Return to Hong Kong Island for a Century

Chapter 441 The Bewildered Boeing
"Mr. Li, are you saying that Ford cars are simply inferior to BMW cars?"

"Mr. Li, are you saying that San Dezi's cars are not as good as BMWs?" The reporters certainly wouldn't let this opportunity pass, so they all asked.

"Let the facts speak for themselves!"

"I acknowledge that Ford and Volkswagen have had their glory days."

"However, it is precisely these glories that allow these automotive giants to rest on their laurels."

“They can use all sorts of political means to exclude better cars from their market.”

"BMW's monthly exports are now approaching 20 vehicles."

"Sold in dozens of countries worldwide!"

"I think Ford and Volkswagen are getting old."

"Their management only cares about making the financial reports look good."

"Because R&D investment will reduce their profit statements."

"They don't consider the customers' needs!"

"These company executives have no idea how difficult it is for ordinary people."

"Because these company executives are paid ten or even dozens of times more than ordinary workers!"

“They don’t care about rising oil prices, high fuel consumption, or vehicle safety at all,” Li Song said frankly.

The reporters present quickly wrote down these words.

"I simply don't believe that Ford, with its decades-long history, or Sandoz, with its nearly century-long history, are incapable of making cars safer, more fuel-efficient, or more thermally efficient."

"Why is it that a car company like ours, which has been established for less than two years, is able to outperform them in terms of safety, thermal efficiency, and energy conservation and environmental protection?"

Is it because they can't do it?

"No, they just want to save every penny and make the company's financial statements look better so that the company's executives can get more paychecks."

“These companies don’t care about customer safety or customer experience at all; these executives only care about making more money.”

"Here I want to tell the Aramco Automotive Association that competition drives progress!" Li Song said in one breath.

"Mr. Li, does your company have any countermeasures in response to this situation?" another reporter asked.

"Mr. Li, your company's cars have not achieved any results in any competitions. What do you mean by that?" another reporter asked.

"Our company doesn't need any countermeasures; our sales figures speak for themselves."

"And I think Ford and the others aren't having an easy time either, after all, Toyota's sales are currently second."

“I think Toyota does a great job, considering things from the customer’s perspective,” Li Song replied.

"As for the fact that our cars didn't rank in the race, car rankings don't really matter much to the average customer!"

"Because the cars in the race are specially manufactured, and the drivers are all top-notch drivers!"

"If any car company uses competition rankings to mislead consumers, that is irresponsible towards consumers!"

"Because ordinary consumers simply cannot reach the level of professional race car drivers, if ordinary consumers were to control their cars like race car drivers, it could very likely cause serious traffic incidents."

"Our company is also building a racetrack for road racing."

"We are also preparing for a car rally."

"Please take note of our company's announcement. Our company welcomes racing teams from all over the world to participate in the competition," Li Song replied.

"Mr. Li, your company's embedded instruction set chips have officially started production. What does your company plan to use these chips for?"

"In addition, what technology does your company use in its projection lithography machine?" another reporter asked.

"The processor plays such a crucial role that I don't even know where to begin."

"In the near future, everyone will see the application of processors." Li Song did not elaborate, as it is impossible to reveal a lot of valuable information in one interview.

Everyone knew about it when the game console was registered for a patent.

The current market for chip processors is indeed not optimistic.

Although Ame's chips are used in computers, computers are currently too expensive.

Moreover, current computers cannot be used to connect to the internet.

Therefore, computers are now a luxury item for only a few people in Western countries.

IBM's PC launch this year marked the beginning of a new era for PC development, largely due to its affordability at only $2300.

Other personal computers generally cost over ten thousand US dollars.

The reason why personal computers are so expensive is because of low sales volume.

Low sales volume and low production capacity naturally lead to high costs.

Currently, chip manufacturing is not the mainstream direction of semiconductor development, so Baisheng's chip manufacturing has only attracted a small amount of attention.

Li Song didn't intend to say much more on this matter, lest it attract the attention of Western companies.

Western semiconductor companies are now fiercely competing with Japanese semiconductor companies in the memory market.

Now is the time to develop our own semiconductor chips, once the game console comes out.

This directly drives a virtuous cycle in the chip industry.

"Alright, that concludes today's interview!" Li Song said, preparing to get into the car.

"Mr. Li, the road race you just mentioned, is it a challenge to Ford?" a reporter asked loudly and urgently.

“You can understand it that way too.” After saying that, Li Song got into the car and left the airport under the escort of bodyguards.

The reporters have secured so many interviews; they'd better hurry back to write their articles, and their bonuses for this month are practically guaranteed.

Li Song was in the car, thinking about the interviews he had just received from the reporters. He thought the interviews were quite interesting.

First of all, the largest car company in America is General Motors, and it ranks first in sales.

But these reporters didn't mention General Motors at all; instead, they mentioned Ford.

It's likely due to negative reports about General Motors, which are unlikely to make it into the press.

General Motors' influence was so great that these reporters dared not report on it freely, so they directly mentioned Ford Motor Company.

"Tsk tsk!!" Li Song arrived at Parkson Company.

"Boss!" After Li Song arrived at the company, his secretary Zhang Shuwen made him a cup of tea.

"Thank you!" Li Song said, and just then Tian Jiahui arrived.

"A cup of coffee, please," Tian Jiahui said to Zhang Shuwen.

"Boss, these are the registration documents for the logistics and transportation company." Tian Jiahui was holding the registration documents for the logistics and transportation company.

"Shunfeng?" Li Song was a little surprised when he saw the name of the registered company.

"Yeah, people in logistics all hope for smooth sailing, but smooth sailing doesn't sound very nice!"

"It's mainly because all the nice-sounding names have been registered by professional companies, who then demand high prices, especially the names that our company has our eye on."

"So we just came up with this name!" Tian Jiahui explained.

Li Song nodded upon hearing this explanation: "This is a good name."

"A delegation from McDonnell Douglas will be coming to Hong Kong Island next month to discuss related matters with us!" Tian Jiahui added.

"Okay, remember to let me know in advance." Li Song knew that the reason for waiting a while was mainly to wait for the agreement between Dongfang and Amei to be signed before making the relevant information public.

"Old Tian, ​​register a few more companies, a telecommunications company, and then an entertainment company."

"Telecommunications companies mainly deal with mobile phone communications and the internet!"

"Entertainment companies mainly produce video game consoles."

"The relevant patent documents will be sent soon. Have Zhang Dehua prepare them." Li Song is still having Zhang Dehua handle the patent application. Zhang Dehua has many connections in Hong Kong Island and London regarding patent applications.

Although Parkson has considerable influence now, professional companies like them offer more assurance when it comes to these matters.

Because there are too many patents involved, Baisheng's own patent lawyers are not as proficient as those of other professional companies.

"We also plan to build another large factory on Hong Kong Island."

"In the future, we will mainly focus on making mobile phones and computers. Of course, in Hong Kong, we will only do assembly work, and all the parts will be imported from the mainland."

"The factory should be prepared to be a bit larger, at least enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people." Li Song knew that the sales volume of game consoles would be huge, so a large number of assembly workers would be needed.

Li Song vaguely remembered that the Famicom sold tens of millions of units, and its game software sold hundreds of millions of copies.

Not to mention arcade games and the like.

Therefore, a relatively large number of assemblers are still needed.

Moreover, the land purchased at this stage will not result in a loss in the future.

Even though Hong Kong Island eventually lost its manufacturing sector, it still had a variety of service industries.

Even if the factory buildings are converted into various express delivery transit warehouses, it's still profitable.

"Okay!" Tian Jiahui wrote down what Li Song had said.

"How's the acquisition of the car brand going?" Li Song asked again.

"The officials in London still need to go through the procedures."

“For them in the West, the process is the right thing to do, and there will be a result by the end of next month at the latest!” Tian Jiahui replied again.

"Actually, those gentlemen in London didn't want to sell the brand to Sanders at all."

"Boss, as you know, there are quite a few conflicts between these European countries!"

"So everything still needs to go through the procedures," Tian Jiahui explained again.

Li Song certainly knew what London was like; it was a troublemaker.

London later withdrew from the EU, which was really because London couldn't stand that Ed Woodward was living a better and better life.

Moreover, within the EU, Sanders and Paris have a greater say than London.

This made the London gentlemen feel ashamed, so they left the EU and then became troublemakers inside.

Therefore, the gentlemen in London still have some psychological resistance when faced with the idea of ​​Sanders acquiring their own car brands.

Of course, if San Dezi offered more, they would only care about money.

Historically, many London car brands were sold to Sanders because only Sanders' car industry was successful.

"That's good!" Li Song replied.

Then Tian Jiahui went to do his work. Although Tian Jiahui is now the deputy general manager, he is actually equivalent to the CEO.

Li Song had lunch at Parkson Department Store, and then took a stroll around Phoenix TV.

Then they changed cars and returned to the villa in Clearwater Bay.

Meanwhile, news of Li Song's interview had already spread all over the world.

Li Song is a key figure in the news industry, ensuring that any news he publishes will be prioritized for publication.

What is evening on Hong Kong Island is morning for Ah Mei.

Li Song's remarks about Aramco's automotive industry appeared in many newspapers and on many radio stations.

Of course, the news reports weren't as nonchalant as Li Song described.

The newspaper headlines were getting bigger and bigger!

BMW says Ford is failing!

BMW claims that Ford only uses political means to monopolize the market!
BMW claims that Ford's decades of development have completely disregarded customer needs!

BMW has invited Ford to participate in an Eastern car rally!
BMW criticizes Ford vehicles for being unsafe!

As a result of this news, Ford's stock price fell again.

Ford's market share had already declined as it fell to third place after being overtaken by Toyota, resulting in a decrease in both market share and profits.

This statement from the media has led many investors to have a negative outlook on Ford Motor Company.

The president and other executives at Ford Motor Company were furious when they saw the news.

Because Ford cars are manufactured strictly according to Aramco's automotive standards.

Currently, Amazon does not mandate the installation of airbags in cars.

Ford's stock price decline dragged down General Motors, as well as other automakers and related sectors.

Ford was well aware that behind these public opinions lay not only Li Song's own influence, but also the financial vampires of Wall Street.

Furthermore, some media outlets have brought up the comparison between BMW and Ford vehicles mentioned earlier.

Ford cars of the same type have higher fuel consumption than BMW cars, so Ford cars are not environmentally friendly.

BMW cars have higher thermal efficiency than Ford cars, therefore BMW cars have a higher level of technology.

BMW cars have dual airbags for the driver and front passenger, making them safer than Ford cars.

After comparing them, even Ford's shareholders felt that their cars were like junk.

Ford Motor Company quickly issued a statement saying that its vehicles fully comply with Aramco's regulations.

Unexpectedly, at this time, someone in the newspaper said that this standard was also promoted and promulgated by car companies such as Ford and GM, just like the automotive industry association promotes new car standards to restrict foreign cars from entering the domestic market.

Some people even held up signs to protest.

This is the tactic of those financial vampires on Wall Street.

Of course, even the car companies in Sandezi, which are far away, have suffered from a drop in stock prices.

San Dezi's nearly 100-year history in the automotive industry is not as impressive as that of a car company that has only been established for two years.

This is a blatant insult to the automotive industry.

However, there's no way around it; BMW's technology and car features are indeed superior to its competitors, and crucially, the prices are lower.

After receiving the news, Li Song simply smiled. BMW's mainstream minivans were not originally targeted at the Western market, but mainly at developing and underdeveloped countries.

Competition is more intense in Western markets, while it is less intense in these developing and underdeveloped countries.

In particular, Li Song's practice of exchanging cars for materials is a boon for developing and underdeveloped countries.

Because these countries themselves don't have much foreign exchange, it's simply unrealistic to expect others to use foreign exchange to buy them, and the sales volume would be very low.

Li Song waited quietly for the good news to come.

In the days that followed, the trade negotiations between the East and the West yielded significant results.

Despite Western invitations to join the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the two sides failed to reach an agreement due to significant differences in their views on opening up in the cultural and financial sectors.

However, the two sides reached a series of economic and trade cooperation agreements, the first of which was textiles, allowing Eastern textiles to enter Western markets at lower tariff prices.

In addition, Dongfang and Aramco reached a preliminary agreement on the purchase of fighter jets, and Dongfang sent a delegation to Aramco for inspection.

In addition, East Asia also requested the purchase of Aramco's advanced satellite technology, rocket launch technology, and aerospace technology.

However, Aramco still needs to discuss these collaborations.

Of course, it was at this time that the US jumped out to criticize the US, saying it was disrupting the military balance in the East.

In mid-November, a news story completely stunned Boeing's top management.

McDonnell Douglas was negotiating with SF International Logistics in Shanghai, as SF International Logistics was preparing to purchase DC-10 aircraft.

(End of this chapter)