produced in accordance with these standards.

......"

Xu Yi gave several instructions in a row, which Liu Shengjun was to write down.

Cross-border e-commerce has long entered the "Year One of Overseas Warehouses". The warehousing, logistics and compliance environment of the United States fully supports domestic sellers to build warehouses, and it is not difficult to do so.

The service provider is responsible for inventory management and order fulfillment, which is very suitable for early-stage development.

Well known.

There are no regulations or standards for elderly people's vehicles in China.

But it's different abroad.

They have proper standards for low-speed mobility scooters.

Therefore, all new cars developed by Xingchen, including existing models, will comply with international standards!
This way, they can sell not only domestically but also internationally.

Moreover, this is not necessarily a bad thing for the domestic market, since safety standards are universal and represent a form of progress.

Besides.

Xu Yi then instructed the factory to develop low-speed models similar to golf carts and small sightseeing vehicles, almost identical to those in the American market.

It's more convenient for single-person driving, and can even be driven into shopping malls by rural women to buy groceries.

It costs five thousand US dollars.

They'll only get a couple thousand dollars at most when they ship it over.

Similar appearance and functions, but with better configuration.

This can't just be described as a bargain; it's an industrial shock.

Once the market opens up and prices are raised, profits will skyrocket, potentially exceeding domestic levels by several times.

after all.

The domestic market is still too competitive.

……

"Yes, Mr. Xu! I'll get right on it! I'll make sure we succeed in expanding into the international market!"

Liu Shengjun responded excitedly.

In an instant, it was as if I had found the meaning of life.

My eyes are wet!

With the domestic market shrinking so much and the factory going downhill, we never expected that the overseas market would bring a new turning point!
We must vigorously expand!
Maximize production capacity and aggressively expand into overseas markets!

……

hang up the phone.

Xu Yi didn't think too much about the overseas senior citizen's car.

I glanced at the view outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

Then he picked up a paper file and began to look through the information on Kong Hui from Changchun.

Currently, Changchun Konghui is still an automotive chassis engineering design company.

Their newly established and registered company, "Zhejiang Konghui," is an attempt specifically for industrial transformation. The company has about 60 or 70 employees, 90% of whom are R&D and design personnel as well as industry professionals responsible for mechanical components.

This company operated completely independently, specializing solely in the research and development of air suspension systems; it later became the renowned "Konghui Technology".

However, the current situation is rather dire.

They can't even attract investment.

Many investors are not very interested in air suspension products.

Air suspension isn't exactly a hot topic like lithium batteries, semiconductors, autonomous driving, or intelligent technology...

It has nothing to do with those categories that seem to be lucrative and have a large market prospect.

For supply chain hardware companies, the most crucial thing is the "first customer".

Especially if you have a technical solution and a prototype, but fail to win the bid or encounter mass production problems along the way, then two or three years of hard work will be wasted, and the company can basically be declared bankrupt.

"Mr. Xu, the plane tickets have been booked."

Through online chat, the head of Konghui Technology learned that Xingchen Automotive was interested in domestically produced air suspension and sent four emails in the past week, including a PowerPoint presentation detailing some of the technical aspects of their self-developed air suspension.

Wang Jingming said with a smile, "From this perspective, the other party's sincerity is quite strong, and they even seem a bit impatient."

There's nothing we can do about it compared to other major categories.

This kind of low-level, niche hardware development has never been viewed favorably.

Even if it's successfully developed, if it doesn't offer a significant advantage over high-end air suspension systems from abroad, it will likely be difficult to achieve the expected profitability.

"Okay, let's set off then."

……

That afternoon.

Xu Yi departed from the company with his assistant and several senior executives.

As soon as I got off the plane, I was greeted by a special person and then arrived at the company building of Zhejiang Konghui Technology.

The director and COE of Konghui Technology is a middle-aged man nearing fifty, with very bright eyes.

Guo Chuan and several core senior executives of the company solemnly received Xu Yi and his entourage in the company's conference room.

The two sides made their first formal contact.

"Mr. Xu, please allow me to introduce you. This is Wang Mian, the company's chief mechanical technology R&D engineer. This next to him is my father, Guo Konghui, who is also the only academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering currently engaged in air suspension research. The other person is our shareholder and investment manager, Ding Haitao..."

Guo Chuan explained.

To be honest, he had watched Xingchen Motors' launch event. However, he was still slightly shocked when he saw Xu Yi in person.

too young.

She looks even younger than she did in the press conference video.

Starting from scratch at this age, he has grown a small car manufacturing plant into what it is today at an astonishing speed, which is quite remarkable in the field of car manufacturing.

The two sides had never been in contact before.

When Xingchen Motors contacted him, his first reaction was shock, followed by surprise!
This is the first time an automaker has proactively expressed interest in working with this "startup team" to gain a deeper understanding of their air suspension project.

recently.

Guo Chuan has maintained connections with various brands in the automotive industry through his network of contacts, and has even worked for several traditional large manufacturers.

On the contrary, they haven't contacted any of the rising new forces.

the reason is simple.

Only traditional large companies are willing to make this kind of investment, and they also have enough capital and resources.

Even when emerging players have money to burn, their first choice will still be to seek out "high-end supply chains" from abroad to elevate their own image.

This is how you have the capital to boast about to the outside world and the expectation of further financing.

However, the result was a setback.

Several traditional major manufacturers are not interested in air suspension at all and have no intention of purchasing domestically produced products.

They believe that domestically produced cars are far from being high-end; if they invest in research and development but consumers don't buy them, it's a complete loss.

Most domestic brands still lack the confidence to produce a car model priced at 400,000 to 500,000 yuan and sell it to a wide range of consumers.

joke!

It's difficult to even break into the 300,000 price range.

As for anything below 300,000, forget about it.

The development and procurement costs of air suspension are so high that it's simply impossible to install it.

Therefore, it has no practical use.

Not only are investors pessimistic, but even traditional car manufacturers are not optimistic about it.

In this.

Only senior executives within Dongfeng Motor gave a somewhat ambiguous response.

They said they plan to establish a new high-end new energy brand within two years.

Guo Chuan remembered it; it was called something like "Lantu".

Moreover, it is a large new energy vehicle, weighing over 3.4 tons.

This tonnage is extremely difficult for traditional mechanical suspension to handle, and there is also a need for weight reduction in the overall vehicle engineering.

Therefore, air suspension is absolutely necessary.

to this end.

Guo Chuan lobbied extensively, but the other party's main intention was still wavering on the precarious situation of a stable supply from "Continental Group," since imported goods were readily available and a symbol of "high-end."

As for domestic products...

That's so awkward...

They can't even produce a hand-rubbed sample yet.

At best, they can only produce a half-finished product plus a complete technical plan.

It will take at least another year of stable development to complete the entire system.

It was at this time.

The Xingchen Automotive team has arrived.

"Hello, Mr. Xu." "Hello, Mr. Xu..."

The core members of Konghui Technology shook hands with Xu Yi.

Xu Yi responded with a smile, then his gaze fell on the elderly academician with gray hair, his eyes shining.

The technical team at Konghui Technology, along with this academician of automotive engineering, is undoubtedly a technology-driven team, specializing in automotive chassis engineering systems, as well as the future supply of complete air suspension systems.

In other words, if Xingchen Automotive absorbs this team, then the chassis and shock absorption system of the entire vehicle will be completely complete in the future.

"Hello, Academician Guo, I've long admired your name." Xu Yi shook hands with him solemnly.

They expressed their deepest respect to this leading figure in the field of automotive engineering, whose hair is now gray but who continues to work tirelessly on the front lines of research and development.

"Hello Mr. Xu, Guo Chuan told me about your intentions. I wonder what aspects of domestically produced air suspension you would like to learn about? Are you interested in making a technology investment or a project procurement?"

Guo Konghui is over eighty years old this year, but the old academician looks very energetic.

He said it with great vigor.

"We still face some technical challenges, mainly in the rubber formulation and cord manufacturing process. In particular, the rubber manufacturing process requires a long period of optimization and may not achieve the durability of high-end air suspension systems like those from Wibac and Continental..."

The ECU control unit hasn't been developed yet; it needs to process data from the vehicle's sensors in real time, which requires cooperation from the OEM.

So we're still in the mid-stage, and we also have relevant domestically produced semi-finished product samples that we can supply to OEMs for inspection..."

His words directly revealed the current technological progress.

There is no boasting or exaggeration.

In fact, it's hard to boast about the R&D of the underlying hardware supply chain.

After all, Xu Yi brought his own technical team, and everyone present was a master in the car manufacturing industry. They could tell at a glance whether it was usable and what problems might arise in mass production.

It would be better to just say it outright.

This is the current situation with domestically produced air suspension systems.

……

(End of this chapter)