The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 321: Turning the R&D Situation Around

"Xiao Jiang, you BMW really are the practitioner of Shenzhen Speed. You have pushed the BMW Light into mass production so quickly."

As a representative of the First Ministry of Machine Building, Zheng Haiming brought Qin Hao and others to attend the BMW Light's off-line ceremony.

This fully expresses the support of the Ministry of First Machine Industry for BMW.

As a purely foreign-invested enterprise, BMW was able to invite so many people from relevant departments to attend its new product launch ceremony, which is definitely a very special event.

Many other foreign-invested enterprise CEOs in Shenzhen are paying close attention to this matter.

To some extent, the BMW car's off-line ceremony has played a very good role in promoting foreign investment in building factories in Shenzhen.

After all, not everyone knows how Shenzhen and Huaxia will develop in the next few decades, and many people still have many concerns about entering the Huaxia market that has been closed for decades.

That is to say, Shenzhen is close to the port city. Otherwise, even if it is a special economic zone, there will be much fewer businessmen willing to invest.

Now that BMW has set a good example, many businessmen from Hong Kong and even other regions will definitely be more motivated to invest in Shenzhen.

Especially if the sales volume of BMW Sunshine can go up, Shenzhen can then set up an automobile industrial park and invite some foreign automobile parts manufacturers to invest and build factories.

This is a win-win situation for BMW, the local Shenzhen community, and even investors.

Jiang Hui will definitely support the development of China's own auto parts industry in the future, and even BMW itself must fully develop its auto parts industry.

However, this does not mean that we will not purchase parts from outside, nor does it mean that we have no cooperation with other competing manufacturers.

Like BYD in later generations, although it can produce most of the parts by itself, many parts are still purchased from outside.

Even for the same type of parts, some may be purchased from external suppliers and some from our own factories.

In this way, costs can be fully controlled and at the same time, the company's own parts companies can be encouraged to improve their competitiveness in all aspects.

"It was mainly because Shenzhen and the ministries gave us a lot of support, which allowed us to focus on building the factory quickly."

"The country is now focusing on economic development, and all industries are developing very fast, which has given us great confidence."

"I believe that more automakers will launch a variety of new products in the future, giving everyone more choices."

The level of competition in China's automobile market today is simply incomparable to that of later generations.

To a certain extent, China's automobile market is still a seller's market, and consumers have very limited choices.

It’s not like in later generations, where for the same level of car models, there are dozens of options in front of you.

"I heard that your production target is very high. The appearance of this car still looks very good. If the price is not too high, it is expected to set a record."

Although BMW is a foreign-funded automobile company, Zheng Haiming is naturally very clear about what is actually going on.

Zheng Haiming is happy to see excellent cases emerge in enterprises under the jurisdiction of the First Ministry of Machine Building.

"Our selling price is 2.99 yuan, and with the future cost evolution, it may be further reduced."

This is news that will be officially announced soon, so naturally there is nothing to hide.

Although the configuration of the BMW Light is very simple, other models on the Chinese market now do not have any outstanding configurations.

The selling price of 2.99 yuan is definitely very sincere.

"What are the technical parameters of your newly developed 1.5L engine?"

As a leader who came from a professional background in the automotive industry, Zheng Haiming is well aware that the engine is the most critical component of a car.

If the engine is not fixed properly, then there is no point in talking about other things.

Unfortunately, China's technical strength in the field of automobile engines has been very weak over the years. After Zheng Haiming went to the First Ministry of Machine Building, even if he intended to make some efforts in this regard, it would be difficult to achieve results in a short period of time.

After all, engines involve so many aspects that it is not something that can be significantly improved in a short period of time.

For example, when processing a simple engine crankshaft, even if your design level is quickly improved, it does not mean that you can produce products that meet the requirements of the drawings.

Can you produce the corresponding special steel?
For the same part, if different materials are used, there will be a huge difference in performance.

Especially for parts like crankshafts, the requirements for strength and wear resistance are very high. A slight difference in the material will result in a huge difference in the results.

Even if you have qualified materials, if you don’t have the right processing equipment, the parts you produce will not be good.

If the machining accuracy of parts does not meet the requirements, then the wear-related parameters will definitely not meet the requirements.

Why have factories in China been actively introducing imported equipment in recent years?
The main reason is that the equipment originally brought back from the polar bear has been used for more than ten or twenty years, and its performance is far from the international level.

China's own machine tool production level is still basically at the level when the Polar Bear introduced the technology.

This certainly cannot meet the needs of new product production.

China can produce most products, which is an advantage.

However, the quality and technical level of most products produced in China are still far behind the international standards, which is a disadvantage.

What Jiang Hui needs to do is to strengthen this advantage and gradually eliminate the disadvantages.

When BMW first started, its production lines were imported from overseas and were second-hand.

But after making money, Jiang Hui plans to enter the equipment industry in a big way and produce all kinds of equipment in the automotive industry chain by himself in the future.

"Leader, although the 1.5L inline four-cylinder engine we are currently producing is still a certain distance away from our ideal design parameters, its performance parameters are more than % better than any other domestic automobile engine. It can be said that it has achieved leapfrog development."

"We are confident that we can make it the most classic engine model in the next 20 years. We will continue to upgrade it and develop engines with larger displacement."

"In the future, regarding the supply of some raw materials, we will need the ministry to help coordinate with the Ministry of Metallurgy so that their subordinate factories can cooperate in the supply."

Although the country has been reformed for several years, many raw materials are still not readily available on the market.

Even if it can be bought on the market, the price is very high, which is definitely not what Jiang Hui wants to see.

With the further development of private enterprises in the future, this situation will become more serious. If the supply of raw materials for BMW can be solved through coordination within the ministry, that would be the best.

Otherwise, what’s the point of inviting so many people from relevant departments to participate in the event today?

"Since you are confident that you can fix the car engine, I will wait and see."

"Instead of spending a lot of foreign exchange to import engine technology from other manufacturers or international auto giants, it is better for us to develop it ourselves."

In the past year, many automobile manufacturers have been discussing cooperation with international automobile giants, which is in line with the general policy.

Among them, the engine is a very critical component of the automobile, so naturally many manufacturers want to introduce advanced production lines and engine products from international sources.

Although Zheng Haiming had some other ideas, it was not easy for him to directly oppose them.

But if the country already has engines that are comparable to international standards, then if other manufacturers spend foreign exchange to introduce engines of the same type or even lower standards, he would have to ask them what they are thinking.

It can be said that BMW also made a contribution to helping Zheng Haiming promote his ideas within the Ministry of First Machine Building.

"Yeah, I think so too."

"International cooperation is definitely necessary and will be the trend in the future."

"But not all products need to adopt the route of technology introduction. It may be a better way for us to work hard on our own."

"Only in this way can we train our own R&D personnel to the greatest extent. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to significantly improve our R&D capabilities in the years to come."

Jiang Hui said this from the heart.

In later generations, when joint venture car companies were popular, few car companies focused on research and development.

Each joint venture is more like a joint venture production plant of an international automobile giant in China than a joint venture company.

Except for Shanghai GM, which established Pan Asia, a research and development company at the beginning of its establishment, which played a role in promoting the research and development of the domestic automobile industry, most other companies were purely production factories in the early stages.

Not to mention the R&D level, they don’t even have a single R&D staff member.

This situation did not begin to change until after 2010.

As domestic brands continue to grow and develop, and China has become the world's largest automobile market, many automakers have begun to pay more attention to their R&D investment in China in order to get a bigger bite of this big piece of fat.

But more often than not, it is just for show, and the core research and development is still carried out at overseas headquarters.

To be frank, the total number of R&D personnel in all joint ventures in the entire Chinese automobile industry in 2010 is not as much as the number of R&D personnel in any of BYD, Chery, Geely, Great Wall and Changan by 2024.

Even by 2024, the total number of R&D personnel of all foreign-funded automakers in China, whether independent or in joint ventures, may not be as much as that of any of the domestic brands.

It is conceivable that those car companies will not really invest too many R&D resources in China.

Ultimately, the improvement in R&D levels still depends on China’s own independent brands.

Although BMW is nominally a foreign-invested enterprise now, it will obviously be considered an independent brand enterprise in the future.

By then, the number of R&D personnel at BMW alone will exceed the number of R&D personnel at all international auto giants in China, including Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Ford, Nissan, Hyundai Kia, Peugeot Citroen, etc.

This is actually very meaningful for improving the employment quality of Chinese college students.

The salary and benefits of R&D personnel are not comparable to those of ordinary employees.

Looking at various car companies in later generations, the salary level of R&D personnel is basically the highest in the company except for sales. In some companies, the income of sales personnel is even lower than that of R&D personnel.

If a company wants to have the ability to recruit a large number of R&D personnel, it must have corresponding performance to support it.

Otherwise, no boss would be able to keep doing a job that burns money but does not make any money.

Even state-owned enterprises are not allowed.

If you suffer losses for three consecutive years, banks will be unwilling to lend you money, and the relevant leaders will also be easily held accountable.

"If the performance of your engine is really good, are you willing to sell it to other companies?"

Zheng Haiming asked a question that many people are very concerned about.

As the leader of the First Ministry of Machine Building, he had his sights on the entire Chinese automobile industry.

Even though BMW is the best among them, he cannot ignore or neglect the development of other automobile manufacturers.

He has to find a way to get other car manufacturers to keep up with the pace of development.

Otherwise, all kinds of messes will arise. Even if it is not his responsibility, the factory managers under him will come to the department every day to ask for money and funds, which will be very depressing.

Factory directors of this era really dare to slam the table in front of their leaders.

It is especially difficult to deal with those factory directors who feel that they are dedicated to the public, have confidence in their hearts, and have no intention of further promotion.

"Good products should naturally be available to more people, but at the beginning our production capacity is limited. We must first ensure the demand for BMW cars before considering external sales."

Jiang Hui is planning to make the engine company independent in the future, and the purpose is naturally for external sales. Otherwise, why go through so much trouble?
It is impossible for BMW to monopolize the Chinese automobile market.

In order to enjoy the benefits to the greatest extent, in addition to increasing the sales of BMW cars, selling more parts to other car manufacturers is also a very critical link.

For example, in the future, for models of FAW or Capital Automobile Manufacturing, parts that account for half of the cost of a car will be purchased from the BMW Group. It is hard to say whether the OEM makes more money from that car or the BMW Group.

I guess only Jiang Hui knows the answer.

"it is good!"

"That's enough of your attitude!"

After hearing Jiang Hui's words, Zheng Haiming couldn't help but praise him.

There are so many automobile manufacturers in China. If the same thing happened to other manufacturers, he felt that most of them would be unwilling to sell their engines.

(End of this chapter)