2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 415 The Deceptive Old Ying
Zhongtai2008 gained market favor with its extremely cheap price. No matter how much the quality was criticized, or how it was ridiculed as a no-name brand, it still sold very well.

So what if it's a no-name brand? It's cheap!

In fact, in terms of popularity, Zhongtai far surpassed Shanchi last year. Apart from the local related industry chain and peers, the only other thing that pays attention to two-wheeled electric vehicles is the consumers themselves.

Car buyers only mention concerns about price and quality, which isn't enough to generate a large-scale discussion. This is why electric vehicle companies prefer to hire celebrity spokespeople.

Celebrities can generate buzz and make the industry and brands known to more people, thereby increasing product awareness and sales.

The automobile industry is different. It is an industry with a high level of public interest and a large industrial chain that supports a large number of people. Consumers, whether they can afford it or not, pay close attention to it.

The empowerment of automobiles is different from that of electric vehicles. They are not just a means of transportation, but more often a social tool.

This is a "generic" car company that used to be a private factory that made auto parts. It took them more than a year to finally get their licenses sorted out by sheer luck. Their car models are pure copies, and the quality is, to put it mildly, questionable.

However, because of his pricing strategy and his choice of the right market trend, it sold exceptionally well.

Ying Jianren: "It doesn't matter, I will take action."

The Zhongtai 2008 sold well, and the company made money, but how can a top-notch car manufacturer only have one model?

However, independent design is impossible. It would take so much time and would waste a great opportunity to make money. Ying Jianren's idea is to buy, buy, buy.

Since he wasn't short of money, Ying Jianren had learned last year that Jiangnan Automobile, one of the four major Alto manufacturers, was facing bankruptcy and restructuring, so he set his sights on Jiangnan Automobile.

After much effort, Ying Jianren finally acquired 70% of Jiangnan Automobile's shares in March of this year, gaining control of the company. The first thing he did was to launch the plan to revive Jiangnan Alto.

Zhongtai renamed the Jiangnan Alto to Jiangnan TT. It has no air conditioning and no airbags. You can't really call this a car. It's more like a license plate for an old man. Ying Jianren is really outrageous.

Ying Jianren's most outrageous move was setting the price of the so-called Jiangnan TT starting at 1.8 yuan, with the highest-spec version only going for 2.58 yuan.

Ying Jianren claims to be making the cheapest car, and the starting price of 1.8 yuan is truly outrageous, even though he has nothing of substance; it's basically just an old man's car.

But it's still a car that can be registered, so it's worth it even just for the license plate. Tan Jincheng couldn't even imagine what the market would be like after this thing was launched.

"You're really outrageous. Buying a car for 18,000 yuan? Those car companies are probably going to curse you to death. You're practically stirring up trouble."

On the 3rd, Tan Jincheng brought his family to Yongkang for fun. Actually, they were visiting Zhongtai and also going to Yiwu on the way. Gu Qingqing was about to collapse at home.

This was the first time Tan Lihua, his wife, and their son, Xiao Jinyue, had visited a car factory. Although they were working alongside their son, it was still a novel experience. The three of them were being accompanied by Ying Jianren's secretary on a tour of the factory.

Tan Jincheng and Ying Jianren visited and chatted at the design department of Zhongtai.

The so-called Alto TT was an existing model that only needed some minor adjustments. The design drawings were not confidential, and the marketing plan, including the pricing, was not discussed with Tan Jincheng.

Actually, there's nothing to hide about this. It's an existing car model and production line, so it can be launched to the market very quickly. Zhongtai doesn't plan to make any major modifications to the Alto TT; making money as soon as possible is the only important thing.

"Haha, how about that? Isn't this price amazing? I'm going to crush these car companies!" Ying Jianren replied with considerable pride.

He learned the word "roll" from Tan Jincheng. Although it's a complete thing and calling it a car is a bit of a stretch, it's the best way to seize the market and make the Zhongtai brand known to more people.

A car that costs 1.8 yuan, tell me if you'd buy it or not. This thing is definitely better than a Flash Motors electric car for getting around, at least you won't get wet in the rain. Their most expensive electric car can still sell for four or five thousand yuan.

With a little more budget, you can own a two-wheeled vehicle that can protect you from the wind and rain.

Tan Jincheng was speechless; this guy was somewhat obsessed.

Admittedly, Tan Jincheng wouldn't question the price of the Alto TT, after all, it's only 18,000 yuan, which is about enough for even a low-level worker to save up for a year at most.

Even if you get ripped off, most people would just accept it, but that's not how you play the car business.

It's fine to make cars cheaper, but not this cheap. Compared to electric vehicles, the barriers to entry for cars are relatively higher. At the very least, you need a driver's license and to learn how to drive. You also need to learn traffic regulations to drive on the road. Unlike electric vehicles, which you can buy and drive on the road with almost no barriers, although you will need to register them later, it's still much cheaper than cars.

A car costing 40,000 to 50,000 yuan can be considered a car, but a car costing 18,000 yuan that doesn't even have air conditioning, is that still a car? This is simply ripping people off.

Even a low-speed electric vehicle is better than this thing; at least a low-speed electric vehicle doesn't need a license plate, so the barrier to entry is much lower.

Perhaps the success of Zhongtai2008 made Ying Jianren a little obsessed. The low-price strategy is not wrong, and Tan Jincheng also likes to let consumers buy better products at lower prices, but that's not how it works.

Low price must be based on cost-effectiveness. For example, the lowest-end model of the Flash series, with a price of 1,500 to 1,600 yuan after discounts, has unbeatable cost-effectiveness in the 2500 yuan price range.

Instead of spending 1000 yuan to buy an electric bike that is actually only worth 800 yuan and needs repairs after only two months of use, that's not a low price, that's electronic waste, and that's a rip-off.

In Tan Jincheng's consumer philosophy, the essence of low price should be cost-effectiveness, rather than absolute cheapness.

Ordinary consumers don't earn money easily, and they need to be careful with every penny. When they make a purchase, their first priority is definitely low-priced products. However, the essence of their pursuit of low prices is to buy good products at low prices and to ensure that the products they buy can be used for a longer period of time.

Using extremely low prices that exceed public expectations, coupled with extensive advertising, to lure consumers into a consumer trap and lead them to impulsive purchases of inferior products is a marketing tactic that unscrupulous merchants have been using since the last century.

Don't think that extremely low prices mean no profit; often, these low-quality, low-priced products actually generate quite good profits.

Ying Jianren actually used the same approach. When consumers saw this, they thought, "Wow, I can buy a car for 18,000 yuan." If they had 18,000 yuan on hand and a driver's license, it would be hard for them not to impulsively buy it.

Tan Jincheng doesn't even need to check the quality of a car that costs 18,000 yuan. It would be a miracle if this thing were of good quality.

The more products sold, the more people were cheated, which actually caused greater damage to the Zhongtai brand. The quality of Zhongtai's first batch of products in 2008 was very poor. Tan Jincheng finally persuaded Wu Jianzhong to accept his suggestion and improve the quality control slightly.

In addition, we should improve our after-sales service to try to salvage our reputation.

Looking at it now, Zhongtai is still Zhongtai, and Ying Jianren is still Ying Jianren. It is impossible to change his inherent business management mindset. Tan Jincheng can already imagine how consumers will complain about the various quality problems that will arise after the Alto TT becomes a bestseller.

"What's there to market about this thing? Just focus on the fact that it's the cheapest car in the country. I don't need to do anything. Besides, with a price of 18,000 yuan, how much are you planning to spend on marketing?"

That's fine. Since they're still operating with the same mindset, it's probably only natural that they'll fail quickly in the future. It's hard to build a good reputation in the car market, but it's extremely difficult to rebuild a ruined one.

In this light, it seems better for Flash to acquire Zhongtai Beicang or even the entire Zhongtai Group, and then establish its own new brand to launch its own new energy vehicles, than to get entangled with them.

As for the marketing plan for the Alto TT, to be honest, Tan Jincheng didn't want to earn that money. It was a bit beneath him, and such a low-quality product really didn't fit Tan Jincheng's business philosophy.

FlashCare would never produce such inferior products; they make cost-effective products and would never make anything that cheats people.

Lei Jun once said that excellent companies create profits, while great companies win people's hearts. Tan Jincheng thinks there is nothing wrong with this statement.

Flashpoint's primary goal is to become a profitable company. Secondly, it should strive to win people's hearts through product design and become a respected enterprise, earning money honestly and fairly. This is the quality that entrepreneurs in the new era should possess.

Since Lao Ying cannot be changed, Tan Jincheng will no longer hold the mindset of cooperation. Once you see through something, you should make a decision as soon as possible, just like Boss Huang. Admittedly, they are all outstanding talents.

However, those who walk different paths cannot make plans together.

Differences in philosophy make cooperation impossible. Once the initial honeymoon period is over and the company reaches a point of stable growth and profitability, conflicts will inevitably arise over profit distribution.

In his previous life, Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng had a smooth collaboration because their business philosophy was cultivated together from the beginning on the ship. During the boxed lunch sales phase, they endured hardships and worked hard together.

Zhang Xupeng's business philosophy throughout his life has been deliberately guided by Tan Jincheng, so the probability of a rift developing between the two is very small.

However, in reality, many partners eventually fall out, not so much because of unfair profit distribution, but because of disagreements over business philosophies.

(End of this chapter)