The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 323 Huge Business Opportunity, "Noodle" is Coming

The Spring Festival travel rush is not particularly famous in this era.

The number of migrant population in various places is far from comparable to that in later generations.

However, in each city, the increase in urban traffic has become very obvious, which is very different from later generations.

In big cities like the capital, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, more than half of the people disappeared during the Spring Festival in later generations. Except for the shopping malls and tourist attractions that were as bustling as usual, the number of people on other streets had dropped significantly.

But in this era, big cities seem to be much more lively during the New Year than usual.

Especially after the Spring Festival holiday in recent years, the lively scenes have become more exaggerated year by year.

Correspondingly, the demand for urban transportation has also increased a lot.

The subway was still a novelty in this era, and most people had never heard of it.

Then the bus becomes the choice of many people.

But squeezing into a bus is like squeezing into a can, which is obviously difficult to accept for people with a little money.

As a result, more fashionable taxis have become the choice of some people.

Even though taxi drivers in later generations had no status, it was different in this era. Taxi drivers were a typical good job.

Taxi companies are also doing very well.

"Da Li, can you do it?"

“Can’t I buy a car even if I have money?”

Li Baiyun is the general manager of Baiyun Taxi Company.

Although the company has only been established for a year, its business is now very prosperous.

The dozen or so Nissan Duke and Toyota Crown taxis owned by Baiyun Taxi Company are like money-printing machines.

Under such circumstances, he naturally had to find ways to expand the scale, and even raised funds from relatives in Gangcheng.

Unfortunately, even if you have money, you can’t buy a suitable vehicle.

Importing dukes and crowns will cost foreign exchange.

Companies like them that are engaged in the taxi business dare not buy smuggled cars that come from illegal sources, so it is even harder to get one.

"Mr. Li, I have already contacted a car dealership, and they will give us priority to provide a Nissan Duke after the Chinese New Year."

Wang Dali wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead and reported the current progress with a bit of distress.

Although he is the purchasing director of Baiyun Taxi Company, he does not look like the party A at all. Instead, he looks like the party B who is begging others to sell the car to him.

He was very unhappy on days like this.

If it weren't for the higher salary offered by Baiyun Taxi Company, he wouldn't have wanted to do this job.

"Only one Duke after the New Year?"

"What good is that? I want at least 10 more!"

"The taxi business is so good now. If we can't expand the scale quickly, when other competitors come in, our life will not be so comfortable."

Li Baiyun was obviously very dissatisfied with Wang Dali's reply.

Although he knew that imported cars were hard to come by in the current automobile market.

Even the domestically produced Santana is now hard to come by.

But even though he knew it, as the boss, he would definitely put extreme pressure on Wang Dali and force him to try his best to find a solution.

Even if we can't get ten, at least we can get five.

There is only one now, what’s the matter?

"Of course I know this, but since we really can't buy a car, why don't we consider the BJ310 from the Capital Automobile Factory? This car isn't that in short supply, and we can get one with a little thought."

Wang Dali proposed a compromise, but it did not satisfy Li Baiyun.

"The BJ310 is not very comfortable to ride on, and the price is not cheap, and it also has many minor faults."

"If I had to choose between Crown, Duke and Santana, I would definitely not consider BJ310."

Since working in the taxi industry, Li Baiyun has gained some understanding of the situation of China's automobile industry.

In particular, he arranged for people to inquire about the situation of various passenger vehicles.

Overall, the situation is not optimistic.

At least in the field of producing cars that can serve as taxis, China has no competitiveness.

The limited competitive production capacity is supplied first to various units as official vehicles.

"If you must purchase the dukedom and the crown, then we can only wait until after the New Year to think of a solution."

Wang Dali simply raised his hands in surrender.

He really couldn't buy this kind of imported car, and he didn't have any confidence that he could get it.

At this moment, Li Baiyun's face turned dark.

But he also knew that Wang Dali had tried his best and there was no point in scolding him anymore.

When he was having dinner with others in the evening, he couldn't help but complain to others about how he couldn't buy a car even though he had money.

"Mr. Li, the current imported Crown and Duke cars cost hundreds of thousands of yuan. Even if the taxi industry is more profitable, it will take a long time to recover the investment cost."

"I think it's better to choose a good quality and cheap domestic car, and then the taxi fare will be reduced by half, or even to 30% of the original price."

"In this way, the investment has been greatly reduced, and the business will definitely be better. Even if the price per trip is lower, we can make more money in the end."

Gu Tianling is a reporter from Yangcheng Newspaper. He happened to attend the BMW Light's off-line ceremony and personally experienced the riding feeling of the BMW Light.

Although the level of comfort is definitely not comparable to that of the Crown and the Duke, the price is cheaper.

The selling price is 2.99 yuan, and the landing price is just over yuan.

If you buy an imported Crown sedan from a regular channel and use it as a taxi, you can buy more than a dozen BMW Lights.

Considering the reduced riding comfort, even if the unit price is only 30%, the actual money earned in the end will be more.

As for the increase in drivers' costs due to the increase in the number of cars, the impact is actually very limited.

After all, labor costs are almost negligible in this era.

"It's not that I don't want to buy domestically made cars, the key is that there are no suitable models to choose from."

"There are some taxis in Shanghai that use Shanghai-brand cars, but they have minor problems every now and then, and sometimes they even break down while picking up passengers."

"As a result, many people would rather spend more money to take imported sedan taxis than take Shanghai-branded sedan taxis."

"In this case, what's the point of saving a little money on purchasing vehicles?"

Before entering the taxi industry, Li Baiyun conducted some research in several major cities in the country.

In this era, those who can invest money like him are not ordinary people, and they have good vision. "The reputation of Shanghai brand cars is indeed not very good, otherwise they would not have introduced Santana cars as a replacement."

"But this time, the car I recommend to you is not a Shanghai brand car, but a BMW brand car."

"Maybe you are not very familiar with BMW Light, and you are not very clear about BMW cars, but you must know BMW motorcycles, right?"

"Today's BMW 70 and BMW S are the most famous domestic motorcycles and have the highest sales."

"Even when compared with the products of first-tier international motorcycle giants, BMW motorcycles are competitive."

"One of the shareholders of Chaoyang Motorcycle Manufacturing Plant, which produces BMW motorcycles, is BMW Technology, and BMW motorcycles are also based on BMW Technology's technology."

"BMW Automobile is also a shareholder of BMW Technology, and their technology comes from the same company."

Since he has recommended it to others, Gu Tianling naturally has to explain the reasons for his recommendation clearly.

Otherwise it would seem like you are speaking carelessly.

"BMW Light?"

Li Baiyun thought about it for a while and got a little impression in his mind, "Is it a van?"

As a person who is half in the automotive industry, Li Baiyun is quite concerned about the relevant news about China's automotive industry.

When the BMW Light rolled off the production line, many media outlets reported on it, and Li Baiyun had naturally seen the news as well.

"Yes, the BMW Light is a van that can carry people or goods. It is very popular among some small vendors."

"The key is that this car can accommodate up to seven people, which is something the Crown and the Duke can't compare to."

"I think Baiyun Taxi Company can use the funds prepared for the purchase of Crown and Duke to purchase 100 BMW Lights and directly deploy them in all districts of Guangzhou to form a unique feature of your company."

"This way, the reputation of Baiyun Taxi Company will surely increase rapidly in a short period of time."

After Gu Tianling said this, Li Baiyun also became interested.

Having lived in Hong Kong, he knows the importance of building a reputation.

Although competition in the taxi industry is not particularly fierce, your popularity is very helpful in attracting drivers to join.

The number of taxi drivers in this era is not as ubiquitous as in later generations. If we can attract more outstanding drivers to join, that would naturally be a good thing.

"What is the quality of this BMW Light?"

It is cheap, but sometimes it gives people the impression that cheap products are not good.

Li Baiyun naturally doesn't want to ruin his reputation completely by purchasing cheap vehicles.

"You can ask someone about it. I heard it's very good."

"The factory director of BMW is Jiang Hui. He is said to be a very good automobile expert. Even American automobile giants ask him to design cars."

"He was in charge of designing the new BJ212 produced by the Capital Automobile Factory."

After hearing what Gu Tianling said, Li Baiyun felt more confident.

And what Gu Tianling said next further strengthened his determination.

"Mr. Li, there are relatively few taxis in Guangzhou. Every year during the Canton Fair, there are not enough taxis."

"After the Chinese New Year, when April comes, it will be the time for another Canton Fair."

"If other companies purchase a large number of BMW Lights to serve as taxis, you won't have much to do."

As a city with a relatively active economy in the south, the business competition atmosphere in Guangzhou is obviously different from that in the north.

Various self-employed individuals and private enterprises are also constantly emerging.

Since taxis make so much money, it will definitely attract more people to join.

In the past, the entry threshold was relatively high, and a car would cost hundreds of thousands of yuan, which was really not something that ordinary people could afford.

But now, cars worth 20,000 or 30,000 yuan can be put into the taxi market, and the threshold has dropped significantly.

It is almost inevitable that more people will join this industry by then.

The most important thing is that there is indeed a relatively large demand for taxis in Yangcheng, otherwise Li Baiyun would not have actively raised funds to expand the size of the fleet.

"I will go to Shenzhen in person tomorrow to inspect the situation of BMW Light."

"If it really can be used as a taxi, I will definitely listen to your advice."

Li Baiyun was already excited and prepared to go to Shenzhen to take a look in person.

Li Baiyun, the boss of the taxi company, took the initiative to contact BMW, which immediately made Chen Chenxing, who was in charge of sales, realize the opportunity.

In this day and age, it is not shameful for a car to be used as a taxi.

Unlike in later generations, many people are reluctant to buy vehicles that serve as taxis or online-hailing cars.

On the contrary, vehicle types that can now serve as taxis are almost synonymous with good quality, otherwise no taxi companies would dare to use them.

"Master, I have discovered a huge business opportunity. We can recommend our BMW Light to taxi companies in various cities and make it a new generation of taxis."

"As long as the scale is increased, the exposure of BMW Light in various cities will increase, which will be more effective than any other publicity."

Although Chen Chenxing is the person in charge of the sales area, he will definitely have to consult Jiang Hui regarding some major decisions for the future.

In formal occasions, he always called Jiang Hui "Factory Director", but when there were only two of them, he would definitely call him "Master".

"Promote the BMW Light into a taxi?"

Jiang Hui quickly weighed the feasibility of this proposal.

He has a certain understanding of the requirements for taxis and what the current taxi industry in China is like.

Even when he first came to Shenzhen and saw that all the taxis were imported cars, he wanted to change this situation one day.

I didn't expect Chen Chenxing to give me suggestions in this regard so quickly.

In the 1980s and 1990s, mini-taxis seemed to have become a force that could not be ignored in China's taxi market.

When the prices of domestically produced cars have not dropped sufficiently and their quality has not improved, minivans still have a very large market.

The most fundamental purpose of taxis is to meet people’s travel needs.

Not all people who need a taxi are rich.

If taking a minibus is much cheaper than taking other taxis, it is acceptable even if the riding experience is slightly worse.

The most important thing is that people of this era often go out carrying large and small bags, and the larger loading space of a van is sometimes an advantage that cannot be ignored.

This situation did not see significant changes until the 21st century.

In other words, Chen Chenxing's proposal is completely feasible.

Letting "noodles" appear earlier would be a huge business opportunity.

(End of this chapter)