The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

"Peterson, I think the time is ripe to enter the Chinese market."

"They are now fully committed to developing the automobile industry. If we enter too late, our market share will definitely be affected."

Bill is preparing to personally push Ford Motor Company into the Chinese market.

They had previously contacted related companies such as Changan Automobile and Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, and were discussing the terms of joint venture cooperation.

However, because Ford has not thought through some things, no decision has been made.

Now that he sees China releasing important policies related to the automotive industry, Bill feels the situation has changed.

"The Chinese auto market has indeed developed very quickly in recent years."

"If we keep this pace, we will be able to reach a scale of 200 million vehicles in a few years."

“That’s certainly enough to attract us to set up a factory there.”

"But you also know that China's situation is very special."

"Many of their rules are different from what we know. I'm worried that if we rush into this market, we won't be able to adapt to the local environment."

Peterson has had a pretty good time in recent years. Under his leadership, Ford Motor has emerged from the downturn and begun to regain its glory.

So we seem to be more cautious in doing things.

I’m afraid that some special decision will make my life worse again.

"I don't think there is any need to worry about this. China's current policy is that all automobile companies can only set up factories in the form of joint ventures, and the shares cannot exceed 50%."

"So we must find a partner to operate a joint venture."

"Shanghai GM and Shouqi Jeep both use this model."

"Volkswagen and Toyota also entered the Chinese market in a similar way."

"We have contacted several local auto companies, including Changan Automobile and Capital Automobile Manufacturing, and they are all very interested in cooperating with us."

Bill is still very confident in Ford's global influence.

As long as Ford is willing, companies in China will definitely come forward to cooperate.

Many conditions can be discussed.

Especially now that relevant departments are vigorously encouraging the development of the passenger car industry, various automobile manufacturers in China have become more active in finding partners.

"Since you think so, let's formally contact those companies that are more sincere."

"We will try to finalize the cooperation plan as soon as possible."

Considering that OEMs such as General Motors and Volkswagen are already ahead, there is little risk for Ford to enter the Chinese market at this time.

So Peterson agreed to Bill's plan without much hesitation.

Soon, Ford Motor Company took action.

……

"Boss Tang, I think all the conditions from Ford Motor are acceptable."

"The top priority now is to sign the joint venture agreement as soon as possible and introduce a sedan for production."

"In this way, we can also absorb relevant advanced automobile production experience and feed back to our own brand projects."

As the sales manager of Changan Automobile, Liu Yanjie also participated in the cooperation with Ford Motor Company this time.

With the introduction of automobile industry policies, their desire to establish a joint venture has become more urgent.

Several major domestic manufacturers already have joint ventures. If Changan Automobile does not catch up quickly, the gap will become larger and larger in the future.

This is a situation he doesn't want to see.

"There are already many templates for joint venture contracts."

"Since there are no major disagreements between us and Ford, let's finalize the cooperation plan as soon as possible."

“We can also report this project to our superiors in a timely manner and start the construction of the new factory.”

Tang Jiguo naturally understood why Liu Yanjie was so anxious.

Since the beginning of this year, the growth rate of domestic automobile sales has significantly accelerated.

There has been a clear increase in both the demand for official vehicles and the demand for individual consumers.

With the thorough implementation of reform policies, the importance that various regions attach to economic development has reached an unprecedented level.

The impact that an automobile company brings to the development of the industrial chain is enormous.

At that time, the local GDP will directly increase significantly.

Tang Jiguo is now also feeling the pressure in this regard.

"If we move fast enough, we can officially announce our cooperation next week."

"The higher authorities will definitely not object to a plan like this one, such as cooperating with Ford Motor Company."

"We are importing some of Ford's more classic sedans, which are very meaningful for learning."

"I will finalize some specific details of the cooperation in the next few days."

Liu Yanjie is full of energy now.

He had a hunch that Changan Automobile was about to enter a new stage of development.

……

A week later, senior executives of Changan Automobile and Ford Motor Company officially announced the establishment of Changan Ford in Shuangqing City.

This company appeared much earlier than the same period in history, so its impact on Changan Automobile will naturally be much greater.

"Edward, Ford Motor Company is also eager to enter the Chinese market."

"You guys at Shanghai GM need to speed up the development of new models."

"We will strive to mass produce the first model in the first half of next year and the second model in the second half of the year, so that we can gain a firm foothold in the Chinese market."

As the president of General Motors, Murphy is naturally very concerned about the movements of his old rival, Ford Motor Company.

When General Motors and Shanghai Automobile Group established a joint venture, Ford must have been struggling over whether to follow suit.

Now that there have been new policy changes in China, it seems Ford can't wait any longer.

"It shouldn't be a big problem. The quality of China's parts industry base and industrial workers is higher than we thought."

“Although their work style is very different from ours, they are generally more hardworking.”

When Edward first started working in China, he was actually a little worried.

After all, business trips and long-term work are very different in nature.

But after staying for a while, I found that the situation was completely different from what I had understood before.

Not to mention the extremely high extra subsidies the company gives me, combined with the very low local price level, it brings me ultimate enjoyment.

The level of respect he received from people in Shanghai alone made him very happy.

Even when he was hanging out in the Bund on weekends, there were female students who would take the initiative to talk to him, which was beyond his expectations.

"Then produce the product as soon as possible and test the market reaction."

"Although the initial factory production capacity is only 10 vehicles, if the market response is good, we can quickly increase the production capacity." After listening to Edward's words, Murphy felt more confident.

During this era, the automobile factories built by various joint ventures in China generally only had an annual production capacity of around 10 vehicles.

No international automobile giant has built a large automobile plant with an annual production capacity of more than 20 vehicles right from the start.

After all, the higher the production capacity, the larger the scale of investment.

If the sales volume is not very ideal by then, the cost allocated to each car will be very high.

This is a hard thing to accept.

"China seems to be preparing to make some adjustments to its definition of pickup trucks."

"Before, it was treated as a commercial vehicle, and many policies were not so friendly, so basically few consumers would buy it."

"But I heard that Lingnan Province is planning to launch a pilot program to allow pickup trucks to enjoy the same policy treatment as sedans."

"If this is the case, I think we can consider importing a pickup truck to Shanghai GM for production in the future."

After finally being able to communicate directly with CEO Murphy, Edward must report on other matters.

Currently, Shanghai GM has planned three new products, all of which are being promoted in full swing.

But Edward, who has already felt the rapid growth of China's automobile market, certainly does not want GM to have only three models on sale in Shanghai.

General Motors sells hundreds of models under a series of brands including Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Saturn, etc.

If he doesn't bring more models to China, the speed at which his performance improves will be affected.

"Which car model should be imported into the Chinese market for production and sales? This topic was discussed specifically within the company before."

"For the time being, we will proceed in the direction discussed previously, at least until the first car is put into mass production and sold, and then consider other things."

As the president of General Motors, Murphy must consider risk control.

In his opinion, promoting the production of three models in China at the same time is already a relatively risky investment behavior.

He was reluctant to continue adding to his investment before seeing any tangible market performance.

Edward could actually understand this.

Today we are just giving Murphy some advice first, and then we can reduce the difficulty a lot when we bring it up later.

"Pan Asia Technology, which we established together with Shanghai Automobile Group, is mainly responsible for developing new models for the Chinese automobile market."

"China has now issued a new policy for the automotive industry, which is concerned about each automaker setting up its own R&D institute."

"Among all the joint ventures, Shanghai GM is at the forefront."

“I think we can make good use of this aspect.”

"Especially the salaries of technicians in China are very low, and for R&D, personnel salaries are a very important expense."

As the general manager of Shanghai GM, Edward certainly hopes that the team he manages will be as large as possible.

Only in this way can we fully exercise our rights.

Therefore, whether it is Shanghai GM or the related Pan Asia Technology, he hopes to expand the scale and make it stronger as soon as possible.

"Fan Asia Technology, you can come up with a specific plan."

"In the early stage, the headquarters can arrange dozens of technical personnel from the design center to provide support, but in the end, we still have to cultivate local talents."

"Otherwise, it would be impossible to significantly reduce the design cost."

In Murphy's opinion, the matters concerning Pan Asia Technology are still small matters for the time being.

So I gave my opinion without much hesitation.

……

"Boss Jiang, Ford and Changan have recently established a joint venture."

"GM has stepped up the pace of promoting new products in Shanghai."

"It is said that BMW and Mercedes have also arranged inspection teams to come to China to discuss with various OEMs."

"Honda, Nissan and Suzuki have also established branches in China. I guess the next step is to consider finding suitable partners to establish a joint venture to produce cars."

"With so many moves, it seems like everyone is ready to make a big splash in the Chinese auto market."

As the head of sales, Chen Chenxing is naturally very concerned about various actions in the market.

International auto giants are making frequent moves to prepare to enter the Chinese market, and the first to feel the pressure is BMW Group.

After all, they are now the leaders in their local markets.

Several other automobile manufacturers have not performed well in the passenger car field, or have only achieved some results in the low-end market.

As for the various joint ventures, they have already been competing with various giants in the international market.

Now the competition is just continuing in China, and everyone basically has a rough idea of ​​what is going on.

"Although these giants are active, their various actions in China are not very big."

"Besides, if we start taking action now, at the speed they are working at, it will definitely take two to three years for the new model to go into production."

"Unless they directly use the CKD method to assemble the car, in that case, there will be no cost advantage at all."

Jiang Hui is not particularly worried about the various moves by international auto giants to enter the Chinese market.

Chen Chenxing had already discussed this topic with him before.

Now there are just more international auto giants wanting to enter the market.

There are too many lice and they are not itchy.

At this stage, the actions of these two international automobile giants in China will not affect the foundation of the BMW Group.

Therefore, in addition to urging the development of several new products during this period, Jiang Hui has the rest of his time to discuss the development of new products with the R&D personnel from Nanshan Equipment, Lingnan Semiconductor and Zhujiang Technology.

It can be said that Jiang Hui's work focus has temporarily shifted away from the BMW Group.

"That's true. In the next two to three years, the threat these giants pose to us will be relatively limited."

"But once they gain a foothold and continue to expand, they will become our most direct competitors."

"According to the positioning of our various brands, most of the subsequent models will compete with the products of joint ventures."

"The impact of domestically produced automakers' products on us in the next few years will be relatively limited."

Chen Chenxing gave his own analysis opinions based on the market situation.

BMW Group is now also considered a foreign brand, but it is a relatively special foreign brand.

However, several of its models are now quite successful in the international market and are no longer comparable to those of ordinary domestic car companies.

"there is always a solution to a problem."

"The mainstream international auto giants will definitely enter the Chinese market to invest and build factories in the future."

"We don't need to pay special attention to it, as long as we make our products well."

Jiang Hui's calm and composed attitude gave Chen Chenxing more confidence.

BMW Group should not be timid when it comes to fighting on its home turf. (End of this chapter)