Life 1984

Li Yunhai returned to Xizhou.

Those people he hired will report for work one after another after resigning.

Li Yunhai invited talents related to car manufacturing, and the next step was to prepare to design the first car.

Developing a car from scratch is a very expensive job.

Later, Apple spent 800 billion and Hengtai spent 1000 billion to build cars, but neither was successful.

Xiaomi spent more than 100 billion yuan and was successful, but it claimed that it would lose 6 yuan for every car sold.

These data may be exaggerated.

But it is enough to show that building a car from scratch requires a huge investment and it is very difficult to produce results.

The automotive industry involves many complex fields, such as automotive electronics and body design. New entrants are relatively weak in these fields, lack core technologies, find it difficult to break through technological barriers, and are unable to compete with industry-leading companies.

In addition, once a car company's first mass-produced car is launched on the market, if the delivery volume is not ideal and the market response is lukewarm, it will trigger a chain of negative reactions.

In addition, consumers have extremely high requirements for the safety performance of automobiles, and they have doubts about the quality and technical level of new brand cars, which will definitely lead to low market acceptance and sales difficulties.

This is also the reason why it is extremely difficult for automobile companies to survive and develop in the early stages.

Li Yunhai fully realized these difficulties, so he directly spent a large amount of money to acquire the luxury car brand Maserati.

The Maserati brand may not be well-known in China yet, but as long as the publicity is in place, it should not be a problem to make consumers recognize this brand.

In addition, Maserati’s factory is located in Italy and has a century-old history.

Cars produced by the original factory are more likely to be recognized by consumers.

The De Tomaso brand is not well-known in China.

However, De Tomaso, like Maserati, has a certain market share abroad.

Although this market is very small now, otherwise others would not sell these two brands.

But Li Yunhai can stand on the shoulders of these two brands and have a higher starting line.

The news that Sihai Group was going to build cars quickly spread across the country.

This kind of news hype is also what Li Yunhai needs.

First, we need to let everyone know that Sihai Group wants to build cars.

Then, continue to promote and advertise to maintain the heat and discussion. When Sihai Group's cars are launched, everyone will naturally accept this new brand of cars. There are always people willing to try new things, which will more or less drive sales of new cars.

Thanks to Li Yunhai's more than ten years of operation, his character and reputation, like the Sihai Group, are very prominent and trustworthy.

Well-known large companies have a natural advantage in making cars, and that is the brand effect.

At the very least, after this car is manufactured, it will not give consumers the illusion that it came out of nowhere.

Those car brands that suddenly emerge, even if they are hyped up, will be useless if consumers don’t buy into them.

Most of the discussions in the news are not very friendly.

Some people questioned: Can Sihai also make cars? Computers and cars are two different concepts! Li Yunhai can make a good computer, but he may not be able to make a good car.

Some people also said: Is Li Yunhai crazy? Or does he have too much money to spend? Spending tens of billions to build cars for fun? Isn't he afraid that it will all go to waste?
Fortunately, the Internet was not well developed at that time, and everyone's doubts and discussions were only conducted in private.

Occasionally, some media people would publicly publish comments in newspapers and magazines, comprehensively analyzing the possibility of Li Yunhai making cars.

Some people even predicted that if Li Yunhai could not build a car, it would be very likely that Sihai’s golden signboard would be destroyed.

Li Yunhai collects news related to Sihai Group every day.

No matter whether the person was positive or negative, he would just smile after reading it.

For him, as long as people talk about it, it’s enough!
What if someone scolds you?

If you are not envied by others, you are a mediocre person!
If someone scolds you, it means that everyone is paying attention to you and cares about you.

That's the topic.

Li Yunhai called together people to discuss the positioning of the first car.

In terms of luxury cars, Li Yunhai already owns two brands and no longer needs to consider producing luxury cars.

In fact, in the late 1990s, the market for luxury cars in China was limited after all.

In terms of car positioning, Li Yunhai chose three price ranges.

One is a car worth about 50 yuan.

One is a car worth about 25 yuan.

One is a car worth about 10 yuan.

Vehicles in these three price ranges cover the most common car prices in the automobile market and also have the largest sales volumes.

Before building a car, you must first calculate the cost.

For a car worth 50 yuan, material costs are just the tip of the iceberg.

The manufacturing cost of a car also includes labor costs, equipment maintenance costs and R&D investment. Taking materials as an example, the procurement cost of key components such as steel, aluminum, glass, wiring harnesses, engines and transmissions accounts for a considerable share, totaling about 20 yuan.

The production cost of a car priced at RMB 10 may only account for 30% to 40% of the selling price, including raw material costs, labor costs, equipment depreciation, etc.

The remaining 60% to 70% is made up of factors such as taxes, R&D costs, and brand premium.

Among them, taxes and fees account for a considerable proportion.

According to relevant policies and regulations in my country, cars need to pay various taxes and fees, including consumption tax, value-added tax, tariffs, etc. These taxes and fees add up to about 20% to 30% of the car price.

R&D costs are also a factor that cannot be ignored. As a highly complex product, the R&D process of a car requires a lot of capital investment. From design, testing to improvement, each link takes a lot of time and money. Therefore, car companies will also take R&D costs into account when pricing.

According to relevant data, for a car priced at 10 yuan, the profit margin of a car company is usually around 10% to 15%.

That is to say, for every car sold, the car company can earn a profit of about 1 to 1.5 yuan. Although this profit level is not high, considering the huge scale of the automobile market and the scale effect of car companies, the overall profit is still very considerable.

A car company's profit is not simply equal to the selling price minus the production cost.

In fact, car companies also need to bear various expenses in the process of selling cars, such as advertising fees, marketing fees, after-sales service fees, etc. These expenses added up are often a considerable expense.

Cars, a seemingly simple means of transportation, actually contain countless technologies and wisdom.

From design, R&D to production and sales, every link requires a lot of manpower, material and financial resources. For cars in the price range of 10 to 15 yuan, the pricing is carefully planned and calculated.

When it comes to car manufacturing, my country needs to introduce technology because it does not have much independent intellectual property rights.

The technology transfer fee is a threshold for cars to enter the Chinese market. Each car has to pay 10%, so for a car worth 10 yuan, the fee is about 1 yuan. Although this increases costs, many foreign brands have also simplified their configurations, making domestic models more cost-effective.

Li Yunhai has a unique advantage in technology because he acquired two automobile companies.

The De Tomaso and Maserati he bought have a full set of mature car manufacturing technologies. Even if some technologies need to be authorized abroad, the overall cost can be reduced a lot.

After calculation and discussion, Sihai Group's own brand of cars mainly produces cars in three price ranges: 50, 25, and 10.

When others build cars, they launch a model first and then see the market reaction.

If the market doesn't buy it, then we'll give up and stop making cars.

Li Yunhai is developing models at three price ranges at the same time, and plans to launch three cars at different price ranges at the same time!

He has a mysterious confidence in my country's automobile market.

The most important thing in making a car is the production license.

Li Yunhai has been in the business world for many years and has already made countless connections.

Therefore, Sihai Group's application to manufacture cars was approved by the relevant departments.

In this era, the country is also encouraging car manufacturing.

Several well-known domestic car companies in later generations were born in this era.

Li Yunhai and Sihai Group are a golden signboard. They want to get involved in automobile production, and the relevant departments have given strong support.

In addition, the leaders of the province also strongly supported Sihai Group's car manufacturing, which accelerated the issuance of production licenses.

If a large automobile company can emerge in this province, it will undoubtedly drive the rapid development of the province's industrial economy.

Li Yunhai felt that he was on a particularly smooth journey. He got whatever he wanted, and everything went as he wished.

That day, Li Yunhai returned home from get off work.

Liu Xiaoli and Liu Yifei have been living in his house.

Li Yunhai lives alone anyway, so it would be a good thing to have a woman at home to help take care of him.

When Liu Xiaoli is not working, she is like a housewife, taking care of all the housework.

Every day when Li Yunhai comes back, he has delicious and fragrant meals to eat.

The house is also kept clean and tidy.

Lin Zhi also knew that Liu Xiaoli lived here, but she didn't say anything about it.

Because Lin Zhi knew that if Li Yunhai really wanted to have a relationship with another woman, she would be powerless to do anything as she was far away in Hong Kong.

When Li Yunhai returned home, he saw Liu Xiaoli wiping her eyes and asked, "Why are you crying?"

Liu Xiaoli sniffed and said, "Nothing."

Li Yunhai is very busy at work, and always comes home later than Liu Xiaoli.

When he got home, the food was basically ready and he could start eating as soon as he got back.

Seeing that Liu Xiaoli was unwilling to talk, Li Yunhai didn't ask any more questions.

After dinner, Li Yunhai went to the study, turned on the computer, and looked up news and information related to cars.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Li Yunhai finished his work and went back to his bedroom to rest.

He saw that the light was still on in Liu Xiaoli's room and the door was ajar.

Li Yunhai hesitated for a moment, but decided not to go and disturb them.

Suddenly, he heard a soft cry.

Li Yunhai could tell that it was Liu Xiaoli crying.

He paused, turned around, walked over and knocked on the door gently.

The crying inside stopped abruptly.

"Are you okay?" Li Yunhai asked standing outside the door.

"Mr. Li, I'm fine." Liu Xiaoli stood up, walked over, opened the door, and wiped her tears with a tissue.

Li Yunhai said: "Your tears haven't dried yet! Is it really okay like this? If you regard me as a friend, why don't you tell me what's wrong? Maybe I can't help you, but I can at least give you some comfort."

Liu Xiaoli bit her lip, smiled sadly, and said, "How can I be so worthy of Mr. Li's comfort? Something happened at home, and I thought about my miserable life, so I felt sad."

Li Yunhai pondered and said, "You are still young, you can find a man to live with. As the old saying goes, young couples are companions in old age. Once people get older, they don't need love, but they need a partner who they can rely on."

Liu Xiaoli smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Li, you misunderstood. I don't think about men."

Li Yunhai laughed dumbly and said, "I'm not saying that you're thinking about men, I'm saying - oh, this topic is so heavy, well, since you have nothing to do, then go to bed early!"

Liu Xiaoli said, "Mr. Li, my mother is sick and I can't go home to take care of her. When I think about my own life experience and all these troubles piled up together, I can't help but want to cry. I am a woman, so it is inevitable that I am a little sentimental. Please forgive me if I have disturbed you."

Li Yunhai said: "Your mother is sick? You can ask for leave and go home! The company is not unkind!"

Liu Xiaoli said, "It's okay, my dad is at home taking care of her! In fact, even if I go home, I still quarrel with them a lot because of my divorce, and my relationship with my family has become very strained."

She sighed quietly and said, "This is also the reason why I want to go abroad. I feel that there is nothing worth staying here for."

Li Yunhai said: "Of course your parents are angry with you because they care about you. They have lived for decades longer than you, and they know the pain of being alone in old age."

Liu Xiaoli said, "I have a daughter! Don't I have to find a man to rely on? If I find an unreliable man, I will have to endure his anger!"

Li Yunhai said: "That's true."

As the two chatted, the topic came back to the topic.

Liu Xiaoli said: "Mr. Li, you are so nice. If a woman has a man like you, she is really happy."

Li Yunhai said: "Perhaps you don't know? Lin Zhi and I have also been divorced once."

Liu Xiaoli exclaimed: "Really? Are you divorced?"

There was a special light in her eyes.

Li Yunhai said: "But later, she and I remarried."

Liu Xiaoli said, "You and her are now living apart. Although you are remarried, it is actually not much different from being divorced. Don't you think so? Isn't it that you look for a woman to accompany you day and night, to accompany you?"

Li Yunhai was stunned for a moment, then said, "She and I are an old married couple, we don't care about these things."

Liu Xiaoli said: "Then what do you care about? You are still so young, can you do without a woman?"

This topic is too ambiguous.

Li Yunhai stroked his chin and remained silent. (End of this chapter)