Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 453 Market Positioning
Chen Fan parked the car next to the workshop entrance, got out, and Factory Director Yang immediately came over, his smile tinged with nervousness. "How did it go?"

He had already figured it out. With the two sets of design drawings drawn by Chen Fan and the current equipment and conditions of the machinery factory, they could completely replicate the car.

Let's not talk about production volume yet. Unless it's a major project supported by higher authorities, like Dongfeng Motor Corporation, which has preferential resource support and guaranteed production targets, it's unlikely to have a certain production and sales volume.

Otherwise, a factory that spontaneously manufactures cars like this, producing a few dozen a year to supply the local market, could be considered excellent!

With the machinery factory's output, producing 100 to 200 vehicles would certainly not be a problem. With just these cars, the factory could negotiate terms with the local party committee.

If we could convince our superiors to set up a professional car production line... we wouldn't even dare to dream of a better life!

But the key question is whether these two cars are actually any good?
Chen Fan closed the car door behind him and chuckled, "It's about what I expected."

He turned and pointed to several parts of the car body, "The shock absorption is particularly good. I just deliberately went over a few bumps, and it was more stable than your Shanghai sedan."

One is a mass-produced car with low precision, and the other is a meticulously crafted, handmade custom product; they are simply not comparable.

But to Director Yang, it was incredibly encouraging, and his eyes immediately lit up. "Really?"

The people around were also very excited, whispering among themselves, their excitement evident.

After tensions arose with the Soviet Union, the domestic car market now relies almost entirely on domestic production, with the best sedans being FAW's Hongqi and SAIC's Shanghai Automotive.

Okay, currently there are only three mainstream car models in China: sedans are Hongqi and Shanghai, and off-road vehicles are BJ212.

As for the Phoenix sedan, which was once very popular in the 5s and 60s, it is now the Shanghai brand.

Now that Chen Fan says the comfort level is even higher than that of SAIC Motor, how can everyone not be excited!

Chen Fan leaned against the car, pointed into the workshop, and laughed, "There's another Volga inside, even more comfortable than this one. You can try it out."

Without saying a word, Director Yang turned around and ran into the workshop.

Deputy Factory Director Li abandoned all pretense of shame and followed eagerly behind, saying, "Old Yang, wait for me, let's go together."

Factory Director Yang ignored him completely, quickly ran to the car, opened the door, and got in.

By the time he started the car, Deputy Factory Director Li was already seated in the passenger seat.

After a two-second pause, Director Yang turned to Deputy Director Li and asked with a serious expression, "Old Li, I have a question."

Deputy Factory Director Li looked at him, still with an excited expression, "What?"

As long as the machinery factory can produce cars, I'd be willing to give up competing with Lao Yang, let alone acknowledge him as the boss!

Then I heard Factory Director Yang say, "Can you drive?"

Deputy Factory Director Li's face froze. After a couple of seconds, he immediately turned sullen and said, "You can't even drive, what are you doing running around like that? Tsk..."

He then rolled down the car window, stuck his head out, and called out, "Xiao He, come and drive."

Mr. He, a driver from the car driver team, immediately ran over.

Although he had driven Hongqi and Shanghai cars before, and also this Volga before it broke down, this car is different.

Almost half of the parts for this vehicle were produced by our own machinery factory!

Moreover, the interior and structure have undergone significant changes. These designs are all from Mr. Chen's hand, and they are roughly equivalent to the cars he produces. So, how can they be driven the same way?

He was just wondering when Director Yang learned to drive.

Well, it still depends on yourself!
With excitement, Master He bowed and scraped to Director Yang, who got out of the driver's seat with a displeased look on his face. He then opened the back door and invited him in to sit down. Afterward, he climbed into the driver's seat, shrugged his shoulders, and turned the key with complete concentration but also with great care, like a novice driver.

Of the original four scrapped vehicles, only two were eventually converted into new ones, both using Volga engines with electronic ignition. As for the old-fashioned crank engine of the GAZ-69, it was now lying silently in the corner, weeping (dripping oil).

The newly refurbished Volga roared to life, its exhaust pipes billowing black smoke as it slowly drove forward.

Chen Fan leaned against his SUV, looking at the two leaders sitting in the car laughing heartily, and couldn't help but grin.

Are these two leaders a little too easily satisfied?
Unlike Chen Fan, who only circled around the workshop entrance area during his test drive, the two leaders drove directly onto the main road of the factory area and began to let loose.

Everyone was stunned as they watched Volga disappear around the corner.

It's just a test drive, why go outside? Is it really necessary?

At this moment, Ding Guangsheng, the foreman of the auto repair team, walked over and smiled at Chen Fan, saying, "Teacher Chen, I have a question I'd like to ask you."

Chen Fan quickly replied, "I wouldn't dare to ask for your advice, please just say what you want to say."

As she spoke, she took out a filter-tipped magnolia, pulled out one and handed it to him. Seeing that Master Zhou was also coming over, she handed him another one.

Then he took a cigarette, lit it on the lighter Ding Guangsheng handed him, and exhaled a puff of smoke.

After lighting his own car, Ding Guangsheng lit one for Master Zhou next to him and then asked, "I wanted to ask if it's possible for our machinery factory to manufacture cars after modifying these two vehicles?"

Chen Fan looked at him and smiled, "Did Factory Director Yang send you to ask this?"

Ding Guangsheng shook his head, looked at the car behind Chen Fan, and said with a sigh, "Of course Director Yang wants to build cars. Besides him, we car repairmen have also had many such dreams."

When your father was alive, he often came to our workshop to do experiments. We didn't have such a big dream at first, but seeing him constantly doing experiments and drawing design drawings, we gradually developed this dream in our hearts.

"Who in the mechanical engineering field doesn't want to build cars?"

He turned to look at Chen Fan and said with a smile, "You're better than your father. He spent nearly ten years and still couldn't draw a complete set of car design drawings, but you can!"

Chen Fan pursed his lips, paused for two seconds, and then said softly, "It's not that I'm better than him, it's that I've seen the information he left behind. And..."

He glanced back at the SUV behind him. "These car blueprints aren't exactly original; they're mostly replicas. Without these cars, I couldn't have drawn them."

Among the old books he received were indeed several sets of books related to automobile manufacturing, as well as notebooks left by Chen Fan's father.

However, as Ding Guangsheng said, there was indeed no complete set of car design drawings; it was mostly design concepts.

This information was less helpful to Chen Fan than what he learned from short videos he watched at university and online before he transmigrated.

After all, back then, you could find plenty of ordinary car engine and vehicle design drawings online with a simple search.

Of course, what you can find online isn't anything particularly good, but it's much better than current technology; there are even diagrams of the entire vehicle structure.

Unfortunately, none of them have been tested on actual vehicles.

Power performance, safety, durability, reliability, wind resistance, high temperature resistance, low temperature resistance...

The tests required for a new car to be launched are countless.

Even in this day and age, many things are still not perfect, but necessary performance testing is still essential. Therefore, Chen Fan does not dare to draw too much inspiration from the future, unless it is a car that has already been launched on the market.

As for the current information, it's less about helping him improve and more about providing him with a benchmark for current technology, letting him know that if he makes improvements based on existing technology, he won't produce something too outrageous.

Ding Guangsheng naturally didn't know any of this; he just believed whatever Chen Fan said.

Hearing his words, Ding Guangsheng nodded with satisfaction, then said, "So, do you think we can build cars now?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "It's definitely possible to manufacture it. With the current conditions of the machinery factory, as long as we are willing to disassemble a car to measure the parameters of the parts, we can produce everything from the engine to the chassis and then assemble it ourselves."

As for the electrical system, which is most common in automobiles in later generations, it was a weakness of the machine factory, but it was not entirely unsolvable.

It's still possible to collaborate with other units of the prefectural committee to produce a new car.

Hearing Chen Fan's words, Ding Guangsheng and Master Zhou were both beaming with excitement. They didn't care whether it was imitation and assembly or independent research and development and production, as long as they could build cars.

When the factory sets up a car production workshop, they, as the workers most familiar with cars, will definitely be transferred there to produce cars. Regardless of whether they get promoted, isn't being a car production worker more promising than being a car mechanic?!

But when Ding Guangsheng came to his senses, a thought struck him, and he looked at Chen Fan and asked, "From what you're saying, besides replicating, we can also design our own?"

Chen Fan smiled slightly, "We'll talk about that when Director Yang and the others get back."

He doesn't want to repeat himself twice.

But this wait lasted for half an hour.

Factory Director Yang and his team returned to the auto repair workshop by car, grinning as they got out.

Deputy Factory Director Li got out of the passenger seat, raised both hands and gave a thumbs up, "Good, indeed better than the Shanghai sedan."

Factory Director Yang strode up to Chen Fan and asked with a hopeful expression, "Can we build this car ourselves?"

Chen Fan rubbed his stomach and sighed, "Even the emperor doesn't starve his soldiers. Can we eat first?"

Everyone burst into laughter at these words.

Deputy Factory Director Li waved his hand and shouted, "Let's go, everyone to the canteen today!"

Everyone cheered immediately.

A moment later, at the government office's small canteen.

Chen Fan ate two bowls of rice and drank a bowl of soup, finally filling his stomach.

Driving is tiring too. He drove 10 different types of cars in one morning, and then test-drove them again when he got back to the machine factory. He was starving and had no mood to talk to them about development.

Only now did he slowly sip his tea and glance around at the group of people who were eating and chatting, but who kept glancing at him expectantly.

Factory Director Yang, Deputy Factory Director Li, Union Chairman Zhao, Youth League Secretary Zhang, Women's Federation Director Qian—all the factory leaders were present. Adding to the table were Auto Repair Foreman Ding Guangsheng and Master Zhou, and finally, Chen Fan, making a total of eight people.

Chen Fan put down his teacup and grinned, "I know you all want to build cars."

Upon hearing this, all seven people at the table straightened up and stared at him without blinking.

Chen Fan turned to look at Factory Director Yang and smiled, "You asked me to give the factory some suggestions before. Are you not planning to give any more suggestions and just start manufacturing cars?"

Factory Director Yang raised an eyebrow and laughed, "No, no, I still really want to hear your opinion. After all, young people have a lot of ideas. You're not only quick-witted but also technically savvy. Don't hold back any good suggestions you may have."

He himself knew that the machine factory could not be transformed into an automobile factory all at once. Firstly, there was no suitable equipment, and secondly, there were not enough qualified employees.

Even if you decide to start manufacturing cars, you should start small and start with a few finished cars to exchange for resources from higher-ups. Then, you can gradually transfer other product lines or shut them down altogether, and focus all your human and material resources on car manufacturing.

This is a very long time, possibly several years or even more than a decade.

During this period, we certainly cannot ignore the other product lines; we still need to come up with a proper solution.

Deputy Factory Director Li and other leaders nodded in agreement, especially Chairman Zhao of the Trade Union.

Nowadays, labor unions really do consider the needs of their employees. From helping employees have children to managing kindergartens and schools, they also help arrange jobs for children who don't get into vocational schools or universities. When the children grow up, they organize social events to help men find wives and women find husbands. And when their children are born, they go to visit and offer their condolences.

This is a major event; there are countless smaller events every year.

They distribute gifts during holidays, mediate employee disputes, seek benefits for employees, and listen to their demands.

Of course, there will also be plenty of activities such as organizing large-scale employee meetings, study sessions, sports meets, and cultural performances...

Even in production, unions can get involved.

For example, organizing labor competitions to increase production and save resources, skills competitions, and so on.

Oh, there's one more.

It is also the work of the labor union to exonerate people from that period in the past!
Look at this union, how can it turn a blind eye to the future development of its employees?

So when Chen Fan said that, Chairman Zhao immediately beamed with joy, his face showing undisguised admiration.

He would absolutely not agree to it if manufacturing cars affected other production lines and employees!

Chen Fan glanced at everyone and said seriously, "I know everyone is interested in building cars, so I'll start with that. But before I talk about building cars, I'd like to ask you a question."

Factory Director Yang raised his chin. "Go on."

Chen Fan, "What kind of car do you want to build?"

Factory Director Yang looked around, somewhat puzzled. "Isn't a car just a car? There are only two kinds: trucks, cars, or jeeps."

He chuckled as he said, "Given the conditions of our factory, it's already good enough that we can even manufacture cars. Of course, we'll manufacture whatever we can. Unless one day, the higher-ups agree to let us establish a car factory and stipulate that we must manufacture a certain type of car, but even then, it won't be up to us to make that decision."

Chen Fan laughed knowingly, "Uncle Yang, if that's the case, then your car manufacturing business will never amount to anything."

He stared intently at Factory Director Yang. "You've been in business for so many years, you must be very familiar with production and management, but you're quite unfamiliar with the market. What I mean is, if the machinery factory wants to manufacture cars, where should it position itself in the market?"

Li, the deputy factory director standing next to him, shook his head and smiled meaningfully, "If we can really make the car factory successful one day, then of course we'll do whatever the higher-ups say. What's the point of market positioning?"

Factory Director Yang smiled and was about to remind Chen Fan to watch his words, but Chen Fan shook his head seriously and said to them, "A market is where there is buying and selling. It's not only capitalism that has a market; socialism also has a market. Mr. Li believes that 'the nature of commodity production depends on what kind of economy it is associated with. If it is associated with a capitalist economy, it is capitalist in nature; if it is associated with a socialist economy, it is socialist in nature.'"

Seeing that Chen Fan had brought up Mr. Li, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

That's fine.

Chen Fan continued, "For example, if a machinery factory wants to buy trucks, what's the first thing that comes to mind?"

Deputy Factory Director Li blurted out, "Of course it's the Liberation Army!"

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Yes, that's how FAW, through Jiefang trucks, accurately targeted the truck market. Similarly, if a machinery factory wants to manufacture vehicles, it needs to accurately define its market positioning: what kind of vehicles should we manufacture, and what kind of units should we sell them to?"
Therefore, we need to design the most suitable car based on the needs of these organizations, so that everyone who uses it will say it's good, be willing to buy it again, and recommend it to other organizations.

Only in this way can we quickly gain an advantage and establish a firm foothold…

He turned to look at Factory Director Yang and said meaningfully, "The most important thing is to get leverage to negotiate with the higher-ups and get them to agree to the restructuring of the machinery factory or the establishment of an automobile branch. It's not about us failing to produce cars and them taking away our equipment and personnel!"

Upon hearing this, Director Yang nodded in deep agreement, "That makes sense."

He looked up at Chen Fan and said seriously, "Anyway, you know what we all think. As long as the conditions are right, we definitely want to build cars. But we don't know much about these things. If you have any good ideas, just say them. We will seriously consider whether they are suitable or not."

He then chuckled, "Of course, your reward won't be small either."

Upon hearing this, another round of soft laughter erupted from the table.

These days everyone has realized that if you want Teacher Chen to work hard, you can't do it without giving him something substantial.

Of course, Chen Fan doesn't ask for things on his own initiative. He's happy with anything given to him, and he's very good at striking the right balance. Otherwise, he would have gone too far and made a mistake.

Chen Fan said with a smile, "Then I'll be frank. Actually, making cars isn't difficult. Apart from big manufacturers like FAW, Dongfeng, and SAIC, most other car manufacturers started out as auto repair shops."

For example, BAIC's predecessor was the Capital Second Automobile Repair Factory. Comparing their conditions side-by-side, they were actually worse off than our machinery factory at the time.

Putting aside other things, did BAIC at that time have so much equipment and materials from its machinery plant?
Back then, they used forging tables and hammers to create my country's first batch of miniature cars, the "Satellite" brand. Even the engines were hammered out!
(Satellite car from the late 50s)
In comparison, the conditions at the machine factory were much better.

After first encouraging everyone, Chen Fan then poured cold water on their enthusiasm, continuing, "However, compared to large automobile manufacturers, we still have a significant gap. Therefore, my suggestion is that we could choose to produce mini-trucks, which are relatively easy to manufacture but have extremely high demand."

(End of this chapter)