The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

"Our passenger vehicle business has not yet fully developed, but our commercial vehicle business is facing greater pressure."

"BMW Group has done so well in the passenger car sector. Wouldn't it be great if it could continue to work in this field?"

"Why would you want to disrupt the commercial vehicle industry for no reason?"

Chen Liangrong is in a very bad mood now.

The development of Second Automobile Works in recent years has been less than satisfactory.

As the general manager, he faces tremendous pressure.

Last year, in order to change the situation of Second Automobile Works, he proposed to his superiors to move the headquarters of Second Automobile Works out of the mountains.

This direction has been recognized, but it will obviously take time to implement it.

Now the traditional commercial vehicle business is facing greater pressure, and many things will certainly be full of variables.

"Since the comprehensive reform in 1989, infrastructure projects have been launched in various places, and the demand for commercial vehicles has increased rapidly."

"Especially since entering this year, this trend has become more obvious."

"Our truck sales this year can achieve a double-digit growth compared to last year, and the situation is similar at FAW and Ligong Special Vehicle Factory."

"Even so, some popular models are hard to find in the market."

“This is something we haven’t seen in many years.”

"I guess BMW also saw this situation, so they couldn't help but enter the commercial vehicle market."

"After all, they can produce engines, gearboxes and key components themselves."

"It also provides core parts for some trucks such as the Polytechnic Special Vehicle Factory."

“It’s not too difficult to enter this field on your own.”

Zhang Fan gave Chen Liangrong a fairly objective analysis of the current situation.

However, this statement did not make Chen Liangrong feel better at all.

"The BMW Group itself has advantages in size and technology. Jiang Hui also helped promote the heavy truck project of the Polytechnic Special Vehicle Factory."

"Under this circumstance, the BMW heavy-duty trucks produced by BMW will definitely lead all kinds of products on the market in all aspects."

"The pressure we will face by then will be very great, and the current prosperous situation is likely to change significantly."

"We cannot sit idly by."

Chen Liangrong could almost predict some of the market reactions after the launch of BMW heavy-duty trucks.

Whether the market will accept new products launched by other new companies is still an unknown.

But BMW Group's new products obviously do not have such concerns.

The only difference is how popular they are.

"BMW Group cooperates with FAW to produce Hongqi sedans and provides engines and gearboxes to many OEMs."

"Can we consider cooperating with them to produce trucks?"

"In this way, our truck business can be smoothly transferred out of the mountains and valleys?"

Zhang Fan put forward a bold idea.

He discovered that over the years, all companies that cooperated with the BMW Group have developed very well.

On the other hand, the situation is more complicated.

"Of course I am willing to cooperate with BMW Group. The key is whether they think highly of us."

"I think FAW and Ligong Special Vehicle Factory must have thought of your idea as well."

“Relatively speaking, we don’t have any advantages.”

Chen Liangrong is not optimistic about this cooperation project.

There is no reason for the other party to choose to cooperate with Second Automobile Works.

"It all depends on people."

"Mr. Chen, I think there's no harm in giving it a try. At most we can give up some of our profits."

"In terms of policies and regulations for the automotive industry, Second Automobile Works still has a certain influence."

“This is especially true in the commercial vehicle sector.”

"It won't be bad for the BMW Group to cooperate with us."

After Zhang Fan said this, Chen Liangrong certainly did not refute.

He simply handed the project over to Zhang Fan to contact him to see if he could come up with an unexpected surprise.

……

"Boss Jiang, people from FAW, Second Automobile Works, and Ligong Special Vehicle Factory have all contacted me to inquire about BMW heavy trucks."

"The implicit and implicit meaning of their words is that they want to see if we want to cooperate with them to form a joint venture to produce this product."

"How do you think I can respond to them?"

Chen Chenxing is now considered an important figure in China's automobile industry. He has considerable influence and a very wide network of contacts.

He knows all the persons in charge of procurement, technology, and R&D at major domestic automobile companies, as well as general managers, chief engineers, and the like.

Having worked in sales for many years, he has become quite adept at this and is no longer as shy as he used to be.

Many customers who want to contact BMW Group will think of trying it through him.

This time is no exception.

"Once a joint venture starts, it's hard to stop."

"The situation of Hongqi sedan is quite special. It is our only joint venture project."

“But for heavy trucks, I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Jiang Hui's attitude is still very clear. BMW can just make heavy trucks on its own and there is no need to form a joint venture.

What the other party can provide to you is very limited.

"However, in the diesel engine project, we can consider establishing a joint venture with some manufacturers."

"Whether it is Second Automobile Works, First Automobile Works, or the Polytechnic Special Vehicle Factory, we can consider providing a diesel engine for cooperation with them."

Jiang Hui knew that in the field of diesel engines, if Nanshan Engine did not take the initiative, then foreign diesel engines such as Cummins would take advantage of the situation and move in.

In the future, Cummins and other companies will take the lion's share of high-end diesel engines.

Domestic companies such as Weichai seem to be large in scale, but their profits are not necessarily as high as others.

"The engine is the most valuable component on a heavy truck. We are very sincere in bringing this project to the market."

"I think there should be car companies interested."

After hearing Jiang Hui's words, Chen Chenxing breathed a sigh of relief.

With this plan, I can completely report to those people.

Even if he refused to cooperate, those people wouldn't do anything to him.

But those who work in sales certainly don’t want to offend customers.

Otherwise, you never know when someone might disgust you.

Hedong in thirty years and Hexi in thirty years.

This is not said for nothing.

"In the short term, we should limit it to two joint venture engine factories, otherwise our original production capacity may be left idle."

“Don’t make it seem like our joint venture project is cheap.” Jiang Hui added his thoughts.

It is possible to build a diesel engine factory through a joint venture, but there is a quota limit.

The cooperation project of Nanshan Engine is not so easy to carry out.

"Mr. Jiang, if we open up joint ventures in the diesel engine field, will we also have the same considerations in the gasoline engine field?"

"As far as I know, some factories are also considering whether to launch their own engine projects."

Chen Chenxing mentioned a rather critical issue.

In terms of gasoline engines, Nanshan Engine now has an absolute monopoly position in the market.

But this situation certainly cannot continue forever.

Whether it is the traditional Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant and Shanghai Automobile Manufacturing Plant, or the newly emerging Great Wall Motors and Geely Automobile, they all definitely have their own ideas.

These ideas are definitely not good things for Nanshan Engine.

“The situation of gasoline engines can be seen in combination with the sales volume of each partner.”

"If the sales volume of a gasoline engine can reach 10 units a year, then we can consider establishing a joint venture to produce it."

"Otherwise, we will continue to hand it over to Nanshan Engine for centralized production."

Jiang Hui thought about it and quickly gave his opinion.

China's automobile industry is quite special.

Some key components of various OEMs in later generations are basically produced by companies related to the shareholders.

Joint ventures for various auto parts are emerging in large numbers.

On the seat, that is the most typical.

Almost every OEM's seat manufacturer is a joint venture.

One of the joint venture shareholders is generally the OEM or one of the OEM's shareholders.

"Well, it would be good to set a unified standard."

"In a short period of time, there are not many companies that can meet this standard."

Chen Chenxing didn't expect that Jiang Hui would actually agree to cooperate on gasoline engines today.

It seems that the rapid development of the domestic automobile market and the ever-changing situation have also had a certain impact on Jiang Hui's decision.

The situation will become more and more complicated in the future.

You have me I have you.

Let's compete and cooperate together.

……

Now that the BMW heavy-duty truck project has been officially launched within the group, the design and production preparation of key components must naturally be considered simultaneously.

Parts like the engine and gearbox are basically easy to deal with.

After all, we have had similar experiences before, and there is no need to invest in large equipment again to meet the requirements.

But the frame rail is a little special.

"Mr. Jiang, we have made a preliminary analysis and found that the frame longitudinal beams of high-end heavy trucks from Mercedes-Benz and Scania are all made of integrated stamping."

"This way, the entire frame will be stronger and have better performance."

"But this requires the use of high-strength steel plates and large presses, and requires Nanshan Steel Plant, Nanshan Equipment, and Nanshan Technology to invest in new projects together."

Hou Guoming quickly came up with a design plan for the heavy truck and reported the situation of some key bottleneck parts to Jiang Hui.

For example, the frame longitudinal beam we are talking about now is what we call the main beam.

This part looks simple, but it is not that easy to produce.

It is necessary to import large hydraulic presses of 3000 tons or even 5000 tons to meet the stamping needs.

The production and installation of a press of this tonnage often takes a year.

Not to mention that Nanshan Equipment had never produced this kind of equipment before and needed to be redesigned.

This will naturally take more time.

That's why Hou Guoming reported this part to Jiang Hui as the bottleneck part.

"The truck beams of FAW and Second Automobile are made by stamping and welding in sections. The process is relatively mature and the design requirements can be met by flexibly adjusting the material thickness in different places."

"But the integrated stamped beam has higher structural strength and better safety."

“And the lightweight effect is significant, and the durability and lifespan are longer.”

"Since we are going to make heavy trucks, we must make the best in the country."

Jiang Hui agreed to the integrated beam plan without any hesitation.

As for investment from companies such as Nanshan Equipment, then go ahead and invest.

"The welding or riveting joints of traditional segmented beams are prone to stress concentration, and long-term high-load operation may cause fatigue cracking. The one-piece beam has no splicing welds, and the overall force is evenly distributed, and the torsional and bending strengths are increased by 20% to 30%."

"Under rough roads or heavy load conditions, the one-piece frame can better resist twisting and deformation, reducing the risk of frame breakage."

"One-piece stamping reduces weight by 10% to 15% compared to segmented welding."

"For every ton of vehicle weight reduction, the fuel consumption of heavy trucks can be reduced by 1 to 1.5 liters per 2 kilometers, which is very beneficial both in terms of emission regulations and economy."

When it comes to the advantages of integrated molding, Hou Guoming naturally has a lot to say.

"Yes, the metal fibers of the one-piece beam are continuously distributed, which avoids the microscopic defects in the heat-affected zone of welding and extends the service life by 30% to 50%."

"Even if there is an overload, the service life requirements can be guaranteed."

Jiang Hui is very clear about how serious the situation of truck overloading will be in the country in the future.

A heavy truck will not be popular with consumers if it cannot be overloaded.

Therefore, when designing, there must be a margin for load-bearing capacity.

The integrated beam obviously has advantages in this regard.

"Overloading is a real problem."

"If we perform particularly well in this area, it will definitely be a key marketing point at that time."

Although Hou Guoming is a technician, he is naturally very concerned about the promotional points of a product.

Otherwise, they would lose face if the products they developed could not be sold.

"Didn't we get back a lot of large equipment-related technologies from the polar bears?"

"If we need to invest in a large press this time, we can ask Nanshan Equipment to do it."

"Or we can let Nanshan Equipment cooperate with Jier. Jier's level in presses is still good."

"As for high-strength automotive steel plates, this is the direction that Nanshan Steel Plant has been working on."

"Previously, 590MPA steel plates have been used on our models."

"We can consider using the new generation of 780MPA high-strength steel plates on the beams, which should have a very good effect in terms of strength and lightness."

Jiang Hui immediately decided on several major directions.

There are so many things going on in the group, and if the boss is indecisive, it is easy to delay things.

So sometimes, even if you make the wrong decision, it is better than making no decision at all.

Jiang Hui has a deep understanding of this and will not make mistakes in this regard. (End of this chapter)