2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 681 "People Born with Good Fortune"

Early in the morning, Tan Lihua and his wife got up to pack their luggage and put the gifts they would bring home in the trunk.

While pretending, Tan Lihua chatted with the driver, "Let me drive it for a bit on the road, I want to see what it's like to drive on the highway."

"Okay, no problem, I'll do as you say."

Although it was a last-minute trip, Lai Yiu-fai had already made arrangements. The company's security department had two drivers who were dedicated to serving Mr. Tan's family. They didn't usually have any travel assignments, but would be dispatched when travel was needed.

For example, long-distance trips back to their hometown, or picking up and dropping off little Tan Jinyue when the boss's family is too busy.

In addition to Ningbo, Mr. Tan even sent a driver to Yiwu, who was affiliated with the Yiwu Orange Technology branch.

This job pays well and has light workload; you just sit in the office and play around most of the time. Colleagues in the security department are practically fighting over it.

The boss's father wanted to test the long-distance performance of the Yuechi A1, but this one was obviously different from the Yuechi A1 sold on the market. This Yuechi A1 not only had the highest configuration, but also had some modifications to the interior and other aspects.

The driving experience is definitely different from the version sold on the market.

While the Tan couple were on the road, Tan Jincheng had already started chatting with Wu Rong about whether Weilai Automobile had a chance to be registered in Luzhou.

"Weilai Auto's current industrial layout mainly covers four cities. Ningbo is the main production base for Yuechi A1, while Xiangcheng is for Pajero. Next year, some of the Yuechi A1's production capacity will also be located in Xiangcheng."

"Changzhou is a bus production base, and its current production capacity is surplus, so we are working on transforming a production line to develop new energy buses."

"In Chuzhou, it's a pickup truck base, but currently the pickup trucks are just work vehicles, and the experience is completely different from the pickup trucks in the US. We will also focus on pickup trucks in the future."

A well-made pickup truck can be really comfortable to drive and has a lot of room for modification; add a canopy and it can look like an SUV. But if it's poorly made, it's really just a pure utility vehicle.

Some pickup trucks drive like tractors.

The pickup truck market is currently too niche, and the reason why it doesn't sell well is more due to the philosophy of car manufacturers. It can be said that all car manufacturers in China treat pickup trucks as work vehicles.

If pickup trucks offered the same driving and riding experience as passenger cars, I wouldn't believe they were selling so poorly.

Subsequent modifications to the Yangzi pickup truck mainly focused on this direction, giving it more of a passenger vehicle function in addition to its utility vehicle role, so that driving a pickup truck wouldn't be so embarrassing.

Each of the four cities has its own unique strengths. Ningbo is undoubtedly the foundation for Weilai's survival, Changzhou serves as a testing ground for new energy projects, and Chuzhou is being developed into Weilai Automobile's pickup truck base.

As for Xiangcheng, it will mainly play a supporting role, and its future production capacity will not expand much.

An upgraded version of the Yuechi A1 is already in preparation. After a car has been on the market for a year or two, things like the interior need to be updated, otherwise it's not easy to raise the price.

There won't be any changes to the Yuechi A1 in 2010, but there should be some new changes in the second half of 2012.

"If Luzhou is to be included in Weilai's future plans, it can only be in the area of ​​new energy vehicles. So, like Jinshidai, it will take several years to make a significant impact."

Tan Jincheng also honestly confessed that his reason for bringing Weilai in was simply because he was interested in the economic benefits generated by Weilai Auto's recent surge in popularity.
However, like Jinshidai, new energy vehicles are still in their infancy. If they are to be introduced, there must be an absolute foundation of trust with the local government. In the next few years, apart from receiving some subsidies, there will not be much economic or tax benefits.

When local governments attract investment, they tend to focus more on immediate economic benefits. They may not be very interested in projects with a long investment cycle.

This is related to their political achievements. The idea of ​​"one generation plants the trees, another enjoys the shade" is something few people would be happy about in the political arena.

Wu Rong was a newly appointed official after the reshuffle, but since it was their first meeting, Tan Jincheng didn't know his style of doing things, nor did he know if he would be willing to introduce a project with a relatively long cycle.

Therefore, it's better to explain in advance.

In fact, this is largely due to the fact that Jinshidai has been lukewarm in recent years. If it were a normal company, Jinshidai's development speed would not be slow. But other projects of Shanchi Group have been very effective.

"No problem. New energy vehicles are the future trend, and Luzhou welcomes Weilai Automobile to come to Luzhou to develop its new energy vehicle industry."

Both being from Anhui Province, Wu Rong initially worked in water conservancy and even served in Zongyang, Yicheng. His past experience made him not particularly averse to such long-term investment projects.

Besides, he still has a long term ahead of him.

The idea of ​​introducing Weilai Automobile was not a sudden event, but rather something that had been researched beforehand. Wu Rong even consulted professors and experts from Luzhou University of Technology about it.

The collaboration between Daimler and BYD, and now BMW's partnership with Jinshidai, demonstrates that major manufacturers are all involved, proving that this direction is sound. During his tenure, he believes that Weilai Automotive will be able to achieve some success.

However, the main thing is that I am optimistic about Tan Jincheng. This young man himself did not have any background, but his background is now quite impressive. Just the fact that both the current generation and the next generation have met with him shows that he is not simple.

Another point is that Tan Jincheng seems to be born with good luck; his business investments bring good fortune to himself and others.

Take the Wangjiang project as an example. Many people in the government have benefited from it, not to mention those in the Beicang area. Even the manufacturers acquired by him did not actually suffer any losses.

Changfeng Motor made significant concessions, and Shuguang Motor's shareholding increase and cooperation led to a substantial increase in its stock price. In the A-share market, even companies that gravitate towards the Weilai Motor concept can experience significant gains.

Of course, this is inseparable from the overall environment, but it must be said that the industrial chain has developed very well along with him.

Whether they are in business or in the G-sector, they all have a bit of superstitiousness. Over the years, the rumors about Tan Jincheng's partners have been circulating in private for who knows when or from whom.

In short, unbeknownst to Tan Jincheng, he was rumored to be a person with good fortune.

That's just how weird it is.

Since the leader had spoken so frankly, Tan Jincheng had nothing left to pretend about.

Luzhou was originally second only to Ningbo in terms of his industrial layout. Ningbo was based on its good business environment and the trust from his previous life, while Luzhou was a city with great development prospects.

In addition, being from Anhui province makes many things much easier to handle.

“Okay, in that case, I’ll have Weilai Auto produce a feasible factory construction plan right away.”

"Furthermore, I would like to promise that if our gasoline-powered vehicles sell well in the future, we can also transfer some of our production capacity here."

Don't be fooled by the fact that selling a few thousand cars a year is considered a good result now. The future of car sales is going to be very fast. This year, the CRV, a single SUV model, has achieved the miracle of selling 10 units annually.

However, in just a few years, there will be many more single models with annual sales of 10 units.

"That would be great. Once the plan is finalized, we will work together as much as possible. Please feel free to contact me if you need any assistance."

Binhu District is currently under preparation and is planned to be vigorously developed according to the government's plan. Attracting investment is a very important part of this. The automotive industry chain is currently the most popular and is also one of the industries in which people from Anhui Province are engaged in the most outside the province.

It's not just Wei Lai; Wu Rong also intends to introduce companies like BYD, build a factory, and produce a few models. With mature technology, it would be easy to generate economic benefits.

"I should thank you for your support. As a native of Anhui living away from home, I am very honored to receive attention from my hometown."

"Haha, Mr. Tan is indeed as humble as the rumors say. Although I am from Wuwei, I did spend two years in Yicheng. Back then, I could even speak a few words of Yicheng dialect."

"It's a pity, almost 10 years have passed, and I've long forgotten about it."

Tan Jincheng smiled and replied, "You mean between 97 and 99, right?"

"Haha, Mr. Tan did his homework, didn't he? That's right, it was back then. Speaking of which, Mr. Tan was still in junior high school at that time. If I had known earlier, I would have gotten to know Mr. Tan back then."

When Tan Jincheng agreed to invest in Luzhou, Wu Rong felt much more relaxed and even started joking.

"Hehe, if you had known me back then, I believe you would have advised me to study hard and not run around during the holidays."

"Haha, Mr. Tan is really humorous! But this matter has its pros and cons. If we could really go back to the past, it would probably make Mr. Tan study hard. After all, he came to our Luzhou after studying hard."

"This means I have a connection with Luzhou. In that case, you're my senior."

After chatting for a while, Tan Jincheng tactfully left. Tan Jincheng could tell from the resume of this newly acquainted deputy secretary that he was quite capable, having always been in the water conservancy system, and his two-year stint in Zongyang was just a simple transition.

Two years later, he was immediately transferred back to the province for a promotion, without even passing the city-level exam. Then, after his term ended, he took a position in the Luzhou Municipal Government.

Tan Jincheng was referring to his senior, the time when he went to study at Anhui University after being transferred from Zongyang. Calling him a senior is reasonable.

Many people with substance can be identified from their resumes. After reviewing the resume, Tan Jincheng didn't dare to show off. After all, a businessman needs to have his own principles.

(End of this chapter)