The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 376: It’s a big hit already?
"Director, General Motors has added 5000 orders to our order, and they want us to deliver all of them within a month."

"At the same time, they hope that we can be well prepared and increase production capacity."

"They may order more Mercedes-Benz cars in the future."

By July 1985, sales of Mercedes-Benz sedans rebadged as Buick Foresters began to rise rapidly in the American market.

General Motors also quickly mobilized more publicity resources to promote this product.

"Four batches of 4 Mercedes-Benz cars have been delivered to GM before. How come the number has suddenly increased to 500 now?"

Although Jiang Hui attaches great importance to the overseas development of Mercedes-Benz cars, the research and development of Land Rover off-road vehicles and Land Rover pickup trucks within the BMW Group is also in full swing. Jiang Hui spends most of his time on these two projects.

In particular, in order to support these two projects, Nanshan Engine and Nanshan Transmission have related products to develop.

These products are huge challenges for China's automobile industry at this time.

Fortunately, in the past year, BMW Group has successively introduced a number of advanced machine tools from Japan and other places, and the processing accuracy of parts has been greatly improved.

Otherwise, even if Jiang Hui could design a new engine and gearbox, he would not be able to process the parts to meet the requirements of the drawings.

"Buick Forester's trial sales in the American market were very successful, and almost every dealer was in short supply."

"Although many people don't know that this car is actually produced by us, GM has never advertised it in this regard."

"But thanks to GM's strong and mature dealer network in the United States, the 2000 Mercedes-Benz sedans we had in the first few batches were simply not enough to sell."

"Among the thousands of GM dealers, many did not even get any of the relevant display vehicles."

Chen Chenxing knew that Jiang Hui was very busy, but he was also concerned about the performance of Mercedes-Benz cars in overseas markets, so he made a relatively detailed understanding of the various situations after Mercedes-Benz cars entered the United States.

Now when he was reporting to Jiang Hui, he naturally spoke clearly and logically.

"Our body length and width are superior to Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. GM used it to suppress Japanese automakers. It seems to be a very correct choice."

"If we were to rely on ourselves, we probably wouldn't even have sold a single car in America by now."

Mercedes-Benz cars are hot sellers in the American market, and General Motors is definitely the one making the most money.

But Jiang Hui didn't regret it at all.

This is essentially a win-win situation.

By expanding exports, the production of Nanshan Engine's 2.5L engines can be rapidly increased, allowing supporting factories in the entire industry chain to develop accordingly.

As for the export-earning effect brought about by this process, needless to say, it can bring many additional benefits to the BMW Group.

"Yes, I feel that next time GM may ask for more than 5000 units."

"The American auto market is so large that the monthly sales of popular models can exceed 20,000 units."

"Our Mercedes-Benz cars are quite special. Even with a 50% discount, there are still 10,000 of them."

"When combined with the domestic sales of Mercedes-Benz cars, annual production and sales will reach more than 20 vehicles, allowing our entire group's production to exceed vehicles this year."

So far, no car company in China has achieved annual sales of over 20 vehicles.

Chen Chenxing naturally hopes that BMW Group will become the first automobile manufacturer to achieve annual sales of over 20 vehicles.

Having established this leading advantage, BMW will become the largest automobile manufacturer in the Chinese automobile market for a long time to come.

The advertising effect brought about by this industry status is simply impossible to ignore.

Just like in various Olympic Games, the names of the champions have a chance to become familiar to everyone, but those who won silver and bronze medals are often known by few people.

It will probably take some time for the BMW Group to gain a foothold in the international automobile market.

However, it has basically only been the past two years for us to gain a firm foothold in China.

"Isn't Nanshan Technology planning to set up an office in the United States?"

"When the time comes, assign a few people to track and investigate changes in the American auto market, especially the market performance of Buick Forester and its competitors. Send back a report every week."

"We will analyze the content of these reports and see whether we should increase the production of Mercedes-Benz cars ahead of schedule."

"If the production line has to run in three shifts, some workers will need to be recruited and trained in advance."

The automotive industry is a relatively complex industry, and various changes in production capacity involve impacts on all aspects.

If you don't prepare in advance, you will often not be able to respond to market changes at any time.

Jiang Hui is still very confident in Mercedes-Benz cars. Now that he is trying to make a breakthrough in the American market, he can consider making some attempts in the European market as the next step.

At worst, we can continue to cooperate with General Motors and grab some market share in Europe.

Anyway, BMW Group has registered four car brands, and different brands follow different development paths. There is no harm in giving it a try.

As for the product division and positioning of each brand, these can be adjusted at any time.

Jiang Hui is not so stubborn as to think that the Mercedes-Benz brand can only produce sedans, and the Land Rover brand can only produce off-road vehicles and pickup trucks.

"Well, I will go to America in person and get the office's work started in a timely manner."

"I have a feeling that Mercedes-Benz's overseas expansion will be much smoother than we thought."

"Everyone in the company underestimated the impact that the appearance of the new model designed by you would have on everyone."

The sales volume of sedans in the Chinese automobile market is really too low.

The Shanghai-branded cars produced by the Shanghai Automobile Manufacturing Plant, once a leading enterprise, are considered the most produced cars, but the annual output is only a few tens of thousands at most.

Under such circumstances, it would be too bold to let domestic practitioners think that the sales volume of Mercedes-Benz cars could exceed 10,000 units.

Even Jiang Hui was not sure whether this could be achieved.

Today, GM’s various actions and market feedback have given Chen Chenxing and Jiang Hui considerable confidence.

"In Shenzhen, whether it's building a new factory or doing other things, the efficiency is very high."

"What we need to worry about is that the exported products have no sales, not that the production capacity is insufficient."

"I'll have Zhou Yun notify everyone to shorten the schedule for expanding each production line and building a new factory."

"We want to make the BMW Group a Chinese automobile giant with international influence within the next year."

Jiang Hui's words made Chen Chenxing's expectations for the future even higher. Over the years, all the boasts Jiang Hui had made finally came true.

Chen Chenxing didn't think today would be an exception.

……

"Boss, I just heard from the customs that the BMW Group's export earnings this month will exceed 3000 million US dollars, surpassing its performance in the past six months."

As Liu Tianwu's secretary, Yao Yiming was naturally well aware that his leader was very concerned about BMW matters.

So he would try to find out relevant information every day and deliberately keep in touch with some people from the BMW Group.

"How come the monthly foreign exchange earnings have suddenly soared to more than 3000 million US dollars? Have they made a huge breakthrough in their overseas export business?"

"I haven't heard of any new moves from them recently. Jiang Hui seems to be busy designing new products."

Liu Tianwu immediately put down the work in his hands.

For him, the news reported by Yao Yiming was undoubtedly more important than any other work.

If exports earn more than 3000 million US dollars a month, wouldn’t that mean several hundred million US dollars a year?
The entire city of Shenzhen’s annual export earnings are not much higher than this number.

If the BMW Group can continue to develop in this way, Shenzhen's export and foreign exchange earning mission will definitely be exceeded, and a series of related personnel will benefit from it.

"It is indeed not a new move. This foreign exchange earning task was brought about by the cooperation contract signed between BMW and General Motors some time ago."

After Yao Yiming said this, the confusion on Liu Tianwu's face did not decrease, but instead he had more questions.

"If I remember correctly, BMW Group exported Mercedes-Benz cars to the United States and asked General Motors to produce them under its own brand. The cooperation agreement signed by the two parties was for 1 vehicles, but the contract was for five years."

"To earn tens of millions of dollars from exports, this is already more than the number of units they export in the contract for the whole year, right?"

Liu Tianwu is very familiar with many things about the BMW Group.

Especially for such a large project, he is familiar with all the key data.

Anyone who can become a leader must have some abilities.

"Leader, you have a good memory. Their contract is indeed like that."

"But exporting 5 vehicles within five years is just a guaranteed number, and it does not mean that it cannot be increased."

"The appearance of the Mercedes-Benz is very stunning. Even the cars running on the streets of Hong Kong cannot compare with it."

"That's why General Motors imports cars from China."

"I estimated that the sales of this car in the American market were better than GM had previously expected, so I quickly placed an additional order."

"If we continue to develop at this pace, let alone 1 vehicles in five years, we estimate that we will produce more than 1 vehicles a year, and even vehicles a month is not impossible."

Yao Yiming boldly shared what he knew and gave his own predictions.

"If there are really 10,000 vehicles a month, wouldn't the monthly export earnings be 60 to 70 million US dollars?"

Liu Tianwu's eyes lit up, full of anticipation.

"I will keep in touch with Chen Chenxing later. He should be the most clear about the performance of Mercedes-Benz cars in the American market."

Yao Yiming was also worried that he had exaggerated his plans, which would lead to huge discrepancies and would be embarrassing.

"Please arrange it. I will go over to inspect it in person this week. Jiang Hui has launched several major projects this year. I want to see how the progress is."

Liu Tianwu feels that he gains unexpected benefits every time he goes to BMW Group.

Now that such a big thing has happened, he must go and find out for himself.

……

Buick Forester showed signs of becoming a big hit in the American market. Not only General Motors itself noticed this, but its competitors also naturally paid attention to it at the first time.

"President, I went on a business trip to America last week and learned the latest news that our Camry sales have declined to a certain extent in the past week."

As the sales pillar of Toyota in the North American market, Camry is the most popular.

When Shoei Saito was on a business trip, he specifically listened to the American branch's report on the competition in the mid-size sedan market and felt it necessary to report to Shoichiro Toyoda.

"what is the reason?"

Shoichiro Toyoda asked calmly.

As the president of a large company, he has seen many ups and downs.

Simple sales fluctuations will not cause him much pressure.

"There are two main reasons. The first is that Ford Motor launched the epoch-making Taurus sedan, which has a stunning appearance, excellent power performance, and a larger body size than our Camry."

"I suspect that when Ford developed this model, it was fully targeted at the various conditions of the Camry, so after it was launched on the market, its performance was better than that of the Camry."

"According to the forecast of the American branch, the sales volume of the Taurus sedan will definitely break through the critical threshold of 10,000 units per month, and may even hit the 20,000 units per month mark."

As Saito Shoei spoke, he handed the information in his hand to Shoichiro Toyoda. The information contained pictures of the Ford Taurus sedan and some performance parameter comparison information.

"The exterior design of the Taurus is indeed very forward-looking, and is more rounded than our Camry and Honda's Accord."

"This is somewhat similar to the Mercedes-Benz sedan produced by the BMW Group that we saw in China before."

After Toyoda Shoichiro said this, Saito Shoei immediately continued: "The second reason for the decline in Camry sales in the American market is related to the Mercedes-Benz sedan you just mentioned."

"General Motors previously cooperated with BMW Group to import Mercedes-Benz cars from BMW and re-branded them as Buick Foresters for sale in the American market."

"Although this car has only been launched in the United States for about a month, the market response is very good, and many GM dealers are chasing orders."

"Some potential Camry consumers have also switched to buying Buick Forester, or put their purchase plans on hold and will buy it after the Buick Forester arrives."

"The combination of these two reasons has led to a decline in Camry sales in the past week."

After hearing what Saito Shoei said, Shoichiro Toyoda felt some pressure.

Ford Motor and General Motors are the first and second largest automobile giants in the United States. They simultaneously launched two sedans with stunning appearances to compete with Camry, and the competitive pressure from behind suddenly increased.

(End of this chapter)