My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 768 This is a real dog

Qin Yuye even encouraged Wei Dong to change into a new outfit, a rather casual T-shirt and jeans.

He paired it with a bohemian-style long dress and a denim shirt, which his wife changed into.

They were like two tourists, not there for business negotiations at all.

Entering the hotel reception room, he nodded easily: "I'm a little late. Is there anything we can discuss?"

Then he sat down on the circular single sofas and gestured to the waiter that he wanted a drink.

To be honest, if it weren't for Mr. Avald's assistant saying that the matter was important and that he could come and check out a few basketball courts, I would have been very happy.

Wei Dong wasn't really interested.

Even though Cherokee is a subsidiary brand of Chrysler.

Qin Yuye noticed that the other group was all dressed formally in three-piece suits and ties, and finally felt that something was amiss.

Sorry, we didn't know what was going on when we were translating.

In fact, Wei Dong can still understand some everyday conversations, but it seems that he and Qin Yuye have become very skilled at cooperating.

She was in charge of translation and communication, allowing Weidong to use the breaks between translations to take a break and think, as well as observe the other party's reactions.

For someone with his background who wasn't particularly shrewd or powerful to begin with, this was considered the stage of the Heavenly Eye Calculation.

It's now very clear that the other party went from being displeased at the beginning, to becoming arrogant again after Qin Yuye apologized.

"I've heard that you are young people who have been very successful in doing business in mainland China. Chrysler needs to expand its sales in mainland China. What can you do to help?"

Upon hearing the translation, the phrase "Kneel down and let me beg you" immediately came to Wei Dong's mind.

It is very clear.

They are clearly the ones eyeing the mainland car market, yet they're putting on this act.

So it's really laughable: "What have you accomplished? Chrysler's annual sales are so high. We just helped Apple generate 517 million sales orders, totaling over $25 billion. What right do you have to ask me what I can do?"

The number of cases has reached hundreds of thousands in the past few days, truly causing a sensation across the United States.

Qin Yuye was surprised, but immediately translated it with pride.

That's a good thing about her; she's very adaptable and quick to adjust herself depending on her husband's attitude.

Sure enough, Wei Dong could clearly see that the expressions and eyes of the people opposite him had changed significantly.

One of them even changed his posture from leaning back on the sofa to leaning forward: "Oh? How did they manage that?"

A true interpretation of the idiom "arrogant at first, then obsequious."

Wei Dong was bound to lay a trap: "Revolutionary improvements in product performance, features that users care about most, and innovative sales methods—as a partner of Apple, we certainly have our own capabilities to demonstrate. Including myself, as the vice president and a minority shareholder of Cherokee's joint venture in mainland China, I have also contributed to the smooth production and sales of this company, and even the return of funds. Now you have needs and come to me. You should be the ones going to Los Angeles or Silicon Valley to see me, but instead, I'm here, and you're acting all high and mighty, asking me what I can do?"

He didn't act impulsively by storming off.

But he didn't hesitate; Qin Yuye's tone became stern.

But a leopard can't change its spots. Even the seemingly most powerful executive sitting in the middle spoke with that same interview-like tone:
How many cars can you sell in mainland China?

Wei Dong relaxed and leaned back on the sofa: "Asking such a question is very unprofessional. The success of sales depends on the size of the market and the quality of the product. If you give me a car, one dollar a car, I can sell a billion cars. What kind of car, what kind of people it suits, what price range, and most importantly, what exactly do you want to do?"

At this point, the biggest problem with the Cherokee was raised: "The current situation is that no matter how you enter the Chinese market, how many cars you sell, or how you convert them into US dollars, this country has a huge consumer market, but currently doesn't have that much US dollar foreign exchange. So don't just think about how many cars you sell; you have to consider this issue from a holistic perspective."

See you soon.

Chrysler is hailed as one of Citigroup's three major automakers.

Now I'm being lectured by this brat.

Some of the other party's expressions changed.

But whether it was Apple's sales of over 20 billion or the fact that these young people, who were completely unconventional, lacked sportsmanship, it didn't make these executives, who were generally over fifty, jump up in anger.

Instead, the person in the middle continued to ask, "So, what do you think we should consider?"

Wei Dong had to rack his brains a lot back then: "I remember you guys acquired Cherokee a couple of years ago, right? You've always been thinking about selling parts to CDK assembly in China. You make money on the parts, and then you make another profit when you sell the cars. So the more you sell, the more foreign exchange the mainland has to pay. This isn't a long-term business."

Then, he demonstrated by counting on his fingers: "How Apple does it: all components are produced in mainland China as much as possible. To this end, we have jointly invested in display factories, semiconductor factories, and so on, to produce each component at low cost and high quality. We then assemble products with costs far lower than those in Citibank's domestic and European branches, and then use cheap sea freight to sell them back to Citibank. Some of these products are sold in mainland China. Isn't that a win-win situation?"

Immediately, someone shook their head: "Impossible, absolutely impossible. The transportation cost of such a large vehicle is too high; it's not as simple as a computer." This immediately conjured up images of massive new energy vehicle ships in Wei Dong's mind. He smiled and didn't argue: "Some things shouldn't be based on feelings. These should be calculated and concluded by experts. I can tell you very clearly that as long as all the parts are produced in China, even with added transportation costs, it will definitely be lower than Citibank's domestic production—one hundred percent absolutely. Because currently, a Chinese worker's monthly salary is around ten to twenty US dollars, while my tens of thousands of workers earn around forty to fifty US dollars. Therefore, I have the best workers."

In an instant, the people on the other side believed it.

For highly centralized products like the modern automobile industry, one cannot simply look at the small number of people on the final assembly line.

Rather, behind every screw and every piece of glass are countless workers.

If the huge labor costs can be significantly reduced, then the final transportation costs will be absolutely negligible.

Moreover, Wei Dong's casual remark hit the nail on the head!
This was actually a transitional period for the Great Lakes automotive industrial region, later known as the Rust Belt.

At the peak of the era, when affordable and high-quality Japanese cars dominated the world and Citibank cars declined, Citibank workers, especially auto workers, resisted demanding higher wages under the leadership of the union.

A monthly salary of over three thousand US dollars, the legendary good old days when a worker supported a whole family.

In the 1980s, a car cost $10,000 and a house cost $100,000.

Three months' salary can buy a car, three years' salary can buy an apartment.

This is when the dollar's purchasing power is at its strongest.

I just want to ask if blue-collar wages are high or not.

That's how Citibank's manufacturing business collapsed.

Even the kindest capitalist can't afford to support such expensive workers.

Just like the stab Wei Dong has just delivered, everyone present is clearly tempted.

Holy crap, if the production line, and even all the supporting lines, were moved to China, wouldn't the cost of the entire car be halved?
Anyway, everyone's expressions became kind and friendly.

It seems like everyone has seen some amazing solution.

Rang Weidong was just saying it casually, but as far as he could remember, after the 1980s and 90s, mainland joint venture cars didn't actually sell overseas, right?
But if Apple can sell iPhones all over the world, why can't cars?
He doesn't think about the industrial structure and changes of the times involved.

I just felt perfectly justified.

It certainly tempted these Chrysler executives.

You could even see that they were a little annoyed.

The guy who had been arrogant at first but became obsequious turned to look at the boss sitting in the middle, and only after receiving a nod did he speak in a more friendly tone: "Actually, we started providing automobile engine assemblies and component assembly for Chinese state-owned factories in 84, until this year when we signed a complete technology and production line transfer agreement."

Now, several foreigners are observing Wei Dong together.

Look at him leaning back on the sofa, crossing his legs with a boss-like air, his body language hinting at something more.

"Since they bought the engine, this factory also proposed to purchase our Chrysler 600 sedan production line as a supporting component..."

The guy hesitated for a moment before adding, "Actually, we started talking about the complete vehicle production line last year, but we sold the 600 model quite well, so we decided to postpone the sale. But when we were negotiating the sale this year, everything changed... The current situation is that Hans Volkswagen just signed a contract a few days ago to sell their Audi 100 complete vehicle production line to be paired with our engine."

The final tone was filled with resentment.

Let Wei Dong rummage through his memory a little, holy crap, an Audi 100?!
Throughout the 1990s, the most prestigious car in Shangzhou was the Audi 100, which was provided to the city's leaders.
It can be said that Audi's later status as the official car in mainland China was entirely due to this car as a foundation. Then, the A6 became popular among high-ranking officials, and it completely became one of the three major luxury cars of BBA (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi).

I heard that in foreign countries, it's not even in the same league as Mercedes-Benz or BMW.

So it turns out they were planning to import Chrysler.

Just like two or three years ago in Beijing, I witnessed firsthand how the Jeep Wrangler, which was originally intended to be introduced, was replaced by the Cherokee. At that time, I had a strange feeling of brushing past the trajectory of history.

I'm even happier now.

Especially the division of labor and cooperation, the lack of attention to language and the careful observation of expressions made Wei Dong realize that the other party had concealed many details. He laughed loudly: "Changed? There's something fishy about what you're saying. Using an Audi 100 with a Chrysler engine? That means the engine deal is already finalized... Are you taking advantage of selling the engine to charge a high price for the whole car?"

After Qin Yuye translated, there was a noticeable exchange of glances among the group, with some even glancing at the person sitting in the middle.

He might be the one who started it all.

He simply skipped over it without batting an eye: "That's not important. What's important is that we hope you can express our sincerity. We can sell the entire production line to you for a symbolic price of one dollar."

Wei Dong shook his head with a laugh: "Important, very important. Tell me who you talked to. I want to find out what you did first. That one dollar is unimportant."

The other party looked extremely grim.

(End of this chapter)