2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 635 "The Company's Promotional Event"

"Is the main goal today to embarrass us?"

The reporter who asked the question chuckled and touched his nose. Tan Jincheng could tell from his expression that he was doing it on purpose.

However, Tan Jincheng didn't care. This was his second time participating in the exhibition, and he still didn't have his own independent brand products. The main product he was selling was a pickup truck, so it was only natural that he would be ridiculed.

No rush, no rush, I'll amaze you next time.

Not only will I have my own independent brand, but I will also have a number of buses.

"I know you are all very anxious, but please don't rush."

After a pause, Tan Jincheng continued, "Weilai's first self-owned brand car is the Yuechi A1, which is currently in the intensive preparation stage and is expected to meet everyone at this year's Guangzhou Auto Show."

"The Yuechi A1 is a smart SUV positioned for urban use, available in both gasoline and diesel versions, with three specific models. We hope to bring you some surprises when it's released."

The reporters were stunned. Apart from being told to refer to the official announcement, nothing else was revealed in response to their questions.

The original intention was to embarrass him, but instead he promoted Weilai Auto's independent brand without batting an eye.

It's important to know that the crowd at the scene included not only reporters, but also many other exhibitors who were just there to watch the spectacle, and even some staff members from other exhibitions.

The commotion here was quite loud, which attracted a large crowd. As the interviews began, people kept coming over, and the staff at the booth and the security personnel had to temporarily take on the role of maintaining order.

"Yuechi A1, is this the name of the first self-owned brand produced by Mr. Tan's Weilai Automobile?"

Li Xianjin smiled and chimed in, giving Tan Jincheng a helping hand. As expected of someone who has seen the world, he easily defused the awkward situation while also promoting their own brand.

Without these reporters, which ordinary exhibitor would care whether a company has its own brand of products?
Take the Weilai Auto booth as an example. More than 80% of the visitors are actually there for the sports cars, beautiful women, and food. Even if they can't afford the sports cars, they can still look at them. If they have the chance, they can even sit in one and take a picture.

The beautiful models were pleasing to the eye, and compared to the exaggerated makeup and styling of other booths, the car models hired by Weilai Auto were more to everyone's liking.

After satisfying their physical and mental needs, they are also provided with free food. Whether or not they have their own brand of food is completely unimportant and no one cares.

That's good now; at least many people who visited the exhibition heard about or remembered this sign.

"Yes, this is the name of our first car, which we designed entirely ourselves. The entire company at Weilai Auto has high hopes for this car."

After finishing his pleasantries, Tan Jincheng jokingly said to Li Xianjin and the people present, "Many of you here should know about Flash Electric Vehicles, right? Our Flash Electric Vehicles are known as the most beautifully designed models."

"So everyone can have confidence in my aesthetic sense."

What about the price?

"We cannot disclose the price at the moment, but we can assure you that it will continue the consistent style of our Flash Group, which is to provide everyone with products that offer excellent value for money."

The two of them, singing in unison, instantly turned the scene into a promotional event for Yuechi, and the reporters had no choice but to cooperate.

Li Xianjin did this for a reason. He was also very curious about Weilai Auto's independent brand and wanted to learn more, especially after learning that the Yuechi series was independently designed.

He has also worked in the automotive industry. These days, cars are all copied. His SUV is just a pickup truck with a shell. It could sell before 2004, but it can't sell anymore. So he is somewhat skeptical of Tan Jincheng's public claims that it is an independent design.

Do they have that ability?

How well the first car from Weilai Auto sells will determine how many orders they can get. As a community with shared interests, Li Xianjin naturally hopes that Yuechi can sell better.

The impromptu interview, with no organized Q&A session, was steered by Tan Jincheng into a mini promotional event for Yuechi.

Although the reporters wanted to make things difficult for him, they were happy to cooperate, knowing they would inevitably receive red envelopes later, which they could then accept with a clear conscience after writing a report.

Flash's public relations department is quite generous with cash gifts.

In addition, today was not a fruitless day. First, regarding the reason for ByteDance's second bid for Shuguang Auto, judging from the fact that Tan Jincheng and Li Xianjin appeared together at the Shanghai Auto Show, as well as some other information revealed, the two sides should have a relatively big cooperation.

As for Tan Jincheng's statement that trade secrets cannot be disclosed, they can understand that. Being able to force Shuguang Auto to suspend trading must be no small matter.

The last time ByteDance did this was by acquiring Changfeng Group through a reverse takeover.

In addition, Tan Jincheng, the independent brand of Weilai Auto, also revealed some information for the first time. First of all, the brand name and model of this car can be confirmed, so there is no need to guess anymore.

When Weilai was first established, it registered a lot of car trademarks at once. No one really knew which car logo they would use for their first car, and they haven't really publicized it.

"Has Weilai Auto already decided to use the Yuechi trademark for its first model?"

Since they couldn't resist, the reporters were happy to ask a few more questions to see what other interesting topics they could dig into.

"That's right, we've already announced the car logo on our official website, and we hope everyone will help promote it."

The car logo was specially designed by a designer, using the letter Y, the first letter of Yuechi, as its element. It looks a bit like the Tesla logo, but Tan Jincheng doesn't think it's a big deal, since Tesla hasn't entered the Chinese market yet. He believes that if Tesla does enter the market later, he might be able to ride on its coattails.

Tesla also had a tough time in 2008, experiencing great difficulties along with the American automotive industry. Recently, GM was on the verge of bankruptcy, which was truly a terrible situation.

In contrast, the domestic car market is becoming increasingly hot due to policy guidance.

There is still a lot of room for gasoline-powered cars, at least until 2015. If Weilai Auto can create a model that sells well, it has enough capital to learn from BYD.

Although Tan Jincheng has always learned more from Great Wall Motors' business model in the field of gasoline vehicles, Weilai Auto's goal has always been to emulate BYD. While it may not be able to offer as many models as BYD, its development model is at least worth learning from.

In addition, Tan Jincheng also wants to achieve a better reputation than BYD in the gasoline car market, since BYD's reputation in the gasoline car market is really not good.

Pickups are profitable, so Tan Jincheng bought some pickup truck business to keep on hand. Commercial buses are also profitable, so Tan Jincheng wouldn't mind owning a commercial bus factory as well. If these two projects do well, at least Weilai Automobile won't be without business for a short period of time.

All that's left is the first SUV. Tan Jincheng has high hopes for this SUV, and he's not just saying this to appease reporters.

In fact, the Yuechi A1 is derived from the legendary H6 released in August 2011. Based on the CRV concept, it combines some features of the first and second generations to create this model.

In terms of design concept, the Yuechi A1 can be said to be at least two years ahead of the aesthetic standards. The timing is just right, not too abrupt, yet still eye-catching.

Tan Jincheng also learned some lessons from Jinpeng Industrial's children's clothing brand: it's not necessarily a good thing to have an aesthetic that's too advanced. Hanfu elements are really a niche group these days.

It is indeed fraught with difficulties to promote it widely.

The children's clothing brand Tan Jincheng doesn't expect to make a lot of money, and the investment is not large. He can take it slow and accumulate experience gradually. But you can't do that with car models. You have to be an instant hit. If the first car doesn't sell well, it will be difficult to open up the market later.

If the first domestically produced gasoline-powered car fails, then Weilai will be forced to enter the new energy vehicle market ahead of schedule.

For Weilai's business, this will be an extremely difficult process. Without a cash flow boost, relying solely on investing in automobiles is simply unimaginable.

"When will your company launch the branded product with the same name as your company?"

"Oh? You mean Weilai? This is for new energy vehicles. Weilai Auto not only makes gasoline cars, but also learns from our predecessors and enters the new energy vehicle industry."

As soon as this statement came out, the scene was in an uproar.

Since the beginning of this year, leading domestic car manufacturers, including the highly successful BYD, have announced their entry into the new energy electric vehicle industry.

BYD has launched pure electric and hybrid versions of their best-selling F3 model. In addition, companies like Zhongtai, which like to show off, have launched their first model, the Zhongtai 2008 hybrid version.

Incidentally, these companies also obtained new energy vehicle licenses. However, this action by many domestic brands is not understood by the market.

Back in 2009, how could domestic brands, who hadn't even figured out gasoline cars, possibly build electric cars? Besides, electric cars weren't mainstream back then, and there would be many difficulties in promoting them.

The most difficult problem to solve is charging.

Now, emerging independent brands like Weilai Auto have also made high-profile announcements about entering the new energy vehicle market. Is this because they really want to research electric vehicles, or are they simply after the policy subsidies?

"Is Weilai Motors also going to enter the new energy vehicle market?"

"That's right. As Mr. Wang said, new energy electric vehicles will be a trend in the future, and we at Weilai will also make great investments in this area."

Tan Jincheng's affirmative tone and confident demeanor left these professional reporters somewhat bewildered, and even Li Xianjin was a little confused.

Unlike the reporter's opinion, Li Xianjin had witnessed Tan Jincheng's capabilities and did not simply believe that he was only interested in subsidies when he entered the new energy field.

Would a young man in his early twenties who built two listed companies in just a few years have ambitions that are merely based on subsidies?
If he were really that short-sighted, he might as well have just acquired Shuguang Auto and then made money by speculating on the secondary market.

"seriously?"

While the reporters were whispering, Li Xianjin asked in a low voice.

"Of course, Mr. Li, your company can also make some early investments in R&D for Xinyuanyuan Auto Parts, so that you can at least be one step ahead in the future."

"why?"

"Why? Because our gasoline-powered cars can't compete with theirs."

Holy crap, Li Xianjin's head exploded.

At that moment, he realized why BYD cars sold so well, and why the young man in front of him had developed so quickly in just a few years. His thinking was indeed different.

I can't beat you, so I'm not playing with you anymore.

(End of this chapter)