What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 532 Walls have ears

The press conference of Silicon Carbon Group is likely the clearest signal yet regarding the success or failure of its car manufacturing venture.

Yu Xing believes this, and he also believes that everyone should have the same idea.

But he didn't expect that many people would think that the Silicon Carbon Group had already achieved great success by reaching its current scale.

Xiong Xiaoge introduced Ma Zhihao, the general manager of Guofa Venture Capital from Tongling City, Anhui Province, to General Manager Yu, and they discussed this issue before Ma even arrived.

Yu Xing dismissed it: "It's just polite talk, flattery. We haven't sold a single car yet, what kind of success is that?"

"Mr. Yu, considering the factory next door, the cars in the factory, and your transition from the internet industry to the new energy industry, isn't this a success?" Xiong Xiaoge laughed. "I'm not trying to flatter you, but when it comes to selling cars, there are no cars that can't be sold, only prices that can't be set, since the government provides subsidies anyway."

Yu Xing had nothing to say, because with the subsidies in place, there was indeed room for car prices to drop further, but subsidies were not a long-term solution.

Xiong Xiaoge added, "So, regardless of how well the cars sell, for a city like Tongshi, which is positioned as such, the priority is to attract car companies to set up operations there."

Yu Xing said quietly, "What's the use of landing? If we land now, it will take at least three years before we can get any cars out. After three years, we probably won't be able to talk about subsidies anymore."

Xiong Xiaoge slapped his thigh: "Yes! So, this is still a matter that they need to be very careful about. That's why they came to me. But it's no use coming to me. I don't know anything. They still need to find someone like President Yu who knows the business."

Guofa Venture Capital is a wholly state-owned enterprise under the Tongshi Finance Bureau. The general manager led a team to Hong Kong to learn about cooperation models. He happened to have a relationship with Xiong Xiaoge, so he wanted to hitch a ride.

Local governments entrust matters to local state-owned assets, which then seek the judgment and assistance of top venture capitalists. However, these top venture capitalists believe that matters should be handled by professionals.

When it comes to new energy in China, Xiong Xiaoge is aware of President Yu's investment, so naturally he wouldn't look for anyone else.

Soon, Ma Zhihao from Guofa Venture Capital arrived.

Yu Xing has been really busy these past few days, so this meeting after dinner was just to get acquainted with people and let them know that this matter exists.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, he heard the other party tentatively extend an invitation, saying that they could represent the copper market and offer excellent investment attraction policies.

"We don't have the capacity right now, Mr. Ma, I'm really sorry." Yu Xing gave Mr. Xiong a look.

Xiong Xiaoge chimed in, declining the invitation.

Ma Zhihao was not surprised. He praised the exploration of the Silicon Carbon Group with a smile and then talked about the project they had come to inspect. It was "Singularity Motors," which Xiong Xiaoge had talked about with Yu Xing yesterday. It is also a cross-industry Internet car manufacturing project.

Shen Haiyin of Qidian has a solid resume, including entrepreneurial experience in Japan and senior management positions at well-known domestic companies such as Kingsoft and 360. Last year, he first founded Zhicheyouxing through investment, and today he directly serves as CEO to oversee its operation.

Yu Xing and Silicon Carbon Group have been considered as cross-industry internet car manufacturers since their inception. If he can do it, he can't say that others can't.

He listened silently to Ma Zhihao's introduction of the known situation of the project, focusing on understanding the copper market's position.

Tongshi is a typical resource-based city, relying on copper mining and smelting for a long time. Traditional industries account for more than 7% of its economy, resulting in a very simple economic structure. However, the volatility of copper prices intensified after 2010, and the city's GDP growth rate has been poor in the past two years.

It urgently needs emerging industries to fill the gap in GDP growth, and its own advantages in copper materials can enable it to form a closed loop from copper to auto parts to complete vehicle manufacturing, further driving the development of local copper foil, electronic materials and other enterprises.

Of course, there may also be a sense of progress among local individuals behind this.

After listening to Ma Zhihao's rather earnest introduction, Yu Xing did not comment on Singulato Motors, but simply shook hands: "Let's discuss this together tonight, Mr. Ma. I am only offering my opinion for reference, and I am not an authoritative voice."

Ma Zhihao shook hands firmly: "Thank you, President Yu. It's so kind of you to trouble yourself at this critical moment."

Yu Xing smiled at him and went to continue his work, leaving Xiong Xiaoge, the middleman, to handle things.

With four days to go before the press conference, he hadn't expected that there were still many lobbying and judgments from his peers hidden beneath the carbon and silicon situation in Lingang. After the meeting that afternoon, he couldn't help but call Xiaoying to share this matter.

Liu Wanying chuckled: "It really is a mixed bag, a real mixed bag."

She then added, "I think you still enjoy offending people."

“I only met Ma Zhihao, I didn’t meet the others. As for his relationship with Boss Xiong, Boss Xiong will explain the others himself,” Yu Xing said. “Besides, it’s reasonable for a project like car manufacturing to face some external opinions.”

Just like the Silicon Carbon Group, it has been subject to external evaluation since its establishment.

Liu Wanying clicked her tongue: "Walls really do have ears... I should have gone back today, so I could have listened in together."

Yu Xing laughed and said, "Then you really missed the show."

As evening approached, Yu Xing hurriedly returned to the office building and happened to run into He Xiaopeng of XPeng Motors, who was having a lively conversation with Hu Zhengnan. His eyes lit up immediately.

He Xiaopeng is still working at UC, but last year he officially invested in and founded "Orange Auto" with Li Xueling, Fu Sheng and others. This year, due to trademark issues, it was changed to "Xiaopeng Auto". Although he has not yet fully taken the lead in the strategy and development of Xiaopeng Auto, he is the most enthusiastic.

Yu Xing greeted He Xiaopeng and they naturally chatted about their thoughts on trams.

The conversation lasted for quite a while, and it only came to an end when the time for the joint investment team to inspect the three major automotive projects was approaching.

However, watching President Yu's hurried departure, He Xiaopeng said with a slightly strange feeling, "President Yu is such a warm person."

Hu Zhengnan also felt that his boss was being overly enthusiastic today, and said with a smile, "Our new car is about to produce results, and everyone is in a great mood. I've been so excited these past two days that I haven't been able to sleep."

Once upstairs, Yu Xing was unaware of his unusual enthusiasm. He quietly pushed open the door to the newly partitioned small office in the conference room, where he could see and hear the many investors who had already arrived.

Only Xiong Xiaoge and Ma Zhihao in the meeting room knew that there were eavesdroppers. The others only knew that they had arranged to meet with three new energy projects, and that General Manager Xiong and General Manager Yu would discuss the potential prospects and provide a final opinion.

Xiong Xiaoge repeatedly emphasized that this was only for reference, and how much of it people would refer to depended on the individual ideas of different institutions.

There's a crucial juncture at the top, with the silicon carbon group about to exit the market; at the bottom, there's the urgent need for local governments to develop new industries; externally, there's multiple support from policies and subsidies; internally, there are new investment tracks that venture capitalists are increasingly focusing on; and in the middle, there are projects and operators based on dreams, interests, and scams.

Yu Xing lit a cigarette, staring at the screen and listening to the discussion, which mainly focused on silicon carbide vehicles, and became slightly lost in thought.

Five minutes later, Lu Qun, the founder of Qiantu Motors, and his two deputies walked into the conference room and greeted the representatives of nearly 10 organizations present.

At least 20 organizations have already gathered here in Lingang, and more people will fly here in the next four days. The people in this meeting room are all people with good relationships or who have cooperation with each other.

Lu Qun knew that as long as he received a high rating from them today, subsequent fundraising would go much more smoothly, so he spent the afternoon repeatedly preparing and considering his wording.

他是汽车行业的老手，创立的长城华冠在过去12年服务过业内8成的主流车企，参与过从奔腾B50到北汽C70G等100多个车型的完成设计周期。

Therefore, his resume is quite convincing.

Lu Qun succinctly described himself as a senior figure in the industry, and then mentioned Hu Zhengnan, the current vice president of the Silicon Carbon Group, implicitly comparing himself to the two men on similar paths.

However, his goal is even more ambitious: to establish his own new energy vehicle company.

Yu Xing, who was listening from behind the curtain, was fairly satisfied with Lu Qun's performance, but he immediately frowned when Lu Qun got to the point. "We want to make the first pure electric sports car in China, and we want to establish ourselves in the high-end market in the new energy vehicle sector."

"Qiantu Motors has a unique advantage: it can rely on our mature vehicle design system to complete the design of high-end sports cars, just like Tesla did back then."

"Our plan for the first model is to use a carbon fiber body, which is 50% lighter than traditional steel, with a range target of 300 kilometers and a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of under 5 seconds!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Xing couldn't help but send a WeChat message to Xiong Xiaoge: "There's an American company called Fisker that makes carbon fiber. They went bankrupt after all that. We poached a lot of their engineering teams. This isn't a core advantage, and as for 5 seconds, BYD's Tang can do that."

Upon seeing the WeChat message, Xiong Xiaoge thought for two seconds, then interrupted with a smile, "President Lu, President Lu, do you know about Fisker Company?"

Lu Qun wasn't annoyed by the interruption, but he seemed a little confused when he heard the question: "What does Fisker do?"

"An American electric car company, similar to the carbon fiber sports car design you mentioned," Xiong Xiaoge said cheerfully, "has already gone bankrupt."

Lu Qun's face stiffened.

Xiong Xiaoge said, "It's nothing, I just remembered. Mr. Lu, please continue."

The investors in the meeting room didn't show any change in expression, but their eyes became somewhat amused.

Lu Qun, a seasoned domestic designer, was genuinely unaware of such a company in the United States. Sensing something was amiss, he immediately emphasized the key points: "We have a seasoned team with expertise in the industry, specializing in car bodies and chassis, something internet teams lack. Moreover, our initial investment of only 1.5 million yuan is sufficient to cover R&D and prototype manufacturing, and subsequent mass production can be handled through contract manufacturing."

After listening to Lu Qun introduce his advantages for a while, Yu Xing summarized three points and sent them to Xiong Xiaoge.

"The OEM model won't work; we can't control quality."

"The domestic market for high-end sports cars is too narrow, and their cash flow is prone to problems."

"The carbon fiber and other things he talked about didn't have any specific technical parameters, it was too vague. In addition, his so-called industry experience only included design experience. Without the ability to manufacture complete vehicles and manage the supply chain, he still wants to do contract manufacturing. I don't think it's going to work."

After Lu Qun finished describing the project, Xiong Xiaoge smiled and read it verbatim, then raised her questions.

Lu Qun offered a few words of explanation, trying his best to cover up his weaknesses and highlight his strengths.

Xiong Xiaoge did not argue with him, but simply stated what she had observed.

Following Xiong Xiaoge's question, the others asked several related questions.

After all this commotion, Lu Qun almost got into a fight with the investors. Seeing that the "score" wouldn't be very high, he managed to leave with a respectable air.

After a brief discussion about Lu Qun, who only had design experience, the group soon welcomed the second contestant – the Youxia Motors, which had a rather romantic feel to it.

As the founder, Huang Xiuyuan explained the origin of the name.

"I've wanted to build smart cars since I was a kid, watching Knight Rider. Now the time is right!"

"Youxia Motors aims to be the 'Tesla of China,' but I understand domestic users better than they do!"

Huang Xiuyuan spoke with intense emotion, mentioning that his team had disassembled the Model S and was optimizing the chassis to suit domestic road conditions. He also mentioned that they would later equip it with a self-developed intelligent system that would allow voice control of all functions.

He speaks very quickly, proposing a goal of releasing a concept car next year, followed by mass production and market launch.

After listening for a while, Yu Xing felt puzzled and manipulated Xiong Xiaoge to inquire about the team's background, demanding their real resume information on the spot.

Huang Xiuyuan hesitated for a moment, but unable to withstand the pressure of everyone's gaze, he gave it to her.

As a result, the team of only 20 people is mainly composed of internet designers, and there is no talent in the fields of automotive engineering and manufacturing.

Yu Xing didn't need to say much; the constant questioning dampened Huang Xiuyuan's enthusiasm, but he still persisted in his goal of building cars within two years.

Xiong Xiaoge questioned this point, saying that the Silicon Carbon Group would need more time, funds, and talent, and that the two-year timeframe was just wishful thinking given the current supply chain situation.

He then read out the supply chain information that Yu Xing had sent on WeChat, leaving Huang Xiuyuan completely speechless.

With two candidates failing, many investors are placing their hopes on Shen Haiyin, the third candidate with the most authoritative resume. He and President Yu are somewhat similar in that they both started businesses, sold projects, and made mid-range SUVs.

Furthermore, his experience as vice president at Kingsoft and 360 also proves that he has good abilities.

Shen Haiyin spent the longest time in this conference room.

However, Xiong Xiaoge listened and waited, but no message from President Yu came.

Has even President Yu been won over?

Xiong Xiaoge suddenly stopped arguing, which was unusual for him. The other investors then asked more general questions, and Shen Haiyin's answers were all quite appropriate.

After the meeting finally ended, Xiong Xiaoge found an excuse to stay in the conference room with Ma Zhihao. This Ma Zhihao, also known as Shen Haiyin, was the project manager who had close ties with the copper market.

Xiong Xiaoge knocked on the door of the private room, looked at President Yu smoking, and asked somewhat eagerly, "How is it? How is this President Shen?"

"Huh?" Yu Xing looked up, somewhat bewildered.

Xiong Xiaoge asked again, "I haven't seen you find fault with him, isn't that pretty good?"

Ma Zhihao was also waiting for President Yu's reply.

Yu Xing flicked his cigarette ash: "Yeah, I was distracted just now. I forgot the beginning and the end, so it just wasn't working well."

Xiong Xiaoge asked, "What's the reason? He has already raised 1500 million, which is the largest investment."

“1500 million is nothing. Oh right, he wants to cooperate with Japan’s GLM to jointly develop the three core components. That’s unreliable.” Yu Xing shook his head and stretched. “Don’t bother. Let’s look at other options.”

Xiong Xiaoge was somewhat disappointed.

Ma Zhihao frowned, feeling that President Yu's judgment was too hasty, and couldn't help but say, "President Shen is very enthusiastic. If he can come to Tongshi, we can form a synergistic advantage of two vehicles in one place. President Yu, we already have a cooperation with Tieniu Group, so why don't you talk to President Shen again?"

Yu Xing sighed, glanced at Xiong Xiaoge, and said, "Let alone President Shen, even the Tie Niu Group isn't doing too well."

Tieniu Group is the main force behind Zotye.

Ma Zhihao: "..."

(End of this chapter)