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

Chapter 516, 337-338: Reactions from friendly competitors! (4000 words)
In the following period, as Gao Huaijun had expected, competitors were very surprised by the strong growth potential that Hillhouse had nurtured.

You have to know that the Hillhouse today is not the same Hillhouse as it was a few years ago.

Hillhouse Capital is now a leading electronic technology and automotive industry enterprise.

Companies like this rarely have aggressive sales increases. This growth rate of 20 to 30 percent has really scared all the competitors.

Generally speaking, the business of such leading enterprises is already very stable and mature.

To put it nicely, it is stability and maturity; to put it bluntly, it is living off past achievements.

Even some large companies have begun to have all kinds of unhealthy tendencies that you can't even imagine.

Such companies are usually traded on the stock market as large blue chip companies.

Stable, the price will not fall much, but it will not rise much either.

High growth potential often means small size.

Companies like Hillhouse, which have both high growth potential and large scale, are unheard of in the eyes of many companies.

. . . . . .

The imperial capital, the headquarters of the Chinese nation.

"Last year, Mercedes-Benz's sales in China sounded the alarm. Our sales in China showed a very obvious decline. Our sales fell by 13%, the largest drop in more than four years, due to weak demand for high-end models such as S-Class and Maybach." Emma nervously reported to James Madeja who was sitting opposite him.

In fact, there is one thing he hasn't said yet.

What's worse is that although they followed suit after Hillhouse Capital developed new energy vehicles and launched Mercedes-Benz's new energy vehicle products, their share of the electric vehicle market is less than 10%.

If the decline is not reversed quickly, the recession could turn into a rout.

And it has pushed Germany, a long-established automobile manufacturer, into a life-and-death struggle.

And it's not just Mercedes-Benz. The other two BBA companies are also caught in the awkward situation of price game.

Baoma's sales volume dropped by about 25% year-on-year, while Aodi's sales volume dropped by more than 35%!

In fact, it’s not that the market is bad.

In China, the entire market for luxury cars priced above 20 yuan has increased by about 2016% compared to 13.

The sharp drop in BBA’s sales can only mean one thing.

Domestic companies, led by Hillhouse Capital, are swallowing up growing sales and existing stock markets.

This leaves the BBAs at a loss!
"The competition in China is extremely fierce!" James Madeja sighed.

A considerable portion of China's Benz equipment is imported from Germany.

What does all this mean for Germany?
The answer can be found on the production floor of Mercedes-Benz's Sindelfingen plant near Stuttgart.

This is the production base of Mercedes-Benz's flagship S-Class sedan, which has always been loved by China's new rich.

But now, its demand has plummeted and production has been reduced to a single shift for the first time.

Now, due to the sharp decline in production tasks, Mercedes-Benz has begun to reduce the salary payments to these blue-collar workers, so now the workers at the Sindelfingen factory have stopped working and launched a very large-scale strike!
Because workers at the Sindelfingen factory know that cutting wages now is just the first step.

The second step will definitely be layoffs!
The third step is the horrific closure of the factory!
So their strike threats come as their unions and Mercedes-Benz management begin negotiations over pay, which will determine the extent of layoffs and factory closures Mercedes-Benz will take in Germany.

The focus of the negotiations was that workers at the Sindelfingen plant had received news that Mercedes-Benz might close a part of a German factory for the first time after abolishing decades of job protection.

This is definitely breaking news.

Once Mercedes-Benz successfully closes its factories, will Dazhong, Aodi and Baoma follow suit and close some of their factories exporting to the Chinese market?
This is a very big question.

This is definitely a milestone event for Germany.

"Now is not the time to be depressed, Emma. No matter how bad the China region is, it can't be that bad. Benchi still has a large base in China!"

"Now that the board of directors doesn't blame us, we still have one year to wait, otherwise both of us will be finished!"

James Madeja said excitedly.

Emma was surprised when she heard this, James Madeja was generally a very calm person and wouldn't have such ups and downs in emotions.

For executives, emotional stability is paramount.

As a leader, the first thing you need to do is to be emotionally stable and remain calm even when faced with a huge crisis.

Only in this way can you lead a team into battle.

There is no doubt that James Madeja is a leader among them as he has been able to control China Mercedes-Benz for so long.

But now he is so excited, it seems that the pressure exerted on him by the board of directors is naturally not small.

Come to think of it, China is Mercedes-Benz's largest market.

Mercedes-Benz's sales in the Chinese market account for 29% of its global sales.

Basically, for every 100 cars it sells, 30 are sold in the Chinese market.

It can also be seen from this that the power of the president of the China region is not much different from that of the executive vice president in Mercedes-Benz.

therefore.

Things have deteriorated to this point now. If it were in the past, he and James Madeja would have been fired long ago.

However, thanks to the support of their peers, he and James Madeja were not washed away.

"There aren't many opportunities to run now, James. The key is that the headquarters hasn't delegated the power of free decision-making to us!"

"I wouldn't buy any of the electric cars that the headquarters has made."

Emma said distressedly.

It can be said that Mercedes-Benz electric cars are impossible to sell now!
Even some of the original old customers think they are inferior brands.

Battle reports may lie, but the battle lines will not.

Now he leads the marketing department of Mercedes-Benz, but he knows clearly what powerlessness means!
Because he knows.

The core reason is that developed countries have lost the possibility of reopening their manufacturing sector!
Whether it is factories or the research and development of trams, whether it is power grids or supporting software for trams, Europe has lost its competitiveness. It not only lacks engineers, but also lacks an environment for engineers and an environment for hard work to develop the country.

It’s not that it can’t be made, but the cost of things made by masters is absolutely sky-high and not cost-effective.

In China, a car computer that costs 100 billion yuan would cost 1000 billion yuan if it were put in the hands of teammates.

In China, the cost of a bicycle is 10 yuan, while in Europe, the cost can be close to 30 yuan.

If Europe and the United States cannot make electric cars, it is like people in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou cannot go into a factory to screw in screws. They really cannot do it, just like the natives of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou going into a factory to screw in screws, their spirits will collapse.

Just a simple locomotive mutual inductance on a new tram can be directly matched with a Dolphin worth tens of thousands of dollars by Hillhouse, but for Mercedes-Benz, it can't even handle the worst tram.

In the past, Germany’s full industrial chain advantages made senior executives at its European headquarters proud.

But for Emma, ​​it was a completely unbelievable defeat.

Those who know this core will instantly understand why the return of manufacturing is just empty talk. “No matter how difficult it is, we still need to slowly get our work back on track.”

"Because we don't have the time and energy to play too many tricks in this regard."

"The key point is that the headquarters is now considering giving up all tram development."

James Madeja said worriedly.

The pain of a collapsing building and the feeling of powerlessness are unbearable for those involved.

He has worked in Benz for so many years, and no one can leave it either emotionally or for profit.

"What? The headquarters directly gave up on tram development?" Emma, ​​who was standing aside, was really surprised when she heard this.

In his opinion, Mercedes-Benz fuel vehicles still offer you a brand premium, while Mercedes-Benz new energy vehicles are simply unknown brands.

However, if you give up on the intelligentization of trams now, it would be tantamount to chronic suicide!

Which products are reduced in price, which 4S stores are given more rebates, etc.

In the face of interests, these are actually worthless!

Giving up on all-electric vehicles means that in the future your noble oil car brand will be covered by the current "no-name brands".

This is self-destruction.

But he also understood.

In fact, in terms of the contempt chain now, imported>Beiben>>green-plate Mercedes-Benz.

In fact, everyone knows that you sell car logos, and they also understand that you have no technology in the field of new energy and are just joining in the fun.

At this tacitly understood time, whoever buys this car is equivalent to being "purified" in public, and people who understand cars will naturally understand him.

When these purified car owners are faced with strong comparisons with owners of other domestic car companies every day, it is only a matter of time before the illusion collapses.

In this case, the more you develop, the less mysterious you feel, and the more you market, the more people will think you are just marketing. This will eventually affect the brand power of gasoline vehicles.

Especially when Hillhouse’s A-class car series, Hillhouse Xingyao and Hillhouse Song are more reliable than yours, people will wonder if your gasoline car is not worthy of being sold at such a high price?
Mercedes-Benz E-Class costs 4 yuan to get a key at a 5000S store, and 3000 yuan to get a handbrake. This kind of nonsense never makes the headlines, and car owners silently bear this outrageous price because of the brand power. Even if your accessories are really something special, I am willing to imagine that they are worth the price, but in front of our industrial country, these 200 yuan pieces of junk are really hard to imagine.

Why don’t we see these disgusting things in the news? It’s because the car owners who want to save face are willing to eat this shit.

For the sake of brand religion, they are willing to sacrifice their own consumer interests. Now he is trying to touch the new energy instead of earning brand premium and living off his old capital?
If we can continue to win without doing anything, is there any justice in the world?

However, although it is fun to make money, it comes at the cost of overdrawing brand power.

He can leave Benchi, but Benchi's problems will always exist.

Will Mercedes-Benz be relegated to a corner and keep selling those pitiful tens of thousands of new cars?
Just like that, it would be strange if the 4S shop doesn’t collapse!

Currently, about 4% of Mercedes-Benz 20S stores are suffering from losses due to the decline in Mercedes-Benz sales.

Now everyone is holding on. We hope to see Mercedes-Benz adjust its strategy in the next one or two years and see Mercedes-Benz make efforts in the new energy vehicle sector.

Although the 4S stores also know that although Mercedes-Benz’s new energy vehicle is a dish.

But the food has to be served forcefully!

"Absolutely not!"

"Absolutely not!"

"If Mercedes-Benz stops developing new energy vehicles, then our Mercedes-Benz brand will be finished!"

Emma on the side said anxiously.

"Those were what our own people said just now. So what do you think of how we have handled this thorny issue now? How do we respond to Hillhouse Auto's aggressive attack?" James Madeja looked at Emma.

“Simply lowering prices won’t solve the problem.”

"In fact, we did reduce prices last year. Although our prices did not drop much on the surface, in fact, the price increase of 4S stores has been completely eliminated, and our corresponding discounts have changed a lot compared with the past."

"Just like that, our sales volume dropped by 15%!"

"I don't know what to say."

Emma was a little irritated when she said this.

"If there is any coping strategy, I know it's difficult."

"The key is that the internal forces within the company have reached a very complex level."

"I think we should just start anew and fully support a new force in China."

"I can't think of any good solution at the moment."

Emma scratched her hair and mumbled to herself.

James Madeja was walking around anxiously while smoking his cigar. When he heard Emma's words, he suddenly stopped and said, "Wait, what are you talking about?"

"I can't think of any good solution for the moment?" Emma was stunned and looked at James Madeja with curiosity.

"No, no, last sentence." James Madeja put down his cigar.

"I think we should just start anew and fully support a new force in China?"

"no!"

“We really have to do this!”

Emma looked at James Madeja in shock.

As the most aristocratic automobile company among BBA, Mercedes-Benz can be regarded as the representative of German automobile brands.

James Madeja's way of playing is really a bit against the will of Heaven.

"Please help me draft a PPT. We plan to invest 10 billion US dollars to acquire shares in a new car company. Remember, it's from China! We will develop two electric cars in the initial stage of cooperation!"

"Specific content, thank you seriously."

"Let's start by cooperating on a B-class car and a sports coupe!"

James Madeja added.

"James, you are not kidding, are you?" Emma's heart was shocked, and she looked at James Madeja with some trepidation in her eyes.

"Do you think I'm the kind of person who would joke?" James Madeja said with a chuckle.

He actually just got the inspiration.

Since Mercedes-Benz's R&D department has remained the same, there is no need to worry about it. Instead, we should prepare to find a Chinese car company to purchase the electric vehicle platform.

While Mercedes-Benz is still in decline, it will invest RMB 10 billion in a new energy automobile company and purchase part of its shares to acquire smart electric vehicle technology.

R&D you won't.

Buy a platform now and copy it, you will be able to do it!
(End of this chapter)