The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

After entering 1994, everyone quickly felt the changes in the Chinese automobile market.

"Mr. Li, our sales in March have exceeded 10,000 vehicles."

"At this pace, we are definitely able to achieve our annual production target of 10 this year."

As the vice general manager of Shuanghuan Automobile in charge of sales, Zheng Zhiqiang is in an absolutely wonderful mood right now.

Starting from an insignificant company, Shuanghuan Auto has now secured a place in China's automotive industry.

A monthly sales volume exceeding 10,000 units, or an annual production volume exceeding 100,000 units, marks a watershed moment in China's automotive industry.

Zheng Zhiqiang felt that Shuanghuan Automobile was now old enough to sit at the table and eat.

How are other automakers performing?

Adrian Cheng breathed a sigh of relief; the company's situation had stabilized.

The SRV currently sold by Shuanghuan Auto is a complete copy of Honda's CRV model.

However, the price is less than half of what others charge.

After its listing, Shuanghuan Motors naturally faced criticism from many people, and there were even rumors that Honda would sue Shuanghuan Motors.

Now that SRV sales have increased, the company's profitability has improved significantly.

Adrian Cheng was naturally under less pressure.

"All the car companies performed quite well, and very few car companies experienced a decline in sales."

"It is estimated that national automobile sales will increase by 30% year-on-year in March."

"Even though March is not a peak season, there are signs of booming sales."

Zheng Zhiqiang's words made Zheng Zhigang's feelings become slightly complicated.

He originally thought that the advantages of SRV had been fully accepted by everyone, so sales began to increase significantly, breaking the goal of monthly sales of over 10,000 for the first time.

I didn't expect it to be like this.

As the tide rises, so does every boat; the industry is developing faster, so SRV sales have increased.

But that's not a bad thing.

The fact that the industry is doing well proves that my decision to enter the automotive industry was absolutely correct.

There's no need to worry too much about sales being affected once the new models Shuanghuan Auto is developing are launched.

"Given the current situation, we must not miss this opportunity."

"The company will recruit more workers to increase SRV production."

"Let's see if we can reach the high target of 15 in annual sales."

"Then you can also see which product we should develop in line with if we want to develop more models in the future."

Having tasted the benefits of SRV, Adrian Cheng will surely follow the same path again.

Choosing a popular car model to replicate and develop can save a lot of time, and you don't have to worry about the developed model not being popular.

Time is saved, money is saved, and sales are guaranteed.

Why not?
As for whether he would be criticized, he didn't care much.

If you make money, consider that a portion of it was earned through being criticized.

"No problem, I'll do some research and see which cars are most worth learning from."

Zheng Zhiqiang patted his chest, full of confidence in the matter.

Once raw, twice cooked.

He's really quite adept at this kind of task now.

There are many choices on the market, and it feels like you can succeed no matter which one you choose.

His contributions during that time will certainly be significant.

"Try to choose models from manufacturers that haven't built factories in China yet, so that we will face less pressure."

"Otherwise, we'll probably be facing a lawsuit very soon."

Adrian Cheng is well aware of the challenges he will face in the future.

Once you make money, you'll inevitably face some problems.

All of this is worthwhile.

……

Similar to Shuanghuan Auto, Geely Auto also set a new sales record in March.

"Mr. Li, these are two new models we are planning to develop: an SUV and a mid-size sedan."

"While the sales volume of economy cars is considerable, the profit margin is not ideal."

"The car market is very hot right now. Our company's monthly sales have exceeded 1.5, but the profit per car is only about 1000 yuan."

"Not to mention comparing it with BMW Group, it is far inferior even to Hongqi BMW."

Li Dagui's heart was now burning with passion.

Geely Auto is now a major local enterprise, and its brand awareness has really taken off.

The transformation from a refrigerator factory to a car factory can be considered a complete success.

Now all I need to think about is making more money.

"The car market has indeed suddenly become hot this year."

"Last year and the year before, everyone felt that the automotive industry was becoming more prosperous, but it is still not as good as it is now."

"After years of reforms, it seems there are many more wealthy people in China now."

Li Shufu is now full of confidence and ready to roll up his sleeves and get to work.

A car is nothing more than four wheels and a sofa, what's so difficult about that?
If they can make economy cars, then making mid-range cars is naturally not a problem either.

"Yes, I estimate that starting this year, the car market will be very hot for the next few years."

“The United States has such a small population compared to us, yet it sells 1500 million cars a year.”

"We are only a fraction of what we have now, but the potential is absolutely enormous."

"Who knows, our company's sales may soon break through 30 or 50 vehicles, or even become a large enterprise with annual sales of 100 million vehicles."

Like many people in China's automotive industry, Li Dagui is full of confidence in the future.

With such a large market space and such great potential, the room for imagination is naturally also enormous.

The key thing is that things that people didn't dare to believe before are slowly becoming reality.

In this situation, it is naturally easier for everyone to build confidence.

"The development of our own engines should also be put on the agenda."

"Nanshan Engine's products are very good, but the price is not cheap."

"Engines used in economy cars, in particular, are very price-sensitive."

"We can start from these areas and gradually develop engine development and production capabilities."

Li Shufu hopes to make Geely Automobile bigger and stronger, so naturally he cannot give up core components like engines.

Of course, he also knew that the engine was very important, so he planned to start by gradually using the engine he developed in economy cars.

For the time being, we will continue to source engines from Nanshan Engine Company for mid-range models. This will ensure that the newly launched models do not have any major quality problems.

For any car model sold on the market that does not use a Nanshan engine, the most common problem is engine failure.

Li Shufu had also specifically arranged for someone to investigate this point.

“It’s quite difficult to estimate from scratch. When developing our engine, it would be better to refer to and copy a certain engine.” “I will personally follow up on this matter and try to select the most suitable engine to copy.”

Li Dagui supports the company developing its own engines.

After reducing costs in this way, there is more room to lower the selling price.

This is also beneficial for increasing sales.

However, given the high level of difficulty in engine development, he felt it would be more appropriate to refer to a specific product, similar to the development of the entire vehicle.

"Hmm, don't consider Nanshan Engine's products, take a look at Toyota, Nissan or Honda instead."

Li Shufu isn't stupid; he wouldn't plagiarize Nanshan Engine.

Otherwise, you'll definitely be sued and will certainly lose the case.

BMW Group still wields considerable influence in China.

Even if they go through a normal legal process, Geely Automobile has no chance of winning.

Not to mention they also have a powerful background.

……

"Mr. Geng, our Hongqi A4 and Hongqi A6 both exceeded 1 units in domestic sales last month, and the sales of Hongqi A8 have also improved."

"With export sales added, production in March has exceeded 30,000 vehicles."

"If we continue to develop at this pace, once our SUV is launched in the second half of the year, the company can definitely achieve its high target of 4 or even 5 units per month."

As the general manager of Hongqi BMW and the deputy general manager of FAW, Zhao Guangming has devoted all his energy to Hongqi BMW during this period.

Thanks to its strong product competitiveness, Hongqi BMW has completely opened up a new market.

The car's positioning is excellent, the exterior is beautiful, and there are no major flaws in the engine and transmission.

This situation, coupled with the booming Chinese auto market, naturally led to a surge in popularity.

"Our new factory is already in operation."

"If sales take off, we can make full use of our production capacity."

"Then we can reconsider building the third factory."

Hongqi BMW is now the largest seller within FAW Group.

Whether it's FAW-Volkswagen, FAW-Toyota, or Jiefang Trucks, none of them can compare to Hongqi BMW.

Even the combined sales of several other companies this year may not match those of Hongqi and BMW.

Under these circumstances, Geng Weidong naturally attached great importance to the development of Hongqi and did not want any accidents to happen.

"Yes, taking advantage of this momentum, we will quickly push our sales to the 50 annual production mark and become the second largest in the country."

"Then, taking advantage of the launch of the next few SUV models, we aim to double our sales."

"At that time, our Hongqi BMW will become the second major enterprise in China to achieve annual sales of over 100 million vehicles."

Zhao Guangming became quite agitated as he spoke.

Unexpectedly, even Hongqi and BMW have managed to reach the milestone of 100 million vehicles.

Keep in mind that when he first started working, the total automobile production in China was less than 10 vehicles.

Now, the annual production of Hongqi BMW, which he is in charge of, is about to reach 100 million units.

Although it may take several years to achieve success, it is already a remarkable achievement.

"We need to coordinate well with BMW Group so that the launch of the SUV model can not be affected."

"Then we also need to pay close attention to the reactions of our competitors."

"As for overseas markets, the performance in Europe last year was not very optimistic."

"You should communicate with Volkswagen and see if there are any measures to salvage the situation this year."

Compared to the booming Chinese auto market, the situation in the European market is not so optimistic.

This naturally affected the export performance of the Hongqi A4 and Hongqi A6.

After all, the export sales of these two models mainly rely on cooperation with Volkswagen.

Their performance in other areas was very limited.

"Yes, I will make a special business trip to Shenzhen to discuss the relevant matters."

"I will have someone provide regular weekly reports on various industry information from now on."

Zhao Guangming naturally had no objection to Geng Weidong's instructions.

……

While all the car manufacturers were excitedly analyzing their market performance in March, the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant was no exception.

"Mr. Chen, our group's sales in March reached a record high."

"Whether it's Mercedes-Benz or Hyundai in the capital, sales of related models have seen a significant increase."

"The performance of the group's own brands is also remarkable."

"I think that under these circumstances, it is necessary for the development of the group's component enterprises to be improved in tandem."

As a senior executive with a background in R&D, Lü Jianqiang places a high degree of importance on components.

Of course, he also learned from the successful experiences of manufacturers such as Nanshan Technology and Nanshan Engine.

There's great potential in developing parts manufacturing companies.

"You're right, our group's car sales have increased."

"If the technical level of the group's component companies can keep up, then the orders from just a few companies within the group will be very considerable."

"Who knows, our group might be able to cultivate a large auto parts company in the future."

Chen Qi highly approved of Lü Jianqiang's suggestion.

Under the influence of the BMW Group, everyone attaches great importance to the auto parts industry.

After all, the objective facts are there for all to see, and you can't ignore them.

"We can take our time with some of the more critical components."

"We started with the relatively simple parts."

"For example, injection molded parts and stamped parts, we can definitely make them ourselves."

“Parts like subframes on the chassis could also be explored.”

Lu Jianqiang also knew that the Capital Automobile Group's capabilities were relatively limited, and if they started with very difficult parts, they wouldn't be able to produce them quickly.

For example, components like the engine ECU cannot be produced even if given several more years.

This type of part is definitely not an option.

"China's automobile industry is now facing unprecedented opportunities."

"With the entire industry so prosperous, we are vigorously developing auto parts companies to supply parts to the group and other companies."

"We will strive to cultivate several domestic auto parts companies with global influence."

"This is definitely something that has the support of higher authorities."

The more Chen Qi talked, the more he felt that this matter had great potential.

Lü Jianqiang, that guy, has surprisingly provided me with a good solution.

When I report on my performance later, I can bring this up and talk about it in detail.

Who knows, it might even earn some extra recognition from the boss. (End of Chapter)