2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 715: Thousands of Gold to Buy Horse Bones

The tug-of-war between the Zhejiang Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce and Toyota began on March 14 and continued until the end of the month before a result was reached.

"It's really difficult to protect your rights."

"That's right, an ordinary person would never have the energy and the results."

This is the third time Tan Jincheng has visited a coffee shop near an industrial park in Xinzhuang, Shanghai, in less than half a month.

He visited Zhuge Liang's thatched cottage three times.

The first two times, Tan Jincheng met with Hu Zhengnan alone. This time, Tan Jincheng sat with Hu Zhengnan, his senior brother, and his partner Wang Xun.

Founded in 2000, Longchuang Design possesses R&D capabilities in various aspects of the vehicle, including styling, body, interior and exterior trim, chassis, electrical systems, performance analysis, electric drive systems, and prototyping.

Although it has been established for ten years, it is not a large company in terms of size.

The real development of Longchuang only began after 2006. They started developing their first complete vehicle platform in 2007, but they have developed rapidly in the past two years.

The role played by technical director Hu Zhengnan in this is undeniable. It would be a miracle if the boss was happy to poach the technical director of a growing private industrial design company.

Tan Jincheng repeatedly visited Wang Xun in person to invite him, and Wang Xun reluctantly agreed to meet him.

After all, they are one of the company's clients. The Yuechi A1 is selling so well now, and Longchuang is thinking of using their reputation to do some advertising. They don't want to offend them too much.

However, the atmosphere among the three was quite good after they met.

The three began today's discussion, focusing on the recent highly controversial recall incident.

Speaking of which, Toyota really came out strong this time. The strength of a multinational corporation was truly evident. Even with their promises, G had to negotiate for more than half a month with great difficulty.

However, this only secured a compensation plan similar to that in the North American market for 7500 car owners in Zhejiang Province.

The remaining legal team, consisting of a hundred lawyers, gave the clients some face by compensating them in the form of cash, service vouchers, coupons, and time vouchers.

It wasn't much, around 300 yuan per person, which is far from the lawyers' demand to compensate each consumer with 10% of the car price.

The legal team has accepted approximately one thousand clients for collective rights protection, and the total number of consumers in both groups is less than ten thousand.

As for the others, I'm sorry, it's still a choice of three.

"Sigh, this situation can't be changed in a short time."

Hu Zhengnan and his senior are both in their thirties. Although they have been through the ups and downs of the workplace, they still have passion, especially when it comes to their daily emotions. When talking about this, Hu Zhengnan and Wang Xun are both a little angry.

"Tan's company has really made a splash this time. Their sales this month should have exceeded 10,000 vehicles, right?"

Wang Xun was a bit older and worked in management at the company, so he was more reserved and not as agitated as Hu Zhengnan.

"I've got it! This month's sales should break the record since the product's launch, haha."

Tan Jincheng didn't hide anything; this kind of promotion was quite effective. In the second half of the month, the sales of Yuechi A1 were significantly higher than in the first half. Whether it can win the monthly sales champion depends on the performance of CRV and RAV4.

But March of this year definitely set a sales record since its launch.

Weilai Auto's move attracted not only RAV4 users with weak willpower, but also many potential buyers.

For those customers who take the opportunity to say they want to buy a RAV4 but haven't had time to place an order yet and ask if there are any discounts, Weilai Auto's solution is to turn a blind eye.

The subsidies for this group of users are smaller, but they are still provided, which is essentially a disguised promotion.

This move is indeed quite ruthless. Based on the data we learned today, the sales volume of Yuechi A1 in March should exceed 11500 units, which has made everyone at Weilai Auto extremely excited.

Unfortunately, this kind of promotional tactic won't last long.

Toyota has already finalized this compensation plan, and it cannot be changed. Most users have no choice but to accept it, as the cost of seeking redress on their own is too high.

Hu Zhengnan asked curiously, "How many cars did you sell?"

"The exact numbers haven't come out yet, but it's definitely over 11500 vehicles."

The sales volume for just one month has exceeded 10 billion yuan. It's fortunate that the Xiangcheng industrial base has already started production; otherwise, this sales volume might have caused a shortage of production capacity.

"Brilliant."

Hu Zhengnan paused for a moment, then gave a thumbs up.

Wang Xun was also full of admiration. This was another model designed with the participation of Longchuang that achieved annual sales of over 10 units. It was also the first SUV to achieve this, making it very memorable.

Unsurprisingly, the Yuechi A1 will appear on the cover of the company's official website.

Unfortunately, this guy wanted to poach his own CTO, and his own CTO was also considering leaving.

Sigh, looking back now, the equity they gave us was too little. Otherwise, we wouldn't have left so decisively; we could have stayed a few more years.

"Mr. Wang, does your company need investment?" Everyone knew the reason for inviting these two people over; Hu Zhengnan's departure was irreversible.

The choice between the design director of an industrial design company and the vice president of the research institute and chief technology officer of an emerging car company is obvious.

As for why he is the vice dean, the dean position was reserved for Yu Liguo. Nowadays, Hu Zhengnan is not as qualified or experienced as Yu Liguo, so there is no reason for him to sit in front of Yu Liguo.

Start as a vice dean, and you can be groomed to become the dean in the future.

Tan Jincheng reserved the position of Dean of Weilai Automotive Engineering Research Institute and Vice President of Weilai Automotive for Yu Liguo. After things were settled here, Tan Jincheng would go to the capital to personally invite him to show his sincerity.

"What does President Tan mean?" Wang Xun asked, somewhat confused.

"Here's the thing, we've been working together for so long, and I really feel bad for your company regarding this matter, so I'd like to make an investment in your company in my personal capacity."

"I don't want much, just 10% of the shares, 5000 million yuan in cash, and I won't interfere with any of your company's operating methods. This can be written into the contract."

Then Tan Jincheng looked at Hu Zhengnan and said, "If Director Hu wants to sell your shares, it will be calculated based on a total valuation of 5 million yuan. I will give you cash for this part separately, and the equity will be counted as 10%."

Hu Zhengnan only held 2% of the shares, which Tan Jincheng acquired for 1000 million yuan. As for whether he wanted to keep those 2% shares, that was up to him to discuss with Wang Xun.

It's somewhat similar to transfer fees in football.

"Um, Mr. Tan, are you serious?"

Wang Xun and Hu Zhengnan were both a little stunned. Although their company had entered the fast lane, it was still just a design studio with only a few dozen employees.

They can indeed make a lot of money every year, but if the overall valuation is 5 million yuan, then that is an absolutely high premium.

"Of course it's true. This is my way of compensating your company and Director Hu. If Mr. Wang has no problem, we can finalize the equity transfer agreement today, and I can make the payment to you tomorrow."

Wang Xun and Hu Zhengnan looked at each other in bewilderment. They had started their own business together after leaving SAIC, and had persisted for ten years.

In the early stages of starting a business, it's all about struggling to survive. There aren't many days when you can really make money. Whether it's the company or the individuals, they only have a few years when they are truly financially secure.

"Damn, is this the attitude of a billionaire? He just throws in 6000 million."

So, does this guy have some grudge against the 6000 million yuan?

Wang Xun was completely stunned. The shareholding structure of Longchuang was very simple. He personally held 90% of the shares, and all he needed was a share transfer agreement to receive 5000 million yuan.

Hu Zhengnan was the same; he didn't do anything, just signed a document and got 1000 million yuan.

For a moment, Wang Xun really wanted to say, "Brother, why don't you just buy more or buy them all? You'll be financially free right away, what's the point of doing anything else!"
"So, what do you think of this plan, Mr. Wang?"

Seeing that the two hadn't responded for a while, Tan Jincheng continued to ask.

Hu Zhengnan was the first to come to his senses, and smiled at Wang Xun, saying, "I'm definitely fine, it's up to you, senior brother."

After ten years of cooperation, they haven't fallen out, proving their relationship has stood the test of time. Wang Xun certainly won't stand in the way of Hu Zhengnan's further development, and Hu Zhengnan won't hide it from him either.

As early as before the Lunar New Year, when he was somewhat tempted by Tan Jincheng's invitation, the two of them had already discussed it.

Wang Xun took a deep breath: "Then thank you, President Tan. I have no problem with that. I'll have someone prepare the contract right away."

Damn it, I absolutely have to buy a house first tomorrow!

Tan Jincheng stood up with a smile, extended his hand and said, "Then it's a pleasure to cooperate. From now on, President Wang will be my big boss."

Wang Xun, having been a boss for ten years and having collaborated with various car companies, quickly came to his senses and stood up with a smile: "Not at all, thank you for your generosity, President Tan."

Wang Xun then joked, "To be honest, my first thought just now was that I'd buy a nice house tomorrow."

Me too, haha.

Hu Zhengnan also laughed and said that the housing prices in Shanghai have risen too fast in the past two years, and the real estate speculators in Wenzhou are practically everywhere.

"Haha, no problem. Isn't the point of making money to enjoy it? When I made money, the first thing I did was buy two houses. If you want to buy, Mr. Wang, you can hurry up. These things are going to appreciate in value."

"As for what Director Hu said, you can buy it if you want, consider it an investment. Don't worry about housing in Ningbo, our Flash Group has some townhouses, you can pick one out later."

Damn, it's good to be rich!
"There have been rumors that Mr. Tan likes to secretly poach employees from other companies, but it seems that the rumors are untrue."

With the business concluded, Wang Xun relaxed and, while working on the contract, ordered a few more cups of coffee. The three of them then sat down and chatted.

"Haha, it's not entirely fake. When I first started my business, I did do some things like that; I had no choice back then, I just wanted to save as much money as possible."

The automotive industry is both very large and very small.

This is the head of the company's core department. Unlike ordinary employees, Tan Jincheng did this simply to acquire valuable assets.

Once this news gets out, it will leave a better impression on some top-notch tech figures and their companies in the future.

(End of this chapter)