The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 269: Changes in China's Automotive Industry, Stimulated Rivals

“Some time ago, the polar bear tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, which flew directly from the area near the capital to the islands in the Far East.”

"This launch footage can be found in many foreign media newspapers. The launch vehicle carrying this missile is an 8-axle missile launcher."

"If FAW were to be in charge of making a missile launcher like this, how many years would it take for you to make it?"

Seeing Geng Weidong's confident look, Zheng Haiming directly used a big move.

He knew very well that with FAW's current technological foundation, even if they were given 20 years, they would not be able to produce such a missile launcher.

Not to mention the 8-axis product which is more complicated than the 12-axis one. I guess FAW doesn't have the courage to undertake such a project.

"Leader, your analogy is really..."

"This is like asking our aerospace department when we can produce a space shuttle. No one can give an answer."

"For example, the launch vehicle for intercontinental missiles, even the Americans can't make one now. Only the military power of the polar bear has such a perverted product."

"Eight axes means that each axis can turn, and the chassis design is absolutely super complex."

"If any part is not designed properly, the vehicle will interfere with each other when in a certain state."

Geng Weidong felt that Zheng Haiming was deliberately making things difficult for FAW.

How can FAW possibly handle something that even Americans can’t handle?
"The Americans eventually gave up on missile launchers because they have a strong navy that can launch intercontinental ballistic missiles from nuclear submarines, so there is no need to choose missile launchers."

Zheng Haiming directly exposed Geng Weidong's reasons.

Then he went on to say: "Just because you, FAW, can't do it doesn't mean others can't do it either. I hope FAW, as the eldest son of China's auto industry, can forge ahead bravely and not rest on its laurels."

Generally, leaders will not say anything harsh during an inspection. What Zheng Haiming said was already a relatively severe accusation.

Geng Weidong also realized that something was wrong at this time.

Maybe there is a factory that is really making the missile launcher I just mentioned.
Could it be Second Automobile Works?
That's impossible. If it was Second Automobile Works, it's impossible that I haven't heard any news about it.

After all, most of the construction personnel of Second Automobile Works were transferred from FAW. Even the first product of Second Automobile Works was designed by FAW, which made slight modifications before taking it over for production and use.

In this case, not to mention that the other party does not have the ability in this area, even if they do, you can still hear some related reports.

If not Second Automobile Works, then who else could it be?

Shouqi?

That doesn't seem likely. The other party has no experience in truck production at all, and jumping directly to intercontinental missile launchers is completely nonsense.

As the former factory director, Zheng Haiming would never agree to such an unreliable project.

Finally, at the welcome dinner in the evening, Geng Weidong learned that Capital University of Technology was developing an intercontinental missile launcher, and he also learned that the ministry was not very satisfied with the performance of FAW and Second FAW.

This also made him feel pressured.

As soon as Zheng Haiming left FAW, he immediately convened another high-level meeting internally.

This meeting mainly focused on two topics. The first was that CA141 had to be put into production as soon as possible and could not be delayed until 1986, otherwise it would be too late.

The second theme is to find an international automobile giant, quickly form cooperation, and launch their own cars.

Since he couldn't compete with others in the military industry, Geng Weidong wanted to expand and become stronger in the civilian automobile field.

It will also look good on everyone.

By taking advantage of the opportunity to cooperate with international automobile giants, the technology learned can be applied to FAW's own car products to develop their own car products.

By then, FAW’s days will definitely not be so difficult.

FAW is feeling the pressure, and Second FAW and Shanghai Automobile are certainly no exception.

All of a sudden, everyone accelerated their own reforms, wanting to create something in the automotive industry.

Jiang Hui, the instigator, was at the Capital University of Technology at that time, discussing the design of the intercontinental missile launcher with professors from the School of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering.

Although conceptual drawings of the appearance were provided before, it is clear that a lot of work is still needed to implement it on each component.

Even if all the colleges of Capital University of Technology fully support this project, the final workload will be very large.

"Director, I heard that FAW has arranged a delegation to visit Germany next month and plans to form a joint venture with Volkswagen to produce sedans."

"Shanghai Auto is also doing the same thing, and it is very likely that some actions will be taken this year."

Wei Shuwu is now the deputy director of the office of Chaoyang Motorcycle Manufacturing Plant.

The position of director is now vacant, which means he is in full charge of the relevant work.

After assuming this position, Wei, Shu and Wu also knew very well how to demonstrate their own value.

Every week he would find an opportunity to have dinner with some old colleagues from the First Ministry of Machine Building.

Jiang Hui also specially approved a generous reception fee for him so that he could better inquire about relevant information. For example, if FAW wanted to arrange for someone to go to Germany for inspection, it must report to the First Ministry of Machine Building.

The efforts of Wei, Shu and Wu were not in vain, and they soon got the relevant news.

"These factories are not developing their own products, but are looking for cooperation with international auto giants, hoping to learn the other party's technology through such cooperation. Do they think the other party is stupid?"

"It's not that easy to learn their skills."

Jiang Hui did not expect that domestic automobile manufacturers such as FAW would choose to speed up the establishment of joint ventures with international automobile giants at this time.

Historically, the cooperation between Capital Automobile Works and Jeep was the earliest joint venture among automobile companies.

However, due to the emergence of the new BJ212, Capital Automobile Manufacturing has become less enthusiastic about cooperating with Jeep.

On the contrary, FAW and Shanghai Automobile were stimulated by the outstanding performance of Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant and others and began to accelerate various actions.

"That's true, but if they rely on their current technical team to develop new technologies, it will probably be difficult to see results in a short period of time."

"If we choose to build a factory in a joint venture with international auto giants such as Volkswagen, we can immediately introduce their mature and best-selling products, and they will have very good sales after production."

"In this case, they will naturally choose to take shortcuts."

"Especially, the factory managers do not stay in the same position forever. If the project lasts too long, they will be transferred out before they see the results. Few people are willing to work on such projects."

Wei Shuwu himself came from the Ministry of Machine Building, and he was very familiar with the conditions of the subordinate factories.

In his opinion, unless those factories can also produce experts with superb skills like Jiang Hui, there will be no major changes at all.

Even after another ten years, many things will remain the same.

"That's right. This is one of the reasons why the ministry has been actively promoting factory reforms in the past two years."

"Everyone is aware of some of the drawbacks, but it is very difficult to completely change them in a short period of time."

"But if they take such a shortcut, it will put a lot of pressure on manufacturers who are working hard to develop their own brand products."

Jiang Hui naturally knew that after the joint venture car companies' cars entered the market, they would definitely be welcomed by more people.

Whether it is power performance or comfort performance, they have done very well.

In this case, it is difficult for domestic car manufacturers to compete.

Even the new BJ212 from Capital Automobile Manufacturing finds it difficult to maintain its advantage.

"Yes, it gives people a feeling that bad money drives out good money."

"Manufacturers who insist on developing their own products have stronger technical capabilities, but due to the gap in overall technology with international auto giants, it is very likely that the cars they produce will not be liked by so many people in the end."

Wei, Shu and Wu are now a little worried about the future of the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant.

The good days of the new BJ212 are probably numbered.

At the same time, Wei, Shu and Wu were also worried that the Chaoyang Motorcycle Manufacturing Plant would face similar problems.

After taking the position of deputy director of the office, he had a more direct understanding of the relationship between Chaoyang Motorcycle Manufacturing Plant and BMW Technology.

To put it bluntly, this is a factory that relies entirely on China's own technical strength to develop motorcycle products.

When facing international motorcycle giants such as Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha, there must be a lot of pressure.

"The situation may not be as bad as you think."

"The Chinese auto market is very different from the international market. When there are no competitors, some of the other party's products may have very good sales."

"But when faced with more competitive products, the situation is not so clear."

Jiang Hui is not worried that FAW and other manufacturers will completely disrupt his future plans after establishing joint ventures with others to build factories.

It's going to rain, and my mother is going to get married.

This development trend is unstoppable.

Even if FAW does not look for people to form a joint venture, there are other automobile manufacturers that will do so.

With the development of China's economy, such a large potential automobile market will certainly attract the attention of international automobile giants.

By then, the entire Chinese automobile industry landscape will undergo tremendous changes.

"Indeed, our Chaoyang factory's products, whether the BMW S or the BMW X, are very suitable for the characteristics of the Chinese market and are niche products that other motorcycle giants have not paid attention to."

"Even in the face of competition from products such as the Jialing Honda 70, the advantages are still there."

Wei, Shu and Wu felt that what they had just said was too pessimistic, and immediately changed their tone.

(End of this chapter)