What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 580 Target (4k)

He Xiaopeng concluded yet another trip to Lingang, feeling that he had benefited greatly.

Compared to car manufacturing projects that have to spend a lot of energy on financing in the early stages, he is relatively less short of money, as both his own funds and investor connections can provide guarantees in this regard.

Therefore, the strategic direction in the early stages has always been a key consideration for him.

From this perspective, the advanced 800V technology solution can be completely abandoned.

On his way back, He Xiaopeng met with Xia Heng, the president currently in charge of XPeng Motors, to decide on the two options.

Xia Heng was originally a supporter of the 400V solution, so he naturally gave it his full support.

He brought up a topic in the car that they hadn't discussed in Lingang: "President He, President Yu is quite magnanimous, but what if the Silicon Carbon Group also enters the 20 price range to compete in the future?"

Silicon Carbon Group achieved early success in new energy. If it maintains this momentum, it will be in a difficult position once competition overlaps.

"It won't happen in the short term, or rather, it won't happen in the medium to short term." He Xiaopeng has his own observations and judgments. "President Yu has made it very clear that he wants to bring down the prices of BBA (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi), which is aimed at the high-end market. Kyushu's six-seater SUV has only initially secured a foothold, and this segment has the highest profit margin."

“Silicate carbon will never spread to lower-end markets once it establishes itself in the high-end market. It will only lower its positioning when it is stable or declining in the high-end market.”

“We want to move up from 20 to 15, while silicon carbide will move down from 30. The Kyushu Max may even reach 40 in the future. There is still a large range in between.”

"We might run into each other again in the future, but we'll have to work hard to do so."

He Xiaopeng was unsure about the price range of the next model from the Silicon Carbon Group, but no matter how you looked at it, the other party would be going all out to target the high-end market.

Besides this market assessment, the attitude he sensed from President Yu was not one of wariness; the emotions of a company leader could reflect a lot of thoughts.

Xia Heng agreed with President He's analysis, and touching the genuine leather on the Kyushu chair, he said sincerely, "They really spared no expense in using silicon carbide materials, and their brand image at this stage has really saved a lot of money on advertising."

Carbon Silicon Kyushu now enjoys the reputation of being the "first new energy vehicle" and the "first independent brand vehicle" in the public eye.

It was certainly not the earliest new energy vehicle, but it did open up a high-end market for independent brands, as evidenced by the fact that CCTV even set up a special filming team for it.

He Xiaopeng exclaimed, "It deserves it."

His admiration for silicon carbon and President Yu may also be influenced by his experience with the mobile internet.

Now, as the president of Alibaba's mobile business group, He Xiaopeng is not responsible for competition in the short video market, but he knows that Douyin, under Yu's leadership, is suppressing the two giants.

This is really not an easy task.

Thinking about the CCTV interview, He Xiaopeng said leisurely, "I feel that the curtain has just been raised on the new energy industry. Let's keep going, and I'll try to leave Alibaba as soon as possible."

Xia Heng smiled and said, "President Ma hopes you will shine at Alibaba, and he hopes he can release you as soon as possible."

He Xiaopeng is also somewhat helpless about the current situation, but since Alibaba has made a big deal to acquire UC, he can only try to negotiate in this matter. In any case, he will probably suffer huge financial losses.

In mid-June, He Xiaopeng, who had returned to Lin'an, drove his newly purchased Jiuzhou Max around almost every day, becoming increasingly amazed by the products of the Silicon Carbon Group.

Just as he was thinking of having someone disassemble the Kyushu car to take a look, a message came from the internet. A "Tang" car owner complained on the website that his newly bought car was driving normally on the provincial highway when a warning message popped up saying "EV function limited", followed by the failure of pure electric mode.

Finally, the car was towed back to the 4S shop for inspection, where it was determined that the rear motor controller's bleed board had short-circuited and burned out, causing the high-voltage fuse to blow.

He Xiaopeng suddenly recalled the potential hazards of the 800V high-voltage platform that he had discussed with General Manager Yu in Lingang. He then mentioned this matter to his own technical team and concluded that there might be insufficient redundancy in some designs. He believed that the "Tang" might only have one discharge mode, and that this mode had minor defects under specific conditions.

He sent his team's analysis to Mr. Yu via WeChat, wanting to hear his opinion.

"Your analysis is reasonable. This is due to improper design and selection of the power resistor in the active discharge circuit of the car, which was also damaged by overheating, and finally burned out the circuit board."

"This can be solved by upgrading to a dual redundancy design. Later, it should be changed to motor discharge and resistor discharge."

Yu Xing gave He Xiaopeng a reply that surprised him.

He Xiaopeng immediately sent a voice message: "President Yu, how can you be so sure? You've noticed this too? Did you ask President Wang directly?"

Yu Xing replied, "I didn't ask him. There was a car in the company that we noticed, so we disassembled it for analysis, to learn from the experience."

He Xiaopeng was momentarily speechless with awe.

This incident only happened two days ago, and the Silicon Carbon Group has already disassembled a car to analyze it. Their execution and research spirit are truly... beyond words.

He then developed an even greater sense of awe for technology.

Even companies like BYD, which have been researching for many years, inevitably encounter problems on such new platforms. Similarly, companies like Silicon Carbon Group, which are dedicated to execution and research, remain cautious about the application of advanced technologies.

When three people walk together, one of them will surely be my teacher. I will choose their good points and follow them, and correct their bad points.

……

Yu Xing found He Xiaopeng interesting and wanted to observe the effects of his approach of seeking a mid-range cost-effective entry point, but that was bound to take some time.

Feedback regarding the use of "Tang" was sporadic, and no large-scale similar incidents occurred.

However, after much consideration, Yu Xing still sent a copy of his technical team's analysis to Wang Chuanfu, and he continued to hold the stocks he had bought with the DLF Foundation.

"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Yu." Wang Chuanfu called directly. "The company will assess the situation."

Yu Xing then briefly explained his team's actions: "Those tech guys are just curious, so they take apart cars. They often take this and that apart, and even my own car was taken apart and put back together by them."

Wang Chuanfu smiled and said, "President Yu, no need to say more. We are truly grateful. To be honest, I have also dismantled Kyushu. As far as I know, our colleagues have dismantled quite a few Kyushu projects."

The sudden emergence of the carbon silicon Kyushu was astonishing, and it was inevitable that people would be unconvinced and would want to see the materials used in this car.

Based on BYD's own teardown experience, the use of silicon carbon materials is truly impressive.

Wang Chuanfu then asked, "President Yu, I heard that your production capacity expansion is coming to an end this month. How will sales be next month?"

Yu Xing replied, "It's coming to an end. It's alright. The stimulus effect of the subsidy policy wasn't as strong as we expected. I estimate it will bring more orders in November and December."

The reduction in subsidies for new energy vehicles has been announced, but it's only June, and there are still six months until 2016. Market feedback needs to be transmitted, and the Silicon Carbon Group's directly operated stores haven't provided guidance in this regard. Currently, production capacity is at full capacity, and the existence of a usable external stimulus is seen as a positive development with room for maneuver within Silicon Carbon Group.

Wang Chuanfu had already expressed his envy in person. After returning from the Shanghai Auto Show, he tentatively offered some suggestions to Mercedes-Benz, the leader of Denza, hoping that Denza could make more bold attempts in the high-end field.

However, Mercedes-Benz refused without hesitation.

This made Wang Chuanfu realize that it was almost impossible to expect Mercedes-Benz, with its huge customer base, to position itself in the high-end market for new energy vehicles; they certainly wouldn't impact his brand and market.

Whether Denza can truly take off depends on BYD itself.

Wang Chuanfu has already discussed a plan to issue more shares within the company, and is considering taking control of "Denza" next year or the year after.

Yu Xing concluded his conversation with General Manager Wang, feeling encouraged by the ever-changing situation.

Silicon carbon needs to be listed on the market, and the next step is to list it as soon as possible. This situation can be further promoted.

On June 25, the number of new cars produced by Silicon Carbon Group exceeded 25,000, and the simplified capacity expansion that had been underway since late February ended, which means that the second half of 2015 will see a further breakthrough in sales.

As of this day, the sales volume of Carbon Silicon Group was 1215 in February, 5699 in March, 6359 in April, 6430 in May, and 5318 in June, totaling 25021 vehicles.

This figure is not far from the scale effect that Yu Xing originally proposed.

The Silicon Carbon Group did not hold a celebration ceremony when its first mass-produced car rolled off the assembly line, so this day is a small way of making up for it.

Of course, it was mainly the CCTV filming team that made the request. After being rejected, they asked the leaders of Lingang for help, which eventually led to this group photo.

In four months, sales exceeded 2.5 units.

The CCTV reporter's fingers trembled slightly as she took the photos. She hadn't liked the name of the car model from the Silicon Carbon Group before, but as sales increased, she found the name more and more pleasant to pronounce.

"Mr. Yu, what is your overall sales target for this year?" The reporter conducted a short interview after filming, all of which will be used as editing material for the documentary at the end of this year.

Yu Xing laughed and said, "We haven't set any specific sales targets. Right now, we're just producing whatever we can each month."

The reporter was not satisfied with this answer, so he changed his mind and asked, "What is the current production capacity of the first phase of the silicon carbon plant?"

"Around 7000 vehicles. Director Song said the results were even better than expected," Yu Xing replied.

Having been in Lingang for a while, the reporter immediately asked, "Is this the normal production capacity? If there are enough orders, can the production capacity be further increased?"

Yu Xing nodded: "Yes, the highest it can reach is 9000+, let's see, let's see."

"So, does that mean the Silicon Carbon Group is expected to achieve another 5 units in sales in the second half of the year?" the reporter exclaimed excitedly. "Adding to the 2.5 units sold in the first half, could that bring the total sales for this year close to 8 units?"

Yu Xing couldn't help but laugh and said, "This goal is quite high. Of course, we hope to have as many as possible, but we do need to work harder."

The internal target for silicon carbon isn't actually that high. The latest figure is to maintain 6% and strive for 7%. Not to mention 6%, even the current 2.5% is unprecedented for the domestic market.

The reporter was naturally aware of this, and was both shocked and filled with speculation.

Seeing that Mr. Yu was checking his watch, he quickly asked one last question: "Mr. Yu, I heard that Silicon Carbon Group has plans to go public. When will we see it listed?"

Yu Xing said, "That's a difficult question to answer. When will you edit it out and broadcast it?"

The reporter smiled and said, "Mr. Yu, I asked the station, and they said it's possible in November."

Yu Xing thought about the timing and shook his head slightly: "It's hard to say. It could be as early as December, or even anytime in the next year."

The reporter quickly changed the subject: "Mr. Yu, what are your expectations for the Silicon Carbon Group?"

After much deliberation, considering both market growth and the need for new car models, Yu Xing ultimately adopted the four words that immediately came to mind: "Honestly build cars."

The reporter was somewhat surprised, but upon reflection, he thought it made sense.

Yu Xing had just finished his short interview and arrived at his office when he received a news report forwarded by Xiao Ying.

The short-selling attack on Toshiba by the mountain peakers has ended, but Toshiba itself has not stopped making moves. The independent investigation it commissioned earlier has also come to a conclusion, confirming that there was indeed financial fraud.

This is not surprising; the sharp drop in stock prices proves that everyone had this expectation.

With this conclusion, there was even a small rebound, as if the negative news had been fully priced in.

However, the mastermind behind the scenes is satisfied with Toshiba's situation. Japanese media are very dissatisfied with Guoshanfeng's latest blow to an important Japanese company, and have recently uncovered a lot of shocking information about Guoshanfeng's misdeeds.

It is said that Toshiba internal auditor Satoshi Shimaoka, who previously committed seppuku, was forced to take this extreme action because he was threatened by Koyama.

As for how the threat was made, Japanese media outlets have differing opinions. Some say it was due to financial factors, others say it was due to reputational factors, and some even say that Yamamine collaborated with the yakuza to threaten Shimaoka Sei's family.

If it were just rumors, that would be one thing, but major Japanese media outlets discussed Yamamine's criminal activities with great seriousness, leading to formal investigations by multiple departments, including the Financial Services Agency.

The previous investigation wasn't over yet, and this time a new one was added, but this action desensitized both of them.

Yu Xing wouldn't have known he was so bad if he didn't read the news.

After thinking it over, he asked Xiao Ying directly, "We can't refute Japan's slander, can we? Should we issue another statement? It doesn't seem like that will work."

Liu Wanying shook her head: "Statements won't solve the problem. They can keep issuing them. They're just ruining our reputation. We can't confront them. But short sellers don't seem to have a good reputation to begin with."

Yu Xing nodded and said, "Red Falcon's investment has already taken off. Let's see if Silicon Carbon can be successfully listed next year. We can definitely be more cautious about going over the mountain peak."

Liu Wanying blinked, and half-jokingly said, "Mr. Yu, are you thinking of retiring from this business? You're the king of short sellers, and you'll be the king of short sellers for life. I'm going to be a short seller for life! I'm even considering companies in China recently!"

If the mountain peaks were to take action against domestic companies, the profits would inevitably be far less than those from overseas.

Yu Xing commented: "It's purely addictive."

(End of this chapter)