this man is not calm

Chapter 429 Big Order
The manager in front of you, whose surname is Ma, is the executive vice general manager of Panda Technology. The general manager and chairman are not in China, but have gone to Western Europe, America and North Africa to investigate the market, negotiate business and open up new opportunities.

This Panda Technology Company was officially established less than 20 years ago and does not have a particularly strong foundation. It was only listed on the secondary market five years ago. Its total market value has never exceeded 20 billion at its peak. Currently, affected by the fluctuations in the financial market, it has fallen to around 12 billion and is about to break 10 billion.

The operating pressure was a bit high and investors were quite dissatisfied, so the management had to look everywhere for ways to improve the situation.

According to Jin Shang's investigation, this relatively young company has a long and verifiable history. As early as more than 200 years ago, a mutual aid organization composed of "car, ship, shop and footmen" as the main practitioners was born in Yuzhou. In fact, it was a guild of local gang nature, which expanded its influence in the Sichuan and Chongqing regions in a lukewarm manner. It did not begin to transform until the middle of this century.

Over the past few decades, a series of large and small enterprises have been established one after another. Most of them have disappeared in the long river of history, and the few that survived are not doing very well. Only Panda Technology, a small company whose main business is running a car repair shop in the urban and rural fringe, reselling second-hand car spare parts, and modifying old cars, has gradually grown.

Later, it entered the motorcycle manufacturing market, and relying on the abundant local manpower and smooth sales system, it gained a firm foothold and gradually expanded upstream and downstream.

Today, Panda Technology has become a large comprehensive group integrating motorcycles, private cars, small and medium-sized trucks, pickup trucks, commercial vehicles, parts supply, after-sales 4S stores, low-end gasoline engines and diesel engines, etc.

Although its market value is not as high as that of Yuanminxing Bank and Jinxi Video, and is not much higher than that of Beijing Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, this is because the profit margin of the industry it is in is low and its assets are heavy. In addition, its position is low-end substitution and it is still in the stage of climbing towards the mid-to-high-end, so it is not doing very well.

However, Panda Technology’s industrial chain is extremely long, and the economic benefits it brings are far beyond what can be reflected by the surface market value.

He is highly valued locally and has a strong mass base and deep roots. His influence may not be great outside of Sichuan and Chongqing, but in this mountain city, his connections and energy are not much lower than Jin Shang's in Beijing.

The local tyrants and local tyrants are referring to them.

However, Panda Technology has recently encountered some very difficult problems.
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After the game, Jin Shang went to the locker room to express his condolences to the team who were in joy of successfully avoiding relegation, and distributed bonuses on the spot. As for more subsidies and a celebration banquet, they would be held after the end of the league.

The bus took the team directly to the airport and flew back to Beijing overnight. They then took a holiday there and would not have recovery training until Wednesday.

After being tense for half a year, it's time to relax a little.

Jin Shangze and Qi Zhaoyun stayed in Yuzhou as they still had work to do next week.

The next day, Monday, Jin Shang and his party accepted Manager Ma's hospitality and took a sightseeing boat to see the beautiful scenery nearby.

The Bashan area is certainly worthy of the name "the desolate land of Bashan and Chushui". It is true that the environmental conditions are harsh, but it is located at the confluence of the Jialing River and the Yangtze River and controls the main road out of Sichuan. To say that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack is an underestimation.

As long as there is no internal strife in Sichuan and Chongqing, the enemy will not be able to invade from here. History has proved this truth time and time again.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei launched the Battle of Yiling, lost miserably, and then died of illness in Baidi City. However, many generals of Eastern Wu had no intention of advancing westward into Sichuan and Shu. By the time Shu Han was destroyed, Liu Chan had already surrendered, but the old, weak and disabled soldiers relied on the advantage of terrain to repel the attack of Lu Kang, known as the last famous general of Eastern Wu.

Seeing the terrain of the nearby mountains and rivers, Jin Shang understood that, not to mention the ancient era of cold weapons, even now, it is a strategic location where one man can guard the pass against ten thousand men. It can be used to attack or defend. Once it is obtained, the initiative will be within reach.

In terms of administrative divisions, it is a general trend for this place to be separated, just like Hanzhong will be returned to Shaanxi and western Sichuan will become a connection between Chengdu and Chongqing, all of which are based on considerations of balance.

In a word, after Li Bing built the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, he created the Land of Abundance, which made the vast plain of the Sichuan-Shu Basin too easily closed off. He locked several important checkpoints in the east, west, south and north, making it impossible for people from outside to enter and difficult for people from inside to leave.

Shu was in chaos before the world was in chaos. It is easy to pacify the world but difficult to pacify Shu!

Although this statement is somewhat biased, it also has some realistic considerations.

The special geographical environment has also created very obvious group personality traits among the local people of Sichuan and Chongqing.

Hardworking and simple, tenacious, brave and courageous, with an optimistic and open-minded attitude.

People in Yuzhou are very loyal, but they are also easily impulsive. They are loyal and righteous, but they are also prone to extremes.

People with this kind of personality will rise and fall in the business world. It is easy for them to stand out in the early stages, but once they become big, they will encounter some practical personnel problems. If the decision-making team makes a mistake, it will be even worse.

Panda Technology has encountered its biggest setback in nearly half a century. After so many years of smooth sailing, it has been deeply engaged in the Sichuan and Chongqing markets, and has been both capable of maintaining its status quo and aggressive in making progress. However, except for Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, its market share in the country is not large.

The degree of internationalization is not high enough. Only some economical, low-value-added motorcycles and diesel trucks have a slight presence in Southeast Asia and Central Asia.

In view of this, after a period of market research, Panda Technology introduced and digested a number of technological achievements, and based on the characteristics of European and American demand, it made several flexible fuel and dual-fuel power vehicles, focusing on low-carbon economy and environmental protection.

The money was invested, the production line was built, and the car was manufactured, but they overestimated the degree of openness of foreign countries and underestimated the consumption habits of car owners, brand recognition, and the difficulty of establishing sales channels and supporting after-sales services.

For a major item in life like cars, which has a far-reaching impact on the industry, you can't just sell it if you want to, or win favor by offering good quality and low price.

The promotion of biofuels in China is still at the slogan level. Ethanol gasoline has only been piloted in a few provinces and cities. The cost of biodiesel is high, and the market recognition of compressed natural gas power is not very high. No company is willing to do it at a loss.

With a narrow domestic market and unable to enter foreign markets, Panda Technology was suddenly caught in an awkward situation of being caught between a rock and a hard place.

I want to cut my losses, but I'm reluctant to do so. I want to run marketing, but the effect is not obvious.

As for why Jin Shang paid attention to this manufacturing company thousands of kilometers away, it was because Jin Shang took many factors into consideration when placing the ship order and chose a small number of electric-propelled ships and dual-fuel thrusters, that is, a power system that burns liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and diesel at the same time, with gas as the main fuel and diesel as the auxiliary fuel. This not only saves energy consumption and reduces operating costs by about 40%, but also meets the requirements of low-carbon and environmental protection, and can obtain many preferential subsidies.

At the beginning of the design, many domestic main engine manufacturers were contacted, but none of them had mature products. Instead, a local car manufacturing company in Yuzhou had sufficient technical reserves, so the two parties jointly designed a dual-fuel power propulsion system for small-tonnage inland ships.

Panda Technology just happened to be in a state of self-doubt when it was hit hard by a blow. Then it met a knowledgeable person and rushed to share the information. With this unexpected incident, Jin Shang learned that there was actually a mature large-scale manufacturer in China with complete technology that could produce flexible fuel and dual-fuel powered vehicles.

The so-called flexible-fuel vehicles are actually vehicles that have undergone special modifications and can burn both gasoline and ethanol fuels. Not only E10, but even E85 and E100 pure alcohol can be used. Dual-fuel vehicles are roughly divided into vehicles powered by compressed natural gas plus diesel and liquefied petroleum gas plus gasoline mixed fuel.

The moment he saw the specific information, Jin Shang knew that this thing had absolutely no future in the domestic private car market.

The cost is much higher, refueling is inconvenient, maintenance and after-sales service are not necessarily convenient, replacement parts are not universal, maintenance is more troublesome, and it is extremely unfriendly to novice drivers.

As for the advantages you want to talk about, such as toll reductions or exemptions for expressways, provincial roads, and ring roads, no parking fees for urban public parking lots, and transaction stamp duty refunds, who as a private car owner would care about this?

If you insist that driving a car for ten or twenty years is more cost-effective than driving a pure gasoline or diesel car, those benefits are too far-reaching and not as intuitive as the real price advantage and ease of use.

Only bulk purchases for corporate purposes may have some prospects, with centralized allocation, centralized maintenance, a professional team of drivers, and efficient repair and modification technical forces. When the quantity increases, those seemingly insignificant benefits will accumulate and become exaggerated.

Just saving on parking fees and green channels at inter-city checkpoints and toll booths is already a great deal.

But the question is, apart from taxis in a few big cities, who has such a great demand and such a strong motivation to purchase Panda energy-saving and emission-reduction vehicles?

To put it bluntly, there are large local manufacturers in different places. There is Lotus in Central China, Yangtze River Delta in the Yangtze River Delta, and there are local car companies in the Pearl River Delta, Northwest China, North China and Northeast China that need care. Who would come all the way to Yuzhou to order the Panda cars which are much more expensive?
No matter what, your new model has not been tested in the market yet. It has only been run in a few cities in Sichuan and Chongqing. It can't prove anything and it won't make a living.

After carrying on for so long, Panda Auto and local authorities have also realized the seriousness of the problem. When CSSC Electromechanical and the actual controller behind it surfaced and expressed their intention to place a large order, Manager Ma had to humble himself and properly entertain the big customer from Beijing.

In the past, no matter where you came from or whether you cooperated or not, it all depended on the boss’s mood.

The energy-saving and emission-reduction engines currently used on inland transport ships seem to be okay. Judging from the feedback from the "Golden Finger", Panda Technology is a good company and the quality of the cars it produces is also acceptable. Although a bit expensive, it is worth the money.

After two days of sightseeing accompanied by a local guide, Jin Shang, led by Manager Ma, visited Panda Technology's R&D department and production line workshop.

Being able to become a dominant automobile manufacturer in just two or three decades, it has to be said that Panda Technology's level is indeed very good. The factory has a very high degree of automation. Measured by current standards, its efficiency is much higher than that of most domestic manufacturers.

The design and development department has completely abandoned the traditional manual drawing with rulers and compasses. Computer-aided design is used in all aspects, and it looks even more modern than CSSC Mechanical and Electrical.

Especially in vehicle computer debugging, electronic components, sensors and chip technology for small-batch applications, it is unexpectedly advanced.

"It turns out that the level of the electronics industry in Sichuan and Chongqing is so high. It seems to be much better than that in Central China, North China and Jiaodong Peninsula!"

I didn't expect that this western inland province has such systematic integrated circuit, microelectronics, communications engineering and semiconductor manufacturing capabilities.

To be able to occupy a place among the major economic provinces in the country with so many strong competitors, it must have its own strengths and many advantageous industries.

After confirming that there were no problems, Jin Shang signed a memorandum of strategic cooperation on behalf of Jinxi Culture and Panda Technology, and placed an order for the first batch of 3,000 energy-saving and emission-reduction vehicles with a total value of over 1 billion yuan. A deposit of 50 million yuan was paid in advance, and the balance would be paid off in half a year after the cars were delivered.

Witnessed by local regulatory officials, the two parties exchanged signed agreements, took photos together, and answered questions from reporters at a press conference.

That evening, Yuzhou local TV and Beijing Satellite TV reported the incident.

This first batch of orders has reached tens digits. During the cooperation period, the total transaction volume may reach tens of billions of super orders, which is still quite shocking at present.

The prime-time news on the comprehensive channel also used 35 seconds to introduce this very important business cooperation plan, and reiterated the development of private enterprises and new energy, energy conservation and emission reduction policies.

Several shots were captured of the unfinished wind and solar power plant and the partially operational data center.

Choose the right angle, adjust the filter, and watch it on TV, it's quite shocking.

The actual situation will definitely not be that exaggerated. The first batch of transport vehicles will be used to supplement local warehousing logistics and offline distribution. In the supply chain channels, each subsidiary, grandson company and vehicle-using department will also get a share.

As for whether there will be any follow-up, it depends on whether the car is as easy to use as advertised. It is still unknown whether Panda Cars will still be around in two years and whether it has the ability to execute subsequent cooperation agreements.

Even for this 1 billion yuan order in front of us, only the initial 50 million is real. The payment will be made half a year later, and not in one lump sum. The payment will be delayed first and covered by commercial bills. The actual payment will be made much later, so there is no need to pay immediately.

Panda Technology is not afraid that Jin Shang will not acknowledge its debt. Jinxi Culture itself is a large company with abundant cash flow and strong profitability. It has two listed companies with a market value much higher than its own. The risk of default is extremely low, so it is very willing to pay the price of delayed payment in order to quickly deliver cars and free up storage capacity.

If the cars are not sold, this prosperous industrial group will be dragged down.

At the celebratory dinner later, Manager Ma and other local accompanying personnel, under the influence of alcohol, said a lot, openly and covertly inviting Jin Shang to invest and help Panda Technology overcome its difficulties.

In the past few days, Manager Ma has been communicating frequently with his superiors and colleagues overseas, and the news they have received back is not very good.

We have spent a lot of manpower and resources trying to facilitate large purchases, but with little success. It seems that we can no longer rely on foreign countries for the time being. The domestic situation has finally shown some improvement. We must seize the opportunity of Jinxi Culture, a major customer, and try our best to promote subsequent cooperation.

Nowadays, there are really not many large companies that can spend 1 billion to purchase vehicles for production. Each of them is a popular commodity in the place where they are located, and they are watched very closely. Outsiders have no chance to get in touch with them at all.

(End of this chapter)