2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 324 Sales of Peptides

The title of "infrastructure powerhouse" is no joke. Even before the 4 trillion yuan stimulus package, the speed of infrastructure development was still impressive.

The construction of factory buildings is much faster than that of residential buildings.

Since the cooperation was established in March, the Zhongtai Beicang factory has quickly entered the preparation stage. Land acquisition, environmental impact assessment approval, bidding, and construction have not been delayed at all.

At this pace, completion within a year is not a problem.

It seems that Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory only took 10 months from groundbreaking to official production? I wish Tesla's factory construction could be that efficient.

"President Tan, you don't seem to care at all about the construction of Zhongtai's project. This is your first time visiting this site," Wu Jianzhong joked.

He learned that Tan Jincheng would be staying in Beicang for a few days, so he invited Tan Jincheng to visit the construction site of the Zhongtai factory.

"I'm just a small shareholder, and I can't offer much help with Zhongtai. It's up to President Wu and President Ying to oversee things," Tan Jincheng said with a smile.

I've barely even been to my own construction site a few times, so how could I possibly have time to visit Zhongtai's construction site? Besides, what's so interesting about a big construction site? I wouldn't understand it anyway.

"You can't say that. If it weren't for the automotive qualifications provided by Mr. Tan, Zhongtai wouldn't have been launched so quickly. Also, we have to thank Mr. Tan for the marketing plan, which made many people aware of Zhongtai instantly."

Wu Jianzhong was quite pleased with Tan Jincheng's humility. Zhongtai was a family business, and although the Beicang factory had given up a lot of profits, Wu Jianzhong still did not want any external interference in the actual operation and management process.

Fortunately, both Beicang and Tan Jincheng were very dutiful. After Tan Jincheng did a marketing campaign for Zhongtai last time, he quickly withdrew and stopped interfering in any of Zhongtai's business operations.

Wu Jianzhong appreciated this point, and the Beicang District was also very cooperative, so there were no obstacles to the construction of the factory. The two sides have officially passed the initial trust period of cooperation.

"No, no, I, Mr. Wu, can handle all of this. I'm the one who got a good deal. By the way, how are the Zhongtai cars selling these days?"

Zhongtai was launched before Labor Day, and it has been on the market for two and a half months now. Tan Jincheng has never asked about the actual sales figures, but now that he has this opportunity, he naturally wants to find out.

This question clearly made Wu Jianzhong feel very confident: "Sales are very good. I don't know the July data yet, but we sold a total of 3000 vehicles in May and June! We can say that we have gained a foothold."

With an average monthly sales volume of 1500 vehicles, the total sales revenue has exceeded 1.2 million yuan. If this momentum is maintained, the annual sales revenue will exceed 7 million yuan, and if things go well, it could even reach 10 billion yuan.

The first car achieved sales of 10 billion yuan in its first year on the market. That's more than just a feat; no wonder Wu Jianzhong seemed so triumphant.

The principles of cars and electric cars are actually the same. The development costs are there. If you sell one, ten, or 100 cars, you will definitely lose money. But the more you sell, once you reach a certain volume, you will make a fortune.

"That's really great, congratulations Mr. Wu! Keep up the good work, and Zhongtai will be able to survive," Tan Jincheng said sincerely.

Cars also have their own peak sales seasons, such as the traditional "Golden September and Silver October" and December and January, which are the two seasons around the Lunar New Year. But like electric vehicles, cars have also started to enter their peak sales season since the summer vacation.

The Zhongtai 2008 is a small SUV that is quite suitable for family trips. It is not expensive, so buying one for a family of three for a summer road trip is very suitable.

Wu Jianzhong also remarked with emotion, "Yes, if this car is a success, Zhongtai will be able to survive, and Xiaoying and I will be under much less pressure. I wonder if President Tan has any suggestions for the subsequent promotion?"

Car companies are asset-heavy businesses, and it's not easy for them to gain a foothold in a highly competitive environment. Often, the primary goal for most companies is not to make a lot of money, but to survive.

"I haven't paid much attention to the publicity lately. I'll find out when I get back. But I think Zhongtai should follow up on the quality and service to ease the emotions of the first batch of car buyers and avoid causing widespread negative effects."

Wu Jianzhong was somewhat embarrassed. Tan Jincheng's words were rather polite; in reality, he knew very well what the quality of the first batch was like.

This is a bad habit of domestic companies; their first batch of products are basically all experimental products.

Even the first batch of electric vehicles from Flash Motors were the same; they handed over the testing costs to the market and made consumers pay for them. Everyone was doing the same thing.

However, one advantage of the Flash is that it is an electric car, priced at less than two thousand yuan. The first batch of sales were in Henan Province and northern Anhui Province, where information spreads relatively slowly.

Some people bought it and felt the quality was bad, so they just complained a bit and let it go. Others could fix it and it was still usable, so they just let it go.

Furthermore, Flashlink subsequently strengthened its quality control management and improved its service quality, so its reputation was not significantly affected.

However, Zhongtai is, after all, a car, and people still care a lot about cars. The price of just over 4 yuan after discounts is very tempting, and some people are indeed tempted. But 4 yuan is not a small amount in 2006.

Cars involve numerous components; if after-sales service and maintenance are inadequate, even the most successful car will quickly be abandoned by the market due to poor reputation. Many factors influence a model's success, beyond a company's control, but the lifespan of a successful model depends entirely on the company's attitude.

Geely's classic Emgrand model not only saved Geely's business but also sold for many years.

"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Tan. We will follow up with our services accordingly," Wu Jianzhong said solemnly.

Tan Jincheng meant well and was not mocking the quality of Zhongtai. He was well aware of this. Now that they had a good start, they really couldn't afford to ruin it because of quality issues.

Like raising a venomous insect, Tan Jincheng hopes that Zhongtai will become better and better and be able to establish itself in the gasoline car market, instead of disappearing from the market after its reputation collapsed rapidly, as it did in his previous life.

Flashcar doesn't make gasoline cars because it has missed the opportunity, not because it doesn't want to. In fact, gasoline cars and electric cars complement each other, and for a long time, neither can replace the other.

A two-pronged approach is needed to enhance market competitiveness; the better Zhongtai performs in the gasoline vehicle market, the more valuable it will be in the future.

After chatting with Wu Jianzhong for a morning and exchanging insights on enterprise management, Tan Jincheng realized that he could still learn a lot from Wu Jianzhong, a veteran of state-owned enterprises.

Logically speaking, the management of state-owned enterprises should be more advanced than that of most private enterprises. The rapid development of Qian Shi Zhongtai was inseparable from Ying Jianren's capital operation, but it was also inseparable from Wu Jianzhong's standardized management.

Since today's activity was to visit construction sites, Tan Jincheng decided to continue exploring them in the afternoon, but this time he went to the construction site of the Shanchi Beicang base.

The construction of Zhongtai's project is progressing so quickly that Shanchi cannot lag behind. Otherwise, by next year, Zhongtai's factory will have been inspected and put into production, while Shanchi's factory will still be incomplete, which would be a laughing stock.

"I don't understand the specifics of the construction, but I hope that the construction site can speed up the process while paying attention to safety and quality. If the project can be completed and accepted more than a month ahead of schedule, the payment will be much easier to discuss."

"President Tan, please rest assured. I can't be sure if we can conduct the inspection ahead of schedule, but we will definitely not delay your construction schedule," the site manager said confidently.

The construction company responsible for building the Shanchi construction site is Beicang Urban Construction, a local enterprise.

The person in charge of Shanchi is very clear about Shanchi's current status in Beicang. It's no exaggeration to say that Shanchi is their own son. This young boss is not old, but he knows how to handle things and makes a big move every now and then.

For Beicang, FlashChe is no longer just a large enterprise that can drive the local economy, but like the women's volleyball team's home stadium, it is a calling card for Beicang.

With the development of the internet and the rapid marketing efforts, Beicang District has appeared in the media more frequently this year than in its more than 20-year history. The district government is delighted to receive interview invitations from various media outlets.

Their attitude towards Flashpoint has become increasingly friendly. How could Beicang Construction dare to delay the construction schedule of such a company?

Moreover, there's a lithium battery factory project waiting in the wings, which is also a huge project.

"Alright, I won't say anything more that I'm not an expert in giving advice. We're all under the same roof, so come over to the export processing zone for tea sometime."

"No problem. If you have time, Mr. Tan, please come and take a look. I guarantee you will see that the construction site changes every day."

"Haha, thanks a lot then, but please be careful. There's nothing else to do on the construction site, safety is the most important thing."

It would be best to start production ahead of schedule. If that's not possible, we need to ensure the project schedule. If we can ensure the project schedule, production will start after New Year's Day 2007. At that time, Flash will be able to temporarily alleviate the pressure on production capacity.

Although July's figures haven't been released yet, the total sales for the month should be confirmed: 4.5 units.

There's no other reason than that they can only produce this much, and there's no inventory left. If nothing unexpected happens, Flash will remain in this state until September. If they want to maintain some inventory, they'll have to wait until after September.

It's really outrageous. Tan Jincheng knew that electric vehicles would experience a major boom in the next few years, but he still underestimated how quickly it would happen.

If we had known this would happen, we should have started it right away at the beginning of 2005. Also, we should have taken bigger steps back then.

After June, the sales volume of the first half of the year had reached 21.59 units, achieving the annual sales target set for 2005 six months ahead of schedule. The speed of this surge was truly unexpected.

The market's explosive growth had its own trend, but the strength of the surge was largely due to the butterfly effect of FlashDrive. As the butterfly itself, being at the center of the vortex, it naturally bore the brunt of the impact.

These are things that Tan Jincheng was unaware of, and that his peers were also unaware of.

(End of this chapter)