The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 81 Grand plan to produce 15 heavy trucks per year

FAW is the "eldest son" of China's automobile industry, Second Automobile Works Dongfeng is the "second son", so which one is Third Automobile Works?
To be honest, Jiang Hui really had no impression.

Some people in later generations jokingly referred to BAIC, NAC or Changan as "Sanqi", but that was a ranking based entirely on status and was not the real Sanqi.

The "Sanqi Preparatory Group" mentioned by Zheng Zhengqing is obviously not the Sanqi that Jiang Hui understands.

"In 1975, Second Automobile Works built a production base for 2.5-ton off-road vehicles and officially started production."

"This year, the second basic model of Second Automobile Works, a 5-ton truck, went into production."

"So far, the construction of Second Automobile has taken shape and started mass production, completing the initial difficult entrepreneurial stage."

"In order to solve the problem of 'lack of heavy products and shortage of light products', our First Machinery Industry Ministry started planning to build the Third Automobile Factory last year."

Seeing the confusion on Jiang Hui's face, Zheng Zhengqing explained patiently.

Apart from the members of the preparatory group, not many people knew about Sanqi's affairs.

There was almost no coverage in any media.

It is normal that no one has heard of Jiang Hui, who just graduated from university this year.

Even Zhu Jiansheng was very unfamiliar with the "Sanqi" business and only heard the term occasionally in certain occasions.

"We should make automobile manufacturing an important pillar industry and strive for greater development."

"This is a prerequisite for our country to vigorously accelerate the development of the automobile manufacturing industry."

"It can be said that at this stage, the focus of my country's automobile industry is heavy trucks and cars."

"However, my country still has almost no heavy-duty trucks, and heavy-duty trucks can quickly improve work efficiency and are a direction for the development of the automobile industry."

"Against this backdrop, Sanqi's primary goal was to establish an automobile factory that produces heavy trucks."

"The First Ministry of Machine Building has organized relevant personnel to go abroad for inspection this time, and the manufacturers they will focus on are General Motors, International, Ford, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, MAN, Volkswagen, Volvo, Berrier, Steyr and other companies."

"The focus of the discussion is also on heavy-duty truck products."

Although what Zheng Zhengqing said was confidential to a certain extent, it was not confidential. It would not matter if he told it to Jiang Hui and Zhu Jiansheng, who were in the system.

"Chief Engineer Zheng, have the specific construction guidelines, feasibility report, and project plan of Sanqi been clarified?"

When Jiang Hui heard about "Sanqi" for the first time, he felt it necessary to understand the situation clearly.

There is definitely no "Sanqi" in later generations, but Zheng Zhengqing had no need to lie to Jiang Hui.

That means the “Sanqi Preparatory Group” was really operating, but the project ultimately failed.

"These are still under discussion, but we hope to build a modern factory with an annual production capacity of 15 heavy-duty vehicles. This goal has already formed a preliminary consensus within the preparatory group."

After Zheng Zhengqing said this, Jiang Hui couldn't help but pout.

A modern factory that produces 15 heavy-duty vehicles per year?

Is this something China can handle at this stage?

That's a heavy truck!

In the whole of 1978, the total production of all Huaxia automobile products was less than 15 units.

Now Sanqi is actually planning to build a modern factory with an annual production capacity of 15 heavy trucks. That's too much. "Chief Engineer Zheng, the production of heavy trucks is much more difficult than that of sedans. I once read an article somewhere saying that the annual production of heavy trucks of Deutsche Benz is only 8."

“Is the scale of our factory with an annual production capacity of 15 vehicles too large?”

Although Zheng Zhengqing felt that he had done him a favor, Jiang Hui couldn't help but remind him of this obviously unreasonable plan.

If Sanqi sticks to this plan, it will definitely have no future.

"From 1953 to 1978, Huaxia Automobile people tried their best and finally produced more than vehicles, but the annual output of heavy-duty trucks has been hovering around a few hundred vehicles, and the technology is backward and the quality is unstable. The heavy-duty off-road vehicles urgently needed for national defense construction have not been developed for a long time."

"Faced with the embarrassing situation of 'having guns but no vehicles' and 'having bullets but no vehicles', for the sake of national security, the relevant departments had to be ruthless, search their empty pockets and spend a lot of money to buy other people's products."

"The key is that some products we want to buy are not sold to others, and we have to spend money to re-export them through a third country."

"Even so, the country still gritted its teeth and imported heavy trucks that the military and construction departments urgently needed. In the past two years alone, the country's annual cost of importing heavy trucks has reached 2 million US dollars."

"As the pace of economic development accelerates in the future, the demand for heavy trucks will increase."

"If we don't increase our production capacity, we won't be able to meet demand."

Zheng Zhengqing did not get angry at Jiang Hui's questioning, but instead explained it very seriously.

In his opinion, in addition to meeting domestic military and civilian needs, Sanqi's heavy-duty vehicle business also has an important mission, which is to strive for export and foreign exchange earnings.

Otherwise, the country's foreign exchange reserves are simply not enough.

“You have a point, but it is hard to find an international giant willing to build a production line for 15 heavy trucks.”

"In their view, although China's market potential is huge, it will not be able to absorb 15 heavy trucks in a short period of time."

"And we want to adopt the solution of introducing technology, and I guess many companies will have concerns."

"Especially this time, we are looking to cooperate with Western companies, which believe that technology is the foundation of their business and will not easily transfer it."

Jiang Hui naturally also knows that the heavy-duty truck product is very important.

In the transportation market, the transportation efficiency of heavy trucks is definitely not comparable to that of ordinary light trucks such as CA10.

The key point is that in the military, various missile launchers actually require the use of heavy trucks.

Unfortunately, China has no relevant products to show off so far.

For the First Ministry of Machine Building, introducing advanced technology from overseas is almost the only option.

"I will also report your opinion to the leaders, but the final decision will definitely depend on the leaders' overseas investigations."

Zheng Zhengqing felt that what Jiang Hui said made sense.

The national automobile production this year is less than 15 vehicles, but Sanqi is going to build a heavy-duty truck production line with an annual production capacity of 15 vehicles right from the start.

Come to think of it, it seems a bit like a "snap shot".

"But you should seriously consider the idea of ​​moving from the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant to the First Ministry of Machinery Industry's Automobile Bureau and joining the Third Automobile Works preparatory group."

Feeling that he was almost led astray by Jiang Hui, Zheng Zhengqing emphasized his invitation again.

Of course, he did not ask Jiang Hui to give an immediate answer, but to give the other party time to consider.

(End of this chapter)