The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 332 Monthly Sales Exceed
After the mass production of BMW's first model began, the factory's influence in Shenzhen began to rise rapidly.

In the past, although the factory was built on a large scale, it had no output, and others still looked at it with tinted glasses.

It’s different now. Even if a BMW Light is sold for only 2.99 yuan, the monthly turnover can still be tens of millions of yuan.

In Shenzhen in 1984, this was already the largest industrial enterprise.

Even those Hong Kong companies that came to Shenzhen to build factories earlier than BMW can't compare.

As a result, the performance of BMW cars will naturally attract more attention.

"Director, the sales statistics for May are out. A total of 5 BMW Sunbeams were sold, once again setting a new sales record."

Early in the morning of June 6st, Chen Chenxing couldn't wait to come to Jiang Hui's office.

He and a group of subordinates stayed up all night last night and finally confirmed the sales data for May, so he had the confidence to come to see Jiang Hui as soon as he got to work today.

“After breaking through the goal of 10000 vehicles, do you still have the confidence to continue to increase it?”

Jiang Hui was not at all surprised by the results of Chen Chenxing's report.

After all, the production plan for May has arranged for more than 10,000 vehicles, so it is actually not particularly difficult to sell 10,000 vehicles.

However, ten thousand vehicles is definitely not the end point that Jiang Hui is pursuing.

"It is probably difficult to achieve a significant increase in the domestic market in a short period of time. Maintaining a monthly sales volume of 10,000 units is actually quite stressful."

"Of course, with the rapid development of China's economy, more and more people will be able to afford cars, and the situation will change sooner or later."

"However, in order to further increase the sales of BMW Light, I am considering whether to sell BMW Light to overseas markets, such as some places in Southeast Asia, where there may be a market."

For other domestic automobile manufacturers, almost no one considers exporting to earn foreign exchange.

Especially for those newly established joint ventures, they are now constantly consuming foreign exchange, and earning foreign exchange is too far away.

But BMW is different. Chaoyang Motorcycle Manufacturing, the first enterprise invested by BMW Technology in China, is a major foreign exchange earner. Many people in BMW came from Chaoyang Motorcycle Manufacturing. As for earning foreign exchange, no one thinks it is impossible.

"It's not impossible to export, but if we go by the official exchange rate, our dollar price will definitely be too high."

Jiang Hui expressed his concerns.

The price of RMB 2.99 is very competitive in the Chinese automobile market.

But if converted into more than 10,000 US dollars according to the official exchange rate, it is obviously not competitive at all.

"Master, as for the export and foreign exchange earnings, for the relevant departments, as long as they can earn foreign exchange, even losses are acceptable."

"Shenzhen also has a subsidy policy for export earnings."

"I think the export price of BMW Sunshine can be considered comprehensively in combination with export subsidies and other factors, and further communication can be conducted with relevant departments."

“Ultimately, it will make our dollar prices competitive and won’t turn our export business into a loss-making business.”

Chen Chenxing had already considered Jiang Hui's concerns.

There is a huge gap between the official RMB exchange rate against the US dollar and the black market rate.

If converted into US dollars according to the black market price, the BMW Sunshine is still very competitive.

The relevant departments are naturally aware of these gaps, so there is some support in terms of export subsidies.

"You can do the specific calculations. I definitely support exporting, but at least you can't make a loss."

Jiang Hui will not export for the sake of exporting, but it is definitely worth promoting to further increase the sales of BMW Light and make the business of the entire industrial chain more full.

……

"Director Lu, the sales of BMW Zhiguang have exceeded 1 units, while the sales of our BJ212 and BJ310 fell to less than units last month."

"When will your R&D center's commercial vehicle designed to match the BMW Light be completed?"

Many technical personnel of Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant have now left for BMW. It is not difficult for Chen Qi to know the sales data which is not particularly confidential and even BMW actively publicizes to the outside world.

But after knowing the news, he became anxious.

A car factory which only started production last year has now surpassed the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant in sales. This situation is unacceptable.

"Director, our BJ212 and BJ310 sales have declined, mainly because of the launch of models such as the Santana by Shanghai Automobile, which has raised the performance requirements of various units for sedans, causing some units to prefer waiting in line for the Santana rather than purchasing the BJ310."

"The sales changes of BJ212 are, to a certain extent, affected by the BMW Light."

"If we simply develop a commercial vehicle based on the BJ212, it may be difficult to compete with the BMW Sunshine."

"No matter the cost or performance, we can't compare with others."

"So the R&D center is preparing to develop a competitive product."

The development progress of the commercial vehicle is not particularly ideal, so Lu Jianqiang naturally has to find some convincing reasons for himself.

Otherwise, life will be difficult in the future.

Anyway, the overall operating conditions of Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant are still very good.

Even though sales are declining, it is still the best in the country.

“When can it be developed?”

Chen Qi would not let Lu Jianqiang slip away so easily.

As a factory manager, he has more things to consider.

"If we want to develop a product with better performance than the BMW Light, I think it will take at least two years, or even longer."

"If we simply develop it based on the powertrain of BJ212, then the design can be finalized within this year and mass production can start in the second half of next year."

Lu Jianqiang directly gave the choice to Chen Qi. In this way, no matter what the situation is in the future, he will not have to bear the responsibility alone.

Reporting to superiors is sometimes actually a way to shirk responsibility and avoid being held accountable if an unfavorable situation arises in the future.

"We can't wait any longer. We will of course develop a car that can surpass the performance of the BMW X5, but we can launch it as a replacement model."

"The key at this stage is to come up with a commercial vehicle as soon as possible, and together with the BMW Sunshine, seize a portion of the taxi and official vehicle markets."

"Otherwise, by the time our new product comes out, the daylily will be cold."

Regardless of the performance of the car, solve the problems first.

Anyway, if the powertrain is shared with BJ212, the additional investment will be relatively limited. Chen Qi feels that the risk is still within a controllable range.

Even if the sales volume of Capital Automobile Manufacturing's commercial vehicles cannot compare with that of BMW, it would be acceptable as long as it can reach a fraction of the former.

After all, for most car manufacturers, the annual output is less than 10,000 vehicles.

The Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant is already very good. "Okay, then I will go back and hold a mobilization meeting to get all departments to speed up their actions."

If he just solved the problem of whether or not there was one first, Lu Jianqiang's pressure would be much less.

Compared with Capital Automobile Manufacturing, which has performed well in the passenger car market, FAW is more anxious.

In the past, they mainly relied on Jiefang trucks to maintain their influence in China's automobile industry, and they had little to offer in terms of passenger cars.

Even though we launched new products in cooperation with Audi, they did not have a particularly big impact due to issues such as price and foreign exchange.

Under such circumstances, the factory director Geng Weidong would naturally become anxious.

"Old Zhao, you need to hurry up the negotiations with Volkswagen and import Volkswagen brand models into China for production as soon as possible."

"Otherwise, the few Audi 100s assembled by CKD alone would not have any effect on promoting our sales."

After being stimulated by Shanghai Volkswagen, FAW quickly formed a cooperation with Audi and began producing Audi 100 at the end of last year. It is considered to be the first generation of domestically produced luxury cars in China.

However, up to now, the monthly assembly volume is only about 100 vehicles, which is very limited compared to the overall sales target.

If there were no competitors like Capital Automobile Works and BMW that could easily produce 10,000 vehicles a month as a reference, the pressure on FAW would not be that great.

After all, they produced more than 8 trucks last year, setting a new historical record. They even produced more than 100 million vehicles in total last year. They have absolutely no rivals in China.

However, the annual sales volume of Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant now exceeds 10 vehicles, and BMW also seems to be on the verge of breaking the annual production mark of 10 vehicles.

By then, FAW will not only not be able to become the first in the industry, but they will not even be able to be the second.

Geng Weidong definitely cannot accept this situation.

"Volkswagen is also facing a complicated situation. Globally, their sales situation has not yet been fully reversed."

"So they are quite enthusiastic about establishing a joint venture with us, but they still have some concerns about some specific terms, and the two sides have not reached a complete agreement on what model to produce first after the joint venture."

"They are more anxious than us now. If we keep them company, maybe they will compromise."

Although Zhao Guangming knew that the current situation faced by the factory was rather difficult, he was still reluctant to give up the opportunity to obtain some good conditions during the negotiations.

"We need to take a step back and reach a consensus as soon as possible. Otherwise, our sales will not improve and we will not be able to explain to our superiors."

"Look at Volkswagen's Santana in Shanghai. It's hard to find one now."

"After our joint venture, as long as we can choose the right cars and quickly increase production, our annual output will be able to exceed 10 vehicles, and then it won't be so bad anymore."

Geng Weidong stated his purpose directly.

Anyway, he and Zhao Guangming are old partners, so there is no point in hiding it.

"By introducing new products through the joint venture with Volkswagen, we can quickly increase the sales of sedans, which will indeed allow our factory's overall production and sales data to exceed 10 vehicles."

“However, if we want to increase sales quickly, it means that the initial number of units will need to be assembled through the CKD model, which will consume more foreign exchange.”

Zhao Guangming expressed his concerns.

Anything involving the use of foreign exchange is no trivial matter.

How many factories are unable to update their equipment or upgrade their products due to foreign exchange quota issues.

"We assemble parts through the CKD model, but that is only temporary. We will definitely promote localization in the end."

"As long as we report the situation clearly to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and other relevant departments, I think there is a way to make them understand."

FAW's position in China's automobile industry is quite special. Geng Weidong felt that the worst that could happen was for him to go find his old leader, who would surely be able to find a way to resolve the foreign exchange problem.

In the past year, although China's foreign exchange is still in a very tight state, there have been great changes compared with the previous year.

In particular, Geng Weidong vaguely knew that the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building had signed a super-large foreign exchange earning order with the Kingdom of Daqin, which immediately eased the tense foreign exchange situation to a great extent.

Against this backdrop, he still has some confidence that the relevant departments will approve FAW's foreign exchange needs.

"If there is no problem with the use of foreign exchange, it will be entirely possible to increase production in the short term."

"This is actually great news for Volkswagen, and it should be able to be used to gain concessions from the other party on some conditions."

"Director, give me another month, and I will finalize the joint venture contract with Volkswagen and officially start the CKD assembly of new products."

Geng Weidong took on the most difficult problem, so Zhao Guangming naturally would not shirk it.

After all, if FAW's production and sales exceed 10 vehicles, it will be a remarkable political achievement for him.

……

"Director Qin, Jiang Hui is really hardworking. He has achieved monthly sales of over 10,000 BMW cars so quickly. Before anyone could react, he has become the sales champion."

Zheng Haiming is in charge of work in areas such as the Automobile Bureau, and is naturally very concerned about changes in the automobile industry.

Especially for BMW, which was founded by Jiang Hui, he personally attended the BMW Light rolling off the production line ceremony.

I didn’t expect that only half a year later, they successfully reached the summit.

This speed is definitely in line with Shenzhen’s speed.

"The design of the BMW Light is indeed very clever and fully meets the needs of many people."

"Some public security, procuratorial and judicial organs have a relatively large demand for this type of vehicle, and small vendors in various places are even more fond of this type of vehicle."

"As for the taxi industry, it goes without saying that almost all the new taxis added to the capital in the past six months are BMWs."

"Leader, I feel that the emergence of BMW will bring about huge changes to the entire Chinese automobile industry. They are like a catfish, forcing other automobile manufacturers to move as soon as possible."

Qin Hao is very clear about the situation of China's automobile industry over the past years.

Without external pressure, many car manufacturers can produce the same product year after year without any pressure to upgrade.

Only when their products are completely eliminated by the market and they feel the pressure will they take some action.

"Your analogy is quite apt. In fact, every industry needs catfish like BMW."

"Reform is about getting everyone to take proactive action, rather than just following the routine as in the past."

"You can see if you can organize other factories to visit BMW to learn and exchange ideas, so that everyone can follow BMW's footsteps and reform."

If he were in Zheng Haiming's position, he would naturally hope that more factories under the First Ministry of Machine Building would produce outstanding performers.

This way he also looks proud.

Otherwise, he would just complain to his superiors every day, and he doesn't want to be like that.

Recommend a 500 million-word old book~


(End of this chapter)