The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 217 Classic Pickup Truck, GM's High Efficiency
Jiang Hui finished handling the investment matters in one morning.

I was originally thinking about treating Linda to a meal or something, but then I thought about the empty wallet and decided to give up.

However, he remembered Linda's contact number very clearly.

I also left my phone number at the courtyard for Linda.

Although it is very inconvenient to make phone calls nowadays, there is still a need to make phone calls occasionally.

After having a simple lunch in the Hilton restaurant at noon, Jiang Hui stayed in the room and began to draw the exterior of the car.

This is what Austin promised.

Now that he has a good investment channel, he can't wait to get the $100 million design fee.

So he only spent one afternoon to draw the appearance diagram.

Of course, this cannot be the statement made to the outside world.

"Jiang, I heard that you used all your funds to buy rising crude oil futures, and you also increased the leverage tenfold?"

That afternoon, Linda must have explained to Austin what happened to Jiang Hui in the morning.

So Austin drove directly to the Hilton after work.

"Indeed, I think this is a great investment opportunity. Do you want to follow suit?"

Jiang Hui was not surprised at all that Austin knew about his investment in crude oil futures.

It would be strange if he didn't know.

Of course, after Austin knew the news, he could pretend not to know.

Now that he came here as soon as he got off work, Jiang Hui naturally thought about whether he should take him to make some money together.

No matter what, they are concerned about me, so I should still appreciate this favor.

“Investment opportunities?”

"Jiang, you are too hasty. Now everyone thinks that the price of crude oil will start to fall back."

"If you buy crude oil futures at this time and the price goes up, you will lose all your money."

"Especially if you use 10 times leverage, as long as the price of crude oil drops by %, you will lose all your money."

Austin felt that Jiang Hui might not understand the situation of futures very well, and felt that he needed to explain the risks to him.

This would prevent him from losing all the money and feeling resentful towards America.

Then it will probably be even more difficult for General Motors to invite him to work in the United States in the future.

"Austin, this is indeed a risk you're talking about."

"But if the price of crude oil futures rises by 20%, wouldn't I be financially free in an instant?"

Jiang Hui didn't feel any pressure at all.

Today is September 1980, 9. The Iran-Iraq War will break out in two days.

By then, the price of crude oil will reach a new high, and you will soon be able to get an unexpected fortune.

If I invest more in the stock market in the future and continue to increase my funds, there will be a lot I can do in the future.

Whether it is to develop in the special economic zone first, establish a wholly foreign-owned company, or form a joint venture, all are possible.

"The situation in the futures market is very complicated and cannot be determined by our imagination."

"I suggest you don't touch futures."

Austin didn't expect Jiang Hui to be so stubborn, and he felt a little tired.

If he didn't think Jiang Hui was really a talent, he wouldn't bother with so much.

"Austin, thank you very much for your reminder, but I still think that the price of crude oil will not fall so quickly. It is expected to continue to rise for a while."

“If you are concerned and don’t want to follow the investment, you can observe the situation for a few days and then make a decision.”

"Anyway, I'm still in America these days."

After Jiang Hui said this, Austin didn't want to worry about anything anymore.

If you want to destroy it, then destroy it.

"I wonder if the design of a pickup truck that can rival the Ford F150 you mentioned is going well?"

In the short term, Austin is most concerned about Jiang Hui helping him design the appearance of the new car.

After their first collaboration, he was quite looking forward to Jiang Hui.

"It's going very smoothly. Combining what I've seen and heard in America during this period of time, as well as some of the things I've thought about before, I've already started drawing various renderings."

"I can give you some drawings tomorrow for your confirmation. If there are no problems, we will formally sign the contract, and then I will complete the remaining work."

In fact, Jiang Hui can show the drawings to Austin now.

Appearance renderings are very different from strict component design drawings. As long as you have an idea, you can draw them very quickly.

Unlike part drawings, no matter how clear your ideas are, the workload is there and you cannot shorten the time significantly.

"That's great. As long as you confirm that there are no problems tomorrow, I can arrange for the finance department to transfer the money to you immediately tomorrow!"

Austin's mood suddenly improved.

The results will be out tomorrow. No matter what the final result is, at least I don’t have to worry or struggle anymore.

At this time, Zheng Haiming and others had also returned to the hotel.

Hearing the doorbell ring, Jiang Hui immediately got up and opened the door.

He guessed that Zheng Haiming and others still had some doubts about his staying in the hotel to design the car's exterior, and they would definitely come over to take a look after get off work.

"Xiao Jiang, it's a pity that you didn't visit Magna's factory today..."

As soon as Zheng Haiming came in, he couldn't help but start sharing what he saw and heard today.

But halfway through his words, he noticed Austin was also inside and stopped immediately.

These days, Austin often takes Zheng Haiming and others to visit, and everyone is quite familiar with each other.

"Jiang, then we'll see each other tomorrow and have a good chat."

After Austin briefly greeted everyone, he left the hotel.

With Austin reciting in the room, Zheng Haiming, Chen Qi and Yue Rui had no questions about Jiang Hui's work today.

It is obvious that they are really serious about designing the appearance of the new car. Even Austin, the design director, came over to communicate.

It seems that they really have to complete the task of earning $10 in foreign exchange once again.

"As a world-leading auto parts company, Magna is indeed very strong. Not only can they produce most of the parts, but they also have very good technology for assembling cars."

"They can become an OEM anytime they want."

Jiang Hui had naturally heard of Magna's name.

Even decades later, they are still one of the world's leading auto parts manufacturers, with their own unique advantages in many sub-sectors.

In fact, as long as the automobile industry is well developed in a country, there will be relatively strong parts suppliers.

Only when the strength of this industrial chain is improved can the automobile industry become truly strong.

This is true whether it is Japan, Korea, America or Germany.

On the contrary, China's strength in this area has always needed to be strengthened.

Even though the automobile sales volume has become the highest in the world in later generations, the strength of automobile parts is still relatively weak.

In the annual list of the top 100 global auto parts manufacturers, there are only a handful of Chinese parts manufacturers.

Even if there are a few companies on the list, they don’t produce particularly core parts.

"That's true. After looking at their production lines and then at the situation of our supporting factories, the gap is quite big."

"No wonder their cars are of such high quality, this is closely related to the quality of their parts."

Zheng Haiming has also visited most of the supporting factories of Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant and has a relatively good understanding of the domestic automobile parts industry.

I’m afraid of comparison in everything.

"The level of auto parts manufacturers, to a certain extent, represents the level of many domestic factories."

"Although our product range is relatively complete, we have only solved the problem of availability, not the quality or production."

"For example, Magna can supply tens of thousands of orders from various OEMs around the world in one day, which is something that domestic supporting manufacturers cannot do at all."

"The First Ministry of Machine Building is currently promoting a plan to deepen reforms, and is going to carry out innovative reforms in some factories that are not doing well."

"Some of the auto parts factories are not doing so well." "Maybe there will be some big changes in the future."

Jiang Hui felt that since he knew that the Ministry of First Machine Building was going to further promote some reforms, and he had already mentioned it to Zheng Haiming and Chen Qi before, the reforms would soon be implemented.

Then I need to talk to the two factory leaders again.

This is to avoid surprising people when you do something.

"Reform is indeed necessary, otherwise our automobile technology and parts technology will always lag behind."

Before coming to America, he might have had some questions.

Now those doubts are gone.

If we work hard, we can gradually catch up with the international level.

If you don’t work hard, the gap will get bigger and bigger in the future.

"Xiao Jiang, is the design of the car exterior for General Motors going smoothly?"

Chen Qi knew that Jiang Hui had previously helped General Motors design a car and was paid $10.

In order to discuss this matter, a special meeting was held within the Ministry of First Machine Building to discuss it.

So now Jiang Hui continues to design products for General Motors, and he is not that sensitive.

After all, there is precedent.

Who knows, this cooperation project may become a good story of this inspection.

"It's OK. This time they want to design a pickup truck. Many things are different from what domestic customers care about, so it's a little more troublesome."

"Basically, if we work harder tonight, we can talk to the people at GM tomorrow."

Now that the matter has been exposed, Jiang Hui no longer intends to hide anything.

Sometimes, hiding things can lead to troubles, so it is better to be open about it so that people won't have so many questions.

"I've been walking all day and I'm hungry. How about we go have dinner together?"

Zhu Jiansheng knew that Jiang Hui didn't want to talk too much with everyone.

So I quickly found a reasonable excuse.

Naturally, no one would have any objection to this.

The next day, Jiang Hui went with them to the GM headquarters, but soon went to a separate conference room with Austin to confirm the appearance of the vehicle.

"Austin, this is a 45-degree side view rendering. It gives you the best sense of the pickup truck's mighty shape."

Jiang Hui didn't waste any time. Knowing what Austin cared about, he immediately took out the exterior renderings.

Pickup trucks are no stranger to Austin, and he was even the design director of a certain pickup truck.

But the pickup truck that Jiang Hui showed him at this moment gave him a great shock.

This is unlike any other pickup truck on the market today.

The exterior design is very muscular, but it feels very different from traditional muscle cars.

The double-row grille design presents a copy-and-paste style, with the Chevrolet logo as the middle boundary, connecting the upper and lower layers together as a whole.

Four round headlights and four yellow turn signals decorate the entire grille shape, giving people a feeling of spring breeze, which is particularly comfortable and different from many powerful pickup trucks.

Below the accordion-style center grille is a metal-style surround, with dazzling fog lights on both sides, greatly enhancing the presence of the front surround.

There are several raised ribs on the hood parallel to the ground, which not only creates a sense of layering, but also highlights the power of the car.

In order to facilitate getting on and off the vehicle, an external metal pedal is added to the door pedal, which is sturdy and practical, and more in line with the large size of the pickup truck.

"Jiang, that's cool. Let me take a look at the other drawings..."

Soon, Austin became excited.

However, he immediately realized that he should arrange someone to sign the contract first.

"Wait a moment, I'll have someone get the contract documents."

Jiang Hui was in the conference room, and Austin also saw that Jiang Hui had only taken out one drawing, and there were other drawings in his bag that had not been taken out.

What are you waiting for?
Sign the contract quickly!

Although the design fee of $100 million is not cheap, it is nothing for a company as big as General Motors.

Especially on this pickup truck, Austin felt its strength in competing with the Ford F150.

In the end, let alone surpassing the Ford F150, even if its sales could reach half of the F150, it would be considered a great success.

This kind of large-displacement full-size SUV has very lucrative profits.

Austin felt that Jiang Hui had really chosen a very good product for General Motors.

"This full-size pickup truck can be designed with a cabin length and a one-row or two-row seat layout as needed, providing consumers with more choices."

"In terms of power, GM's current V8 engine can be used directly."

"However, considering that oil prices are relatively high now, some consumers are more sensitive to fuel consumption, so we can also launch some configurations with smaller displacement at the same time."

While waiting for the contract to be signed, Jiang Hui continued to discuss with Austin some arrangements for this pickup truck.

Now that the exterior design drawings have been released, Jiang Hui certainly hopes that GM can make it more successful.

Otherwise, it would be considered as damaging one's own reputation.

Although there are no plans to cooperate with General Motors in automobile exterior design in the future, there is still the possibility of cooperation in other areas.

Only when General Motors tastes the sweetness of cooperating with itself will there be more follow-up actions.

"Jiang, why don't you consider staying at GM?"

"I can propose to the board of directors that you be the design director of this car. Not only can I be offered a very competitive annual salary, but I can also be allocated stocks."

Although Austin knew that it was unlikely to persuade Jiang Hui to stay, he still did not give up.

"Thank you for your invitation, but I have not considered settling abroad for the time being. If I ever consider this in the future, I will definitely give priority to General Motors."

Jiang Hui's answer did not surprise Austin.

Although this result is a bit regrettable, Jiang Hui at least did not go to other competitors, which is still acceptable.

If Jiang Hui goes to Toyota or Ford, Austin will be in trouble.

The two didn't have to wait too long in the conference room before a special person came with the contract.

Jiang Hui took a quick look and didn't find any obvious pitfalls, so he signed his name directly on the contract.

General Motors' actions were unprecedentedly fast. That afternoon, the finance department transferred $100 million to Jiang Hui's account.

Of course. That’s a story for later.

After signing the contract, Jiang Hui immediately showed the remaining drawings to Austin.

"You can take a look to see if there are any areas you would like to adjust. I can help you make the changes in the next few days."

"But I suggest that you try not to make any changes casually, otherwise it will destroy the overall beauty."

Jiang Hui is now very relaxed.

This trip to America can be said to have gone smoothly.

"I personally don't have any opinion. President Murphy is out today. I'll show it to him when he comes back."

“As long as he confirms that there are no problems, the next step is to formally launch the project within the company and start making the clay model.”

"I hope this pickup truck can be put on the market in 1983 and bring consumers a completely different experience."

Austin is now extremely satisfied with the pickup truck designed by Jiang Hui and doesn't want to change any details at all.

Of course, this plan must also be reviewed again within GM.

After all, it takes a lot of money to develop and produce a new car model.

If the car model is not successful, these investments will basically be wasted.

Even a company as big as General Motors cannot afford to have one failed model after another.

"In order to speed up the production of this car to the greatest extent, I think GM can consider choosing the chassis of an existing model as a reference."

"In this way, the powertrain does not need to be redesigned, and the chassis does not need to be redesigned. If only some modifications are made to the body and interior and exterior decoration, the advancement speed will be much faster."

Jiang Hui really hopes that this car can be put into mass production as soon as possible, as that would be more convincing than anything else.

Otherwise, it will just be paper talk, which is not very interesting.

(End of this chapter)