The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 417: Unprecedented cooperation, many smart people

"This suggestion of yours is really special."

"No one has ever discussed this plan with their superiors before."

"But similar to the situation of exchanging food for technology just now, I will arrange for someone to do some research first."

"I even plan to go to Mohe and other places to investigate and find out the situation before taking any action."

Zhu Jiansheng is relatively cautious in doing things.

Every point Jiang Hui raised is crucial and will certainly have a huge impact.

At that time, he will also have to explain to his superiors with reason and evidence in order to finally get approval.

Otherwise, no matter how good the plan is, it will be meaningless if it is not recognized.

Originally Jiang Hui had prepared three plans, but now these two plans have brought enough impact to Zhu Jiansheng.

He planned to wait until Zhu Jiansheng completed the investigation of these two plans before bringing up the third plan.

After all, compared with these two options, the third option will definitely bring greater impact to everyone.

It will definitely bring a lot of doubts at that time.

Zhu Jiansheng is a new official, so it would be better not to add too much difficulty to him at once.

……

Just as Zhu Jiansheng and his father-in-law Jiang Hui were chatting about some things about their future work, the news that Zhu Jiansheng became the second-in-command of the Machinery Industry Committee was naturally being discussed among many people.

The impact of this incident is undoubtedly huge for the relevant factories.

"Director Lu, we need to speed up the development of our new generation of cheap cars."

"The exterior design of the car can be directly based on Toyota's Corolla."

"The engine has been confirmed to be the 1.5L mass-produced product from Nanshan Engine, and the gearbox will be the 4MT gearbox from the Capital Gear Factory."

"We have to launch this car by next year at the latest."

"The first prototype will be produced by the end of this year, and the clay model will be finalized within the next month."

"I plan to invite Vice Commissioner Zhu Jiansheng to come over for a visit and guidance."

Chen Qi is still very sensitive.

He and Zhu Jiansheng are old acquaintances.

When Zhu Jiansheng was still a professor at Capital Institute of Technology, the two sides collaborated on the new BJ212.

The sales of this car have declined significantly today, but it is still the mainstay model of Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant.

"I understand that the powertrain solution has been finalized, and the chassis, exterior, and interior are directly borrowed from Corolla."

"According to this idea, we will be able to come up with a plan for our clay model making this month."

"But the key now is to bring the cost down."

"For the 1.5L engine, I don't think our bargaining power is very strong, but I am prepared to sign a bet agreement with the other party."

"As long as we ensure that the annual purchase quantity reaches 10 units, we will ask Nanshan Engine to give us an additional 20% price reduction."

“I think there’s still a chance that the other party will agree.”

"As for Capital Gear, if they can't lower the cost of the 4MT gearbox, we will threaten to purchase from Nanshan Gearbox."

"Those of the other supporting factories that cannot keep up will be kicked out."

Lu Jianqiang is not stupid. He naturally knows why Chen Qi suddenly asked to speed up the progress of the cheap car project today.

In the future, Capital Automobile Manufacturing will take a completely different path from the BMW Group.

Well, to be precise, it is to follow the path of BMW, a path that the BMW Group seems to be ready to abandon.

During this process, they are also preparing to strengthen cooperation with BMW Group.

Various parts will be purchased from companies under the BMW Group as long as the other party has an advantage.

"Then you can make some arrangements. We will go on a business trip to Shenzhen in the near future and have a good time catching up with Jiang Hui."

At this time, in addition to reporting to Zhu Jiansheng, it is obviously also very important to establish a good relationship with Jiang Hui.

Chen Qi knew the close relationship between Zhu Jiansheng and Jiang Hui better than many others.

He has old connections with both parties, so it would be much easier for him to pick things up again.

Anyway, his approach is completely tenable.

Maybe when the sales of economy cars pick up, he will be able to raise the grade.

……

Obviously, Chen Qi was not the only one who could see these changes clearly and take action.

FAW also responded promptly.

"Director Jiang, long time no see!"

“When you come to Shenzhen, you can feel the influence of the BMW Group everywhere.”

Geng Weidong brought Zhao Guangming and others to BMW Group for exchanges.

FAW has been under great development pressure in recent years, and Geng Weidong has been making changes.

However, their speed certainly cannot keep up with the BMW Group.

Currently, only FAW-Volkswagen and FAW Toyota have good product profits, but their sales volumes are not large and their overall profits are limited.

The truck business faces competition from Second Automobile Works and Polytechnic Heavy Truck, and the pressure has suddenly increased a lot.

As for Hongqi, after several years of struggle, it has still not found its own suitable direction.

Even though the company had previously wanted to use Nanshan engines to launch a new model of Hongqi sedan, it had been tossed around internally and the design plan had been changed over and over again, and there has been no follow-up to this yet.

Because of the special history of Hongqi cars, Geng Weidong was embarrassed to directly borrow the appearance of a certain model and wanted to create something original.

But for FAW at that time, it was not easy to be original.

In addition, a lot of talented people have left in recent years, making it even more difficult to create original works.

This visit to the BMW Group was certainly related to Zhu Jiansheng's promotion, but it was also related to finding development opportunities for FAW Hongqi.

"Director Geng, thank you for your praise."

“It is said that Spring City is a city built by FAW. Only by going to Spring City can you fully appreciate the huge influence and contribution of FAW.”

"In particular, the mass production of your CA141 Jiefang heavy-duty truck has brought a huge impact to the industry."

"I heard that you also imported a second-hand production line of 2.2L 488 engines from Chrysler for the development of light trucks."

"FAW's product line will surely become more and more abundant by then."

Although we have known each other for many years, our relationship is not that good or that familiar.

It is inevitable that businesses will flatter each other.

For FAW, the only product it can currently offer is the CA141 heavy-duty truck.

If there were no heavy-duty trucks from the University of Science and Technology, the historical significance of the FAW CA141 heavy-duty truck would still be very high.

The birth of the CA141 heavy-duty truck marks a new breakthrough for FAW in the field of heavy-duty trucks and also represents the improvement of the technological level of China's automobile industry.

It is a milestone model in FAW's history, providing valuable experience and reference for subsequent automobile research and development and production.

It was designed and manufactured on the basis of inheriting and developing FAW's first generation truck CA10B.

Its performance indicators, manufacturing process and service life are greatly improved compared with the first generation of products.

It is equipped with a CA6102 inline 6-cylinder water-cooled gasoline engine with a maximum power of 99kW and a maximum speed of 90km/h. The load capacity is increased to 5 tons and it can tow a 6-ton trailer.

These technological innovations and performance improvements make the CA141 heavy-duty truck the representative of China's second-generation truck products.

Among the heavy-duty trucks on the market now, only the Ligong heavy-duty truck can compete with CA141.

However, it is precisely because of the emergence of the Ligong heavy-duty trucks that FAW has been under greater pressure.

Because the parameters of the Ligong heavy truck are slightly higher than those of CA141.

"It's embarrassing to say that it took us so many years to come up with a new heavy-duty truck."

"But the BMW Group has already developed from the BMW Sunbeam and Mercedes-Benz sedans to the Land Rover G and X series models."

“That’s more sales in one year than we’ve had in years.”

Although it was painful to say this, it was Geng Weidong's true words.

He is definitely envious of the situation of the BMW Group.

He also hopes that FAW can achieve such rapid development.

But only when you actually do it do you realize how difficult it is.

It’s not that easy to launch a new product.

Not to mention ensuring that this new product is popular in the market, which makes it even more difficult to judge.

"We have achieved some results thanks to the good policies from our superiors and the favorable reform policy."

"In terms of historical heritage, it is still far inferior to FAW."

If Geng Weidong didn't get to the point, Jiang Hui would definitely not say anything on his own initiative.

Just chatting.

Then let’s talk slowly.

Finally, Geng Weidong couldn't hold it in any longer and started to change the topic back to the right track.

"Director Jiang, to be honest, I came here mainly to discuss the development of Hongqi sedans with you."

“The BMW Group’s strength in vehicle exterior design and powertrain is obvious to all.”

"We hope that both sides can strengthen cooperation in this regard and achieve a win-win situation."

Geng Weidong thought about it and decided to throw out the plan that had been discussed among several internal executives.

This plan is definitely a very different plan for FAW and China's automobile industry.

Everyone knows the situation of the BMW Group.

They are said to be foreign-funded enterprises in Hong Kong, but in fact they are private enterprises in China.

The status of Chinese private enterprises has always been quite embarrassing. Even though the relevant departments have introduced a series of various plans, the current situation has not changed completely.

Of course, as the BMW Group has the cover of foreign capital, the impact it has received is relatively limited.

“We welcome cooperation with all customers.”

"For example, Nanshan Engine, Nanshan Transmission and Nanshan Technology have already formed cooperation with major domestic automobile manufacturers such as FAW, Shanghai Automobile Manufacturing Plant and Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant."

Jiang Hui wasn't sure what Geng Weidong was up to, so he could only continue talking about some nonsense.

Geng Weidong did not hide it this time and said directly: "In order to develop and improve the technical level, and rapidly develop the domestic automobile industry."

"At present, our superiors support us to cooperate with various automobile giants to attract their funds, technology and management experience."

"Now FAW has formed a good cooperation with Volkswagen and Toyota."

"We also cooperated with Chrysler to introduce an engine production line to serve light trucks."

"I hope to cooperate with BMW Group and establish Hongqi BMW Automobile Co., Ltd., with each party holding 50% of the shares and jointly develop the Hongqi car brand."

When Geng Weidong proposed this plan, Jiang Hui's expression finally changed.

The Hongqi brand has a special appeal in China's automobile industry.

Especially in the official car market, its uniqueness is unmatched by any other brand.

Especially in 1987, this market had not yet been completely occupied by other auto giants.

If BMW Group cooperates with FAW Hongqi to establish Hongqi BMW Automobile Co., Ltd. and jointly develop a business car, it may really have unexpected results.

And in terms of equity, FAW was very sincere and directly gave BMW Group 50% of its shares, the highest proportion that a foreign-funded company can hold.

"Director Geng, can you give us a detailed introduction to the form of this joint venture?"

Although he was very interested in this cooperation, Jiang Hui still wanted to hear more details from Geng Weidong.

Don’t let others try to take advantage of BMW Group by getting something for nothing, that would be disgusting.

After all, the BMW Group already has new models of Mercedes-Benz sedans and Mercedes-Benz C-Class under development.

It is not impossible for these two models to lead the domestic official vehicle market.

Of course, it is undeniable that FAW’s influence within the system is definitely much stronger than that of Mercedes-Benz.

In terms of promoting official vehicles, cooperation with FAW can achieve better results.

Besides, the relevant departments definitely have certain preferences when purchasing foreign brand vehicles and joint venture vehicles.

"Hongqi BMW is located in Chuncheng, making use of Hongqi Automobile's existing factories and talent pool."

"BMW will help develop a brand-new car, and then use the powertrain of Nanshan engine and Nanshan gearbox, and both parties will quickly launch a car."

"We will focus on the official car market and also consider cooperating with embassies around the world to help promote this car overseas as an official car..."

Geng Weidong quickly expressed his thoughts.

For him, as long as the sales of the Hongqi brand can be increased rapidly, he can report to his superiors.

Anyway, the superiors are aware of the actual shareholding situation of the Hongqi BMW joint venture.

This is a 100% Chinese automobile company. What are you waiting for if you don’t give it your full support?

"I agree with this cooperation in principle, but the teams of both sides need to have a good discussion on the details."

Jiang Hui thought about it for a moment and gave his answer.

This made Geng Weidong feel relieved.

As long as the general direction is correct, the rest will be easy.

It's just a question of what kind of concessions to make.

FAW had already accumulated relevant experience in this regard when negotiating with Volkswagen and Toyota.

Geng Weidong probably has a rough idea of ​​what can be compromised and what terms the other party will definitely propose.

But for Jiang Hui, it is definitely not as simple as both parties holding half of the shares.

We provide the entire vehicle design solution, so it is definitely not as simple as selling engines and gearboxes.

The car model brand directly uses Hongqi, but the technology comes from the BMW Group. How the technology commission fee should be charged needs to be discussed carefully.

Although it is possible to transfer profits in disguised form through the sales of engines and gearboxes, that kind of eating is not very good and is not conducive to the long-term cooperation between the two parties.

After all, for a gearbox, you can't sell it to Hongqi BMW at a higher price than you sell it to other customers, right?
FAW will definitely have objections to this obvious practice of overcharging people.

Therefore, it is necessary to transfer profits by collecting technical commission fees and other fees in an open and aboveboard manner.

There is no need to do too much tricks when it comes to cooperation on other parts.

The two bosses decided on the direction of cooperation, and the team below naturally started specific negotiations soon.

Both parties are sincere, and since it is a joint venture between domestic enterprises, it is naturally much simpler to negotiate various conditions.

In just two weeks, the two parties had formally agreed on a cooperation plan.

At the same time, FAW also obtained approval from its superiors to support the cooperation between FAW Hongqi and BMW Group.

The joint venture will introduce a brand-new sedan from BMW Group and strive to achieve large-scale mass production in the first half of next year.

At the same time, relevant departments have also officially promulgated several laws and regulations related to the status of private enterprises.

The introduction of these laws and regulations has removed many obstacles for the development of private enterprises and provided them with a legal and compliant identity.

This pace is significantly faster than the same period in history.

As the first city to pilot these rules, Shenzhen was commended by its superiors this time.

"Leader, BMW Group and FAW formally signed a joint venture contract in Chuncheng today. Both parties will each invest 50% to establish a joint venture company to operate the Hongqi brand."

"The new company will use Hongqi's existing factory buildings and personnel team, and BMW Group will provide technical support and certain cash support to jointly develop a new product."

Yao Yiming immediately reported the developments at the BMW Group to Liu Tianwu.

This action is also very different for Shenzhen.

This is the first time that BMW Group has officially stepped out of Shenzhen.

Although it is under the name of a joint venture, everyone can understand why Hongqi's factory is located in Chuncheng.

But after all, it is special and Yao Yiming is still quite worried.

"I can understand FAW's cooperation with Volkswagen and Toyota."

"But I was a little surprised that they were willing to form a joint venture with BMW Group."

Liu Tianwu is very clear about the mentality of large state-owned enterprises such as FAW.

The other party looks down on domestic private enterprises.

Even if the BMW Group is covered with a foreign capital coat.

"Director Jiang's father-in-law has now been transferred from Capital Polytechnic University to the Machinery Industry Commission."

“Although I am in charge of the weapons industry, I am not directly responsible for FAW.”

"But as the second-in-command, he still has a say in all matters related to FAW."

"Add to that the excellent performance of the BMW Group, and the other party's choice of compromise should be the only option."

After Yao Yiming said this, Liu Tianwu also expressed his approval.

After all, in terms of technical level, BMW Group is a very competent partner.

As for Zhu Jiansheng's relationship, it is certainly not suitable to be discussed openly, but people within the system can understand the essence of it.

This is also why Jiang Hui has been working hard to promote Zhu Jiansheng's progress.

As long as he makes progress, even if BMW Group does not say a word, many people will take the initiative to take some actions to let BMW Group enjoy the benefits.

Jiang Hui had no intention of taking advantage of the relevant departments, but if he could save a lot of trouble in the company's development process, that would naturally be the best.

Otherwise, you will encounter this situation of having trouble dealing with the little devil again and again in the future, which will be very annoying.

"Do you think the establishment of the Hongqi BMW joint venture will affect BMW Group's sales in China?"

For Shenzhen, the most important thing is definitely the local economic development.

BMW Group is now the most powerful engine for Shenzhen's economic development, and changes in its sales will affect local development.

If the sales of Mercedes-Benz cars or Land Rover cars decline due to the emergence of Hongqi BMW, it will be difficult for Liu Tianwu and Shenzhen City to accept.

"I think Director Jiang and his team must have considered this issue."

"The positioning of the new models produced by Hongqi BMW will definitely be different from the existing models."

"As for the impact this model will have after it goes into mass production, it is probably difficult to assess right now."

"But I heard that BMW Group has already started developing three new models at the same time."

"Sales will certainly increase year by year in the future, and it shouldn't drag down our GDP growth."

After Yao Yiming said this, Liu Tianwu breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as the BMW Group's growth rate is higher than the average rate of Shenzhen, there will be no problem.

Development can cover up many problems, and Liu Tianwu absolutely cannot accept the slowdown in Shenzhen's development speed.

"You need to push for the implementation of the industrial equipment park that I mentioned to Jiang Hui earlier as soon as possible."

"If there is anything that needs to be communicated between Lingnan Province and the ministries, please bring it up in a timely manner."

"If I can't handle something, I will go to the leader in person to coordinate resources."

After much thought, Liu Tianwu felt that he should do his job well in Shenzhen.

He didn't think that any place's policies could be better than Shenzhen's at this time.

The advantages of the Special Administrative Region and the changes in the service attitude of local relevant departments are not comparable to many places in the mainland.

Even if BMW Group and FAW taste the sweetness of this cooperation, they will definitely feel many constraints.

When I consider developing in other places in the future, I will definitely consider more issues.

Liu Tianwu doesn't mind BMW Group leaving Shenzhen as long as he can hold on until he leaves Shenzhen and moves to a higher position.

By then, he can go to other areas where he is working to develop, and the two sides can start cooperation again.

(End of this chapter)