I asked you to save a bankrupt factory and you became the richest man in the world.

Chapter 447 196-197: On the news! (4000 words)
7 p.m.

Many families in China, especially those related to Zheng Zhi or those who are highly sensitive to Zheng Zhi, will turn on the TV at this time as a routine.

Although since the 21st century, the way people receive news has begun to diversify.

The rise of television, radio, the Internet, and especially the recent smartphones, has directly fragmented the time of people across society.

CCTV's 7 o'clock news program is also a little weak.

But even so.

The news program of this comprehensive channel can fully represent the news trends in China, and it plays a very strong role in illustrating the central government’s will!
At this time, in the Pentagon, James Madeja and Emma sat in front of the TV, casually eating Bavarian pork elbow stewed with thick pork shanks.

Because this kind of pork elbow will be baked in the oven for a while after stewing, it will have a slightly burnt aroma.

As they were eating, James Madeja suddenly glanced at Emma beside him, rubbed the grease on his hands with his fingers, licked the corner of his mouth, and said, "Emma, ​​how are the sales of Mercedes-Benz G now?"

Although he was wearing an expensive Hermès suit, he looked around and saw that there was no napkin, so he just wiped his body casually.

Emma paused and swallowed nervously.

James Madeja's sudden invitation to a banquet for him today was definitely not a whim. He really knows this CEO too well!
He is not as casual as he appears to be in his words and deeds, otherwise he would not have been able to reach his current position among so many competitors in the headquarters.

"Although our product sales have been under great pressure recently due to the impact of Hillhouse Capital, we have withstood the pressure. Last month's sales only fell slightly by less than 10%. In the off-season of June, we still sold more than 6 vehicles..." Emma suddenly stood up, swallowed her saliva, and said tentatively.

He originally thought that the Mercedes-Benz G-Class was a product with low sales and was not selling in large quantities, so he could easily get away with it this time. He never expected that he would specifically ask about it!

James Madeja snorted, "It sounds good, but what about sales? Sales also dropped by less than 10%?"

Emma paused, thinking about how to answer the boss.

He drank the Bavarian beer in his hand and said sincerely, "The sales volume has not dropped much, about 15%."

"Only about 15%? It's more than that! If the price increase is included, will it still be this number? I doubt it!" James Madeja said anxiously.

"If you include the price increase, it's estimated to have dropped by 25%." Emma felt some sweat on her palms at this moment.

James Madeja grabbed his hand and then let it go.

Although he felt that companies like Hillhouse might pose a certain threat, that was all.

For a German, there is a pride that is unique to Germans.

As the initiator of World War I and World War II and the spokesperson of the automobile kingdom, Germany represents the pinnacle of the world's automobile industry!

Whether it is mid-range large and medium-sized cars, mid-to-high-end luxury cars from BBA, or purely high-end Porsche, they all occupy an important position in the world automobile market.

You know, these companies are among the world's top large automobile companies, and Germany is a big country in Europe, but relatively speaking, it is only the size of a provincial level in China!
But now, their most proud product, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, has encountered strong resistance from the Chinese. This is unacceptable to the German Glory Auto people represented by James Madeja, a pure Bavarian.

A company that has only been established for a few years has actually produced a product that is better than what its own country has worked hard on for decades.

The proud Germans are really unwilling to accept this!

"25%? They just cut the price by 25%? The Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV is the most profitable model of our Mercedes-Benz Group. Now other models have begun to come under pressure. Due to the impact of models such as Gaoling Song PLUS, Gaoling Han, Gaoling Tang and other domestic car brands in China, the product profits of our Mercedes-Benz Automobile have dropped significantly this year."

“And even though the price has been reduced so much, the sales volume is still the same as before?”

"You don't know this, do you?"

James Madeja's words became somewhat harsh as he spoke later.

Among BBA, it is actually a competition between Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

Now that Benchi China's profits are under such pressure, he has no way of explaining to Cai Che, the president of Benchi headquarters.

Emma could only nod quickly and couldn't say anything else.

In fact, there were some things he simply could not, and did not dare to, say directly now as he would offend James Madeja.

That is the current Mercedes-Benz G-Class. As Mercedes-Benz's most hardcore off-road vehicle, it has always been hard to find one in the domestic market.

You have to pay extra to pick up the car, with the G500 costing up to 50 yuan, and the AMG G63 even costing up to 100 million yuan.

but.

In the recent week, not only are the G350, G500 and AMG G63 free of price increases, but many 4S stores are now offering discounts!

Some models of G500 even have discounts of up to 20 yuan.

The occurrence of such a situation was hard to imagine in the past!
Is this still the noble Mercedes-Benz G-Class driven by Fan Bingbing from 'I Am a Rich Family'?
Ultimately, it is because Hillhouse Capital looked up to the emergence of this model that directly pushed up customer expectations and increased their room for comparison.

The market for million-dollar luxury cars is limited in size. If you hope to sell more, someone will surely sell less.

What Hillhouse is competing for now is mainly the market for marginal off-road luxury vehicles such as the Land Rover Defender, as well as a small part of the Mercedes-Benz G series market.

But no one can be sure whether Hillhouse Capital will see greater potential for this model in the coming period of time.

After James Madeja finished venting, Emma, ​​who was standing beside him, just lowered her head. He opened Weibo and took a look.

As the president of Benchi China, he naturally needs to keep abreast of the public opinion environment.

And the largest public opinion platform in China is Weibo!
Mercedes-Benz is also a major client on Weibo and the automotive media company Autohome, so it is easy for it to manipulate public opinion.

But this time, public opinion's attitude towards Hillhouse is really good.

Many people commented that Hillhouse Capital priced this car too low and that the person who set the price was too timid.

There are not only many people who hold this view, but it can even be said that they are everywhere!

Seeing this, Emma felt a little confused.

A million-dollar luxury car, but you think the price is too low?

Isn't the GDP per capita of Chinese less than 10,000? How come they suddenly become rich?
James Madeja came over and saw what Emma saw. He sneered and said, "For those who can't afford 100,000, it doesn't make any difference whether a car is sold for 300,000, 400,000, or even millions."

"If they sell at a higher price, the rich will have to pay more taxes, so that China can have the money to carry out the so-called payment transfer!"

"So, poor people want luxury cars to be more expensive, which is in line with their heads."

"This is also the core reason why this group of people are calling out Hillhouse for pricing this car too low."

"When you see these comments, you must think about the problem from a higher level, so that you can see the truth of the world."

"Otherwise you won't be able to control the sales policy of China, a country with the largest population and the fastest economic development in the world!" Emma looked at James Madeja in shock, then nodded woodenly.

James Madeja has been in China for several years and seems to have become an expert on China. He knows what the Chinese people really need.

In fact, what he didn't say was:

The average living standard of the world's poor is closely related to a country's status in the world. There is nothing wrong with the poor being more concerned about Hillhouse and looking up to this grand narrative.

Whether they are convenience store workers or restaurant catering staff, they can clearly know that their income level has increased by a significant proportion compared to ten years ago.

Back in the 1990s, even civil servants had problems eating meat.

Nowadays, even the waiters in restaurants can eat and drink easily without worries.

The reason why Europeans and Americans can now work comfortably, have many holidays and not feel tired is because there are so many high-profit industries.

If Chinese people want to live the life of Europeans and Americans, they have to work hard to develop high-profit industries, such as automobiles. Only Chinese-made cars can be sold at high prices and gain market recognition, making high profits, paying more taxes to the country, and providing more high-paying jobs. Only then will the country have money to improve the welfare of low-income people.

But this is also what James Madeja is worried about!
What does it mean if the poor people in China think that Hillhouse Capital is selling at a low price?
This means that Hillhouse admires this car, and within the million-dollar luxury car landmark line, all customers in China recognize that this car is worth this price range!

This is actually a very scary thing.

Because luxury cars are not actually for the people who buy them.

Quite the opposite, this is a product for ordinary people to buy!

If ordinary people think this car is valuable, then the anchor in the hearts of rich people will be established directly!
Do rich people buy luxury cars for comfort?
That's just part of it.

But the more important part is to show off!
What's even more terrifying is that they priced the product at one million, and they can completely use Hillhouse Capital as the core anchor and further enhance the product strength of each brand ecosystem by sinking technology.

This is the most important point that James Madeja is worried about!
But Emma seemed to have not realized this yet.

This made him even more worried.

Mercedes-Benz G-Class sells 6000 units a year.

But if all other products are added together, the sales will reach millions of units!

When their product ecosystem takes off, James Madeja doesn't think that Mercedes-Benz will be unaffected.

Just as he was smoking a cigar and drinking German Munich beer with Emma.

At this moment, the sound coming from the TV and the action of him and Emma clinking glasses made them stand still at that moment, as if time had stopped.

A new headline appeared in the news broadcast.

New era, new journey, new undertaking - hard work and perseverance.

The subtitle is Xicheng builds an intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry cluster.

"Xicheng, one of the emerging bases for the development of my country's automobile industry, seizes the opportunity to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the automobile industry."

Immediately afterwards, the news turned directly to Hillhouse’s newly built Hillhouse Xicheng Third Smart Factory.

And the Hillhouse logo also appeared directly!

"This new energy vehicle factory located in Huishan District of Xicheng has just launched its new model Gaoling Yangwang for a month, and the orders have exceeded 2,000 units!"

"And in this smart factory, not only is Hillhouse looking up to this new model, but there are also other smart ecosystem models."

"Here, on average, one intelligent car is produced every three minutes."

"Aiming at the new track of intelligent networked new energy vehicle industry."

"Since the beginning of this year, Xicheng has spared no effort to promote the growth of new energy vehicle companies and promote the rapid development of national new energy vehicle companies."

"At the same time, we accelerated the core supporting facilities and introduced a number of projects one after another."

"A relatively complete new energy vehicle industry chain has been formed!"

"Xicheng currently provides a 1000 million yuan R&D reward for each key automobile model, and at the same time provides interest-free and interest-subsidized services for weak auto parts companies."

At this moment, James Madeja and Emma looked at each other.

At this moment, they all seemed a little confused.

In China, it is a great honor for a company to be featured on the News Broadcast, and they are well aware of this.

This means that the company has received high recognition from above.

This is the greatest support we can give to this enterprise!

In the automotive field, apart from a few state-owned enterprises that occasionally appear on the screen once or twice, no private enterprise has ever had such an appearance!
"We won't be able to play at all if this continues."

"The Chinese government must step in to support them."

"The power of the news broadcast is absolutely at the nuclear level!"

Emma, ​​who was standing by, was quite out of control after watching this short one-minute news and shouted out loud.

China does not have a small government structure like the West.

In this place, the invisible hand of the government can be said to be very powerful.

And gaining such a clear support means that Hillhouse looks up to this product and has truly gained the high trust of the government.

How can a Mercedes-Benz G-Class compete with others for a long time?

This is really not fun!

"do not worry."

"It doesn't mean anything."

"Hillhouse's impact on our core players is not that big."

"We still have time to launch a higher level of offensive combination punches against Gao Ling!"

James Madeja was smoking a cigar and speaking quietly.

(End of this chapter)