The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 379: First in the country, this is a beginning

In later generations, there is often a saying in the automobile market that September is the golden month and October is the silver month. However, in 1985, automobile sales obviously had nothing to do with September and October.

Under such circumstances, the production of BMW Group's BMW Sunbeam and Mercedes-Benz sedans both exceeded 1 units, making it the first automobile manufacturer in China with a monthly production exceeding 2 units.

After the news came out, not only did the local media in Shenzhen report it, but China TV also specially arranged reporters to come for interviews, and spent more than ten seconds introducing it during the news broadcast.

It can be said that BMW cars suddenly appeared in front of many people.

This situation is naturally a good thing for the employees of BMW Group.

In particular, many people came to Shenzhen after leaving various factories in the capital, and many of their relatives and friends around them had opinions or said strange things.

Now I find that the company he works for is developing very well, not to mention the salary and benefits.

The opinions of people around you will naturally be different.

"Jiang Hui, now people from many places want to invite BMW Technology to invest. Can we also consider not putting all industries in Shenzhen?"

Zhu Ling has now slowly changed her role and started to develop towards the direction of a working woman.

She also began to get involved in some matters related to BMW technology.

As the general manager of BMW Technology and a native of Hong Kong, she will naturally be responsible for attracting investment from many places.

Especially in Lingnan Province, everyone sees Shenzhen's rapid economic development due to the existence of BMW Group, so naturally they have their own thoughts.

"Your idea is very good. Our industry is indeed not suitable to be placed in the same place."

"But mobility and communication are too inconvenient now, and policies vary greatly from place to place."

"In the short term, we still need to fully develop in Shenzhen, lay a solid foundation, and then consider developing in other places after the overall environment has further developed."

Jiang Hui is well aware that China's economic development will certainly face some difficulties in the next few years, and the policies in different places are also quite different.

It is not suitable to develop in other places outside the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone now.

Even in Shanghai or the capital, the environment for economic development cannot be compared with that of the special administrative regions.

"But many leaders have invited us to visit, but nothing has happened. Isn't that easy to offend people?"

Zhu Ling mentioned this with a bit of worry.

When doing business in China, you must try to offend as few people as possible, especially those in relevant departments.

"It's not like we have no action at all. We can start with the supporting factories."

"For example, developing more BMW car supporting plants in Guangzhou is actually a form of support for them."

"Or choosing some suitable supporting factories to acquire can also be considered an investment."

After Jiang Hui said this, Zhu Ling immediately understood.

Jiang Hui has attached great importance to the construction of the automotive industry chain in recent years, and she knows this.

Although Nanshan Technology is also developing, there is obviously still a big gap between it and its ideal state.

Many parts still need to be purchased from supporting factories in the capital, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other places.

In recent months, due to the rapid increase in the production of Mercedes-Benz cars, these supporting factories have not been completely problem-free.

"Which supporting manufacturers should we prioritize to cooperate with or which manufacturers in which fields should we acquire?"

Listen to the opinions of professionals on professional matters.

Although Zhu Ling has begun to get involved in the management of BMW Technology, she will definitely listen to Jiang Hui when it comes to professional knowledge in the automotive field.

"At present, we or the Automotive Industry Park are already producing key parts for engines, gearboxes and chassis, but the lights and radios are purchased from manufacturers in Shanghai."

"If there are some manufacturers in Lingnan Province that produce auto lights or radios and other spare parts, we can consider acquiring one and then focus on supporting its development."

Headlights have a huge impact on improving the commercial value of a car.

In later generations, Audi was known as the "light factory" for a long time, and many of its models had very good publicity effects because of their good headlight design.

In terms of appearance design, Jiang Hui is his best and it is also the area that is easiest to surpass.

As for the radio, Jiang Hui is preparing for the next step of the central control system.

In the future, whether it is the parts for playing CDs or touch screens, they will all develop and grow based on this part.

If you start planning in this area in advance, you can accomplish a lot.

"Then I understand. I'll pay attention to it when I visit other places next time."

Zhu Ling plans to first confirm the situation in the domestic car lighting and radio fields according to Jiang Hui's statement.

Since Jiang Hui felt that these two parts were very important, she planned to do a good job of them.

……

BMW Group’s production and sales exceeded 9 vehicles in September. Employees within the group are jubilant, but other competitors are different.

"Lao Lu, after our commercial vehicle was launched, the monthly sales volume is less than 310 units. This increase is not as much as the decline in the number of BJ units."

"If we continue to develop at this pace, it will be very difficult for our factory to maintain a monthly production and sales of 2 vehicles, let alone break through 1 vehicles."

Chen Qi was obviously dissatisfied with the performance of the new commercial vehicle developed by Lu Jianqiang.

The BMW X5 can sell 10,000 units a month in China, making it an enviable leading model. How come only a fraction of that is left when it comes to the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant?

The key point is that the sales of many models on the market are increasing, but the sales of their BJ212 and BJ310 are decreasing.

This is very fatal.

"Director, our commercial vehicle has no advantage over the BMW Sunshine in terms of appearance or price."

"Coupled with the emergence of Mercedes-Benz sedans, many factories and companies gave up buying commercial vehicles and instead turned to purchasing Mercedes-Benz sedans."

"Especially for those units that often have reception tasks, Mercedes-Benz cars are basically the first choice now."

"I heard that the sales of 1 Mercedes-Benz cars last month was because the production capacity was only . Otherwise, they could have sold thousands more."

Lu Jianqiang has given up now.

He has a clear idea of ​​how big the gap is between his design level and others.

Also a new product launched this year, Mercedes-Benz sedans have become very popular overseas, and domestic orders are also overwhelming. In order to pick up the cars in time, people from some units directly arranged for drivers to come to the gate of BMW Group and drive the cars back themselves.

Such a scene is completely unimaginable in later generations.

Especially by 2024, car companies will often offer % or even % discounts on their cars.

This price is lower than the employee discounts of many factories, and it is extremely attractive. It is not like now, when consumers come to your factory to pick up the car, fearing that you will not give them priority in selling.

"Mercedes-Benz cars are excellent, and I fully admit that."

"But our BJ310 is not bad either."

Chen Qi stared at Lu Jianqiang in frustration, feeling a little regretful that he had let Jiang Hui go to the Chaoyang Motorcycle Factory.

"We have already purchased 1.5L engines from Nanshan Engine. Whether it is BJ212 or BJ310, or new commercial vehicles, they will all use this engine, making our configuration more diverse."

"Starting next year, our sales will definitely stop falling and start to rise again."

After Lu Jianqiang said this, Chen Qi felt a little better.

Now all of their products are equipped with 2.5L engines produced by the Capital Internal Combustion Engine Factory.

Although the performance of this product has been greatly improved after Jiang Hui's modification, there is still a clear gap with the international advanced level.

In addition, there is no cost advantage.

Faced with the complex situation of the domestic automobile industry, Capital Automobile Manufacturing is preparing to open up a development path of its own.

"Then let's do it as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the situation continues like this, we might not even be able to maintain our second place in the industry one day."

Relying on the sales of three passenger cars, Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant's sales volume still exceeds 10,000 vehicles per month.

It can be said that they have surpassed the two big guys, FAW and Second FAW.

But the opponent must also have the idea of ​​overtaking.

Especially FAW, which is now formally negotiating the details of the joint venture with Toyota Motor.

Passenger cars will definitely be introduced at that time to quickly increase sales.

Second Automobile Works is also negotiating cooperation with French car companies, and there may be news on joint ventures soon.

It can be said that the entire landscape of China's automobile industry is changing rapidly.

Under such circumstances, Chen Qi naturally did not want the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant to get up early and arrive late.

……

"Director, next week's joint venture contract signing ceremony will be attended by relevant leaders from the First Ministry of Machine Building and the province, and Toyota Motor President Shoichiro Toyoda will also attend in person."

"At that time, we will directly import Toyota's Crown sedan and support China's high-end luxury sedan market together with FAW Audi."

Zhao Guangming has been negotiating with Toyota Motor on behalf of FAW during this period and has made a lot of efforts.

Feeling pressure in the American market and seeing the rise of BMW in China, Toyota is much more proactive in cooperating with FAW than in the same period in history.

FAW Toyota was only established in 2000, which can be said to be relatively late.

Now it appeared as early as 1985, and its impact on the entire Chinese automobile industry is immeasurable.

After all, Toyota's strength cannot be underestimated, and the Crown sedan has already gained fame in China.

Back then, taxis in Shenzhen were basically either Crowns or Nissan Dukes.

"So far, our monthly production is less than 10,000 vehicles, and we can't even produce sedans."

"The price of the Audi 100 is still too high, and the price of the new generation Hongqi sedan is also much higher than that of the Mercedes-Benz sedan."

"This situation has led to the reluctance of relevant units to purchase our products."

"This time we will cooperate with Toyota to produce the Crown sedan. When the price is appropriately higher than that of the Mercedes-Benz sedan, we will have the hope of seizing the market share of the other party."

"If we can sell a few thousand vehicles a month, the joint venture will be able to survive well."

"After tasting the sweetness, if Toyota Motors can import the Camry into the joint venture factory for localized production, the combined sales of the two models will hopefully reach 10,000 units per month."

Monthly sales exceeded 10,000, which was almost becoming a demon in Geng Weidong's mind.

As China's first automobile manufacturer, FAW is under great pressure now.

If he doesn't achieve some results, Geng Weidong feels that he will lose his position.

"I heard that Camry can sell more than 20,000 units a month in the United States, making it the best-selling single model of Toyota Motors."

"If it were possible to produce in a joint venture factory, there would be no BMW or Shanghai Automobile Manufacturing Plant in the domestic car market."

Zhao Guangming is still very confident in Toyota.

He also went to Japan for investigation in person and witnessed how powerful they were.

"We must do a good job in this signing ceremony. Inviting more media to participate will also play a good role in publicity."

As the factory director of FAW, Geng Weidong naturally did not want to leave everyone with the impression that he was petty.

What he didn't expect was that after FAW cooperated with Toyota, Volkswagen, which was originally only willing to cooperate on the Audi brand, also changed its attitude.

Of course, this is something to talk about later.

At this moment, Shanghai Automobile Manufacturing Plant, Second Automobile Works, Yangcheng Automobile Manufacturing Plant and other friendly competitors were all discussing the big news that BMW's car sales were dominating the domestic market and that FAW was going to form a joint venture with Toyota.

"Xiao Jiang, when FAW Toyota was established, the first product it plans to produce is the Crown sedan. This product is quite well-known in the south. Will it have a certain impact on your Mercedes-Benz sedan?"

Although Zhu Jiansheng is in the capital, he is still very concerned about the development of BMW Group.

"If you say there is no impact, then there must be some."

"But our Mercedes-Benz sedans can defeat Toyota's Camry in the American market, cause Honda's Accord sales to decline, and disrupt the sales pace of Ford's Taurus sedans. Naturally, we are not afraid of the threat of the Crown sedan."

"Given FAW's current situation, even if the Crown sedan is localized, most of the parts must be imported from Japan, which will not only waste foreign exchange, but also the production quantity cannot be very high."

"Otherwise, Shanghai Volkswagen would have already increased the production of Santana."

Jiang Hui is still very confident in the development of BMW.

Now that we are preparing to enter the international market on a large scale, how can we possibly worry about the development of a joint venture posing a threat to ourselves?

If there is any real concern, it should be the people at FAW Toyota who should worry about it.

"We still need to pay attention to the fact that FAW has more resources to mobilize in China, and the relevant cadres are also spread all over the country."

"Plus, the Crown sedan is indeed not bad, and many people recognize it."

Zhu Jiansheng was worried that Jiang Hui would make a mistake and would be depressed.

(End of this chapter)