The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 409: One plus one is actually greater than two?

Europe is the world's second largest automobile market after the United States.

If BMW Group wants to become a world-class car company, it cannot give up the European market.

Otherwise, the North American market was handed over to General Motors to operate, and the European market was abandoned. The Japanese and Korean markets were difficult to enter for various reasons. Relying solely on the markets in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and other places would not be able to support the BMW Group to become an international automobile giant.

Therefore, as GM introduced the Land Rover G and Land Rover X series models to the European market, it is likely to have a serious impact on the European strategy of the BMW Group. Jiang Hui and Chen Chenxing flew to Europe in person to see how to deal with this situation.

"Master, judging from the information collected by our European branch, GM's strategy seems to be relatively successful."

"In the first month, Land Rover G and X models were sold across Europe, estimated to have exceeded 5000 units."

"There are still many orders that need to wait for delivery next month because there is no inventory. Otherwise, it is possible that sales will exceed 1 units."

"So from a production perspective, this is also good news for our company."

Chen Chenxing had previously discussed with Jiang Hui about GM selling Land Rover G and X series models in Europe, and at that time they decided to wait and see.

However, seeing that General Motors seemed to be selling cars very well, Jiang Hui decided to come and see it for himself.

Can Land Rover take advantage of General Motors' popularity and boost sales of Land Rover G and X?

At least it lets everyone know that there is a new brand called Land Rover on the market.

When other new car models are launched in the future, we won’t have to start from scratch.

"The dealer we found ourselves only sold a few hundred Land Rover G and X Series in the past month?"

It is clear that Land Rover brought two of its models to Europe for sale earlier, but the results were not particularly ideal.

European consumers are still quite cautious about a new brand of car.

In addition, Land Rover did not advertise on a large scale, so the results were less than satisfactory.

"Yes, the current monthly sales volume has not yet exceeded 1000 units, but overall, the weekly data is increasing month-on-month."

Those who work in sales must find nice-sounding explanations from various data.

When various automobile companies hold dealer conferences in the future, there will definitely be many firsts in the reports.

Anyway, if the monthly sales volume is not the highest in the country, it can be specifically subdivided into the first in the SUV market.

If not yet, then it can be said to be the number one in the mid-to-large SUV market.

If there is still no chance to become the first, then we will further divide it into the first place in the market of medium and large SUVs with a price of more than 30 yuan.

If this still doesn't work, then break it down further. You will definitely be able to find a few that come out first.

"GM was able to increase the sales of Buick G and Chevrolet X in such a short period of time, which shows that these two products are still very attractive."

“But our own popularity is too low, and brand recognition is still relatively low.”

"In that case, let's communicate with the dealers and ask them to promote the difference between the Land Rover G Series and the Buick G Series."

"We can even ask the media to report on the differences between the two cars, so that everyone knows that apart from the logos, there is no difference between them."

General Motors did not communicate with BMW Group before selling these two models in Europe.

In this case, there is no need to feel guilty about taking advantage of other people's popularity.

Besides, one plus one does not necessarily equal two, it may also be greater than two.

“These things may require the cooperation of dealers.”

"And the key to getting them to cooperate is to make it profitable."

"Our prices are similar to those of GM. There is no need to lower prices, otherwise it will become vicious competition."

"In this case, we can only lower the wholesale price for dealers to increase their profits."

Chen Chenxing is now considered an experienced salesperson and quickly came up with his own plan.

For Land Rover at this stage, any means can be used as long as it does not lose money.

After all, it is more important to build a reputation in the market, not to mention the effect of export and foreign exchange earnings.

"Okay, then let's do it according to your plan and motivate the dealers."

"Then, we'll also put some appropriate advertisements in magazines and media."

"We need to run our European branch well."

For Chinese companies of this era, expanding markets in developed countries such as Europe and North America is actually very difficult and stressful.

Apart from anything else, when you recruit a local employee, the salary must not be lower than that of his peers.

But at that time, the gap between China's domestic wage levels and those in Europe was huge.

People in the same position have a basic salary of less than 100 yuan in China, but in Germany it can reach more than 1000 US dollars.

This gap of dozens of times has a huge impact on people.

In particular, it is impossible that there are no people assigned by the headquarters in the branch company.

How to formulate the salary and benefits of these people is also a very challenging task.

"The competitiveness of Land Rover's G and X series is strong enough, and sales will definitely continue to increase."

Chen Chenxing knew that the next step was to test his abilities.

Soon, prototypes of the Buick G-Series and Chevrolet X-Series appeared simultaneously in the showrooms of various Land Rover dealers.

Almost every dealer purchased two such cars and placed them there for comparison.

After all, no matter how much you say, it won’t be as convincing as having the real car in front of you.

At the same time, the subjective initiative of these dealers was also mobilized.

In order to hype up the popularity, some dealers directly contacted sales staff from Volkswagen, PSA, Renault, Toyota and other companies.

Let them also join in "dealing with" General Motors.

The automobile market is relatively fixed. If others take more, you will take less.

If someone takes the lead, all kinds of car companies will naturally be happy to give a push from behind.

So in less than a week, the topic of General Motors' Buick G Series and Chevrolet X Series involving plagiarism has become a hot topic in many parts of Europe.

Some people are well aware of the relationship between these two GM models and Land Rover, but they pretend not to know so as to hype up the topic of plagiarism.

After all, when ordinary consumers see these two cars that look exactly the same, they will definitely believe that one of them is copying the other.

Now that the media has reported this, more people believe that General Motors has plagiarized.

Of course, General Motors will definitely not be willing to take the blame for this.

They immediately came out to refute the rumor, saying that the two models were not copied, but were developed, produced and sold in cooperation with China's BMW Automobile Group.

However, although this has removed the accusation of plagiarism, it has also made the names of BMW Group and Land Rover known to everyone.

The goals that Land Rover dealers wanted to achieve have basically been achieved.

"Chen, our store has sold 34 Land Rover G-series SUVs and 12 Land Rover X-series pickup trucks in the past week."

"At this pace, there will be no problem selling 200 Land Rovers a month in the future."

As the owner of the only Land Rover dealer in Munich, Francis has a pretty good business.

In addition to Land Rover cars, his store also sells products from several other brands, including Saab and Volvo.

He was originally attracted by the appearance of Land Rover's products, and the excellent performance of these two cars in the American market, so he cooperated with Land Rover and prepared to take a chance.

Now it seems that I have succeeded.

If the sales volume can reach over 200 units a month, the profits can be considerable.

And the risk he needs to take is very small.

"Francis, we currently only have eight Land Rover dealers in Germany. If you are interested, you can expand your business in other states."

Chen Chenxing was also in a good mood.

Previously, Land Rover's sales in Europe were less than 1000 units per month.

The situation is completely different now. In several markets that have already been entered, such as Germany, France and England, sales have exceeded 1000 vehicles a week.

At this pace, it won’t be a big problem to exceed 5000 vehicles per month.

This is data without fully developing markets in various countries.

If we work hard, it is not impossible to sell 10,000 vehicles a month.

"I will go and investigate tomorrow to see where to open a new store."

If you don't make money, you are a fool.

Francis saw the future of Land Rover and naturally wanted to make money along the way.

"In addition to the Land Rover brand, our BMW Group also has Mercedes-Benz and BMW brand products."

"There will be new models introduced into the market continuously in the future."

"The person in charge of our company is the most powerful car designer in China and has a high status in the global car design industry."

“Every car he designed is a classic.”

"The new products we launch in the future will definitely not be worse than the two we have now."

Although Francis has planned to expand its cooperation with Land Rover, Chen Chenxing is still prepared to make some promises to the other party.

Otherwise, his enthusiasm might not be so high.

Who knows how long this investigation will take?

……

While Land Rover was in high spirits, things were a little nervous inside General Motors.

"Edward, how is it?"

“Have our sales in Europe been affected?”

As soon as the turmoil in Europe broke out, Murphy received relevant reports.

Although the incident was quickly quelled, General Motors was portrayed as the "villain" in the newspapers for several days.

"It's strange to say, except for the two or three days when the public opinion storm was more intense, the sales of Buick G and Chevrolet X have been declining. Now the daily data is better than before."

"I estimate that in the future, the sales of Buick G series in Europe alone will exceed 1 units."

Edward's answer made Murphy feel relieved.

Whatever the reason, as long as the end result is good, then everything is fine.

"What about Land Rover cars? How are they selling in Europe?"

Since he was not affected too much, Murphy had the time to pay attention to the situation at Land Rover.

“Sales are up, and the increase is quite large.”

"Conservative estimates suggest that their sales in Europe have increased from less than 1000 units a month to more than 3000 units a month."

"But it's still no match for us." After Edward said this, Murphy couldn't help but mutter, "After all this trouble, our sales have both increased?"

Although I find this result a bit unbelievable, since Edward reported it this way, it means that this is the result.

"Yes, through so many media reports and discussions among relevant personnel, the popularity of Buick G Series and Chevrolet X Series models has increased significantly in the European market."

"The appearance of these two cars is stunning enough, and they are supported by the brand influence of our General Motors."

“So many consumers are willing to choose them.”

Edward naturally also made a preliminary analysis of the reasons for this change in the situation.

After thinking about it, this reason is more reasonable.

“This situation is a bit unexpected.”

"It seems that you need to think of more ways in the future. As long as it can increase brand awareness and have a positive impact on sales, even if it is some negative news, it may not be unacceptable."

After Murphy said this, Edward began to understand some of the key points of the next stage of publicity.

As long as sales increase, everything will be fine.

On the contrary, everything you say is wrong.

……

"Old Li, please implement the recruitment we reported."

"The factory will directly increase the production of Land Rover G to 2.8 vehicles and the production of Land Rover X to 2.2 vehicles starting next month."

"Our assembly workshop has to work in three shifts to barely meet production needs."

Chang Hongjian is the director of the general assembly workshop, and this period of time can be described as full of happy troubles.

The new factory only officially started mass production this year, but before even a year has passed, its production capacity has already been overloaded.

Now it takes a month from start to finish. Except for stopping occasionally to repair equipment, the rest of the time is at work.

Of course, the company has paid the money and no one has any objections.

After all, the income from working for BMW Group for one year is more than what workers in other inland cities can earn from working for several years.

As long as you are not an apprentice, even if you are an ordinary worker, your annual salary and bonus combined will exceed 2000 yuan.

In 1986, this was definitely the highest treatment.

Even in Shenzhen, where wages are generally one or two times higher than other places, this income is still among the highest.

After all, the annual income of ordinary workers in other places is only three to five hundred yuan.

An annual income of more than 2000 yuan is no longer a difference of one or two times.

"Director Chang, don't worry, I have already started cooperation with several technical schools in Yangcheng, and they will arrange a group of people to come here soon."

"Then our training center will immediately expand its recruitment scale to fully meet the needs of each workshop."

Li Xuewen has been very busy recently.

Recruit people, and recruit more people!

The BMW Group is growing too fast and there is a huge talent gap.

On the one hand, we need to recruit some technicians from other peers.

On the other hand, there are not enough workers on the production site.

Workers certainly cannot be found by digging. More often than not, they are recruited from young people who venture into Shenzhen to make money.

Of course, since this year, Li Xuewen has found a better way, which is to cooperate directly with some technical schools.

He even communicated with Shenzhen, hoping that the city could establish several technical schools to provide high-quality workers for the factories in the area.

This request has been adopted, and new technical schools will begin recruiting students next year.

At the same time, the district also assisted the BMW Group in building a large-scale talent training center to provide training opportunities for new employees.

There are at least several hundred people studying in this talent training center every day.

After completing the training, they will be assigned to various workshops.

"That's what you said. If there aren't enough people, I'll just stay in your office every day."

After hearing what Li Xuewen said, Chang Hongjian breathed a sigh of relief.

If the manpower can arrive in time, everything can be maintained.

Otherwise, it would affect export earnings, which would be a pity.

Fortunately, when the new factory was being built, Jiang Huiqiankun made a decisive decision and directly built the largest production plant in China for Land Rover.

At the same time, the land for the new factory has also been leveled and connected in advance, so it can be put into construction at any time.

……

"Brother, Land Rover has adjusted its production plan again, and the output will increase significantly next month."

"For some of our parts, our production capacity is already very tight."

Guo Shengbin was also extremely busy at this time.

As OEMs increase production, suppliers will naturally follow suit.

If any link fails, it will eventually affect the increase in production capacity.

"Those who need to work overtime should work overtime, and those who need to hire should hire people. We must not let down our guard."

"Then we need to speed up the stamping machine that we are going to import earlier."

"If we continue to increase production, we must ensure that there is no shortage of supply."

Guo Shengqiang now lives in the factory most of the time, personally overseeing the production of various parts.

Yonghua Stamping Factory has supplied a lot of small brackets and stamping parts to Land Rover. Whether it can take off in the future depends on whether it can keep up with the development pace of Land Rover.

"For some brackets with simpler processes, we need to consider outsourcing the production to other manufacturers for a period of time."

"Otherwise I'm worried that if something unexpected happens, it will really affect supply."

Guo Shengbin expressed his thoughts.

If production is outsourced, costs will increase.

And there are certain quality risks.

This is definitely not the situation they want to see, nor is it even what Land Rover wants to see.

However, this is the only temporary solution.

"When the time comes, you will go to the outsourced factory and keep an eye on it to ensure that the parts are produced in the right quantity and quality."

Guo Shengqiang naturally knew the current situation, so he could only ensure that there were no problems with the parts by strengthening management.

As for the slight cost increase, there is nothing we can do about it.

……

"Boss, I heard from Land Rover that their production plan for next month has increased significantly."

"For Land Rover alone, we plan to produce 5 of the two models next month."

"Ninety percent of these models are for export."

"By then, the export earnings of Land Rover alone in a month could exceed $5 million, or even reach $ million."

Yao Yiming now understands more and more why his leaders attach so much importance to BMW Group.

There are no more powerful factories in the whole of China.

In just a few years, we started from scratch and built up the current situation.

This was something Yao Yiming had never dared to think about before.

"Are you talking about the BMW Group as a whole reaching 5 units, or the two models of Land Rover reaching 5 units?"

Although Yao Yiming had actually explained it very clearly, Liu Tianwu still felt it was a bit unreal and couldn't help but ask again.

The monthly production of Mercedes-Benz cars has stabilized at just over 10,000.

The production of BMW Sunshine is at a similar level.

If there are 5 Land Rover cars alone, then the entire group has more than 7 vehicles in total.

This is really an exaggeration.

In the past few years, the combined output of all automobile factories in China was only a few hundred thousand vehicles per year.

Now the BMW Group alone has the opportunity to reach 700,000 or 800,000 vehicles, and in the future it may even reach the one million mark.

He felt like he was on a rocket and had a bright future ahead of him.

"The production of the Land Rover G Series and Land Rover X Series has reached 5 units per month."

"The entire BMW Group's monthly production has exceeded 7 vehicles."

"They are busy recruiting people every day, and the production lines are running in three shifts."

"The staff at the dock who are responsible for export loading have to work overtime."

Yao Yiming's very affirmative words made Liu Tianwu couldn't help but smile.

He plans to report this good news to the city later.

The achievements of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone this year will surely dazzle everyone's eyes.

Shenzhen speed has become a true miracle.

"I remember that the original design capacity of the Land Rover factory was 24 vehicles, right?"

"Under normal circumstances, isn't it about 2 vehicles a month?"

After having fun, Liu Tianwu thought of a question.

How does Land Rover achieve production of 5 vehicles per month?
"Leader, you have a really good memory."

"Their planned production capacity is indeed only 24 vehicles, but that is a normal weekend holiday, and the production line is also based on two shifts."

"Now we are in a state of almost non-stop production from the beginning of the month to the end of the month, and we have also adjusted the production rhythm to the fastest possible output."

"This output is not sustainable. It may be OK for a month or so, but if it continues for a long time, the equipment may have problems."

"I think the next step is to transfer part of the Land Rover production capacity to the first plant, so that the production capacity of the two plants can be balanced."

Yao Yiming was very glad that the information he had obtained was comprehensive enough, otherwise he would not be able to answer Liu Tianwu's question.

"The first factory itself is also in full production and often works overtime."

“I think they should start building their third factory.”

"I'll go over and talk to Director Jiang in a few days."

(End of this chapter)