2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 622 Mitsubishi Corporation
Friday, September 2st.

Yutaka Nagasawa, the newly appointed General Manager of Mitsubishi Motors' Nakagaku Region, and Jincheng Tan, President of Weilai Motors, officially signed a cooperation agreement.

The two parties will jointly establish two joint venture factories in China, introduce Mitsubishi's latest production lines and at least two models, and achieve localization.

The new joint venture factory is scheduled to start construction this year and is expected to officially start production by the end of 2010.

In addition, Mitsubishi will also have cooperation plans with Weilai Motors in areas such as engines, new energy vehicles, and batteries.

"Holy crap, when did Mitsubishi become so generous? Not only is there technical cooperation, but they're also introducing new models?"

"Who can argue with that? These small-time companies have always been stingy. But I guess Mitsubishi is really in a hurry. Their cars are almost out of the market in China."

Back then, we used market access to exchange for technology. Cooperation with American and German companies was quite good, and the imported car models were all quite good. We weren't too stingy with technology either, but we were always very frugal in our daily lives.

This has always been the style of small-time companies; they want to take over the entire supply chain themselves, especially Mitsubishi. As one of the earliest Japanese companies to enter the Chinese market, if they weren't so stingy or lacking in sincerity in cooperation, they wouldn't be in this situation now.

The lack of sincerity in cooperation resulted in others getting the lion's share while they only got the scraps. In fact, Mitsubishi has a significant advantage in terms of performance and stability.

"Your cooperation lacked sincerity, which is why your sales were poor in the past. Sincerity is the most important thing in this world; there are very few fools."

When discussing cooperation with Yu Nagasawa, Tan Jincheng spoke frankly.

What era are we living in? In the 80s and 90s, we had nothing. It was fine to use some outdated technology to fool people. Given that we had nothing, we certainly didn't have high requirements for technology.

But it's the 21st century now. If you still use this trick, it's not just treating others like fools, it's making you the fool yourself.

To do business, you must keep up with the times. In fact, the development of any enterprise is nothing more than a driving force of social development. If you don't catch up with a good era, no matter how much effort you put in, it will be half the result.

However, Mitsubishi has made a significant contribution to the progress of domestic cars, which must be acknowledged. Without them selling us a large number of engines, our automotive industry would not have developed so quickly.

From the earliest days of Chinese automobiles to the present day, almost all domestically produced models have used Mitsubishi engines, and their engines are indeed very popular.

"Excuse me, General Manager Changze, has your company decided on a city for the joint venture factory with Weilai?"

The signing and press conference was witnessed by the Shanghai Municipal Government and the Ningbo Municipal Government, so there were many reporters from both cities, as well as many professional reporters from the automotive industry.

Changze Yu smiled and looked at Tan Jincheng: "The location of the first joint venture factory has been determined, which is in Ningbo. As for the second one, we still need to investigate. It is tentatively set in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai area."

This was something the two had discussed beforehand. Tan Jincheng had also mentioned that his preferred location was Changzhou, which has a good geographical location and is close to important future bases for the new energy industry, such as Liyang and Wujin, and currently has a large area of ​​industrial land available.

The industrial chain is also convenient; the Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou region is not just a name.

Yutaka Nagasawa said he could go to the site to see for himself before making a decision, but he also agreed with Tan Jincheng's point of view that while investment is necessary, thrift is also important.

"So, has Mitsubishi considered which models to introduce?"

"The initial models selected are the Outlander and the Hyundai Elantra. More models will be introduced later, so please stay tuned."

The Outlander was requested by Tan Jincheng.

The joint venture brand is unbeatable in the 20 to 30 yuan price range. It has to be said that the pie in Tan Jincheng's eyes is indeed very tempting, and a 7-seater SUV is extremely rare in the current market.

As for the ASX, this decision was made by Yu Nagasawa after studying the product style of the Flash Group. Flash Group's electric vehicles, whether low-end or mid-to-high-end, all follow the cost-effectiveness route.

The fact that their products sell well shows that the cost-effective approach is feasible. Isn't the selling point of Nissan cars also cost-effective? The ASX was also the first model that Yu Nagasawa himself decided to introduce.

With a sedan, an SUV, and the Pajero, Mitsubishi is pinning its hopes on these three models to regain market share in China, as it can no longer rely solely on selling engines.

"Then, Mr. Tan, do you have a preferred city?"

Even professional automotive media outlets have their own territories. When they come to conduct interviews, they often have a specific mission in mind, hoping to gather as much information as possible to report back to.

"It hasn't been finalized yet. We would like to call on cities that are interested in cooperating with us to contact us, and we also hope that our journalist friends can help spread the word."

With the Mitsubishi name attached to him, Tan Jincheng is qualified to make such a call.

Even the Shanghai Stock Exchange was interested in acquiring the factory, but neither Mitsubishi nor WooLan showed much interest in establishing a factory there. One reason was its proximity to Ningbo, practically right next to it. Another reason was the high cost; both land and labor costs were simply not worthwhile.

In Shanghai, a city positioned as a financial center, building commercial and residential buildings is no longer as popular as building factories. This is not short-sightedness, but rather a result of the city's inherent characteristics.

Unless there's an economic downturn or it's a strategic project, Shanghai will definitely relocate factories to more remote areas, just like the capital city.

If we're talking about building a car factory, Shenzhen is actually a good option. However, Shenzhen already has BYD and GAC, so Weilai can't get particularly good resources there.

Shenzhen is definitely a city of entrepreneurs, whether it's large corporations or small vendors.

"You're talking nonsense. Who the hell would believe that there are no cities in the pipeline? How could a project that's going to start construction this year not have any cities in the pipeline?"

The reporters below were speechless. He was no longer the honest young man who answered questions when he first debuted. It was incredibly difficult to get a single sentence out of him.

And you expect me to promote him?
Never mind, I'll give it to you since the red envelope is generous enough.

The entry of foreign capital is definitely positive for Weilai Motors. The establishment of Weilai Mitsubishi can bring a qualitative improvement to Weilai Motors. If Weilai Motors were a listed company at this time, its stock price would definitely rise in a straight line.

Tan Jincheng did not particularly value the management rights of the joint venture. As the major shareholder, he had the right to express his opinion, but in terms of management capabilities, it was still far inferior to that of multinational corporations.

When multinational corporations collaborate with local enterprises, they can bring advanced management models to the joint ventures, which to a certain extent promotes the improvement of the governance and operational efficiency of the local enterprises.

It can also bring a large number of talents, especially a large number of management and technical talents, which can make up for the lack of talents in local car companies.

Regarding the reporter's question about the operating rights, Mr. Tan replied: "Weilai Auto is a newly established car company, and at present, we are focusing more on the operation of our own brand. As for the joint venture with Mitsubishi, we are here with a learning attitude."

The joint venture is managed by the board of directors. Tan Jincheng gave up all management rights except for finance, and focused on being a major shareholder who would learn from Mitsubishi. He believed that he could make money by selling more cars.

In addition, perhaps in return for Tan Jincheng's generosity, Changze Yu also agreed to provide Weilai Auto with certain technical guidance during the cooperation process, including preferential treatment for related patent technology licensing.

By increasing its shareholding, Mitsubishi aims to gain greater autonomy, believing that greater autonomy is necessary to develop the company according to its management philosophy.

These are all written into the contract. Just the legal teams of the two companies had already started discussing these cooperation agreements a month before the memorandum of understanding was signed last year.

After the press conference, Tan Jincheng will have to stay in Shanghai for several more days, specifically to maintain communication with Nagasawa Yu. No matter how many contracts are signed, it is impossible to cover everything, so communication is always necessary.

During this period, Zhang Yong and his team stayed in Shanghai to assist Tan Jincheng in overseeing technical collaborations. In addition to Zhang Yong's team, Tan Jincheng also borrowed many automotive experts from Luzhou University of Technology.

These are all thanks to Zhang Yong, and of course, Tan Jincheng's reputation in Anhui Province also played a significant role. Currently, Weilai Automobile has signed a series of cooperation plans with Luzhou University of Technology regarding automotive talent training.

In addition, the Beicang government set up a special project team for investment promotion, which stayed at the hotel where Tan Jincheng and others were staying, to help them finalize the joint venture factory plan on Meishan Island as soon as possible.

The longer it goes on, the more things can go wrong. The sooner it's settled, the sooner it's done. Before the contract is finalized, no local government can guarantee that they won't be outmaneuvered by a multinational automaker.

In terms of both the level of importance attached to it and the scale of its impact, it was done on a very large scale.

Around the Spring Festival of 2009, Tan Jincheng's series of actions once again made him a hot topic in society. From his live broadcast of his hometown before the Spring Festival to his series of collaborations with Mitsubishi afterward, the name Tan Jincheng appeared frequently in major media outlets.

In terms of their ability to cause trouble, they are no less capable than they were in 2008.

However, at this time, Boss Tan had no time to pay attention to the media. He was extremely busy, going back and forth between the hotel and the Mitsubishi Motors headquarters every day. After Gu Qingqing accompanied him to sign the contract, she went home because she saw that he was too busy.

On the one hand, school was about to start, and on the other hand, it wouldn't be good to be home alone. If there was anything at the company that she couldn't contact Tan Jincheng, she could sign on his behalf, and Tan Jincheng had given her this authorization.

Meanwhile, He Jia, who had been following Tan Jincheng around doing live streams during the Spring Festival, had already reported to Cheng Hao about the split of Orange Live.

If the boss has agreed to split up a live streaming project, there's nothing more to say, since it's not a strategic priority for the company anyway.

"Here's what we'll do: give your team 15% of the equity. We'll discuss the company's equity after you acquire AcFun."

The boss promised Xiao He an angel investor and supported his acquisition of AcFun, so the equity plan should be respected. The specifics will depend on the acquisition amount.

(End of this chapter)