The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 395: The ultimate move has not been released yet, but it has already become a hot seller

"Edward, you should know exactly how much advantage the Land Rover G Series has over other models on the market."

“Its classic appearance transcends the times and will be unrivaled in the next few years.”

"Many car enthusiasts will buy this car just for its appearance."

"This high-profile model has a huge impact on enhancing Buick's brand influence, and the sales increase it has brought to other Buick models is immeasurable."

“And the chassis design of this car is very good, and the driving performance is better than that of off-road vehicles of the same size.”

"The 2.5L and 3.5L engines are paired with a 4AT automatic transmission, and the power is fully at the mainstream level."

"The sales prices I just mentioned are actually quite conservative."

"In the early stages, you can even market a scenario where you pay a premium to pick up the car."

"After all, our first batch of Land Rover G-series shipped by sea only had less than 500 vehicles, and each dealership had less than one on average."

Chen Chenxing will definitely not compromise easily.

This is related to the core interests of Land Rover.

As a model that focuses on the international market, if the Land Rover G Series is sold cheaply in the American market, then there is naturally no reason for it to be sold at a high price in other markets such as Europe.

They are not fools either.

"You have a point, but you also know that we are taking a huge risk by putting the Buick brand on a car produced by a car company that has only been established for a few years."

"In the future, if there are any problems with the Land Rover G-series, consumers will think it is Buick's problem."

"We at General Motors need to pay for this potential risk."

Edward certainly won't give in easily.

Negotiations are definitely not something that can be accomplished in just one meeting.

After several rounds of negotiations between the two sides, Chen Chenxing put forward a new plan.

"Edward, let's put it this way. If the monthly sales of the Land Rover G series in the American market are less than 2000 units, then our export prices will be US$10000 and US$14000."

“If it reaches 2000 and doesn’t exceed 5000, then the price will be increased by $1000.”

“After 5000 units, the price will be increased by another $1000.”

Mercedes-Benz sedans can sell over 10,000 units per month in the American market even under the name Buick Forester. Chen Chenxing sees no reason why the Land Rover G series should sell worse.

Even though the selling price is a bit higher, this type of large off-road vehicle has a large market in America.

Chen Chenxing is still confident that his sales volume can reach a similar level, even if it doesn’t exceed that of Mercedes-Benz sedans.

"Since you are so confident, then follow this plan."

"If you have some ideas about marketing, you can also bring them up and have a good discussion with us."

"After all, the more cars you sell, the higher your export price will be, and the more money you will make."

Edward felt that Chen Chenxing's plan minimized the risks for General Motors.

If the sales volume can really be stabilized at more than 5000 vehicles per month, then it would be worth it even if the import price is higher.

Anyway, GM has the final say on the terminal sales price. Edward has even considered that when faced with certain situations, GM can ensure its own interests are maximized by doing some tricks or taking some actions in terms of terminal sales price.

This is the benefit of taking the initiative.

After the two sides reached an agreement, the Land Rover G series models were almost arriving at the ports in the United States.

General Motors also acted quickly.

Various promotional posters and media test drive invitations were also put out.

……

"Peterson, have you seen the news about General Motors' latest Buick G-series SUV?"

As a member of the Ford family, Bill Ford is undoubtedly the crown prince of Ford Motor Company. Although he is now only in charge of the sales business, his communication with President Peterson is handled with a relatively equal attitude.

Both parties are quite accustomed to this way of getting along.

As the person in charge of sales, Bill Ford has a very keen sense of smell.

When he saw the advertisements on TV, he felt greatly threatened.

Off-road vehicles have always been one of Ford's strengths. If the market is taken over by Buick's G series products, Ford's days will become even more difficult.

The entire 1980s was the golden age of American economic development.

But for the local automobile industry, it is a very difficult time.

Japanese and Korean automakers are developing rapidly in the American market, bringing tremendous pressure to local automakers.

General Motors and Ford have yet to fully recover.

"I saw it, and I have to say, the appearance of this car is very stunning. I remembered it completely after taking a look at it."

"Any car with such attributes is likely to become a classic."

Peterson is able to serve as president as a person outside the Ford family, which shows that his personal ability and vision are definitely very impressive.

Bill Ford has sensed the crisis and he has seen the threat.

"I asked around and found out that this car, like the Buick Forester, was imported from China and produced under a private label."

"We had some exchanges with this factory before. Their suppliers want to join our system. Now they are doing the final inspection and are expected to officially use them on some parts."

"I have mentioned to them before about cooperating with General Motors, and even arranged for someone to go to China for discussions."

"But the other party's requirements are not low, and they will give priority to cooperation with General Motors under the same conditions."

"So in the end, the cooperation between our two sides came to nothing."

"Now that I've seen the promotional videos for Buick G250 and G350, I feel that I underestimated the strength of Huaxia as a manufacturer in the past."

Bill Ford kind of regretted not making more compromises earlier.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be so passive now.

"GM shouldn't easily allow the same company to work with them and with us again."

"At least the OEM method is not allowed."

Peterson is very familiar with GM's style of doing things.

Unless Ford withstands the pressure and makes major concessions, this cooperation will be able to develop smoothly.

But if that's the case, the risk Ford is taking is too great to be worth it.

"Should we consider asking the design department to buy a few Buick G250s and G350s, disassemble and analyze them thoroughly, and see if we can come up with an off-road vehicle that's more classic than them?"

General Motors has such an amazing car as the Buick G-Series, so naturally Ford has to keep up.

This is Bill Ford's real opinion.

“To design a classic car model is very difficult and requires a lot of investment.”

“I think the design team can fully learn from other people’s design elements and shorten the development schedule as much as possible.”

Who says American companies don’t know how to “learn from others”?
Anyway, as long as it is not direct plagiarism, they don't have any pressure. They are not afraid of lawsuits.

"I think this direction is feasible. I will communicate with the design department later to see if we can take action as soon as possible."

Bill Ford agreed to Peterson's idea without any hesitation.

Anyway, this approach is good for Ford, so we must continue to do it.

……

"Edward, the Buick G series has received over 1000 orders in its first week on the market?"

Murphy listened happily as Edward reported to him about the latest week's sales.

As a recently launched product, it has definitely received the strongest attention.

"To be precise, there are 1122 orders waiting to be delivered, and with the current momentum, the subsequent orders will increase even more."

Edward is in a good mood now.

He estimates that the car could bring tens of thousands of units of growth to GM this year and contribute more than $1 million in net profit.

For General Motors today, it is a very gratifying thing that such a product with little investment can make such a contribution.

"It seems that not all of our consumers only care about fuel consumption. The appearance of the car model is still very attractive."

In recent years, Murphy has been frightened by Japanese car companies such as Toyota.

Due to the impact of the oil crisis, Japanese automakers' more fuel-efficient products were hot-selling in the United States, while sales of General Motors' gas-guzzling products plummeted.

The Buick G series is now equipped with 2.5L and 3.5L engines. The displacement is not particularly small, and the sales volume is good.

According to Murphy, the main reason is that the appearance of this product is beautiful enough.

This somewhat subverts everyone's past perceptions.

They have always believed that American consumers are relatively mature consumers, and their main considerations when buying a car are performance and fuel consumption.

Although some people do care about appearance, it is definitely not a high priority.

The current sales volume of G series products, however, does not seem to be consistent with this view.

It seems that as long as the appearance is beautiful enough, the rules can be broken.

"Land Rover will also mass-produce a pickup truck this year. I have visited the clay model of this product before, and its appearance is also very amazing."

"Now that the two products we have cooperated with BMW Group have achieved great success, I am worried that Ford and Chrysler will have some ideas."

After Edward said this, Murphy immediately took it seriously.

General Motors has already tasted the sweetness and naturally does not want others to take away their piece of the pie.

"We should finalize the cooperation plan for other models with BMW Group as soon as possible. We can make some concessions on some terms that are not so excessive."

After a little thought, Murphy made a judgment.

When it comes to interests, everything can be considered for compromise.

……

"Director, the G-series off-road vehicles have received very good response in the American market. General Motors has placed an additional order for 5000 vehicles."

"Our production capacity is still in the ramp-up stage, and we will not be able to deliver all these orders until next month at the earliest."

Fang Huihui is now becoming more and more confident in the internationalization strategy of BMW Group.

In her opinion, the development of Mercedes-Benz sedans and Land Rover G series are both successful.

Products are in short supply, which is what many automobile manufacturers dream of.

"After the first three months of mass production, we will have no problem meeting orders for 5000 vehicles, let alone 1."

"When we were planning this product, we required all supporting factories to prepare according to a plan of at least 10,000 vehicles per month."

"GM has now achieved monthly sales of 4,000 to 5,000 G-series vehicles through its own marketing efforts."

"In the next step, we will assist with special marketing plans, and it seems that there is hope to increase the level to nearly 10,000 units."

The Land Rover G series uses a large number of hot stamping parts, and the body strength of the vehicle is much higher than that of its peers.

General Motors has also done some publicity for this information, but it is just a relatively monotonous one.

There is still a big gap between this and the ultimate move Jiang Hui prepared.

"We have also started to formally set up sales in the Middle East, Africa and Europe."

"At the beginning, the pace is still being adjusted. I estimate that some results will be available starting next month."

Compared with the American market, Jiang Hui also pays special attention to the performance of Land Rover G series models in other overseas markets.

It can even be said to be the most important.

After all, Mercedes-Benz sedans have already had a successful case in the American market, but there have been no decent results in other markets.

"The Land Rover G series is a classic enough model. I believe that as long as it is managed well, it can continue to develop as a pillar model of Land Rover."

"In the future, the Land Rover brand will be able to live a good life by relying on a few models."

“For overseas sales, try not to impose too many restrictions on salespeople at the beginning.”

"We only look at the results. Whoever can sell the car is acceptable no matter what methods or means are used."

"It doesn't matter even if some employees do something out of line."

To conquer the world, you must not be bound by too many rules.

In particular, the situation in overseas markets is very different from that in China, and each country has its own characteristics.

So the best approach is to have fewer restrictions.

In the future, when the conditions are ripe, we will make some targeted adjustments to put the company's development on the right track.

"I understand that when these people went abroad for training, we also emphasized this aspect."

“We haven’t made any final decisions on rewards.”

"At that time, as long as there are outstanding achievements, the company can consider giving some special rewards."

"This can better stimulate more people to join the overseas sales team, and also prevent these people from staying in the country and not returning after going abroad."

For the Chinese people of later generations, it is no longer so common to go abroad and sneak into some places.

The domestic conditions in all aspects are no worse than those in most countries in the world.

But in 1986, the situation was completely different.

In some places, there have even been extreme cases where entire delegations disappeared after going abroad.

These people would rather wash dishes for others than return to their country.

It is no wonder that Fang Huihui would specifically emphasize this aspect.

(End of this chapter)