The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 207: Zhu Jiansheng, the first person in Huaxia Automobile, becomes famous

With such a big fuss made by the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building and Capital University of Technology, the First Ministry of Machine Building and Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant must have heard the news quickly.

Zheng Haiming specifically called Jiang Hui and Chen Qi to his office.

"Next week, the Hummer military vehicle will invite embassy personnel from various countries to hold a large-scale test ride and test drive event. You all know this, right?"

Zheng Haiming didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

The new BJ212 was the star of China's auto industry this year, but now it seems that this position is no longer maintainable.

Although the Hummer is a military vehicle, normally the competition between it and the BJ212 is not that great.

However, many people compare the two products together, especially the BJ212, which also has the identity of a military vehicle and is equipped in many teams.

Even now, 212% of the vehicles passing through various military units are BJ.

"Zheng Chang, I am relatively familiar with this matter and have been involved in some aspects of it."

"Due to the invasion of polar bears in Argentina, our relationship with the United States has changed greatly."

"The Hummer military vehicle has emerged at this time and played a huge role in the battle in the south, attracting the attention of many people."

"It just so happened that the country had a huge demand for export and foreign exchange earnings, so the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building and Capital University of Technology were thinking about how to fully tap the value of Hummer."

“So this event happened.”

"To a certain extent, our previous test ride and test drive activities of BJ212 can be regarded as providing them with a reference."

Jiang Hui quickly introduced the situation to Zheng Haiming and Chen Qi.

There is nothing to hide about this matter.

It is better to make things clear to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings.

"Do you think this kind of activity can really promote the export of Hummer military vehicles and earn foreign exchange?"

This issue is obviously what Zheng Haiming is most concerned about.

Exports can earn foreign exchange, who doesn’t like that?

BJ212 has already made a big splash by cooperating with the United States to assist Afghanistan.

If he could continue to make a big splash, he could be deified.

"Of course it is possible. The only difference is how good the effect is."

"For example, countries like America, Japan and Europe may not consider large-scale purchases. At most, they would buy a few to study them."

"But in some other countries, maybe one company will surprise everyone, and that will be enough."

"After all, the performance of the Hummer military vehicle is unmatched among vehicles of the same class."

Hummer is a product developed by Jiang Hui himself, and it was also a relatively mature representative work in the 1990s.

In 1980, it would have definitely surpassed its peers.

Especially before AMC in the United States developed similar products, it was not afraid at all even if it faced Mercedes-Benz military vehicles.

Otherwise, AMC would not have been able to come up with a diesel engine technology to exchange for Hummer's technical data with China.

"If we invite people from various embassies to participate in the BJ212 test ride and test drive activities, will it also have an unexpected effect of exporting and earning foreign exchange?"

When Zheng Haiming asked this, Jiang Hui immediately knew why he called him over today.

Obviously, promoting BJ212 in a similar way is what Zheng Haiming cares most about.

After all, if BJ212 can create more export performance by then, it will be of great significance even if the export price is only 1 US dollars or even a few thousand US dollars.

He no longer had any expectations for a high price like the one for aiding Afghanistan.

Because he has gradually realized that the reason why the price was so exaggerated before was more because America wanted to support and encourage China to cooperate with them to deal with the polar bear.

Rather than being used to purchase BJ212, this money is more like hard work fee for China.

"It definitely has some effect, but it's probably not as good as a Hummer."

"After all, our BJ212 is more of a civilian vehicle, especially the new BJ212, whose civilian attributes are more prominent."

"So instead of calling in people from various embassies to test drive the car, I think it might be more useful to arrange for it to participate in some auto shows abroad."

Jiang Hui knew that if he didn't provide any solution, Zheng Haiming would probably not be satisfied.

If Hummer just held a test ride and test drive event and Capital Automobile Manufacturing immediately followed suit with a similar event, the effect would definitely be greatly reduced.

The key point is that if embassy staff are always allowed to participate in such activities, it is likely to cause some backlash.

Therefore, Jiang Hui does not support Capital Automobile Manufacturing to follow suit.

"No domestic manufacturer has ever participated in auto shows abroad before, and it will definitely cost foreign exchange. I think there will be many problems if we want to implement it."

“Also, the more influential foreign auto shows are in developed countries, and the cost of attending an event is difficult to afford.”

"I feel like there's no hope in the short term."

Zheng Haiming is obviously very clear-headed about things like going abroad to attend auto shows.

On the one hand, many people in China feel that the cars they produce have no international competitiveness and are far behind the technological level of imported cars.

Going to a foreign auto show under such circumstances would be asking for humiliation.

On the other hand, there is no guarantee that there will be any return after spending money, and many people will not support such a risk.

Even Zheng Haiming himself felt that Jiang Hui's proposal this time was not so reliable.

"Although it is difficult to implement overseas exhibitions in the short term, I think there will be opportunities sooner or later."

"If that doesn't work, we can try to attend the Canton Fair when the time comes."

“This is much less difficult.”

When Jiang Hui saw that Zheng Haiming rejected the plan to go abroad to participate in the auto show, he immediately came up with a new plan.

Of course, he himself knew that if BJ212 participated in the Canton Fair, the effect would definitely not be very good.

But anyway, the event is held in China. If we meet a few interested customers, we may be able to contribute to the sales of several hundred vehicles.

This is also export-driven foreign exchange earnings.

"If it's the Canton Fair, you can give it a try."

Sure enough, Zheng Haiming’s idea was similar to what Jiang Hui expected.

It doesn’t cost much anyway, so just give it a try.

……

In the planned economy era, everyone was used to doing their work according to various plans made by their superiors, and they often did not have much subjective initiative to do it.

Now the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant under the First Ministry of Machine Building and the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, the Capital University of Technology and the No. 618 Factory have successively come up with some different ideas, which immediately brought huge invisible pressure to FAW, the industry big brother.

Especially Geng Weidong, who had just received a visit from the leaders of the First Ministry of Machine Building, felt even more depressed.

"Mr. Zhao, the leaders feel that FAW is too conservative and can no longer keep up with the development pace of other manufacturers in the industry. They hope that we can make some changes to keep up with the pulse of the times as soon as possible."

Geng Weidong took a puff of cigarette and slowly blew out smoke rings.

Zhao Guangming, who was sitting opposite him, also picked up a match, lit a big front door, and frowned, thinking about something.

"Geng Factory, it's not easy to reform."

"We are not only a factory, we also have various affiliated institutions such as schools and kindergartens. It is just like a small government."

"Any reform will affect the entire system."

“The most important thing is how should we change it?”

Zhao Guangming's problem is a problem faced by many factories.

In this era, factories control everything about you, from life to death.

At the same time, everyone still doesn’t know how to run the current factory in the form and concept of a business.

So even if we know that reform is needed, we don’t know where to start.

Often, they are just some minor so-called changes, which are actually meaningless.

"The last time you went on a business trip to the capital, didn't Jiang Hui suggest that we improve the quality of our Hongqi sedans?"

"I think the next step for the factory is to focus on improving quality and reducing costs, and let each branch implement it." "Otherwise, our Hongqi sedan may really be stopped."

This time, the head of the First Ministry of Machine Building came to inspect and informally expressed to Geng Weidong his idea of ​​shutting down the Hongqi car production line.

But Geng Weidong did not agree, and he still wanted to struggle.

I have only been working as the factory director for two years. It would be an absolute humiliation if the Hongqi sedan, which has a history of more than 20 years, was destroyed in my hands.

Who knows, many workers in the factory will scold him in the future.

“The causes of quality problems are actually varied, and some human factors can be easily solved.”

"But some of the problems are caused by the equipment, which are difficult to solve, unless we import new equipment to improve its performance and accuracy."

Zhao Guangming is in charge of production and quality, and is very familiar with FAW's situation.

He certainly hopes to solve the quality problem, but it is not easy to solve it.

"The equipment problems can be corrected slowly, but I think the quality problems caused by other reasons should be solved as soon as possible."

"Whoever is holding back should be sent to clean the toilet!"

Although Geng Weidong is the factory director of FAW, it is very difficult to fire someone.

So making someone clean toilets is basically the maximum punishment he can impose.

Of course, if a factory manager really wants to deal with an ordinary employee, there must be more ways. It depends on whether Geng Weidong wants to use them.

"Okay, then I'll convene various departments to discuss and see how to implement it specifically."

Zhao Guangming also knew that FAW needed to make some changes, otherwise the situation would become increasingly unfavorable for them.

……

Just when all the brother manufacturers were paying close attention to the Hummer military vehicle test ride and test drive event, the "New Generation High-Performance Military Vehicle Test Ride and Drive Experience Event" sponsored by the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, the Economic and Trade Commission, the Lifanyuan and other ministries and commissions, and hosted by Capital University of Technology and Factory No. 618 was officially held at Capital University of Technology.

Zhu Jiansheng got up early in the morning, changed into a suit, and set off with Jiang Hui.

From the process point of view, this test ride and test drive activity is not complicated at all.

But considering that the participants are staff from embassies of various countries, even quite a few ambassadors will attend.

Therefore, a language communication problem alone can bring tremendous pressure to the organizers.

Fortunately, Capital University of Foreign Languages ​​is next to Capital University of Technology, and talents proficient in languages ​​​​of various countries can be found there.

With the help of the Lifanyuan, this problem was solved relatively perfectly.

"Dad, those foreigners' style of doing things is a little different from ours. Since we are promoting the Hummer military vehicle, there is no need for us to be too low-key."

"If you need to use exaggerated words, use them more exaggeratedly. There is no need to be embarrassed about it."

Zhu Jiansheng will definitely be the protagonist of the event today, and he will personally introduce the Hummer military vehicle to each guest.

As for Jiang Hui, he played more of a role as a small transparent person and a little secretary, filling in the gaps for the event.

In other words, Jiang Hui reminded him of these things because Zhu Jiansheng is his teacher and also his father-in-law.

Otherwise, if it were someone else, hearing a junior teaching him how to be a good person, he would definitely feel unhappy.

"Understood. This time, we must let those people see it clearly."

"Although China's automobile industry as a whole lags behind the international advanced level, we also have our own advantages in specific areas."

"With so many embassy staff from so many countries participating in the event, if only three or five are willing to purchase, our event will be considered a great success."

Zhu Jiansheng is very confident about today's activities.

This confidence mainly comes from the trust in Hummer's performance advantages.

If even Americans like this product, why would other countries not like it?

If all else fails, you can buy a few cars and disassemble them for research.

At worst, I can just lower the standard for the minimum one-time purchase quantity that I had discussed with Jiang Hui before, but I have to increase the unit price appropriately.

Anyway, if you buy a Hummer military vehicle, it may cost you $20 or even $30.

But if you buy ten, the price per car can drop to $10.

If you buy more, $50,000 per car is not impossible.

"Since it is a military vehicle, then some of its weapons and equipment are definitely something that everyone would like to know more about."

"This time, the explanation can focus on the modified performance of the heavy machine gun, anti-aircraft machine gun and Humvee."

"Users in some countries may attach greater importance to this aspect of performance."

Jiang Hui kept thinking about what else he should remind Zhu Jiansheng of.

The Hummer in the previous life has evolved into many styles.

Although this will take some time and process, there is obviously no problem in first describing the prospects to everyone.

"Regarding the weapons and equipment, I have discussed it with the ministry before, and the brother factories will definitely provide strong support."

"If some customers have demand, we can even sell weapons and equipment together with vehicles. This will enrich our product range and make it easier to negotiate prices."

Zhu Jiansheng's thinking is now gradually becoming broader due to Jiang Hui.

This is not easy.

It is especially difficult for older people to change some of their ideas.

But they are often the ones who hold the decision-making power.

Zhu Jiansheng has made such thorough preparations, so this conference will naturally achieve very good results.

Considering that all the participants in the event are foreigners, if various leaders were arranged to give speeches as in the past, the effectiveness of the event would probably be greatly reduced.

Therefore, this time, Capital University of Technology greatly compressed various speeches. Except for Zhu Jiansheng, the designer of the Hummer, who took a long time to introduce the relevant performance parameters on the stage, the speeches of other leaders were controlled within five minutes.

In this way, Zhu Jiansheng's role and influence were immediately highlighted.

In particular, as a scholar, Zhu Jiansheng has designed two classic products: the new BJ212 and the Hummer military vehicle.

Today, Hummer has even exported its technology to international automobile giants such as AMC in the United States.

Invisibly, the embassy staff of various countries also had a much higher opinion of him.

Even in the eyes of some people, Zhu Jiansheng is undoubtedly the number one person in China's automobile industry and a leading figure in the industry who deserves special attention.

It can be said that after this conference, regardless of how many Hummer military vehicles were sold, Zhu Jiansheng will definitely become famous and his position in the industry will be further enhanced.

To a certain extent, he can be regarded as a star scholar of this era.

In particular, Zhu Jiansheng is elegant and handsome. Even though he is of a certain age, he still looks like a middle-aged man in his forties.

This is not easy.

"Smith, General Motors contacted our embassy and said they have invited a delegation from China to visit."

"The two people mentioned in the article are Zhu Jiansheng and Jiang Hui, right?"

Woodcock came in person today to participate in this event at Capital University of Technology. He wanted to see to what extent the other party had organized this event and what the final effect would be.

Some of the things here are worth their careful study.

"Yes, that's true. I estimate that their visa information should be delivered in the next few days."

As an expert on China, Smith came here today with Woodcock to attend the event.

Jiang Hui and Zhu Jiansheng are both people he focuses on, so he naturally pays close attention to some related information.

"Then talk to the people at General Motors and see if there is any way to convince Zhu Jiansheng and Jiang Hui to work in America."

"I believe this is definitely a good thing for General Motors."

"If GM can't do it, we can let AMC give it a try. Anyway, the best thing is to poach these two most powerful people in the Chinese auto industry."

After listening to Zhu Jiansheng's introduction on the stage, Woodcock assigned Smith a task while everyone started to test drive the car.

He had previously arranged for Smith to provide Jiang Hui with an opportunity to study in the United States, but he did not receive any response and the matter ended in nothing.

In that case, he decided to change his approach to attract Jiang Hui.

(End of this chapter)