My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 977 The Emperor's New Clothes

But in Wei Dong's eyes, Citibank was a defeated force in the automotive industry.

After being repeatedly defeated by Japan and Hans, it eventually even surpassed the mainland Chinese automotive industry.

So what's there to be arrogant about?

Moreover, he made it very clear that you're so great because you're in the position of president at Chrysler; ultimately, you're just a high-paid employee. Can you really afford to pull out two hundred million US dollars to do things?

Why are you putting on airs with me?

This is the true contempt capitalists have for old working men.

The president is probably still looking down on impoverished third-world countries: "Awald from the Vanmad Hotel Group described it to me as a huge and dynamic market, so I decided to try to explore this almost blank market."

Wei Dong wasn't going to tolerate such a condescending tone: "I'm the one developing the market. You just need to provide the production lines. The purchasing power in the mainland market is still very limited. Chrysler and Dodge can gain an advantage by entering now. During the nurturing process, I hope to export back to North America as much as possible. This will ensure Chrysler's profits and allow the factory to operate at full capacity. Since we started contacting you last year, Apple has been doing $300 million in contract manufacturing every month. We're still far behind in the automotive industry!"

The over-sixty-year-old worker bumped into something!
I looked at the young man again, somewhat incredulously.

Wei Dong took the initiative to block his way: "What are you looking at? Your career is indeed very impressive, Vivian Goode. That's because all your choices were precise and correct, instead of following your emotions and having illusions, including cooperating with my automotive industry. This is the best choice for Chrysler, otherwise what?"

Because of the driver's license requirement, the drivers here are definitely all Chinese, leading Wei Dong to even guess that they are personnel arranged by relevant authorities.

So it was three Chinese people bullying the old man: "Japanese cars have conquered the world because they have the lowest production costs and stable product performance technology. Citibank only survived because of your abilities. Ask yourself honestly, without you, would Citibank have been able to turn things around, or would it have suffered a complete defeat?!"

That sounds like a very aggressive compliment.

Rang Tai quickly and happily translated it.

The president's face indeed showed an undisguised arrogance, not haughtiness, but a proud smile.

Wei Dong patted the high-end sofa seat and said, "Times have changed. The exterior and interior of this model are outdated. I can feel it very clearly. We need to use best-selling Toyota and Honda models to define the Volkswagen model style, and Mercedes-Benz and BMW models to ensure the characteristics of the luxury model. If you don't make changes, I'm afraid there will be big problems."

The CEO finally stopped smiling and pondered for a moment: "How did you sense it?"

Wei Dong shrugged: "Talent, I think you must have had this feeling when you were young. You can see further and more accurately than some people. That's how I am now. I've read your autobiography. I might even be an enhanced version of you because I'm in a market that's just as big, but with less competition. My wife and I have now built up a total of about 40,000 people in various production plants and sales teams. Please note that this does not include these two car factories, which are not even our core industries."

After his wife translated, Wei Dong smiled and said, "I read in your autobiography that you were very proud to become the president of Ford Motor Company at the age of 36. I am 24 years old now. If you were 36 years old now, I would definitely hire you as my president."

The capitalists' class contempt has finally been delivered!

What nonsense are you spouting?

Their previous arrogance towards the Economic Commission for raising prices has now been ruthlessly overturned.

However, it can be said that in the 1980s, even among Chinese people like Qin Yuye and Qin Zhiming, who were already quite confident, no one could see the kind of genuine self-confidence that Wei Dong possessed.

Even the most ardent patriots don't believe that we can catch up with the United States in 30 or 40 years, and they even laugh at the US's various crumbling attempts to catch up.

Therefore, people like Wei Dong, who cannot see the core of things, become even more determined to mock him out of ignorance.

As our predecessors have said, imperialism is a paper tiger.

That is absolutely true.

Surprisingly, the president did not fly into a rage, but instead smiled with the magnanimity of an elder.

Instead, adopting a more magnanimous attitude of not arguing with youthful impetuosity is essentially giving yourself an out: "I noticed you made a lot of interior modifications to the Dodge 600?"

The equal and objective discussion made Wei Dong tone down his aggression: "Yes, there's no need for all this shiny stuff. Control costs, try to integrate everything, and use injection-molded parts as much as possible. Japanese automakers have already set many examples in this regard, so we should learn from them. Otherwise, how can we lower the price to just over five thousand US dollars? Currently, no Japanese automaker has fully transferred its supply chain to mainland China. Once we overcome this hurdle, Chrysler may be able to turn the tide against Japanese automakers worldwide."

Of course, this is just empty talk.

The affordability, durability, and fuel efficiency of Japanese cars represent a significant and irreversible trend.

The president's eyes lit up, clearly indicating he was ready to take the bait: "We just acquired Lamborghini, and the board of directors is demanding that we move towards the high-end market."

Wei Dong, a seasoned businessman, scoffed dismissively: "They know nothing. You led Chrysler to success over the past few years, and I said it was all thanks to your personal abilities that you single-handedly propelled the brand to produce excellent models, not these idiots pointing fingers. What kind of cars brought in the annual profit of two billion dollars? It certainly wasn't high-end luxury cars!"

As a veteran security guard who has been stationed at the compound's parking lot for forty years, Wei Dong has witnessed the rise and fall of car brands over the past four decades.

Cars and real estate share this characteristic: high unit price and large sales volume make it easy to accumulate huge wealth.

Then I got dizzy.

Because it's because I'm awesome, it's actually because I'm riding the wave of the times.

The whole society is promoting car consumption, and the real estate market is on an upward trend. Only by increasing sales volume can you make big money.

This might be the secret to wealth that's hard to explain to smaller European countries; they simply prefer high-profit luxury goods.

The two major powers on the east and west coasts of the Pacific Ocean share this same characteristic.

During the last negotiation in Detroit, the president tried to use tactics to pressure Wei Dong, but Wei Dong didn't back down. So, the president didn't show up later; it was his subordinates who made concessions.

This is a true face-to-face confrontation, a direct sword fight.

So the president's eyes couldn't help but light up: "I'm the one who secured the K chassis, the inexpensive and popular chassis like the Dodge 600, with annual sales exceeding 400,000 units. This ensured the smooth operation of the entire production system. I'm also the one who secured the new type of recreational commercial vehicle, which is the biggest source of profit. These two types of models made up for the losses in the luxury and high-end models!"

Unable to resist, he slowly walked to the side.

Because Wei Dong's "ideas" are in the right direction with the support of the "Sky Eye," this is very attractive to a high-earning employee who is often hampered by the board of directors and shareholders.

Those who share the same views are drawn together unconsciously.

It was through these clashes with powerful figures that Wei Dong gradually matured and gained confidence.

He casually waved his hand and said, "A commercial vehicle won't do. Last year, my wife and I discussed why we didn't import that model. Actually, our company in Hong Kong has a TV station and a basketball club, and we've bought a lot of those vehicles. They're very useful."

This suspenseful moment finally made the CEO completely drop his guard, and he immediately asked, "Why?"

In fact, the confrontation between the two sides was one-way, which made Wei Dong aware that the other party had published an autobiography since his time in Detroit, and that it would later become a popular book in the Hong Kong business community.

I've naturally looked it up.

Regardless of how much of it embellishes the image of a marketing genius, at least you should be aware of all their successful achievements.

While affordable models like the Dodge 600 have secured a strong sales performance, they are indeed low-profit vehicles, with the main profit coming from the eight-seater minivan.

This was the other party's biggest achievement in 1985 and 1986.

How could I not care about opposing opinions now that I've heard them?

Wei Dong then began to boast: "This is just a very rough prototype, and there is still a lot of room for development, whether it is the appearance, interior, or functions. But you have stopped here. There has been no improvement for about two years. In fact, once Japanese cars and some American brands complete the imitation of this category, they will lose miserably. Right now, it's just that there are no competitors. Once there are competitors like sedans and SUVs, you will see if there will still be a future. This thing will always be a niche market. The main force still has to rely on sedans and SUVs."

He was willing to demonstrate some value after this.

"You've achieved temporary success and gotten a little carried away, starting to mess around with high-end luxury cars. There's nothing wrong with acquiring Lamborghini, but the focus should still be on the design and manufacturing of mainstream models and SUVs. That's the foundation for a company's long-term sustainability. The high-end route doesn't contradict or interfere with that. I personally think the focus should be 80/20, or even 90/10, of energy allocation."

In fact, the president's expression became unusually serious after Wei Dong said that the reason for the good sales was that there were no competitors.

He is a master, an extremely rare master of both marketing and business management.

A car has tens of thousands of parts, and no car manufacturer produces them all themselves. Most parts are outsourced, and this outsourcing is done layer by layer, involving hundreds of suppliers.

Problems in any of these steps could lead to the inability to mass-produce or to defective products that are produced.

In terms of supply chain management, production management, and quality management, the automotive industry has a very mature and systematic model to reduce risks and ensure stable output.

We instructed Wei Dong to do everything he could to bring over the entire industry chain, and the key point to learn was this part.

Chrysler also brought with it a mature management model after this president was fired from Ford in his fifties.

But once they achieved success and fame, they were all writing their autobiographies.

It was as if Wei Dong was observing whether the other party had any other ideas.

And being over sixty years old, it's impossible for him to have the same energy and focus on everything as he did when he was younger.

Mental activities are actually extremely physically demanding.

More likely, it's because of his high position and power that people around him are increasingly afraid to speak the truth.

Today I ran into a little kid who was watching the Emperor's New Clothes.

Judging from their relative ages, Rang Weidong really looks like a little kid.

Actually, they are the same age in terms of mental age.

I immediately agreed with it!

(End of this chapter)