The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 396: Too Hot, Burned Others

In the 1980s and 1990s, China was extremely concerned about various international recognitions.

Any fake award can cause a big sensation and fool many people.

If a product achieves huge success in the international market, it is definitely a synonym for excellence.

The Land Rover G-series off-road vehicle was only put into mass production in February this year and was only available for sale in the American market in March. By April, the monthly export volume had soared to 5000 units.

This is undoubtedly a very outstanding achievement for China's automobile industry.

You know, the export price of each Land Rover G series model is more than 10,000 US dollars.

An export volume of more than 5000 vehicles means export earnings of tens of millions of dollars.

"Director Jiang, I heard that your Land Rover G series is hard to find in China right now, and the product is in short supply."

"Is there any area that needs assistance from our district?"

When Liu Tianwu heard the relevant information reported to him by his secretary Yao Yiming, he took the initiative to call Jiang Hui.

The export earnings of the Land Rover G series are tens of millions per month, and the export earnings of Mercedes-Benz sedans are also tens of millions per month.

This is equivalent to the BMW Group alone earning more than US$1 million in export earnings each month.

This is definitely the largest export-earning enterprise in the entire Shenzhen city and even the entire Lingnan province. The key is that it is still in a period of continuous growth.

Even pie falling from the sky is not that delicious.

"Leader, our Land Rover G series is in short supply now, mainly because the production in the early stage of ramp-up is mainly used for export."

"Starting from May, our monthly production will increase to 10,000 vehicles. By then, while meeting the needs of the international market, we will also free up some for the domestic market."

Seeking truth from facts has always been Jiang Hui's principle in dealing with relevant departments.

There is no need to lie for short-term gain.

"The production plan for May has exceeded 5 vehicles?"

"If you add up the BMW Sunbeams, Mercedes-Benz sedans, and Land Rover G-Series, wouldn't your production in May exceed 5 units?"

Even through the phone, Jiang Hui could feel the smile on Liu Tianwu's face.

A few years ago, he would not have dared to imagine this kind of production scale.

At that time, the combined production of all automobile companies in China was less than 30,000 vehicles per month.

Now BMW has done it alone.

The key is that most of their production capacity is used for export, and there is still a new car that has not been launched this year.

If the Land Rover pickup truck performs as well as the Land Rover SUV by then, wouldn't it be an era of monthly sales of 40,000?
"It is possible to exceed 3 vehicles this month, 4 vehicles by the end of the year, or even 5 vehicles."

After Jiang Hui said this, Liu Tianwu immediately said: "If there are any problems with the supply of raw materials, please feel free to raise them. I will report to the city and coordinate resources in a timely manner, or even ask Lingnan Province to step in."

"The construction of the affiliated primary school, affiliated middle school and hospital, which were previously planned, will also start soon."

"The land for the family building you need to expand will be officially delivered to you next month after the district completes the three connections and one leveling."

Liu Tianwu knew that there must be many places eyeing such a good company.

He would never allow the BMW Group to start developing elsewhere so quickly.

Of course, he will definitely not be stingy with the preferential conditions.

Anyway, this level of support is justified no matter where it is placed.

……

"Chen Qi, the Cherokee currently produced by Shouqi Jeep still uses the CKD model, consuming a large amount of foreign exchange to import parts from the United States for assembly."

"A few years ago, this approach would not have been a big problem."

"But one thing is another."

"Now, BMW Group's Land Rover G-series off-road vehicles not only consume almost no foreign exchange, but can also earn foreign exchange through export in large quantities."

"Compared with the two, your results are a bit hard to explain."

As the leader of the First Ministry of Machine Building, Zheng Haiming naturally also heard the news about the successful export and foreign exchange earnings of Land Rover G series products.

He must be happy to see this scene.

But when he thought about the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, where he had worked for decades and saw it was becoming increasingly rundown, his mood became complicated.

Especially the project of the joint venture car company Shouqi Jeep, he was involved in the negotiations that year, and it can even be said that it was a project he led single-handedly.

"Leader, this is not only a problem faced by Shouqi Jeep, but also by joint venture automakers such as Shanghai Santana and Yangcheng Peugeot."

"Even the Crown sedan that the newly established FAW Toyota will mass-produce is produced through CKD assembly."

"Then we will gradually localize it later."

"We have been working with various supporting factories, and starting this year, some parts will be converted from imported to domestically produced."

"But we haven't produced those parts before. We have to start from scratch, which will take some time."

Chen Qi felt that he was very unlucky.

Originally, everyone was at the same starting line, and Shouqi Jeep was one of the joint venture car companies established relatively early.

But suddenly, the BMW Automobile Group appeared and did not play by the rules at all.

The key point is that the head of BMW Group is still Jiang Hui, who came from Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant.

"It's no use telling me this, why don't you talk to your superiors?"

"Now all industries need foreign exchange to introduce new materials, new equipment and new technology. Every penny must be used wisely."

"Forget about the foreign exchange quota that has been prepared for you this year. Your foreign exchange quota will definitely be reduced next year."

"You have to think about how to deal with it in advance."

After Zheng Haiming said this, Chen Qi immediately became anxious.

The reduction in foreign exchange quota means that Shouqi Jeep's production will decrease.

The sales of BJ212 and BJ310 at Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant are already declining. If the sales of the joint venture also decline, the situation of Capital Automobile will be very ugly.

"Leader, our automobile industry was indeed a big consumer of foreign exchange before, but now we have the BMW Group to help us earn foreign exchange."

"It would be more reasonable for the foreign exchange administration to consider all the car manufacturers together."

It is obvious that Chen Qi wants to take advantage of the BMW Group.

But how could anyone let them ride in a car like this?
If the BMW Group and Capital Automobile Works were part of the same group, then we could still make some arguments.

That's definitely not possible now.

"If you can convince the foreign exchange administration, I have no objection."

"BMW has only been established for a few years, and it has already achieved this result."

"You need to reflect on this."

After Zheng Haiming said this, he didn't want to say anything more and hung up the phone.

Also criticized was the Shanghai public.

Although their Santana has been domestically produced to some extent, the localization rate is less than 20%, and a large amount of foreign exchange is still wasted every year.

When there is no other choice in the country, we have to go through all this to develop the passenger car industry.

Now that we have a choice, it’s different.

"Xiao Jiang, congratulations! The Land Rover G-series off-road vehicle has been a great success, and the scale of the BMW Automobile Group has reached a new level."

Qin Hao and Jiang Hui are old acquaintances.

The relationship between the two is still pretty good.

"But because you are so outstanding, the leaders have become very satisfied with the performance of other domestic automobile factories." "I have heard that the heads of several factories, including Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, FAW, and Shanghai Automobile Manufacturing Plant, have been criticized by the leaders."

"They were all required to submit a report explaining how they had improved their operating conditions and increased sales."

"I guess these factories may have some resentment towards you."

Qin Hao did not keep anyone in suspense and directly told the message he wanted to convey by calling.

To put it bluntly, he just wanted to do Jiang Hui a favor.

Having served as director of the Automobile Bureau for many years, Qin Hao has seen a lot about various domestic automobile factories.

The BMW Group is undoubtedly a breath of fresh air in China's automobile industry, and its development path is very different.

He very much hopes that China's automobile industry can also grow and develop, so that his achievements can be more significant.

Therefore, he certainly would not want to see other car manufacturers trying to hinder the development of the BMW Group.

"Thank you for the reminder, we also want to make more contributions to the economic development of our country."

"Nowadays, the task of earning foreign exchange through exports in all fields is very heavy. It is obviously in the best interest of the country to be able to export more industrial products with higher added value."

"The export of one car is equivalent to the export of several containers of agricultural products."

Jiang Hui was not surprised by the information Qin Hao said.

Whether it is the leaders criticizing other factories or other factories having grievances against BMW.

It is mediocre not to be envied by others.

"That's true. Your factory alone can earn more than $100 million in foreign exchange from exports every month, which is more than some provinces earn in a year."

"If all domestic automakers can do this, our foreign exchange quota will not be so tight."

Qin Hao said this with great emotion.

In recent years, he has felt deeply about the tight foreign exchange quota situation.

In order to export and earn foreign exchange, many factories are even selling their products at a loss.

Anyway, what is lost is RMB, and what is earned is foreign exchange.

All departments can accept this situation.

"Our next step will be to plan some marketing activities to further increase the sales of Land Rover G series models in the international market."

"By then, BMW will have completely left other domestic manufacturers far behind, and they won't be able to be envious even if they want to be."

People will envy and be jealous of someone who has better living conditions than themselves.

But if a person's conditions are much better than yours, jealousy often does not exist.

Sometimes I don’t even feel envious.

For example, in future generations, how many people would envy the life of the world’s richest man?
"Do you still have the confidence to further increase the sales of Land Rover G series?"

Qin Hao asked back in surprise.

In his opinion, the current performance is already very good.

"Leader, we haven't used our trump card yet."

"And now the sales are mainly in the American market. The speed in other places is a little slower because we need to operate them ourselves."

"Once all the measures have been taken, the situation will not be like this."

After Jiang Hui said this, Qin Hao immediately became more expectant.

It seems that the BMW Group is like a treasure, always able to bring surprises to itself.

……

If the hot sales of Land Rover G series have only affected other Chinese manufacturers by causing them to be criticized by their superiors, then for some automobile companies, the impact is on the actual sales of their own models.

In the American market, the Toyota LC70 (later called Land Cruiser), which is positioned very closely to the Land Rover G series, is obviously the most direct victim.

"President, this is the information collected by the North American branch."

"The Buick G-series SUV launched by General Motors suddenly appeared on the market this year."

“I’ve never heard of GM developing a product like this before.”

"After our disassembly and analysis, we found that this car was a collaboration between General Motors and BMW Group in China."

"They directly imported the G250 and G350 of the other party's Land Rover from Huaxia, and then rebadged them as Buick and sold them in the United States."

"Currently, various American automobile magazines have given this car very high praise, believing that it has opened up a new era in the exterior design of off-road vehicles."

As the head of Toyota Motor's sales headquarters, Shoei Saito attaches great importance to changes in the automobile markets in various regions.

The American market is Toyota's most important overseas market, and he spends an hour every week listening to reports from the American branch.

They paid attention to the Buick G series off-road vehicle when it first appeared.

But at the beginning, we were not sure how much impact it would have on our products, so we did not report it.

The situation is now becoming increasingly obvious. Toyota LC70's sales have dropped by half in the past week.

This situation cannot be ignored by them.

"BMW Group again?"

“Why do products made by a Chinese automobile company always win the favor of General Motors?”

Shoichiro Toyoda thought of the Mercedes-Benz sedan. When he saw it for the first time, he was so stunned that he even chased it to the FAW factory.

After the latter car cooperated with General Motors of America, it was sold under the name of Buick Forester and its sales have been very good.

This has had some impact on Toyota's sedan sales.

Now in the off-road vehicle field, the Buick G series off-road vehicle has emerged.

This made Shoichiro Toyoda a little depressed.

"Jiang Hui is responsible for designing all BMW models. He is a very rare master of car design and has worked with General Motors for many years."

"The most important reason why Buick's G-series SUV is so successful is its stunning appearance and large space."

"Coupled with its good power performance and Buick's brand reputation, consumers immediately accepted it."

Saito Shoei naturally had the same question as Toyoda Shoichiro.

In this regard, he also arranged for relevant personnel to conduct a special investigation and understanding.

Only after all the situations have been roughly clarified will we report to our superiors.

"Our LC70 was just launched two years ago. Has it lost its competitiveness so soon?"

According to Toyota's normal development rhythm, it takes more than five years to launch a new model of the same model.

If the new LC1984 was launched in 70, then the next generation change would normally be in 1989, or even after 1990.

But it’s only 1986 now. Have we already lost our competitiveness?
This completely disrupted Toyota's rhythm.

"I have organized the design department and the sales department to discuss the response plan together."

"I'll report back to you once the new plan comes out."

Saito Shoei felt the pressure brought to him by Shoichiro Toyoda.

But for a moment, he didn't know what to do.

In the face of absolute competitiveness, there is not much Toyota can do.

Especially since the other party’s car is a Buick.

(End of this chapter)