What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 533 Innovation
Before one problem is resolved, another arises.

Looking at President Yu, whose expression remained unchanged, Ma Zhihao from Tongshi was at a loss for words.

Although the cooperation between Tieniu Group and the city has not been officially announced, it is basically a done deal, with only the final step of signing the agreement remaining. Moreover, the two sides have a long history, as Tieniu Group became the actual controller of Tongfeng Electronics, a local listed company, through asset restructuring as early as 2006.

This collaboration on new energy vehicles is driven by leadership and involves investments of at least several billion yuan.

More importantly, Ma Zhihao is the general manager of Guofa Venture Capital, which is responsible for some of the investments. If Tieniu Group really has problems, he will inevitably be part of the mess of related investments and financing.

Upon thinking of this, he stammered, "President Yu, this, this, uh..."

Ma Zhihao hesitated for a few seconds before finally managing to say, "Zotye Auto is also quite good."

Zotye Auto, known as the "King of Copycats," is Porsche's half-brother and Audi's unrelated Eastern cousin. It emphasizes extremely high cost-performance and achieved 66 billion yuan in revenue and 2 million yuan in profit last year.

Moreover, Zotye has been exploring new energy vehicles for a relatively long time. In 2008, it launched its first pure electric vehicle, the 2008EV. However, at that time, it was only available for lease and not for sale. But last year, it officially launched the Yun 100 to the market, and in its first month of sales in December, it achieved sales of 2224 units, directly topping the list of national new energy vehicle sales.

For a moment, Ma Zhihao even suspected that Mr. Yu was deliberately slandering Zotye because of their competitive relationship in the new energy vehicle market.

But then he thought again that Zotye's new energy vehicles are priced in the tens of thousands of yuan range, which is completely incomparable to its carbon silicon counterpart. At most, it might have some reputational influence in the field of new energy public opinion.

Yu Xing said, "It's just a personal intuition, Mr. Ma, just take it with a grain of salt."

Ma Zhihao was at a loss: "President Yu, this, this..."

At this moment, Xiong Xiaoge patted President Yu on the shoulder and said, "President Yu, President Ma is one of us, so let's just chat casually."

Yu Xing, who was about to get up, heard this and looked at Xiong Zong's affirmative look. He then sat back down and said to Ma Zhihao, "Zotye, its T600 has many quality problems. The chassis is rusty, the assembly process is not up to standard, and the rear axle design is flawed. This car won't last long."

"In the new energy vehicle sector, Zotye is purely focused on subsidizing car manufacturing. Its R&D investment accounts for less than 0.5%, which is far below the industry average. The decline in subsidies will be a fatal blow to Zotye's new energy vehicle business."

"It has many problems, and besides..."

Yu Xing paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Tie Niu Group and Zotye are the same people running two brands. Besides the car quality issues that we can all see, what we can't see is actually the most dangerous."

Tie Niu was founded in 96, and in 03 he led the establishment of Zotye. Members of the family of the former's founder, Ying Jianren, controlled key positions in key departments such as finance and supply chain of the latter. This affected the quality of car products externally, and internally there was a lot of room for manipulation.

Although Yu Xing had never dealt with Ying Jianren, he had heard about the style of car companies from Zhejiang Province. With his experience in short selling over the past few years and knowledge of Zotye's fate, he could roughly estimate the main problems.

Listening to President Yu's concise analysis, Ma Zhihao was fine with the product and industry information, but the idea of ​​"one team running two brands" made his mind wander.

Empty shell companies, fraudulent financial statements, ineffective oversight...

He was stunned for a long time, and finally a very bad characterization came to mind—a breeding ground for related-party transactions and the transfer of benefits.

But, but...

It's just speculation after all...

Ma Zhihao's slump was replaced by a surge of resentment. He countered Yu's analysis by saying, "Yu, the existence of quality problems in the model does not mean that it cannot be improved. Low investment in technology in the past does not mean that investment will not be increased in the future. Two brands, two brands... not necessarily, not necessarily."

Yu Xing smiled slightly and nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right, Mr. Ma is right."

Seeing how calmly President Yu approved of him, Ma Zhihao suddenly lost confidence in what he had just said and sincerely said, "Please don't hesitate to give me your guidance, President Yu."

“I’m not being sarcastic, Mr. Ma is absolutely right,” Yu Xing said with a smile. “But there’s a problem: you need great wisdom and composure to succeed. How great? Haha, I need to think about that carefully.”

Ma Zhihao was somewhat puzzled.

Xiong Xiaoge then chimed in, pondering for a moment, "Mr. Ma, it's like this. You see, over the years, IDG has invested in so many projects, and even those with the right plans from the start are prone to failing. Those with flaws or errors from the beginning have never even been completed."

"The market is huge, and various factors are intertwined. We can't say for sure that there aren't people who use great perseverance and intelligence to turn around their companies' development. But looking around, most of the companies with problems will eventually encounter even bigger problems. At best, they can barely survive, but many more go bankrupt and are liquidated, and some even end up in jail. But don't those founders have any intelligence or talent?"

"A fragile cash flow, fierce external competition, and a corrupt internal team—these factors don't exist in isolation; they're often intertwined. And if the people at the top of the company are blinded by praise..."

Upon hearing this, Xiong Xiaoge shook her head first: "Difficult, difficult, difficult indeed."

Yu Xing laughed and said, "Mr. Xiong, you have a profound understanding of the issues. I think you are not only suitable for investment, but also very suitable for short selling."

Xiong Xiaoge disagreed: "How much money can you make by shorting? The risks are much greater, unless it's something like crossing a mountain peak."

Yu Xing clicked his tongue, then looked at the stunned Ma Zhihao and laughed, "Mr. Ma, all of these words are just for reference, including my views on those three projects today. No one in this world can say for sure. Don't blindly believe in authority, and I am not an authority either. Let's go back."

Ma Zhihao thanked President Yu again. Regardless of whether the judgment was accurate or not, he knew that if President Xiong hadn't been there, this man wouldn't have shared so many of his true opinions.

As Yu Xing and Xiong Xiaoge walked and talked, the topic completely disappeared from the three new energy projects, and instead turned to the feedback they had received from the front-line sales centers in the past few days.

The press conference hasn't started yet, but 20 stores across the country have already opened and set up static display vehicles, allowing some basic information to be revealed. However, this does not include the price or limited-time launch benefits.

Silicon Carbon Group is not well-known, and its first product, "Jiuzhou," has yet to generate any public attention. However, because the stores are located in high-traffic commercial districts and are accompanied by offline screen advertisements from Focus Media and other media outlets, some people do come in out of curiosity to take a look.

In cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen, sales staff tend to emphasize the value of the free license plates when introducing the car, while in other cities they focus more on the materials used in the vehicle.

New energy vehicles from new brands, new models, and no price yet—the feedback from the front lines is naturally hesitant, but there are also positive factors, with general positive reviews of the interior quality.

Yu Xing originally wanted to chat more with Boss Xiong about this new work situation, but a phone call interrupted him and he had to attend to other things.

Seeing this, Ma Zhihao, who had been silent all along, quickly seized the opportunity to ask Xiong Xiaoge, "President Xiong, what do you think?"

Xiong Xiaoge knew he was asking for Tie Niu Group's opinion, and shook his head, saying, "I definitely know less about Tie Niu and Zotye than you do, so I don't really have much to say." Ma Zhihao said somewhat hesitantly, "This matter has been approved by the leadership, and we're all preparing to implement the cooperation. There are further opinions from higher levels, so what if..."

It's not easy for Tongshi to attract a car company project; it involves personal relationships and individual decisions. For example, when Tie Niu invested in Tongfeng Electronics, the original leader, though no longer local, now wielded even greater influence.

If there really is a problem, as someone directly involved, he certainly won't fare well.

Ma Zhihao was in a bad mood. He had come here hoping to get in touch with a new project, but not only did the new project seem to have a lot of problems, his old project was also pointed out.

“Mr. Ma, Mr. Ma, who can guarantee anything about this?” Xiong Xiaoge shook his head and comforted him, “Mr. Yu’s words are just for reference. I don’t take everything seriously either. It’s just for reference.”

Ma Zhihao breathed a slight sigh of relief when he heard what Boss Xiong said.

He took a few steps, then remembered the main topic of the evening and asked, "Mr. Xiong, which of those three companies would you consider investing in?"

Xiong Xiaoge answered without hesitation: "I won't vote."

"..." Ma Zhihao stopped in his tracks. "Didn't you say you didn't take it all seriously? Didn't you say you only used it as a reference?"

Xiong Xiaoge said confidently: "Yes, the part I refer to is enough for me to make a decision. President Yu's meaning is very clear: a company that only understands design but not manufacturing, a company that only has Internet thinking but is technologically hollow, and a company that wants to rely on resource integration but avoids independent research and development are not suitable for IDG's current ideas. My opinion is the same as his."

Ma Zhihao: "..."

Stop pretending, I've seen it all along – you always check your phone before asking a question!

"As for Tie Niu and Zotye, putting aside the factors we can't see, the subsidy reduction will be a fatal blow to their new energy vehicles, and R&D investment is a huge weakness for the entire automaker." Xiong Xiaoge said solemnly, "Mr. Ma, I won't say anything more. The subsidy reduction is definitely going to happen in the next two or three years, and Zotye doesn't seem to be able to prepare for it."

A single subsidy slump can have a huge impact, and if not handled properly, it could trigger a chain reaction.

Ma Zhihao fell into deep silence and struggle. He couldn't very well go back and confront the BOSS.

“There’s no rush for this.” Xiong Xiaoge looked at Ma Zhihao’s somewhat gloomy expression. “It’s ultimately our idea. Besides, if these three companies don’t work out, there are other projects. If we can reach an agreement with them, that would be good too. Right now, we just need to see if the Silicon Carbon Group can achieve good results.”

Feeling immense pressure, Ma Zhihao let out a sigh of relief. A thought popped into his otherwise chaotic mind: President Yu was saying this and that, but we should also see what he could actually accomplish.

On February 19, the Silicon Carbon Group, located in Lingang, officially opened its doors to the media and the public for visits.

Although located in Shanghai, Lingang is in a remote location, and the new energy industry is still in its early stages. Therefore, the timing of this auto show-like event naturally did not attract a large public, but the media did receive ample coverage.

One reporter, visiting for the first time and seeing Mr. Yu's car manufacturing achievements for the first time, immediately thought...

There really are six seats?
Are you really going to do 300,000?
Isn't this strange and high-end positioning a bit too... arrogant?

Although BYD released the "Tang" priced at 300,000 yuan in January, it has not achieved actual market sales. Currently, the best-selling new energy vehicle in China is the Yun 100 released by Zotye Group last year.

However, the starting price of the Yun 100 is only 98,800 yuan, and after subsidies, it is only about 50,000 yuan. It sold 2224 units in December last year, but last month it plummeted to 900 units.

Such a performance doesn't even qualify as mediocre.

If even such cheap cars are hard to sell, how can silicon carbide cars compete on them?
Qiu Jiayou, a reporter from Automotive Business Review, found it hard to understand the positioning of Silicon Carbon Group's first product. It is said that the general manager, Mr. Yu, has a good reputation for operations in the Internet industry, but in the automotive industry, it seems to be strategically problematic.

Chiu Chia-yu arrived in Lingang on the morning of January 20th. Upon seeing "Kyushu" and hearing the discussions of his colleagues who had been staying there for two days, he immediately agreed with everyone's opinion.

"However, the interior of the silicon car is actually quite nice," a voice suddenly came from among the group of colleagues.

Before Chiu Chia-yu could finish speaking, he heard voices of agreement, and was surprised to find that this time there seemed to be no objections.

"Xiao Qiu, what do you think of orange? Isn't it too bright?"

Hearing the question from an acquaintance next to him, Qiu Jiayou shook his head and said, "I haven't even looked inside the car yet. Which car has an orange interior? Why does this carbon silicon carbide company have to do all these fancy things?"

After saying that, he wanted to see what the interior looked like, so he headed towards a Kyushu car with an orange interior, following the directions.

Although I haven't seen the actual car, I've seen leaked information about the model over the past two days, and I know it has a screen inside.

But is simply placing a screen a good thing?
With these doubts in mind, Qiu Jiayou sat in the driver's seat of the new car and was stunned when he saw a screen embedded in the center console.

Uh……

To be honest, the actual product feels quite different from the photos.

This screen must be expensive.

Qiu Jiayou himself drives a Volkswagen Magotan, which costs over 20 yuan, but at first glance, that small screen is far inferior to the dual-screen display in front of him.

He had to admit this, but then he felt that cars still depend on the three major components. Well, this is a new energy vehicle, so we don't need to worry about the three major components. BYD's new energy vehicles are already very advanced.

Qiu Jiayou reached out and touched the screen, then the seat and the center console. The surfaces he touched were either soft or leather. When he touched the roof, it was covered in fur.

He pursed his lips. Although it felt somewhat comfortable to touch, it was... flashy, flashy.

After a while, Chiu Chia-yu got out of the car. While still pondering the impact of this static experience, he noticed that the venue for the press conference was already being set up.

He looked around and noticed the theme of the press conference from the Silicon Carbon Group, which consisted of only two words.

--innovation.

(End of this chapter)