2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 703 Family Design Language (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Two chapters combined.

The lobby on the first floor of Tiangang Hotel was already quite lively.

After Tan Jincheng and Zhang Yong went downstairs, the atmosphere reached a new level, with representatives from all kinds of companies attending the supplier conference coming up to greet them.

"I never expected that President Tan would personally attend this meeting. This is truly unexpected."

"I heard that this young boss likes to do things personally, and he was involved in many of the designs for Weilai Auto. Now it seems that this is true."

"Tsk tsk tsk, even though we're a big company, we don't get to meet billionaires like this very often."

"Haha, if you're in Beicang, you'll have a lot of chances to meet. Sometimes you can even bump into each other at a roadside stall."

Those who couldn't squeeze in whispered among themselves, hoping for a chance to say hello. They were all suppliers; although Weilai wasn't a big company, they had a lot of orders.

Regardless of the size of the manufacturer, for these employees, flattery is still necessary.

Everyone in Ningbo's local automotive circle knows that Top, who was bold enough to follow Wei's lead last year, made a fortune and is now preparing to acquire land to build a new factory.

It can be really easy for a company to make money sometimes; all it takes is seizing an opportunity.

Several companies like Top have emerged in Beicang in recent years, and there are also many companies in the greater Ningbo area that make money by following the Flash Group. In fact, quite a few small manufacturers came uninvited this time.

When it comes to attracting business, there's no need to be afraid of losing face.

Tan Jincheng and Zhang Yong dealt with the people who greeted them. Today was the first day of check-in. The suppliers came from all over the country, and their arrival times were not coordinated. There were no other arrangements.

Tan Jincheng also came here to see Zhang Yong. Zhang Yong has been staying at the Tiangang Hotel for the past few days, and Tan Jincheng wanted to find out how the meeting preparations were going.

I also took the opportunity to chat with Zhang Yong about the development strategy for new energy vehicles.

In the past few days, because of his foresight regarding Di Zi's crisis this year, Tan Jincheng has been thinking about one question: how to snatch something from him.

With monthly sales exceeding 3 units in 2009, the F3 successfully ushered in a period of rapid expansion for Dizi, leading to the launch of six new models at the Guangzhou Auto Show: the L3, I3, I6, S6, and M6.

The 6 series is priced above 10 yuan, which can be regarded as an attempt by BYD to enter the mid-to-high-end model market.

However, after the crisis in 2010, Dizi has hardly made any moves in the gasoline car market. Apart from the F3, only the F0 has made some noise.

In his past life, the owner of the F0 car used his wife as a car model, and then the owner of the BMW stole her away. This incident was incredibly sensational at the time.

However, it must be said that the F0 is indeed selling well, and it seems to be replacing the Chery QQ. But apart from these two models, the sales of other gasoline cars from the brand are just so-so, and there are no particularly outstanding models.

As for gasoline-powered cars, it's too late to snatch them now, but the cunning Mr. Tan has been thinking these past few days about whether he can snatch some of Dizi's stuff in other areas.
After much thought, it seems that apart from poaching talent during this year's crisis, the only other thing is to get Dizi's design for new energy vehicles out of the way.

As for gasoline-powered cars, the Dizi has absolutely no design to speak of. It's just pieced together bits and pieces from here and there, without any original design language. Even if you gave it to someone else, they wouldn't bother with it.

These days, Chery is the only brand that seems to have a design language. The other two domestic brands don't have their own design language at present.

He only developed his own design language after moving into new energy vehicles.

The design language of the Dynasty series is quite good. Should we reissue it first? Tan Jincheng remembers several models from the Dizi New Energy Dynasty series, such as the First Qin series, which was the first model to create their Dynasty series.

As a man, I have an innate passion for vehicles, especially cars. Whether it's a gasoline car now or an electric car in the future, you can find a group of people in any QQ or WeChat group who know all about its specifications.

Tan Jincheng, like all men, has his own insights into each car model and can remember many classic or best-selling models.

So, should we design some classic or best-selling models in advance, register them as patents, and include them in Weilai's design system?
As for Wei Lai's own design language for new energy vehicles, Tan Jincheng decided to use Tesla's, since they haven't even finished it yet, and their trademark is currently in the hands of a private individual in China.

A car must have its own design language. The era of simply copying bits and pieces from here and there and piecing them together to make money is over.

As one of the world's best-selling new energy vehicles, Tesla's Model series has its own design language, which, in the words of the foreign expert, is safety, efficiency, and simplicity.

The hidden door handles, the new Yoke steering wheel, the central control screen gear shift, and other designs were all eye-catching when they first appeared, full of a sense of technology and futurism.

From Tan Jincheng's personal perspective, in the later stages of electric vehicle development, the technology is roughly the same for everyone. The three major components are basically supplied by the same few core suppliers, and the other parts are also very similar.

In the later stages of electric vehicle development, the competition mainly came down to design, marketing, and the availability of supplier channels.

If you're asking which car is particularly good at the same price point, opinions vary. Every manufacturer has its advantages and disadvantages.

Besides the supplier issue, this was also a consideration I discussed with Zhang Yong today.

Currently, Weilai has two new energy vehicles under design: a sedan and an SUV. The sedan uses the Aian brand and the design that is known as the king of ride-hailing vehicles.

Yes, the first step for Weilai Auto in manufacturing new energy vehicles is the electric taxi and ride-hailing market. Ai'an is known as the king of ride-hailing. With this brand and this design, it will carve out its own niche in the future taxi and ride-hailing markets.

"Aian is a low-end product with high sales volume, mainly targeting the taxi market. As for Weilai, it is positioned in the mid-to-high-end market. We don't expect our first product to sell very well; we just want to establish the brand first."

"That makes sense, but I think we should develop both hybrid and pure electric vehicles to meet the needs of different consumers."

"Sure, then we'll have to use iron phosphate batteries too. Anyway, Jinxin Technology is developing both types at the same time, just with different focuses."

"By the way, if you have time, you should visit Jinshidai more often. The cooperation with BMW is progressing very quickly. In the future, our own battery standards will be based on BMW's requirements."

"No problem. There's an alumni reunion in Luzhou at the end of the year, so I can go and attend."

While discussing design language with Zhang Yong, Tan Jincheng also asked Zhang Yong to maintain more contact with Jinshidai, as Weilai New Energy Vehicle Company plans to spend three years developing its own new energy vehicle model.

For sedans, the low-end market is Ai'an, the mid-to-high-end market is Tesla, and as for SUVs, we'll just use the original design from Time Capsule. The first car will be based on the ES6 design.

Tan Jincheng can remember quite a few things, but there will definitely be some discrepancies when it comes to the actual design, but this doesn't seem to be a big problem.

The Yuechi A1 was designed based on the legendary gasoline car of its predecessor, with some differences, but its good sales are a good proof that this direction is correct.

"By the way, we need to collect more patents related to electric vehicles, and we also need to develop a concept car for our electric vehicles. It just doesn't feel right without a concept car."

Patent technology is an unavoidable topic for both mobile phones and automobiles. Yuechi A1 has coordinated patent technologies with many manufacturers, and Tan Jincheng also pays more attention to patent ownership when acquiring various companies.

Currently, Flash Group has a dedicated patent team responsible for coordinating the collection of patents in various fields such as clothing, batteries, two-wheeled electric vehicles, and automobiles. If there are companies that own patents but are relatively small in scale, the team can apply for acquisition or equity investment.

When it comes to patents, HTC is probably the most unlucky. The company develops good products, but its handling of patents is really baffling. Their boss has fallen victim to patent attacks twice.

As a manufacturer of Android phones, HTC's Android phones were once able to compete with Samsung in the European and American markets, but due to its lack of attention to patent technology, it was sued by manufacturers such as Apple.

Patent lawsuits usually end in settlements. People use each other's products, so who pays attention to all the details? But HTC was incredibly obsessed with patents, and they really lost.

This resulted in the near loss of market share in Europe and the United States. Their operations in the domestic market were also quite confusing, with inadequate distribution channels and a tendency to look down on domestic consumers in terms of sales.

This company has no problem with product development, but its business management is really baffling. At that time, HTC's market value was comparable to giants like Motorola. "Okay, I will communicate with the patent team, mainly to see if we can form a cooperation with companies like BYD and Tesla. That would be the best."

Buying a patent will never be as practical as cross-use of patents, and nobody can afford to buy one anyway.

"Sure, Tesla is relatively weak in batteries. If possible, I can connect them with Wall Street investment firms to see if we can reach a cooperation agreement on batteries and smoothly discuss patents."

Tesla, which almost went out of business in 2008 and wasn't as strong as it was in 2012, still managed to reach some cooperation opportunities in terms of patent technology.

"That's a good idea. Boss, you can find an opportunity to visit Old Mi's side. Tesla still has quite a few patents in the field of electric vehicles."

That makes perfect sense. Foreigners love to create patent barriers, and we can't do anything about it. It's really frustrating.
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The supplier conference, excluding today, will continue until next Monday.

Over the course of three days, the purchasing department of Weilai Automobile, led by Zhang Yong, will discuss cooperation intentions with a series of suppliers.

Weilai Auto's total sales target for 2010 was 150,000 vehicles, but the actual procurement was definitely not based on that target.

Apart from the batch purchased in 2009 at a standard of 6 vehicles, Weilai Auto will be increasing its purchase volume significantly this time, making the three-day timeframe quite tight.

Wei Lai wanted to use this supplier conference to establish and improve his procurement system.

The three main business entities—procurement, logistics, and manufacturing—each build a lean operational system around their own goals.

"With an annual sales target of 15 vehicles, if we achieve this target, Weilai Auto will be able to enter the mainstream auto industry. Congratulations, Mr. Tan!"

When Nagasawa Yu entered the hotel lobby, a large group of people were surrounding Tan Jincheng. He knew this situation all too well; despite Mitsubishi Motors' great reputation worldwide.

However, in China, if you can't sell many cars a year, the suppliers won't treat you very well.

To put it dramatically, if Mitsubishi didn't sell engines in China, its treatment would probably be comparable to that of car companies like Lifan. All suppliers are this pragmatic, including Mitsubishi.

It's quite a coincidence that Mitsubishi's projected sales for 2010 were also 15 vehicles, which is somewhat embarrassing for a Japanese automaker.

Yuichi Nagasawa was too embarrassed to announce it publicly.

In fact, Mitsubishi is also rebuilding its supplier system. In Ningbo, their words may not carry as much weight as Wei's. This time, besides inspecting Ningbo, he also wanted to talk to Tan Jincheng.

Both companies also hope to reach some agreements on cooperation with suppliers.

Some supplier channels can be shared, right? If two car manufacturers with an annual sales target of 15 units cooperate, wouldn't that make them a leading car company?
Mitsubishi holds only 25% of the shares in Southeast Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi has basically given up on Southeast Motor. In 2009, several Southeast Motor models did not sell well. However, in 2010, Southeast launched a new model, the Lingyue.

If this car cannot save Southeast Motors, then Mitsubishi will have to consider ending the cooperation and focusing all its efforts on operating Weilai Mitsubishi, since they are responsible for its operation and have a much higher degree of autonomy.

"It's still early, we've only just begun; by the way, Nagasawa-kun, your arrival this time was quite sudden, wasn't it? Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"

"I'm sorry, this was a last-minute decision. I'm sorry to have troubled you, Mr. Tan."

Nagasawa Yu felt a little embarrassed, as doing so was somewhat impolite and would also affect the other party's work schedule.

"It's alright, Mr. Nagasawa, don't worry about it. I just felt that this was a bit of a neglect. Oh, and I've already informed our district about your arrival, so please don't mind."

There are so many strange and complicated etiquettes in this little life, but Tan Jincheng doesn't care much about them. Back when he was dealing with Zhang Congxun and Dong Jinggui, they would always find an opportunity to go to each other's territory to chat and have tea.

In our view, this is actually a reflection of the quality of the relationship. However, Nagasawa Yu has only been in Japan for a year and is not very familiar with this custom.

Yu Nagasawa nodded understandingly: "Mitsubishi Motors' sales target for this year is also 15 vehicles. In addition, we are rebuilding our parts supplier system. We can cooperate with Wei in this regard."

"Oh? That's great! Then Nagasawa-kun will have to stay with us for a few more days so we can discuss the details of our cooperation and also do our part as hosts."

"That's no problem. Also, I wonder if President Tan has the time? If he does, let's take a look at the Mitsubishi Beicang factory in Weilai together."

"Of course, he is a major shareholder after all."

In fact, Tan Jincheng usually pays close attention to the progress of the Mitsubishi factory in Weilai. Without Tan Jincheng's constant attention, the progress here would not have been so fast.

The joint venture has far more capital than Weilai Motors, and the city and district governments attach great importance to it. The project is progressing very quickly. Mitsubishi's resources and strength are also far superior to Weilai's, and the speed at which equipment is brought into the factory is also very fast.

Both factories have already begun recruiting workers and are expected to officially start production after the Chinese New Year.

The start of production at the Mitsubishi plant in Weilai is also good news for Weilai Auto. Tan Jincheng also hopes that Mitsubishi's vehicles can sell better, so that Weilai's profits will be higher.

The Outlander can be considered a legendary car. It first entered the Chinese market in 2004, with the initial version being a 2.4L engine. Until 2008, the Outlander was imported into China.

The first-generation Outlander was priced around 20 yuan. Although its interior was inferior to that of the overseas version, it was still very popular in the market due to the Pajero's off-road genes.

The second-generation Outlander, after being rebranded in 2006, debuted at the Beijing Auto Show. It was imported into China as a 3.0L version, priced between 27 and 30 yuan. A year later, the 2.4L version was also introduced, priced below 30 yuan.

The biggest highlight of the second-generation Outlander was its SAWC four-wheel drive system. After reaching a cooperation agreement with Mitsubishi, Tan Jincheng strongly persuaded Mitsubishi executives to allow the Outlander to be produced in Germany.

Only by localizing production can we better penetrate the market and more easily reduce costs. Even large automakers like BMW are trying their best to localize parts production.

At Tan Jincheng's urging, the Outlander was introduced to China ahead of schedule and localized ahead of schedule. In any case, this can be considered a major contribution Tan Jincheng made to the domestic automobile industry.

It's not easy to get a best-selling car model introduced to the Chinese market.

The Outlander introduced to China has been redesigned by Mitsubishi, with the shark-like front face now officially in use. The current domestic model is named Outlander Jinjie, and a 2.0L version has also been launched.

This was also what Tan Jincheng requested.

Tan Jincheng originally wanted Mitsubishi to launch a 1.6L version, but Mitsubishi rejected it. Mitsubishi was too conservative.

In the domestic SUV market, 1.5L and 1.6L engines are often sufficient. For example, the 1.6L Yuechi A1 sells very well, partly due to subsidies.

Large displacement engines like 2.4L and 3.0L are not actually used in many scenarios. It's better to go for an off-road vehicle than to buy a large displacement engine.

The atmosphere at the dealer conference reached its peak with the appearance of Hiroshi Nagasawa, President of Mitsubishi Greater China.

Seeing Tan Jincheng chatting and laughing with Changze Yu, many people were stunned: "Holy crap, this guy never mentions it to outsiders, but he's the vice president of Mitsubishi."

The vice president of a joint venture automobile company is a high-ranking position, but Tan Jincheng seems to have forgotten about it and has never used this position in public.

He appears more often in public and at various meetings as the president of Flash Group.

From the moment Nagasawa Yu entered the lobby, the two didn't actually talk for very long.

At this very moment, the Beicang District government, having received the news, promptly dispatched personnel to the Tiangang Hotel.

“Come on, Nagasawa-kun, let’s go upstairs to talk. I just asked the hotel manager to prepare a suite for you. Let’s talk and rest at the same time.”

PS: The most unfortunate ones from the monthly ticket-buying incident at the beginning of the month were us authors who get one or two thousand monthly tickets a month. Without the reader bonus, we lost half of our monthly tickets, and we are still 100 tickets short of 1000 monthly tickets. Please give us monthly tickets!
(End of this chapter)