That year the flowers bloomed 1981

Chapter 1278 Respect Your Opponent
The day after Li Ye arrived in Shanghai, the sky was still overcast, and a light drizzle was falling intermittently. The pitter-patter of the raindrops was a perfect day for sleeping.

Unfortunately, today is the opening day of the exhibition, so sleeping in is out of the question.

The people at the first factory are very disciplined. They all finish breakfast and gather at eight o'clock in the morning to prepare to go over.

This time, a lot of people came from the first branch factory, including sixteen or seventeen from the marketing and sales department and the technical department.

Because this exhibition reportedly involves not only dozens of companies from mainland China, but also many foreign manufacturers, everyone attaches great importance to it, as this is a rare and valuable opportunity to understand industry technologies in this era.

When we arrived at the venue, there were quite a few visitors, but the incessant drizzle was a bit annoying.

So these tech guys never stopped their habitual complaining.

"Hey, what do you think the Shanghai municipal leaders were thinking? How come they didn't use artificial rain protection for such an important exhibition?"

"Tch, we think this exhibition is important, but they might not. Artificial rain removal? What a grand spectacle."

"How can it not be important? I heard that a lot of foreigners are coming later, and the leader is going to give a speech. They'll all be soaked to the bone. Won't they laugh at us?"

"."

But when the exhibition started, Li Ye and his group from Beijing realized that the style of Shanghai was indeed different.

Several leaders, holding umbrellas, went on stage to give speeches. They barely said anything of substance, and the whole thing lasted only a few minutes. Their main message was "practicality first, considering your needs."

This pleased Li Ye greatly. People come to exhibitions to exchange information and share resources. I sell goods, you buy goods, we hit it off immediately and part ways quickly. Who wants to listen to your long-winded rambling? Just show your face and take a picture, that's enough.

After completing the previous procedures, the exhibitors are free to move around.

Li Ye looked around. Although it was raining today, there were quite a few people attending the exhibition. However, most of them were heading towards the eastern exhibition area, while the No. 1 Factory's exhibition area was on the west side.

Li Ye led Xiao Zhu and the others towards the western exhibition area. The further they walked, the fewer people there were, and by the time they reached the exhibition area of ​​Factory No. 1, there were hardly any people left.

When everyone arrived at the exhibition area of ​​the first factory, they were ready to receive guests. However, after a long time, there were still more visitors than employees of the first factory, and most of them were selling auto parts such as tires and glass.

Li Ye asked the sales department staff with a smile, "Wang Siyu, in the report you gave me, it said that our factory's products were in high demand around Shanghai, right? Why doesn't it seem like that?"

Wang Siyu is a key member of the sales department, and Li Ye values ​​him highly. According to his report to Li Ye, light trucks and commercial buses in Beijing are very popular in the Yangtze River Delta region. But looking at the current situation, even if the weather is bad, it's still too bad.
Wang Siyu said, puzzled, "Factory manager, I don't know either, but sales in Shanghai have always been number one, especially our commercial buses, which account for 35% of the factory's total output. Moreover, the number of deposits is increasing month by month, which is why I dared to write 'good reputation' in the report."

Xiao Zhu chimed in with a laugh, "Factory manager, look at the other businesses around here, they're not even as good as us! At least we get people coming to inquire, while they're practically ignored. Look, they've all left work early, the weather's just too bad today."

Li Ye glanced around and realized that, just as Xiao Zhu had said, many companies' exhibits were in a worse state than his own.

However, their business wasn't doing well. Li Ye didn't think it was entirely due to the weather, because most of the car manufacturers' products still retained a strong 1970s feel.
For example, most buses are actually developed using truck chassis, and there are also those long two-section buses.

The 1990s was a period of rapid development for passenger vehicles, and if these companies that rely on their past achievements do not wake up soon, they will inevitably disappear into the annals of history.

Moreover, their attitude was also unacceptable. People from a light passenger vehicle manufacturer next to the No. 1 factory strolled over and chatted with the people from the No. 1 factory, making various sarcastic remarks about some manufacturers who were actively seeking change.

"Your Beijing brand is a big factory with a solid financial foundation, so whatever you do is right, but we can't do that."
"Look at Xiamen Jinlong over there. It was just a newly built small factory, and they were messing around with luxury buses. They ran out of money halfway through and had to sell shares. The factory has four shareholders, each owning 25%." "Second Automobile Works, another company, and a company in Beijing—with four shareholders combined, tell me, who's in charge?"

Li Ye asked in surprise, "Is King Long's shareholding structure really that complicated? We didn't know that, but I did go to the exhibition in Beijing last year, and King Long's cars were indeed quite good."

"Not bad my foot! You guys don't know the inside story. They just manufactured the product last year and wanted to send it to Beijing for an exhibition, but it broke down as soon as it left Xiamen. They had to transport it to Beijing by train. They really embarrassed themselves in front of the Party Central Committee."

"."

Li Ye was very surprised because Xiamen Jinlong would be a very powerful player in the bus market decades later. Who would have thought that it would be so difficult in its early days?

"When it comes to established companies, your Beijing-branded commercial vehicles are really good. But you should also be careful. I just went to see Nanjing Automobile's new type of bus, which is bigger than your Beijing-branded ones, has a better engine, and seems to be cheaper."

"Ok?"

Li Ye paused for a moment, looked in the direction the other person was pointing, and then spotted the classic light passenger vehicle from his memory.

However, Xiao Zhu and his companions, unaware of any "classic" information, immediately began arguing with the other party: "What do you mean by 'bigger and better than ours'? Our Beijing-brand buses use a passenger bus chassis and world-class engines!"

"Yes, yes, they're pretty much the same. I didn't express myself clearly."

"Alright, Xiao Zhu, let's go take a look, shall we?"

Li Ye stopped Xiao Zhu from arguing with someone and walked towards the Nanjing Automobile Exhibition Area.

Xiao Zhu and the others quickly followed, whispering, "Factory Director, we've inquired about Nanjing Automobile's new bus production. It does have more seats than ours, but it's not in the same league."

Li Ye interrupted, "Section Chief Zhu, as a technical cadre in our factory, you must respect your opponents. It's good to be dissatisfied, but don't belittle them before you've analyzed the situation clearly."

"Yes, I remember the factory manager, but they weren't very friendly to us. Look at the way they looked at us."

Xiao Zhu didn't understand why Li Ye suddenly became serious, so she had no choice but to obediently accept Li Ye's criticism, but in the end she still "stirred things up" a couple of times.

Li Ye looked up and saw that the people from Nanjing Automobile Group were indeed looking over. It was hard to say whether they were hostile, but they certainly took it very seriously.

For the past few decades, Nanjing Automobile and Beijing Automobile have been the most important light truck manufacturers in mainland China, and they are certainly not willing to concede to each other.

Li Ye believes that it's good for technical personnel to be "unconvinced," but they must respect their opponents.

After all, this light passenger vehicle will almost monopolize the "high-end business" of short- and medium-distance passenger transport in mainland China in the next few years.

"Xiao Zhu! Don't resent others because of competition. Competition is what drives progress. If you've always had a strong competitor, you should feel fortunate."

"Yes, yes, hehehe~"

Xiao Zhu laughed, but Li Ye could tell from his laughter that the kid still didn't really believe it.

(End of this chapter)