You promised to build cars, so why did you go into the military industry?

Chapter 84 The Bone Flesh Regenerates

(The title uses classical allusions, not some kind of cutting-edge technology.)

February 5, 2015, 10:00 AM.

Today is payday at United Industries, and the sound of finance department employees typing on keyboards can be clearly heard in the corridor of the finance floor of the administration building.

As the head of the Lingyun 4S store system, Zhao Shuhang came to Zhou Jie's office with a pre-prepared list, intending to take back a financial summary sheet for the first half of the year to use for the expansion budget for the second half of the year.

It has been five and a half years since Li Ran handed over the task of expanding the 4S store to him at the end of 2009.

In the past five and a half years, he has promoted the construction of 3356 Lingyun 4S stores. Initially, they were only spread in Sichuan Province, but later they covered all first- and second-tier cities, and now even many third-tier cities have directly operated stores.

From September 2013 to May of the following year, he and his team worked with the State Grid Corporation of China, scheduling the project almost daily, and managed to install fast charging stations in 2000 service areas along 36 major highways across the country three months ahead of schedule.

It then took nearly a year to gradually expand the fast charging stations from first-tier cities to business districts and densely populated residential areas in second-tier cities.

A large portion of the profits earned from the Lingyun SU7 were invested in these infrastructure projects.

But the results of this money expenditure are truly worthwhile.

With the increased density of fast charging stations in big cities, a subtle change has occurred among Lingyun SU7 owners.

Posts like "Is the range enough?" that used to pop up every now and then on car owner forums a couple of years ago are now almost nowhere to be seen.

Instead, a completely different kind of complaint arose.

Someone posted that the next week will be all cloudy and rainy, so solar power will have to stop working and people need to plan their charging in advance.

The replies below were all the same: "Me too, I'm already starting to get anxious after seeing the weather forecast."

Zhao Shuhang always finds these kinds of posts very interesting.

A car owner might feel anxious because consecutive rainy days prevent him from getting any sunshine.

This in itself shows that solar energy can already cover his daily commuting needs on sunny days.

Range anxiety still exists, but the focus of the anxiety has shifted from "Will I break down halfway through the journey?" to "Will I be forced to spend money to charge?"

The nature of anxiety has completely changed.

The favorable policies are being further strengthened.

Starting in January of last year, several first-tier cities successively implemented a policy of exempting new energy vehicles from the lottery system.

Taking Shanghai as an example, the auction price for a license plate for a gasoline-powered vehicle fluctuates between 9 and 12 yuan.

The price of a regular entry-level gasoline car, which costs around 10 yuan, instantly doubles, while the price of the Lingyun SU7 is...?

For the same price, you can enjoy a driving experience comparable to a traditional gasoline car costing 400,000 to 500,000 yuan, and it's also a highly intelligent car.

It's a good deal no matter how you look at it.

On September 1, 2014, the policy of exempting new energy vehicles from purchase tax was officially implemented, and the actual price of the Lingyun SU7 dropped further.

The combination of these two policies has led many young people working in big cities to move new energy vehicles from the "can be considered" list to the "priority purchase" list.

The significant investment in 4S stores and charging stations in the early stages is finally yielding results.

The nationwide network of directly operated stores and charging facilities forms a complete offline service network, allowing potential consumers to find test drive stores and charging stations nearby, no matter which city they are in.

This ubiquitous presence is more effective than any other guy.

Last November, after United Industries successfully recovered the rocket, a wave of space enthusiasm swept across society, which indirectly increased the popularity of the Lingyun SU7.

Many people heard about United Industries for the first time while following the rocket.

Then it was discovered that the company's only civilian product was the kind of new energy vehicle with solar panels that runs on the road.

Soon, the reputation of the Lingyun SU7 quickly went from being a "self-congratulatory topic among car enthusiasts" to becoming a "well-known brand among the general public."

As the domestically produced new energy sedan with the best reputation in the current market, its sales growth is only natural.

In early April this year, Zhao Shuhang made an annual forecast based on the sales data from January to March, and concluded that the annual sales volume would be around 400,000 units.

This figure is quite impressive in the domestic passenger car market.

Although it still lags behind those joint venture giants with annual sales of millions, as a new brand established less than seven years ago, annual sales of 400,000 units are enough to keep all its peers on high alert.

But the half-year financial report he had just received from Zhou Jie forced him to completely overturn his previous estimates.

From April to June this year, over 400,000 Lingyun SU7 units were sold in three months.

We sold a whole year's worth of goods in just three months!

The corresponding cash flow is close to 80 billion!

Zhao Shuhang flipped through the report details page by page, and frowned when he saw the column for Maoli.

With a gross profit margin of only 5%, after deducting various expenses, employee salaries and benefits, the actual net profit fell to 2%, which is approximately 16 billion.

A net profit of 16 billion yuan in three months is quite impressive for any private enterprise.

Unfortunately, this money was no longer under Zhao Shuhang's control.

Zhao Shuhang returned to his office on the third floor and turned on his computer.

As is customary, he submitted an application for the construction of charging stations in the OA system, extending the coverage to third-tier cities and some fourth-tier cities.

The system quickly locked in 9 million yuan for the budget based on the proportion.

The remaining 700 million yuan had already been automatically transferred away by the team of five people, including Wang Bing, Zhang Chengyuan, Shen Zijie, Song Xuewu, and Gao Jingming, under the guise of research and development expenses before he received the report.

The procedure had already been approved by Li Ran, so there was no need to ask for instructions separately.

He locked the financial statements in a drawer and stood in front of the bookshelf for a while, looking at the photos displayed on it.

In 2009, he was a journalist.

In the photo, he is standing next to a Lingyun SU7, with the seaside of a small county town on the southeast coast in the background.

That was a commemorative photo taken when he participated in the earliest battery life test conducted by United Industries.

At that time, he drove that engineering prototype vehicle, which was fully charged and fueled, all the way from the Northwest Plateau to the Southeast coast.

It was because of that test that I caught Li Ran's eye and was fortunate enough to be invited in person, thus joining United Industries.

He is standing next to the car door in the photo.

He was very thin, and his skin was somewhat dark from long hours of interviewing and filming outdoors, but his eyes were very bright.

Now, six years later, my thighs have developed excess fat!

Starting today, I will abstain from alcohol!

His thoughts were interrupted when the landline on his desk suddenly rang.

Zhao Shuhang turned around and picked up the receiver. Xue Mingyu's voice came through: "Old Zhao, let's have barbecue at our usual spot after get off work. Don't turn it down again."

"Okay, I'll be there on time."

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Shuhang grabbed his coat and went out, intending to randomly select a store for a spot check and grab a free working lunch along the way.

He bumped into a few employees who had just come out of the restroom in the corridor. They nodded to him and hurried past.

People in the elevator were quietly discussing where they were going to go on vacation for the National Day holiday.

Everything was as ordinary as it could be.

At 2 p.m., Li Ran, having finished his lunch break, sat down at his desk on time and began his daily "cyber court session".

The 0A to-do list on the screen was densely packed.

He clicked on each one, glancing at them one by one.

Approved, next item.

The raw material purchase order is approved.

The order for stocking consumable parts is approved.

The application for funding for activities related to promoting spiritual civilization has been approved.

The employee housing allocation plan has been approved.

Zhao Shuhang's application for the construction of 9 million yuan charging stations also lies quietly on the list.

Li Ran glanced at the list of cities covered and the phased budget details, and approved.