The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 361 A fruitful harvest in 1984
The design of the Land Rover pickup truck and Land Rover SUV won Zhou Yun's favor, and Hou Guoming and others naturally had a great response after seeing them.

Everyone knows that Jiang Hui is the most powerful car exterior design master in China. Even General Motors has asked him to design its car exteriors.

However, apart from a few people like Hou Guoming who have personally witnessed Jiang Hui designing cars, many people on the BMW side have never seen it.

Now that we have seen these two models that are more stylish and beautiful than similar models designed by various world automobile giants, everyone has a more intuitive understanding of Jiang Hui's design talent.

"Director, my only concern now is whether the matching engine and gearbox can be developed on time."

"As for the exterior styling of the Land Rover pickup truck and Land Rover SUV, we can directly produce a 1:1 clay model without making any changes."

"After the model was completed, I immediately arranged for people from various departments to start drawing specific drawings, and strive to complete this work in the first quarter of next year."

"If the speed is fast enough, one of these two models can be launched in the first half of next year."

Hou Guoming is now eager to produce the two models on the drawings.

It is obvious that the two cars in front of us are very powerful in their respective segments.

With this design and appearance, you don’t have to worry about it becoming outdated if you use it for ten years.

In this era, automobile products are generally remodeled every five to eight years.

For example, the third-generation Prado was launched in 2002 and the fourth-generation product was introduced in 2010.

It’s unlike the era of new energy vehicles, where a product seems to be obsolete after two or three years of production, and manufacturers are rushing to launch new models.

This kind of rhythm is actually very unfriendly to car manufacturers.

A huge amount of money is invested in the development process of a product, and the molds for various parts prepared can generally be used for four to five years without worrying about any problems.

In this case, the longer the same product is produced, the lower the subsequent various shared costs will be and the better the profit will be.

Even if the price is lowered appropriately, it will not have much impact on profits.

If everyone's cars were upgraded every two or three years, the cost would be much higher.

"You are also experienced in making clay models."

"Get them all together after New Year's Day. I'll personally accompany you to do it."

Jiang Hui also hopes that these two products can be put into mass production as soon as possible, so that he can make a name for himself on the world automotive stage.

Only with one or two hit products can BMW's business operations become more stable and its reputation become greater.

This will also be very beneficial for Jiang Hui to continue to enter other fields in the future.

Especially in China in the 1980s, a higher level of fame could sometimes be like a talisman.

Even with the help of father-in-law Zhu Jiansheng, it is sometimes very necessary to strengthen one's own influence.

"No problem, but in the past week, all departments have been busy with the year-end summary. I brought all the appearance design personnel to rush to make clay models, so their team's summary work may be left behind."

Hou Guoming still cares a lot about his subordinates. Work summary is related to the honor of each department, and everyone takes it very seriously.

"I plan to convene the heads of various departments to hold a summary meeting. The main purpose is to unify everyone's understanding of development, not to let the people below continue to prepare materials."

"How about this? Let's not wait until next week. Zhou Yun, please notify the heads of each department to come to the conference room for a meeting tomorrow morning. We don't have to wait until after New Year's Day to hold our year-end summary."

Jiang Hui directly moved the summary meeting forward from January 1 to December 5. Even if the heads of various departments had many ideas that they wanted to add to the summary materials, they did not have time.

At most I'll have to work overtime tonight to perfect it.

……

"Director, as of yesterday, our company has sold a total of 123422 vehicles, and the BMW Sunshine has become the single model with the highest sales in the country."

"Although the final data has not been released, we estimate that the combined sales of BJ212 and BJ310 of Capital Automobile Manufacturing this year is about 13 units, just slightly more than ours."

"But whether it is BJ212 or BJ310, monthly sales are showing a downward trend, and it is highly likely that sales will fall below 12 units next year."

"Next year, our Mercedes-Benz sedans will be officially put on the market for sale. It is inevitable that our overall sales will surpass that of Capital Automobile Manufacturing and become the number one in the country."

As the head of sales, Chen Chenxing was the first person to go on stage to report on the department's achievements during the summary meeting.

At BMW, the importance of R&D and sales is unmatched by any other department.

After all, a company can only survive if it sells its products.

As for the emphasis on research and development, that naturally goes without saying.

With the brand influence still relatively low, if BMW does not rely on research and development to create a few classic models to boost its popularity, its future will be difficult.

"Starting this year, our BMW cars will be upgraded to BMW Group, and its BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover and Chitu cars will all be registered independently."

"However, although the company is independently registered, the operation of R&D, procurement, sales and other departments will remain unchanged for the time being. We will become completely independent after the company has grown in size."

"By then, everyone may become the general manager of a company and be responsible for all the work of a brand."

After listening to Chen Chenxing's introduction to this year's sales situation, Jiang Hui immediately encouraged everyone, making this summary meeting exciting from the very beginning.

There is not a single minister present who does not want to be the head of a company.

Otherwise, people wouldn’t come to Shenzhen from all over the country to work hard.

As a city with the highest proportion of migrant population, the purpose of people coming to Shenzhen is relatively simple, that is to make money and develop a career, and everything else can be put aside.

"Thanks to the efforts of all departments, after achieving sales of more than 12 units, our company's business scale has successfully exceeded the 37 billion yuan mark, becoming the largest industrial enterprise in Shenzhen."

"If we add the contribution of affiliated companies such as Nanshan Technology, the turnover will be even higher."

Lin Ying, the former finance director of Chaoyang Motorcycle Manufacturing Plant, has now followed Jiang Hui to Shenzhen and continues to be responsible for the financial affairs of BMW.

BMW did not disappoint her and its business scale soon exceeded the 10 billion yuan mark, and it may exceed the 100 billion yuan mark in another two years.

At that time, the influence was completely different.

You know, even FAW’s annual turnover has just exceeded 100 billion yuan.

Once BMW overtakes, it is estimated that no other car company will be able to catch up.

"Our 5MT manual transmission will be officially put into mass production next month. By then, it can not only be installed on Mercedes-Benz cars, but also be sold to the public at a high price." "Starting next year, the turnover of Nanshan Transmission will also enter a fast-growing lane."

As the newly appointed general manager of Nanshan Transmission, Ji Hua naturally wants to do a big job.

Compared with other companies that basically have product outputs, Nanshan Transmission's current situation is still rather embarrassing.

A lot of money was spent throughout the year, but the product has not yet been officially mass-produced.

It's a really bad feeling to see money flowing out but no money flowing in.

"Mr. Ji's suggestion is good. After Nanshan Engine officially becomes independent from BMW next year, we are also considering selling our 1.5L engine to the outside world."

"After the efforts of the R&D center in the past two years, our 1.5L engine will soon achieve technological upgrades, and the sales of the old model will not have a big impact on our development."

As the general manager of Nanshan Engine, Hu Shuiwen also hopes that the engines produced by his company can be sold externally.

Otherwise, the profit margins of the engines currently supplied for use in the BMW X5 have been squeezed to the extreme, and they are basically supplied at the production cost price.

If it were sold externally, the situation would definitely not be like this.

By then, an engine will be sold for 20,000 yuan, and many manufacturers may be interested in it.

Because the performance of similar engines produced by others is not as good as that of Nanshan engines, and the production cost may be more than 20,000 yuan.

In this case, choosing to purchase from Nanshan Engine is obviously in the interests of many people.

Anyway, Nanshan engines are available in China, and automobile manufacturers will naturally be happy to buy technologically advanced engine products without spending foreign exchange.

"There is no problem in selling the first-generation 1.5L engine, but there are no plans to sell other models of engines in the short term."

Jiang Hui understood Hu Shuiwen's idea and agreed to sell the engine to others.

But not all products are sold.

Before several brands have fully developed and grown, Nanshan Engine's main purpose is to serve the BMW Group.

For the domestic passenger car industry, having a 1.5L engine available is actually enough.

It can be used regardless of whether it is an economy car or a mid-size car.

Back then, Mitsubishi lived a comfortable life for more than ten years by selling engines in China.

Nanshan Engine started to explore this part of the market in advance. It will not be so easy for Mitsubishi to make big money in China by selling engines in the future.

"As long as the first generation of 1.5L engines can be sold externally, it will be enough to meet market demand in the next five years."

"As for other domestic automakers, they won't be able to come up with too many models in a short period of time. Each manufacturer will probably just launch one new product to test the waters."

Hu Shuiwen was in a good mood when he saw that his proposal was affirmed.

Starting next year, Nanshan Engine will be able to live a profitable life, and the pressure on him as the general manager will be much less.

"The development and production preparation of our bellows and fixed calipers are progressing rapidly. We will be able to achieve small-scale mass production in March next year and start to expand the overseas aftermarket parts market."

"Once the situation opens up, Nanshan Technology will also be able to become a major foreign exchange earner next year."

Chen Chenxing also serves as the deputy general manager of Nanshan Technology, responsible for finding more customers for parts.

As a task that Jiang Hui had just assigned some time ago, Chen Chenxing naturally had to treat it as the most important work for next year.

"If the auto parts business is done well, there is great potential for development."

"Whether it is for export or to provide services to other domestic automobile manufacturers, there is a huge market."

"For example, Shanghai Volkswagen has now set up a Santana localization community, the purpose of which is to promote the localization of the Santana model."

"But as far as I know, the localization of many parts is not going well, and there are no qualified supporting factories in China to produce the relevant parts."

"In this case, Nanshan Technology should not feel burdened and can take the initiative to contact the other party and produce auto parts for them."

In Jiang Hui's view, Santana is not his main competitor.

Even if you are a rival, there is nothing to be taboo about providing auto parts to your competitors.

Like Denso in later generations, it is a direct subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, but many core parts of Honda Motor Corporation's models are supplied by Denso.

Even BYD's batteries are sold to many domestic peers.

Competition is competition, and business is business.

There is no need to make it a life-and-death fight just because you are in competition with each other.

"Understood. I'll make arrangements right away and contact the purchasing departments of joint ventures such as Shanghai Volkswagen, Shouqi Jeep, and Yangcheng Peugeot to see which parts we can match."

With Jiang Hui's instructions, Chen Chenxing no longer had any burden in developing new customers.

When he introduces the product to the customers, he can also make some solemn promises.

Even though BMW will soon become the best-selling car in China, the cumulative sales of other car manufacturers are still much higher.

Besides, enriching the customer base can also accelerate the development of Nanshan Technology and collect more relevant information for the BMW Group.

"Nanshan Equipment will also accelerate its development next year, recruit more people, and develop as many equipment as possible that our group's various factories need to use."

"In the future, whether it's our gearboxes, engines, or various parts, if we want to become a world-renowned company, we must have our own exclusive technology in production line equipment. Otherwise, anyone can buy the equipment to produce it, and our advantages will not be prominent."

The importance of the equipment industry to industry is unquestionable.

The later the development, the greater the impact in this regard.

China's equipment industry as a whole has a relatively complete range of categories, and most products are produced by domestic manufacturers.

It’s just that the technical level is a bit disappointing, basically still remaining at the level of the 1960s.

In this case, there is absolutely no way to meet the needs of the BMW Group.

So Jiang Hui plans to give some key support.

(End of this chapter)