2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 316 Young people don’t respect martial ethics!
Flashpoint Technology is making a big splash, and other leading manufacturers are doing just as well.

The Yangtze River Delta region, the key area for this promotion, has seen fierce competition among major manufacturers.

Luyuan's marketing is the worst, but unfortunately, it is the electric vehicle brand with the deepest roots in Zhejiang Province and has a very loyal user base in the province. Its position is not yet unshakable by brands such as Flash.

Compared to Zhejiang Province, the competition in Jiangsu Province is much fiercer. The two major local brands, Xinri and Yadi, are locked in a fierce battle, while the newcomer, Flash, is offering very large promotional amounts in order to gain a foothold in Jiangsu Province.

For a time, the three sides were evenly matched, making it arguably the most competitive region during the summer. Taking the FlashCheer brand as an example, the promotional efforts were enormous, with the original price of 1999 already lower than the prices of the low-end brands, ChipRide and Yadi.

With this promotion, you can get a Flashcar for only 1500 yuan, which is close to the price of a generic brand and there is almost no profit to be made.

Tan Jincheng intends to use this method to penetrate the Jiangsu market, seize market share through price wars, and secure a place for himself in this major province for electric vehicle manufacturers.

Using low-end brands to boost sales and attract customers to the store will drive sales of the Fengchifeiyi and Guanneng series.

Price wars are inevitable in any industry during the market grab phase. Although Zhang Congxun and Dong Jinggui were furious with Tan Jincheng's shameless tactics, they had no choice but to follow suit.

FlashTech's aggressive approach immediately put immense pressure on ChipRide and Yadi.

"Luckily it's just a peak season promotion. That kid really has no sportsmanship," Zhang Congxun said indignantly.

Dong Jinggui wholeheartedly agreed. If this were in Jiangsu Province, their home base, and Shanchi were to snatch the top sales spot, the two of them would be utterly humiliated.

There is a big difference between companies in Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province. Companies in Jiangsu Province like to do everything themselves. For example, most of the parts for Yadi are produced in-house and the company has built its own factories. In addition, they focus on research and development, which makes Yadi the most expensive company.

The operating model of ChipSun is similar, while Zhejiang Province uses a collaborative model involving multiple companies. For each vehicle, you earn a little, I earn a little, but at the same time, the costs are also shared among various parties.

In terms of cost, companies in Zhejiang Province have an advantage over those in other provinces, including Jiangsu Province. Moreover, FlashCheer's sales have now entered the top four, giving it the same bargaining power with suppliers as ChipRide and Yadi.

Take Mingcheng Industrial and Bafang Electric as examples. Although they are all companies invested in or controlled by Shanchi Group, these three companies operate independently and are responsible for their own profits and losses.

While collaborating with Mingcheng Industrial and Bafang Electric, FlashTech also negotiates prices based on market price fluctuations and changes in procurement volume.

In this situation, compared to Yadi's self-built motor factory and comprehensive development, FlashTech, which only focuses on vehicle assembly and sales, faces much less financial pressure.

In a price war, Yadi and Xinri really can't compete with Flash.

However, the price war that Flash Motors launched in Jiangsu Province for low-end models is not most troublesome for leading brands such as Xinri, Yadi, and Luyuan, but for those miscellaneous companies that specialize in low-end models.

When the first and second place engage in a price war, it's usually the third place that suffers.

After all the calculations, you can buy a FlashCare for 1500 yuan, which offers better quality and service. Why buy a no-name brand?
Although Dong Jinggui and Zhang Congxun were somewhat troubled by Tan Jincheng's unsportsmanlike behavior, they also followed suit in a tacit manner. After three months of price war during the peak season, the market in Jiangsu Province was bound to undergo a reshuffle.

Some small-scale and low-quality companies will find it difficult to survive in this round of price wars among leading brands, which is also beneficial to them.

As a result, some manufacturers at the bottom of the Jiangsu market are complaining bitterly, as their sales have actually declined during the peak season!

The relevant regulatory authorities in Jiangsu Province naturally noticed this, but it was entirely a market behavior, and the three companies had not violated any regulations, so they had nothing to say.

"You're calling me over something so trivial? I'm just using good products to replace inferior ones, okay? If I wasn't worried about looking too greedy, I'd be ready to keep this price war going until the end of the year!"

"Fight until the end of the year? Are you trying to kill the bottom-tier manufacturers? I advise you to be kind, or you'll have to bring a few more people with you when you go out."

"Haha, no way. What era are we living in? If they can't make electric bikes, they can make other businesses. Nobody's that stupid. Besides, you guys are fighting along with them, it's not like I'm the only one."

"But you're the one who started this."

"I call this giving back to consumers; it's entirely a market-driven behavior. If they have the ability, they should also give back to consumers. I don't object to that."

"Alright, alright, I'm just telling you to take it easy, don't go too far, and leave yourself some leeway."

"Um, bro, I've already left myself an out; to be honest, I initially planned to sell at cost price, but now I still have a small profit."

"Fine, I shouldn't have called you. The more I listened, the angrier I got! I'm hanging up."

Zhang Congxun angrily hung up the phone. This kid still has a profit margin on low-end models at this price, and there's still room for price reductions. Who can stand this kind of strategy?
Small manufacturers are on their own.

Compared to the fierce competition in Jiangsu Province, Flash's market performance in Anhui Province is much better. Although it is a new brand, Tan Jincheng's personal aura is too strong in Anhui Province.

At 21, from an ordinary family, he built his fortune from scratch and became a multi-millionaire.

In order to set an example, the Yicheng and even the Anhui provincial government have intentionally or unintentionally cooperated with Flash's publicity in Anhui Province. Flash promoted its products, while the officials cooperated in promoting the personal image of Flash.

Extensive television exposure and print media interviews helped Tan Jincheng establish a positive image among countless parents in Anhui Province, making him the "ideal child" for everyone.

With high-quality products, excellent service, and Tan Jincheng's positive image, sales of electric vehicles under Shanchi have been steadily increasing in Anhui Province since his identity was revealed.

In his hometown of Yicheng, FlashChe has become virtually invincible without much effort. Especially this time, one of Chun Ge's three promotional events was held in Yicheng. Although it was supposedly an online vote, everyone knows that Boss Tan is showing his support for his hometown.

Didn't you see that when the online voting results came out, Yicheng appeared in third place, causing netizens and Chun Ge's fans to curse him endlessly?

Why Yicheng?

Of course, it's because the owner of FlashDrive is from Yicheng!
Because of this, netizens from Yicheng and Hefei got into a heated argument on Baidu Tieba, as netizens from both places have always disliked each other.

They were arguing fiercely.
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Attentive netizens may have noticed that in the past few days, a website called Kaixin001 has been mentioned on forums, communities, blogs, podcasts, and some video websites.

Some curious netizens or internet professionals logged onto the website and discovered that it was a social networking site similar to QQ Space, or more accurately, a social networking site resembling Facebook on the American side.

Much of its content is very similar to Facebook and Twitter.

The app features a variety of communication methods, including photos, diaries, book reviews, movie reviews, text messages, comments, and more. It also includes interactive elements such as buying and selling friends and buying and selling houses. While it has a high entertainment value, it's not exactly a novel concept.

Websites like this are not uncommon on the internet today; similar ones include QQ Space and Renren.com.

"The interface is simple and clear. The only downside is that you have to register before you can see the content," muttered Liu Jiwen, a seasoned internet user, as he opened the website after being drawn in by promotional information.

However, I still registered an account out of curiosity.

Since the website has just launched, there are not many users. The most information that can be viewed on the square is some activity updates about Chun Ge, Liu Yifei and Jay Chou posted by an account called Flash Technology.

These posts also received the most views.

"Huh? What does this website have to do with Flashlink Technology? Why would Flashlink Technology post information here?" Liu Jiwen wondered.

He was naturally aware of FlashTech's reputation; it was the youngest chairman in the electric vehicle industry, with a net worth of one billion yuan in less than two years, a true legend.

However, this was not Liu Jiwen's focus; he was simply curious and wanted to figure out the website's functions.

Before long, Liu Jiwen understood the general structure of the website. The photos, diaries, and the like were nothing special and very simple.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Jiwen entered the friend trading section.

"This is a little game, it's kind of interesting."

After fiddling around for a while, I realized I didn't have any friends, and I didn't know how to do this friend trading system, but it seemed kind of interesting.

Liu Jiwen didn't think much of it and casually added FlashTech as a friend. He also added several other active users on the forum as friends.

Adding friends naturally requires the other party's consent.

After adding it, Liu Jiwen didn't think much of it and went to browse and analyze the other functions.

To Liu Jiwen's surprise, his casual registration and addition caused a cheer in the Orange Technology office.

"Holy crap! The first unregistered user has appeared."

"Haha, he even added me as a friend, and he also sent a friend request to FlashTech."

"I added it too. This guy added everything he could think of in the square."

"Approve it quickly, let him experience the charm of buying and selling with friends."

"Yeah."

Gu Qingqing was also in the project team's main office at this time. Cheng Hao had gone to negotiate with MSN, so she was temporarily in charge of managing the two project teams and promotional work.

"Okay, approve them all, but be careful not to let them find out you're all shills."

"Haha, boss, don't worry, he won't find out."

That's right. Before Liu Jiwen registered, Kaixin.com, which had just completed its first round of internal testing and fixed some bugs, did not have a single real user. All accounts, including the Flash Technology account, were operated by internal staff of Orange Technology.

In Kaixin.com version 1.0, Liu Jiwen never expected that his curiosity would make him the first real user.

"Ding!"

A pleasant sound came from the computer. Liu Jiwen looked and saw that one of the users had accepted his friend request.

"What?! It actually passed?"

(End of this chapter)