2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 571 Goal: Top Three Nationwide!
"This design is great. The lines do look softer, and the space is spacious enough."

"Is this a load-bearing type?"

The speaker was Chang Zhijie, the technical director of Yangzi Motors. Compared to Zhu Pei's question, his question was much more professional.

Zhang Yong laughed and said, "Yes, our CEO Tan has quite the ambition; you two, we need to come up with a plan for the market, so there's no problem with keeping Feiyang under wraps."

Currently, the urban SUV market with a unibody construction is basically dominated by joint venture brands, with the Volkswagen Tiguan leading the way, often costing over 20 yuan, and sometimes even requiring additional pricing. At present, the only domestic brand that can rival it on the market is the Chery Tiggo NCV.

The Dizi is unbeatable in the new energy vehicle market. Although it has high sales, it is more concentrated in the sedan category. But to be honest, the Dizi's gasoline cars are not very good.

Overall, there are almost no decent SUVs with enough space under 20 yuan, which is definitely the best market gap for new SUVs to enter the automotive field.

"Don't brag yet. We don't know if the market will accept it. The next step is to start production as soon as possible. Right now, we're mainly focusing on pickup trucks. If we can sell pickup trucks well, we can invest more money in SUVs later."

The new production line of Yangzi Pickup has a production capacity of over 5 vehicles per year. After the new production line is put into operation, the annual revenue is expected to reach 20 billion yuan. This is all thanks to the continuous investment made by Changfeng Group over the past three years.

Yangzi Pickup originally had an annual production capacity of only 10,000 vehicles. According to Changfeng Group's plan, after the complete transformation, Yangzi Automobile's final production capacity will be 100,000 pickup trucks per year, with annual revenue reaching 5 billion yuan.

With proper management and increased sales, Yangzi Pickup could easily become self-sufficient and even provide substantial funding for the company's technological upgrades. It truly was a great bargain for Tan Jincheng.

This is also why Li Jianxin was dissatisfied. However, now that the stock price has fallen to around six or seven yuan, Li Jianxin has no choice but to accept it. At the same time, he is also somewhat relieved, because if he had delayed for another half month, he would not have been able to sell it at this price.

Yang Zhijie was stunned for a moment, then gave a thumbs up and said, "That's quite a challenge, going straight to joint venture brands. President Tan is awesome!"

Like Zhang Yong, Yang Zhijie is also a pure technologist. This middle-aged man, born in 1965 and over forty years old, is also devoted to technology, and he has made great contributions to the success of Yangzi Pickup.

Unlike others, this person, while somewhat unable to accept the company's name change, felt that the Feiyang brand should have stopped production long ago, as selling so few vehicles each year was a pure waste of resources.

Even though he's a tech guy, he still has some foresight, being from an old state-owned enterprise. He can't accept the company's name change, but he won't say much about it. Anyway, someone else will step up, it's not his turn.

It would be great if I could change the boss's mind, but it doesn't matter if I can't, as it won't affect his technical work.

"No, no, no, Director Yang is exaggerating. It's just that market analysis has shown that this market segment still has great potential. Currently, the only competitor in China is the Tiggo. If we launch our product quickly, we can still make a name for ourselves."

The sedan market is too competitive; none of the three companies—Chery, Geely, and Didi—can compete. As for cars like the Zhongtai 2008, which are popular for older drivers, although they can make money, Tan Jincheng simply has no interest in them.

Having been reborn, since I'm going to build cars, why should I make those shameful things? Instead of building those, I should just focus on making my own two-wheeled electric vehicles.

"I like to speak the truth. I admire you, Mr. Tan, for your courage to go head-to-head with joint venture brands. I was a little resentful that you changed the company's name, but I forgive you now. Also, don't worry, Mr. Tan, I will handle the backlash from the technical department."

Yang Zhijie is a long-time employee of Yangzi Motors and has always worked in the technical department, so he is certainly qualified to say such things.

"Haha, thank you, Director Yang."

The company needs the cooperation of these former senior executives to resume normal production as soon as possible. Tan Jincheng can replace the heads of the finance and human resources departments and firmly grasp personnel and financial power in his own hands, but it is impossible to replace everyone.

After all, it cost hundreds of millions of yuan and embodies Weilai Auto's dream of building cars. Tan Jincheng may be tough, but he can't really give up.

Zhu Pei's attitude was somewhat ambiguous, and Yang Zhijie's immediate statement indicated that he already had the intention to defect, especially to the technical department that Tan Jincheng valued most.

Like Great Wall Motors, Yangzi Pickup has the foundation to manufacture pickup chassis, giving it a huge advantage in producing SUV models. Unless absolutely necessary, Tan Jincheng least wants any turmoil in the technology department.

Pickup trucks – SUVs – sedans – new energy vehicles.

"No need to thank me. I've thought it through too. Let's just change the company name and let Feiyang be shelved. Sometimes we have to say goodbye to the past. In any case, we can still contribute to the automotive industry."

After figuring it out, I felt much better.

On the other hand, this new boss is quite bold. He dares to invest money, dares to use ruthless methods, and dares to appoint talents who are suitable for the automotive industry. He admires Zhang Yong for this.

With expertise in technology and sales, along with decades of industry experience, managing the company with such a technically skilled individual is far better than managing it yourself. "Going forward, I hope that General Manager Zhu can take charge of the company's daily management to ensure its smooth operation, while Director Yang's task will be to be responsible for technological iteration and upgrades, as well as overseeing the overall R&D of the SUV."

"As for General Manager Zhang, he will cooperate with you. In addition, Yangzi Motors will increase its investment in the marketing network. By next year, at least 200 new marketing and service networks will be established. I want to increase the sales of Yangzi pickup trucks to the top three in the country within the next five years!"

All three were taken aback. Tan Jincheng laughed and said, "Don't doubt my ambition or my ability. I'm quite good at marketing. I didn't acquire Yangzi Automobile to make money. I really want to do something."

The three of them agreed on this point. This person was already very wealthy, and instead of trying to extract money from Yangzi Automobile, it would be more convenient to directly list profitable subsidiaries such as Flash Technology, Jinpeng Industry, or even Bafang Electric.

"But I have one requirement: the quality must be up to standard. I don't expect you to achieve top-notch quality, but it must match the price, just like the cost-effectiveness that I have always emphasized at Flashpoint Technology."

You get what you pay for – that's a principle Tan Jincheng has always adhered to in the electric vehicle industry.

The cost of cars is too complex, and Tan Jincheng couldn't be sure if Wei Lai could do it, but at least the cars sold couldn't be constantly criticized, and the reputation had to be solid.

Consumers can say that the cars I sell are expensive, but they can never say that the cars I sell are of poor quality!

Expanding the marketing network, improving product quality, and increasing production capacity are Tan Jincheng's initial plans for Yangzi Automobile, aiming to build the Yangzi Pickup brand as a stable profit driver for the company.

Tan Jincheng used his trusted confidants to manage finances and human resources. While operations and technology were also important, there was no need to replace them all with his own people, especially since there was still Zhang Yong.

After three months on the job, Zhang Yong finally saw a proper factory. Although he understood that Weilai was a newly established car company and it was normal that it didn't have a car factory yet, he still felt a little uneasy about not having a factory.

A car company without a factory is like water without roots; now that it finally has one, Zhang Yong feels much more at ease.

Next, Zhang Yong will need to work in both Ningbo and Chuzhou, which will be quite demanding. He will be mainly responsible for establishing the marketing network of Yangzi Automobile and keeping a close eye on the research and development of SUVs. The boss's intention is to achieve mass production by the end of 2009 or the first half of 2010.

Prior to this, Weilai Auto was a pickup truck company, but Tan Jincheng wasn't worried.

We still hold the licenses for sports cars like the Camaro and Mustang.

The three major auto shows in China are not only a stage for showcasing new models and technological achievements, but also an important platform for the marketing strategies of major brands.

The Shanghai Auto Show is usually held in mid-April, while the Beijing Auto Show is held from late April to early May. We can't make it to either of those, but we can start preparing for the Guangzhou Auto Show, which is held in early November, now.

Jinpeng Trading secured its first order in Guangzhou, marking the starting point for Tan Jincheng's business. Orange Technology's first investor was also from Guangzhou, and now Weilai Auto is also setting its initial stage in Guangzhou.

"Imagine Weilai Motors officially debuting at the Guangzhou Auto Show with several supercars and pickup trucks, wouldn't that be amazing?"

Boss Tan is making empty promises again.

"Holy crap, boss, you went to the US for Orange Technology's IPO, didn't you? How did you manage to get the Celing brand license?" Zhang Yong was also very surprised.

He really didn't know about this. When Tan Jincheng returned to China, he asked Shen Nanpeng to spread rumors across the Pacific, but everything was put on hold after that special incident.

For more than a month, after obtaining the brand authorization from Sailing, no promotion was carried out for various reasons, and Tan Jincheng also forgot to tell Zhang Yong.

Yang Zhijie, a man of strong character, gave a thumbs up and said, "President Tan is awesome. Although you can't sell many supercars, their technology is still worth learning. This deal was worthwhile."

"Haha, it's worth it, right? It only cost 100 million US dollars, I think it's totally worth it."

"President Tan is truly unexpected. Orange Technology is actually thinking of acquiring some brands and technologies back to the US while it's listing there. Speaking of which, the US automotive industry is indeed facing significant problems right now. If they had the money, they could really pick up some bargains," Zhu Pei chimed in.

"That's right. If it were just to ring a bell, why would I go there?"

Tan Jincheng was also somewhat smug; the real highlight was yet to come.

(End of this chapter)