My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 773 This time, it can't be suppressed anymore.

Wei Dong's original plan to take a road trip in the Great Lakes region has been ruined.

Do you know how big of a project it is to relocate the entire industrial chain of two brands to a foreign country?

We'll have to get busy soon.

At this point, the Cherokee already had an assembly plant with an annual production capacity of three to five thousand units, which became a huge advantage.

All the work wasn't started from scratch; even the manpower was readily available.

In any case, the past two years have cultivated a large number of Citibank engineering and technical personnel through contact and exchange.

In particular, the foreign staff who have been with the company for the past year and a half, from the end of 1985 to now, have clearly felt the changes and are full of praise for the improved working atmosphere brought about by this young vice president.

Collins, as the foreign general manager, was immediately recalled to take charge of the entire project.

Wei Dong also took the opportunity to request that Lao Cheng be sent over.

After the auto expo at the beginning of the year, a young and energetic vice president was sent from somewhere to replace Lao Cheng, and then Lao Cheng was given a sinecure position in the automotive company.

Now, Wei Dong is to directly request that Lao Cheng be appointed as the general manager of the Shanghai Private Automobile Factory.

This means that the CEOs of Chrysler's two large car companies in mainland China are people that Wei Dong is familiar with.

Back at the hotel, Wei Dong naturally called the Economic Commission to report the whole process.

But he only talked about the business and not the people: "The Cherokee is an SUV, which has great potential in North America where there are few people and vast land, as well as in the mainland where the road conditions are not very good. So my main goal was to expand the entire industry chain of this car. It just so happens that we can take on the task in the new automotive industrial park on the outskirts of the airport road. In the future, it will also be convenient to transport the parts to Tianjin Port for export after the section of the Grand Canal is dredged. This will completely solve the problem of foreign exchange payment for imported parts and foreign profits of joint venture car factories."

The Cherokee assembly plant, with a capacity of 10,000 units, has only produced 3,000 to 5,000 units so far, all due to foreign exchange constraints.

The real intention of the mainland is definitely to learn the technology, not to sell more foreign cars. But the reality is that modern industrial structures cannot be learned so easily.

Moreover, once joint venture automakers taste the sweetness of making money by selling foreign cars, they will instinctively resist the difficult task of developing their own brands.

They've been comfortably basking in the profits from selling foreign cars for years without ever making any progress.

This is something we all learned about later.

Wei Dong should start taking precautions from this moment on: "But since they still want to build a car industry chain in Shanghai, let's try a new private enterprise model. The entire Chinese assets will belong to the state, but the operation will be carried out in accordance with the private and private enterprise model. The whole project will not require the state to pay money. At most, it will only require land and other support. I will guarantee the investment and relocation and production. I don't want shares, I only want long-term operating rights. If it goes well, the mainland will form a car industry scale and the company will profit. If it goes badly, I will consider my investment a failure."

The Economic Commission, of course, knew why he was being so careful to avoid mentioning assets: "What model of car is it?"

Wei Dong was more cautious in his choices: "I rejected the minivans they recommended, because the total volume wouldn't be too large. I also rejected the luxury sedans. Chrysler isn't the best at making them, and even Citibank as a whole isn't good at luxury cars. We'll focus on learning from popular, affordable cars, like the Dodge 600 you talked about before. We need large volumes; only with large volumes can we learn the essence of modern car manufacturing."

The person on the other end of the phone laughed: "Your thinking is always so unconventional. Back then, the car company recommended this model as a replacement for Citibank's best-selling model, which could be imported at a lower cost. Who knew they would raise the price on the spot? After seeing the Audi model, I felt there were differences. It seems like they're not that much of a leader in this area?"

Riding on the prestige of landing on the moon and spaceflight in the 1970s, Citibank's technology and industrial manufacturing were far ahead of those of the superpower.

It will take a while for this soap bubble to pop.

Wei Dong realized that Citibank cars were really not good: "Hans cars are more precise and efficient, with stable quality and a good reputation. Japanese cars are cheap and durable. Both have a large market share in the international market and have even taken over the North American market. Today I seriously experienced their luxury cars and they are really not good. But that Dodge 600, which costs around nine thousand US dollars, looks similar to the Nissan Bluebird that can be seen in China. It is also outdated inside, but it can be improved. It is perfect for us to learn from and is the best teaching material."

The voice on the other end said, "I understand your approach. Go ahead and do it. The Economic Commission and Shanghai will fully support this project. Do you need someone sent to you immediately?"

Wei Dong thought for a moment and said, "Let's transfer some people from Shanghai. I'll work with them as the manager of the foreign trade company in Shanghai."

Old Zhang will assist Old Cheng in making this happen in Shanghai.

They were originally in a superior-subordinate relationship at the Xishan factory, so they were familiar with each other.

Even the entire Dodge factory originated from Lao Zhang. After Wei Dong hung up the phone, he contacted Lao Zhang again.

Two years ago, the old technician, who had been hesitant and cautious when he came to Shanghai from the remote mountains, was stunned.

"Okay, I'll contact the city government in Shanghai right away to report and arrange departure. What details do you need me to prepare?"

To satisfy Wei Dong, he pointed out the points he could think of. The selection of the plots definitely needed to be not too far from downtown Shanghai, but not too close to the city center. Water transport had to be convenient, and proximity to a railway station would be even better—this was crucial given the lack of a highway network. Old Zhang took careful notes.

After rambling on for a long time, Wei Dong hung up the phone. He felt that he really needed to cultivate an international business team, but there were very few people who could help him now.

What about translation?
Qin Yuye then made sure to call Dong Xueqing and Shen Cuiyue regularly every day to keep in touch before returning with a more cheerful expression.

After hanging up, I pulled Wei Dong to the window and whispered in his ear: "Because it definitely involves a lot of contracts and funds, I went to my senior sister's room to call Lin Wangfu and asked him to borrow people from Apple to find out the situation. I also asked Hui Zai to come from Los Angeles to help. Guess what the people from Apple said?"

This piqued Wei Dong's interest: "What?"

Qin Yuye gestured: "Chrysler was on the verge of bankruptcy a few years ago, but such a large company meant hundreds of thousands of jobs. I heard they also had that Abrams tank production line, so even the president had to pass legislation to help prevent it from going bankrupt. Today, that president took office and boosted performance, and in a few years, it really did turn the company around, becoming the top company among the top 500 in the United States. Its reputation is extraordinary. I heard he has now published a book, and there are calls for him to run for president..."

No wonder Wei Dong was laughing so hard.

Producing tanks? That's pretty much the same as those state-owned enterprises in Jiangzhou that manufacture guns, cannons, and armored vehicles.

This person doesn't seem to be a capitalist; he's reached the pinnacle of his reputation as a top-paid employee, so naturally he'll seek to reach another level.

She also quietly shared her feelings during the negotiations, mentioning that she was a bit ambitious and eager to boost her data. So how can we take advantage of these points?

Even in a luxury suite at a five-star hotel, which was much more spacious than the small hotel the two of them stayed in back in Japan, there was still a sense of trepidation, like being in enemy-occupied territory.

I don't dare to speak too directly on the phone; now I instinctively cover my mouth and speak in a low voice.

So the two of them stood very close together.

Standing by the window overlooking the dazzling night view of the car city, Qin Yuye couldn't help but hug Wei Dong's waist and press his chest against him, saying, "This is amazing! I never thought you would dare to take advantage of their regret and try to make amends, and instead recommend them to manufacture cars for you, creating two car companies out of thin air."

With a beautiful woman in his arms, especially at this crucial moment of achieving fame and success, they were still the only two people relying on each other in enemy-occupied territory.

Wei Dong was undoubtedly pleased, and he did indeed feel an immense sense of close reliance: "They dared to sell the production line for a symbolic price of one dollar, of course, because they were after the products sold through the production line. In reality, by paying for the transfer of the production line, we were essentially helping them clear the way, freeing up space and manpower to set up a new line, and then establishing an even lower-cost production line in another location to continue production. As long as they can continue to sell, they won't lose money..."

Qin Yuye continued to gossip, telling everyone she had heard. This president also had a symbolic annual salary of one dollar, and he was the one who pioneered the installment payment method at Ford Motor Company in the 1950s, which involved a 20% down payment and monthly payments of sixty dollars for the next three years.

Wei Dong hugged her tightly, and then he realized how it was!

Isn't this the same pattern he uses to become chairman of companies like the Urban Construction Company and China Merchants Investment Bank, which are considered hotbeds of controversy?

So this is the founder.

And the installment sales method they use is something that people have been using since the 1950s!

This reminded Wei Dong that he could also sell his car using installment payments.

At the time, he mentioned to the Economic Commission that this method could be used to sell trucks, and that the same approach could be used for cars.

However, if a car doesn't default on its monthly payments, it needs to be subject to annual vehicle inspections, which isn't a rule yet, and this is a huge change.

So he then shared his idea of ​​"private state-owned enterprises".

Even the Hong Kong businesswoman, who had been "deeply rooted" in Shanghai for a long time, was surprised: "We're just going to give up all the profits from the Shanghai car factory?"

In fact, Wei Dong even had a stake in the Cherokee plant, which he acquired for two million US dollars in foreign exchange.

On the contrary, now it would probably cost tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of US dollars to build a complete car manufacturing industry chain, without giving up shares or even profits.
Wei Dong couldn't help but whisper, "Isn't this similar to his one dollar per production line, one dollar as a symbolic wage? We've built this factory, and the state-owned assets are essentially a gift from me, allowing me to reap the benefits without ever interfering in its operation. You can monitor how much money is made, but I can hand over the sales work to Dongsheng Trading, right? I can treat people to meals at Lawson's restaurant, right? As long as I can guarantee the entire company makes money, and others can't manage it, what does it matter whether I have shares or not, or even whether I receive dividends?"

Qin Yuye exclaimed excitedly, "Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Why did he create this 'one-dollar chairman' gimmick? It showcases his character and talent, and the whole country knows about it. It's also a form of publicity for the company. Consumers will feel that they're not paying for the executives' annual salaries when they buy cars. In the future, we'll all promote you just as hard, and then no one will be able to mess with you..."

Despite what I said, you were twisting and turning around your neck like a fish that had just come ashore.

Even JPMorgan Chase had no choice but to take action.

(End of this chapter)