Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 426 A New Round of Industrial Revolution
In the first few years of HaiLan Automobile's development, the smart electric vehicle industry was just starting out. Although the technology was already good enough, due to factors such as high costs and imperfect charging facilities, the smart electric vehicle industry at the time took a high-end route and had low production and sales volumes.

Therefore, in those years, Tesla launched the S series coupe models, with a price range of hundreds of thousands or even millions.

Similarly, the first model launched to the market by Hailan Automobile at that time, the Hailan SEC, was also a coupe model, priced at hundreds of thousands.

Later, HaiLan Automobile launched the large SUV model SEV, which is even more expensive, also costing hundreds of thousands, and millions with high configuration.

Tesla's S series, Hailan's SEC and SEV are the common characteristics of the early development stage of the electric vehicle industry.

In terms of sales, Tesla's S model has always been low.

These two models of Hailan Automobile have successfully stood out by relying on the black technology-like intelligent assisted driving system, and have transformed themselves from a car into a high-tech product, thereby achieving good sales.

Yes, in the early stages, no one actually regarded HaiLian Automobile as a traditional automobile company. Even now, quite a number of people believe that HaiLian Automobile is not a car company, but a high-tech company that manufactures smart terminals.

But at that time, even though Hailan Automobile successfully stood out from the crowd and caused a global sensation by relying on its various high-tech attributes, its sales were actually just so-so.

The sales of the Hailan SEC were very good in the first and second years of its release, but sales began to halve after the third year.

The situation is similar with the Hailan SEV. It had good sales when it was first released, but after one or two years its sales began to plummet.

This is because people have a special positioning for these two models... They are not commuter vehicles, business vehicles, or family cars in the conventional sense, but a kind of high-tech toy.

The purchasing groups are all technology enthusiasts who pursue technology trends, various young wealthy people who like to play, and high-income practitioners in the high-tech industry... What does this mean? It means that the actual potential customer group is relatively limited.

Because it was very lively at the beginning, but as the excitement wore off, after those potential customers who liked to try new things had almost all purchased them, the sales of these two models began to decline on a large scale.

However, after the launch of the large luxury sedan, the Sea Blue SLC, the above situation does not exist... because it is positioned as a large luxury sedan, with a mature and stable appearance, and at the same time, it is extremely expensive. This year's new SLC, the entry-level price has exceeded 1.5 million, the high-end version requires more than 2 million, and the bulletproof version is more than 4 million... In addition, customized services are also provided, and the price can reach more than 10 million.

It is mainly used for business purposes, and most of the customers are business owners, so the order volume was not large at the beginning, but it did not increase in volume later.

Of course, no matter how stable this model is, its sales volume is just so-so. Now the annual sales volume is at most 7 units... It’s not a question of whether the car is good or bad, but the market is so small, and it has to compete with models such as Mercedes-Benz/Maybach S-Class, BMW 8 Series, Audi A, Rolls-Royce, etc.

Today, the sales of the SLC model still rely heavily on Xu Shenxue's promotion... Xu Shenxue himself rides this large luxury electric car, and then a group of bosses follow suit and buy and ride it.

Luxury cars are, to a large extent, luxury items, and the value of luxury items does not come from the items themselves, but from the people who use them.

Who is Xu Shenxue? He is not just the world's richest man.

Instead, he is one of a small group of top people on the planet today. Moreover, unlike many heads of consortiums who hide in secret, Xu Shenxue is a "nouveau riche" type. Moreover, he is engaged in a well-known high-tech industry, so he is very famous and enjoys a huge reputation almost all over the world.

And this reputation is very positive.

Needless to say, Xu Shenxue has a very positive reputation in China and is not in the same category as other wealthy people.

Abroad, even though some people in Europe, America, Japan, South Korea and other countries feel that the companies led by Xu Shenxue pose a huge threat to them, they still have to admit that Xu Shenxue is very good at the technology industry.

Let’s not talk about whether he is a good person or not, but his ability is definitely top-notch!
Quite a number of people even believe that the extent to which human society can develop in the future and whether it can reach the starry sky will probably depend on Xu Shenxue.

Even in those primitive tribes in Africa, they know that there is a technology tycoon named Xu Shenxue far away in the East!

Even though Xu Shenxue has said on many occasions that he does not understand any technology...his resume is also public, and people know that he graduated from Guangcheng University with a bachelor's degree in economics and management, which has nothing to do with high technology.

But it doesn't affect people's view that he is a high-tech tycoon!

Xu Shenxue's reputation is spread all over the world, even though he himself rarely appears in public except for some major press conferences of the group or very few important occasions, let alone accepting media interviews.

But this still does not affect the fact that at least billions of people around the world recognize his face!

From an advertising perspective, such a person is the best spokesperson for luxury goods...even if he never endorses any product.

Another example is the watch that Xu Shenxue always wears in public... It was a watch given to him by his father when his predecessor was admitted to university!

It is not a famous brand, nor a foreign brand, but an ordinary brand of watch from Shenzhen. The watches of this brand were previously sold for only a few hundred yuan.

Of course, this watch is actually not ordinary. Mr. Chen, the boss of this watch company, and Mr. Xu are old comrades-in-arms. They saved each other’s lives during the war and have a real life-long friendship... This watch was commissioned by Mr. Xu’s old comrade-in-arms Chen to customize for his son as a gift for his 18th birthday and for his son’s admission to university.

Xu's father's old comrade-in-arms named Chen was also a man who remembered the old times and had a good relationship with Xu Shenxue back then, so he put in a lot of extra effort.

The watch looks ordinary, but there is a micro-carving of Xu Shenxue's name on the body, and some of the slightly larger parts inside are also engraved with his name.

There are eighteen of his names on the entire watch... a coming-of-age gift for his eighteenth birthday!

This thing is actually a real luxury item in some sense.

Few people can allow a watch company with a market value of hundreds of millions to mobilize designers and engineers to design and manufacture a watch specifically for one person.

Xu Shenxue's predecessor has always worn this watch.

After Xu Shenxue knew this story, he initially wore it to maintain his image, but later he got used to it and continued to wear it.

Of course, this is all old news.

The key point is that Xu Shenxue wears this watch all year round. In almost all photos of him, if there are photos of his left hand, this watch can be seen.

No one noticed it at first, but as Zhiyun Group grew bigger and Xu Shenxue's reputation grew, naturally some bored people would notice this watch. When these bored netizens checked, they found out that this was actually a domestic watch brand.

Although it is difficult to find the same model, the status of this watch brand continues to rise year by year, and it has become a first-class watch brand in China. The price of high-end models has even reached more than tens of thousands.

Of course, this was also inseparable from Xu Shenxue's private support... Although he was a visitor from another time and space, Xu Shenxue did take care of some of the older generation who had a good relationship with Xu's father.

Especially Boss Chen, who had a life-and-death friendship with Xu's father. Even though Boss Chen died of illness four years ago, Xu Shenxue still takes care of his children.

When Xu's father passed away, Boss Chen also helped Xu Shenxue's predecessor deal with a lot of things and assisted in handling the funeral affairs. After the funeral affairs were completed, he took him to make various connections and helped him stabilize Weiku Electronics. It can be said that he treated Xu Shenxue as his own son or nephew.

With this friendship, Xu Shenxue took good care of the Chen family after his rise. He first helped the Chen family's watch company complete the company's modern management model, and then promoted them to enter the precision equipment manufacturing industry. The company developed rapidly.

When Boss Chen passed away, there was a rebellion among other shareholders in the Chen family's business. In particular, two of Boss Chen's brothers and relatives joined forces with external capital to try to gain control of the company. When Xu Shenxue learned about this, he personally took action to suppress the rebellion and sent away a group of disloyal relatives of the Chen family and other ill-intentioned capital.

The Chen family's company was kept intact, and the Chen family's son successfully inherited the family business...

It’s just like how Boss Chen protected Xu Shenxue’s predecessor back then.

Now, the market value of the Chen family's company is estimated to be over 10 billion, and it is doing well in the watch, precision instrument and mechanical equipment industries.

Until now, the two families still visit each other during festivals.

----

The Chen family’s watch business has grown from a miscellaneous brand to a first-class domestic watch brand that is capable of competing with traditional luxury brands. This is inseparable from the fact that Xu Shenxue has been wearing their watches for many years.

Xu Shenxue is the person with the strongest ability to sell goods on the planet!

This is also reflected in his promotion of Hailan Automobile... Although this was not his original intention, this is the effect.

The sales volume of HaiLan SLC can reach tens of thousands units a year, which is inseparable from Xu Shenxue himself.

However, a large luxury car like the Hailan SLC is still not enough to support a company as large as Hailan Automobile.

What really made HaiLian Automobile one of the world's top car companies and a high-tech company that attracted global attention, and also attracted various sanctions in the past two years, was the release of HaiLian Automobile's HaiLian SLMC.

This mid-size sedan, with a price of more than 300,000 yuan, excellent performance, and Hailan Automobile's black technology intelligent assisted driving technology, became a super hit as soon as it was launched, with annual production and sales reaching hundreds of thousands in the first year. This year, the production and sales of this model are heading for more than 800,000 units, accounting for most of Hailan Automobile's production and sales.

Coupled with the launch of the Hailan MEV this year, this mid-size SUV has also caused an explosion in the market. Not only is its sales very hot in China, but its sales in overseas regions are also very good.

Relying on the two models of Hailan SLMC and Hailan MEV, which cost more than 300,000 yuan, Hailan Automobile has completely broken the previous attributes of high-tech big toys, allowing Hailan Automobile to truly enter thousands of households and become a car purchase option for ordinary middle-class families.

Behind this, it is also inseparable from Hailan Automobile's continuous public relations in technology, continuous compression of technology costs, and improvement of the localization of the supply chain...

No matter how good a car is, it is meaningless if the price cannot be lowered.

In addition to HaiLian Automobile's own efforts, this is also closely related to the country's increasing support for new energy vehicles in the past two years.

The domestic support for the new energy vehicle industry is comprehensive and strong.

For example, the huge subsidies for purchasing new energy vehicles... generally speaking, you can get a subsidy of around 60,000 yuan, which is not a small amount.

There are also tax incentives and financial support that ordinary people don’t know much about, and this is also very strong support.

Finally, there is the exclusive license plate for new energy vehicles, which has a profound impact and a huge effect... Once the exclusive license plate for new energy vehicles came out, the sales of Hailan Automobile and other brands of electric vehicles skyrocketed overnight.

Especially in places with license plate restrictions such as Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing, people do not have money to buy cars, but they cannot get a license plate for a gasoline car, so they cannot buy a car!

With the appearance of exclusive license plates for new energy vehicles, there is no need to draw lots, just buy a car and you will get one. As a result, a large number of people in these first-tier cities, even ordinary families, have started to buy new energy vehicles in order to buy a car.

Those who have more money will choose Hailan cars, while those who are short of money will choose new energy vehicles from other domestic brands.

This is also an important reason why HaiLan Automobile's sales have continued to soar this year, resulting in a situation of supply exceeding demand.

Last year, HaiLan Automobile had already anticipated that sales would be guaranteed in the domestic market this year and made production capacity arrangements in advance.

Domestically, in addition to expanding production at the Shenzhen and Shanghai bases, HaiLian Automobile has invested in building an automobile factory in Jiangcheng in central China, with an annual production capacity of 250,000 vehicles, which is expected to be put into production by the end of the year.

Subsequently, a huge automobile factory was built in the capital, with an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles.

At the same time, Hailan Automobile has also invested heavily in Sichuan City in the southwest to build the fifth super factory in the country, which is also an automobile factory with a complete supply chain. The designed annual production capacity reaches 350,000 vehicles, and it is aimed at the markets in the southwest and other regions.

The Sichuan production base is still under construction and is not expected to be put into production until early next year, but the Beijing production base has already been successfully put into production.

Faced with the commissioning of such an important comprehensive production base, Xu Shenxue also took time out to personally attend the commissioning ceremony and witnessed the rollout of the factory's first Hailan car.

Xu Shenxue even personally drove the first Hailan SLM off the production line for a quick lap around the test site.

With the successful production of the factory, Hailan Automobile's annual production capacity has increased to 1.2 million vehicles.

By the end of the year, HaiLan Automobile's production capacity will increase to 1.45 million vehicles.

When the Sichuan factory goes into production next spring, Hailan Automobile's production capacity will be further increased to 1.8 million vehicles!
The above are domestic production capacities. In addition, there are plans for some assembly plants abroad, but the progress is slower. The Thai factory is progressing the fastest and is expected to be put into production next winter. The initial design capacity of the plant is 100,000 vehicles and 200,000 vehicles in the later stage.

Combined with the 200,000 designed production capacity of the Thai factory, the above is Hailan Automobile's ambitious 2 million production capacity plan.

The two million is not the point. By the year after next, the production capacity will increase further significantly.

The Brazilian plant with a designed production capacity of 150,000 vehicles is expected to start production in the spring of next year, and the Mexican plant with a designed production capacity of 200,000 vehicles is expected to start production in the summer of next year.

As for the Spanish factory, it was originally expected to be in the first half of next year...but the exact time schedule is hard to say.
Because there are so many things going on in Europe, the construction plan for the Spanish factory project has been finalized for several months, but it is still at the stage of leveling the terrain...

If it were in China, the infrastructure would have been completed long ago and the equipment installation stage would have begun... For the domestic factories established by Hailan Automobile, basically, small-scale production can be started in the early stage a little over a year after the project is launched, and then further expansion will be carried out in a few months. The entire project cycle can be completed within about two years, reaching the designed production capacity of the entire project.

But in the Spanish factory, several months have passed and even the factory land has not been cleaned up... The project team is still arguing with various local foundation organizations over a so-called forest land and the small animals living in the forest.

Various animal protection, environmental protection and other organizations came one after another, significantly delaying the progress schedule of the Spanish project, so even Hailan Automobile itself could not estimate the specific schedule of the project.

To this end, Hailan Automobile even launched a backup plan. If the Spanish factory cannot be operated, they will go to Hungary to build a factory.

Hungary has been actively trying to attract Hailan Automobile to invest there. The conditions in all aspects are very good. Moreover, the local area is different from those old Western European countries. There are not so many messy things.

At the beginning, Hailan Automobile actually planned to build a factory in Spain first and then another factory in Hungary, adopting an East-West strategy.

But now that the Spanish factory plan has been thwarted, Hailan Automobile has accelerated negotiations with Hungary.

It is difficult to build a factory in Europe, and this is not exclusive to Hailan Auto. Tesla also plans to build a factory in Germany, Europe, and has also encountered a lot of troubles... They are even worse off.

The Spanish factory of Hailan Automobile has at least leveled a part of the land, and it looks like a construction site. However, the German factory of Tesla has not even started to level the land, and it is still a wilderness... It is said that this has given Musk a headache.

Especially compared with the construction progress of Tesla's Shanghai factory, the gap is too big.

Xu Shenxue pays close attention to HaiLan Automobile's various domestic and international investment plans, and basically keeps an eye on them personally. Unlike many of its other subsidiaries, he basically does not pay attention to them unless there is something major.

The main reason is that the automobile industry is too special and too important... Automobiles and smart terminals are somewhat similar, and both belong to the locomotive industry in the industrial economic system. Although the locomotive is not big, it is followed by a long string of various industrial carriages.

The automobile industry is a key industry that can directly drive the operation of the entire industrial system and cannot be ignored.

After inspecting Hailan Automobile's production base in Beijing, Xu Shenxue also attended several seminars and expressed his views on some high-tech industries, such as semiconductors, smart terminals, smart electric vehicles, smart robots, artificial intelligence, quantum computers and other fields.

Of course, there weren't many listeners.

At the symposium, Xu Shenxue did not talk much about various terminal products such as mobile phones, cars, robots, and artificial intelligence. In fact, Xu Shenxue did not say much.

What he talked about most were semiconductors and quantum computers that represent the future.

Because almost all contemporary industrial products are based on computers!

Even small electric toys for children or daily household appliances cannot be separated from various chips.

Therefore, Xu Shenxue has been focusing on semiconductors at every symposium almost every day for ten years.

"Now our EUV lithography machine has been made. If nothing goes wrong, it will be put into mass production next year. By then, we will be able to produce logic chips equivalent to 7-nanometer process and other top-level running memory, storage chips, and semiconductor sensors of corresponding technical levels at a large scale and at low cost."

"By then, a large number of advanced chips will enter all walks of life, further enhancing the core competitiveness of the entire industrial system!"

"At the same time, we can also use EUV lithography machines to further manufacture various advanced chips with equivalent five-nanometer, three-nanometer, and two-nanometer processes. These chips will be used in civilian consumer products such as smartphones and computers, and continue to maintain our technological advantages. More importantly, these advanced processes will further promote our technological progress in the field of computing chips!"

"We can obtain AI training chips with greater computing power and terminal computing chips, further expand our technological advantages in the field of AI technology, and apply AI technology to a wider range of fields!"

"The intelligent robot industry, which is currently in its infancy, is likely to take off, and the application of various intelligent devices will further innovate technology and produce various new products!"

"For example, our VR virtual device has already produced a prototype, but the main limitation of our large-scale mass production and application is the computing power cost!"

"At the same time, some auxiliary products for daily life will also appear. For example, a pair of AI glasses that our group is developing is a product with very good prospects. This also requires excellent artificial intelligence support, and artificial intelligence requires computing power chip support."

"All of these are inseparable from the support of advanced semiconductor technology. Even the current superconducting quantum computers based on superconducting technology cannot be separated from the support of advanced semiconductor manufacturing."

"Our company is currently developing superconducting quantum computers, which are expected to be launched on the market next year and will become the core technology for the next technological innovation!"

"The computing power that superconducting quantum computers can provide will be hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands times greater than that of existing electronic computers. I have a hunch that the emergence of quantum computers will drive a new round of industrial revolution, just like the emergence of electronic computers decades ago drove the industrial revolution!"

“And this time, we are ahead of all our competitors!”

(End of this chapter)