2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 724 You little rascal, you're trying to play dirty tricks on me, aren't you?

"Hey, I feel like something's missing. Does anyone else feel the same way?"

Editor-in-Chief Chen, nicknamed "Second Ring Thirteen," sighed.

This year's Beijing Auto Show had many highlights, with RVs and modified cars having their own dedicated exhibition areas for the first time. All of Mercedes-Benz's luxury brands were on display, and Infiniti made a star-studded appearance.

Last month, Japanese brands that were the subject of much controversy launched new versions of their best-selling models, such as the Teana and Civic. Mitsubishi, which is cooperating with Weilai, has also made significant moves.

The Outlander and ASX, both being produced domestically for the first time, along with the new version of the Mitsubishi Pajero and other imported models, created quite a spectacle.

But Chief Editor Chen just couldn't muster any enthusiasm.

Han Lu, who was sitting next to him drinking coffee, and Chu Xiaomin, who is known as the goddess of the car circle, also had the same feeling, as if something was missing.

"That's right, without Boss Tan's antics, it just doesn't feel right."

These are some of the more well-known car reviewers, either from Autohome or Bitauto, and are considered among the top car reviewers in China.

Having dealt with car companies for a long time, they have made a fortune and are very familiar with their tactics. They know exactly which car companies are generous and which are stingy.

The promotional methods are mostly the same, except for Weilai Auto, which is an exception. It comes up with a constant stream of new marketing ideas, and the founder often appears at auto shows to create some interesting moments.

Without Mr. Tan's antics, this auto show felt a little less interesting.

"Hey, Weilai Auto has been working on this for half a year since they got the Spring Festival Gala ad, so why aren't they showing up at the auto show?"

Chu Xiaomin laughed and said, "I know a little about that. I heard he went to Luzhou. Our colleagues there ran into him."

She works for Yiche, so she knows more about Tan Jincheng than the other two.

Bitauto is rushing to go public. According to the latest equity structure chart, ByteDance's advertising platform, Ocean Engine, holds 10% of Bitauto's shares, making it the fourth largest shareholder. This share will be diluted slightly after the IPO, but the ranking of the fourth largest shareholder will remain unchanged.

To be honest, Tan Jincheng could be considered one of her bosses.

"What are you going to Luzhou for? Do you have any inside information?"

Chu Xiaomin shook her head: "I'm not really sure about that. It's probably something to do with the company's business. They're building a research institute, aren't they?"

"Speaking of which, let's go and hang out with Wei Lai. I heard that the director of their research institute will be making an appearance at the auto show today. Let's interview him and maybe write some articles to get some red envelopes."

Erhuan Shisanlang laughed heartily, while the other two remained noncommittal. After all, who among them hadn't been paid by Wei Lai?

Car manufacturers have three main fixed costs: production and manufacturing, research and development, and marketing. However, no one knows how much they invest in research and development.

Of all those car owners, very few truly realize the investment you make in research and development. For example, with the Yuechi A1, the development didn't stop after it was launched; internal improvements have never ceased.

These are all very expensive, and consumers don't understand them. This is where the importance of marketing becomes apparent. You need to let them know and get them to pay for your research and development.

In the days when information was scarce, car reviewers still had a significant influence. Even in 2023, an era of highly developed information, there are still quite a few consumers who have been misled by car reviewers.

XX Talks Cars and similar shows, like the "Zoo Series," specialize in recommending all sorts of mediocre, low-selling car models to consumers. Very few new energy vehicle manufacturers that have gone bankrupt haven't been recommended by the Zoo Series.

However, from the perspective of car manufacturers, paying car reviewers is the most effective way to boost sales. With a flood of so-called reviews praising this and that, it's hard not to be misled.

Tan Jincheng is a businessman, so naturally he can't escape the common practice. Weilai Auto pays various automotive media and car reviewers, and even provides video planning solutions for independent car reviewers.

The premise is that when Boss Tan has time, the tricks used by car reviewers in short videos are far more impressive than their current thinking.

Even a casual suggestion can provide them with a lot of inspiration, making the video content richer and more attractive. Therefore, independent car reviewers like Chen Shisan really enjoy collaborating with Weilai Auto.

Most importantly, you can praise the Yuechi A1 series without worrying about making a mistake; its sales figures in the market prove it.

In addition, Weilai Auto is quite generous; independent car reviewers really like to take on Weilai Auto's commercial orders.

"Hey, look at this, the organizers are really good at stirring things up."

When Chen Shisan and his group arrived at the Weilai Auto booth, they couldn't help but laugh. Even on the first day of the exhibition, the Weilai Auto booth was quite crowded and bustling with activity.

Unlike some car company exhibition areas, which are deserted.

What's most interesting is that the Toyota booth is right across from the Weilai Auto booth. The Toyota booth is also noisy and bustling, and the Weilai booth stands opposite it, which is quite comical no matter how you look at it.

"That's right, it's interesting, take a picture of it."

Just looking at the foot traffic of these two companies is enough to create a headline to attract attention: "Domestic brands are on par with top-tier joint venture brands in terms of popularity!"

The visitors to the Weilai booth area were not only ordinary consumers, but also many news media. These were well-informed people who had received advance notice that the first dean of the Weilai Automotive Research Institute would be present today.

Although Yu Liguo's joining Weilai Auto has not yet been officially confirmed by Weilai Auto, the news has already spread throughout the entire automotive industry, causing a huge sensation.

Many media outlets at this auto show came to confirm this news.
-
Luzhou.

Tan Jincheng rushed into the laboratory with a look of joy on his face.

"You've already achieved results so quickly? You guys are really fast! It seems like you've all been working a lot of overtime lately. Thank you all for your hard work."

Seeing the boss's excitement, everyone in the lab couldn't help but laugh.

That's a very unprofessional question, but overall, engineers from BMW and Lu Ruifeng are quite satisfied with the progress of the power battery development.

However, just as the boss said, their two project teams really did work overtime a lot, and for a long time, everyone worked for more than ten hours a day.

It was tiring, but also exhilarating. Lü Ruifeng hadn't experienced this kind of intellectual exchange in a long time; it was incredibly satisfying.

"Haha, it's not that hard. Everyone has been having a great time working here. Our two teams have been working together very well."

The BMW engineer who spoke was transferred from Germany. He knew from their first meeting that the young boss was fluent in English and there was no communication barrier at all.

The only drawback is that this young boss doesn't understand technology, but fortunately he doesn't interfere with the project's progress at all, and you can't even see him for a long time.

"Haha, Thomas, you're too modest. Thank you for the efforts of both your teams. I'll treat everyone to lunch at the best hotel in Luzhou today, and I'll reward you all for your hard work later."

The fact that they achieved results in four months was something Tan Jincheng hadn't expected. He thought that achieving results in three quarters would be considered fast, since the technology for this was practically nonexistent at the moment, and everyone was starting from scratch.

BYD is indeed very impressive in terms of batteries, but that's only true for mobile phone batteries. In the field of power batteries, almost everyone in the world is on the same starting line.

Xiao Rizi's technology is amazing, but they protect their patents like they would their own father, so nobody wants to work with them.

If we're really talking about it, LG was the most impressive during that period. At the beginning of the century, the Koreans' technology was truly unparalleled, with significant advantages in automobiles, semiconductors, mobile phones, new materials, and many other areas.

In the high-tech market, we are mainly competing with South Korea. As for their small-scale operations, that's their own fault. They not only fabricate data, but they also like to monopolize the market.

Tan Jincheng repeated this passage in both Chinese and English, which drew cheers from the laboratory.

Nothing beats a real reward.

Speaking of the engineers BMW sent to work with them, they've been treated like VIPs for the past few months. Thomas, who came directly from Germany, doesn't quite understand, but the domestic engineering team is absolutely amazed.

As engineers at BMW, they often have the opportunity to travel to support supply chain companies, and the compensation and benefits are usually quite good.

However, they had never encountered such treatment as that of Weilai Auto before, and it was probably the only one of its kind in the country.

Not only do they live in villas, but their daily lives are also taken care of by dedicated teams. I've also heard that the R&D team in Beicang, Ningbo, receives the same treatment, except that they don't live in villas.

Such magnanimity requires not only strength but also vision. There is no shortage of wealthy bosses in China, but bosses with such a broad vision are still very few.
-
Deep city.

BYD's HR department has been having some headaches lately. Since the end of last year, employees from several core departments, including the Automotive Engineering Research Institute, the Second Business Division, the Eleventh Business Division, and the Twenty-first Business Division, have been resigning one after another.

They recently counted that nearly forty employees have left the company, and many of them were employees who had been with the company for three to five years. Some were independently leading a project, while others were employees on a project.

Among the departing employees, technical personnel in mid-level positions accounted for about 10% to 15%, while the rest were junior technical personnel.

For example, Zheng Weixin from the second business division resigned along with two of his subordinates, causing the project to come to a standstill.

At first, the HR department didn't pay too much attention to these issues. The BYD factory in Shenzhen received resignation applications almost every day, so they didn't think much of it. However, the resignation of nearly 40 technical personnel was still a fairly high percentage.

This inevitably draws the attention of human resources departments, as the consequences of a mass exodus of technical talent can be very serious.

The message was eventually delivered to the Director of Human Resources at BYD through a series of reporting steps.

"This is a deliberate attempt to poach employees from other companies; it's probably done by one of our competitors."

Ge Meng, BYD's Human Resources Director, was frowning deeply. He couldn't understand how BYD, which had been so successful last year, had become so turbulent in 2010. The photovoltaic sector had suffered a severe blow since the beginning of the year, with almost all of its European business wiped out, and now its North American business was also greatly affected.

The severely damaged photovoltaic business and the troublesome suppliers have already involved a lot of personnel adjustments, keeping the human resources department extremely busy. And now this kind of thing has happened.

"Have you found out where these R&D personnel went? Also, I remember that mid-level managers like Zheng Weixin have non-compete agreements, right?"

Xun Meng's assistant also looked distressed. If his boss was so worried lately, his subordinate couldn't be much better off.

"There is indeed a non-compete agreement, but it seems to be useless. Zheng Weixin joined a newly established game company, saying that he was starting a business with friends. Some other middle managers are in the same situation."

The company is located in Shenzhen. The HR department even secretly sent someone over to check it out. It turns out it really is a game company. The legal representative of the company is someone whose name I can't recall. They didn't find anything else.

With a registered capital of only 10 yuan and a small company area, it can be described as a clean and honest startup company with no flaws whatsoever.

Xun Meng was also stunned: "Damn it, a battery guy making games? You're kidding me!"

“We secretly sent people to investigate that company. Apart from not being able to find out where the funds came from, everything else was fine. It was indeed a startup game company.”

"Damn, we've run into a real expert. So that means non-compete agreements are useless. Anyone who can go to such lengths to set up a company specifically to poach people must be someone with real strength in the industry. Keep an eye on them."

"As for the other mid-level employees at the research institute, we will renew their contracts and continue to recruit. We can also recruit more people during this year's summer recruitment."

Damn it, when you run into someone who knows what they're doing, there's really nothing you can do. Non-compete agreements only apply to competitors, and even if you do implement one, you still have to compensate them.

Given the company's current situation, they definitely don't want to offer this compensation, so the only option left is to go to court.

However, the other party clearly has connections. It's not a problem to sue someone like Zheng Weixin, but with powerful backers, this kind of lawsuit is a sure loss.

This is really a headache. A company really can't afford to make mistakes, because if you do, it'll have far-reaching consequences.

If the problem only lies in the photovoltaic business, it's relatively easy to resolve, since it's not closely related to the current main business. However, if there's a problem with the dealer system, it involves many aspects, and the impact of unsold cars extends far beyond just the sales company.

Ugh, this is so annoying. The R&D department is getting a lot of poached. Should I tell the boss about this?

Damn it, I'm going to get yelled at again. My boss has been in a bad mood lately.

"And the people below them, it took them so long to find out about something this big. What were they doing?"

Xun Meng finally lost his temper and snapped at his subordinate.

Although he knew that he couldn't really blame his subordinates for this, the other party had obviously come prepared, with a long timeline that started before the new year and was mixed in with a bunch of resignation applications, so it was indeed hard to notice.

This layout is truly masterful. I just wonder which company it is—J? Q? Or something else?

Xun Meng really didn't expect Weilai Auto to come up with this. In the entire BYD system, Weilai Auto has never been regarded as a competitor.

They only have one model, and it's an SUV. Even if it sells very well, it doesn't conflict with their company's products.

As for new energy vehicles? Not only are they still in the exploratory stage, but there's also no market for them. Nobody buys the F3 hybrid or pure electric version; they can't even sell a few thousand a year.

And this is mainly government procurement.

Talking about competition when there is no market is a bit ridiculous. BYD would love for more manufacturers to enter the market and work together to expand it.

Xun Meng knew he would be severely reprimanded by his boss if this got back to him, but after thinking about it, he realized he couldn't avoid the scolding anyway.

I had no choice but to bite the bullet and knock on Mr. Wang's office door.

"40 people have disappeared from the R&D department's middle and lower management in just a few months? The entire project team is gone? Why are you only telling us this now?"

The boatman's voice was muffled, and Xun Meng could almost feel that the boss was controlling his emotions, especially when he heard that the entire power battery system design project team, led by Zheng Weixin, the head of the design department, had collectively packed up their buckets and run away.

If you look closely at the boatman's face, you can clearly see that he has become much more haggard in the past few months.

Outsiders may not be aware of this, but he knew that BYD was facing the biggest crisis since its inception, and that one wrong move could lead to its destruction and loss of life.

If the already large photovoltaic business doesn't see a policy change, it will be a painful decision to abandon, resulting in a significant loss to the group's revenue.

The group's core automotive business is currently experiencing a backlash from dealers, causing significant disruption to sales this year.

If this matter is not resolved properly, it will become a very big problem.

Sigh, we can forget about reaching a million units this year. It would be good enough if we could keep up with the normal growth of the car market and maintain competitiveness.

Sigh, although the competitors were really underhanded in letting the dealers leave the network, it's ultimately because the company didn't take it seriously enough at the beginning. If they hadn't used high-pressure policies to suppress the dealers, but instead had appeased them, things would have been much better.

However, it's too late to regret it now.

By the end of April, a total of 308 BYD dealers had withdrawn from the network, with the most significant impacts occurring in Sichuan, Hunan, and Shandong provinces, virtually paralyzing the sales network in major cities across the entire Southwest market.

Although we have tried our best to remedy the situation, it is simply too difficult to restore the sales network in a short period of time.

The battery business is still relatively stable for now, but it faces considerable challenges. The emergence of smartphones has had a significant impact on traditional batteries, and BYD Electronics must increase its investment in research and development.

Fortunately, BYD still has two major clients, Nokia and Motorola. In addition to maintaining its current orders for traditional mobile phone batteries, BYD Electronics also hopes that these two mobile phone brands can make some breakthroughs in the smartphone market.

In addition, we need to cultivate a larger smartphone customer base; smartphones are the future.

Looking back, it seems that the electronics factory next door, which couldn't compete with major clients, focused on the smartphone market. Although the orders were varied, it inadvertently allowed them to grasp the trend of the times.

This kid has some luck. If he had chosen to be a battery manufacturer for those small, traditional mobile phone companies, then in this wave of smartphone upgrades, Dexian Electronics might have been eliminated.

They currently have a portion of Apple's iPod orders, as well as orders from mainstream smartphone manufacturers like HTC and Meizu.

Oh, right, they also secured a battery order for the newly established Xiaomi phone brand. The electronics market is definitely taking shape now.

"Hmm? We need electrons first?"

As he thought about it, the boatman felt something was off.

Xun Meng believed that the poaching might have been the work of J and Q, the most intense competitors at present, but upon closer examination, he felt that something was amiss.

All 40 employees are technical personnel related to power batteries and power battery systems; there are no others.

If it's a major competitor like J or Q, then the poaching will definitely go beyond that; they'll also poach talent in related fields like industrial design and engines.

If he were in charge, that would definitely be the case. We don't need to worry about whether the people we recruit are useful or not. The most important thing is to strike while the opponent is in a state of chaos.

This poaching is clearly aimed at battery technology, and the goal is very clear.

"Have you checked the background of that game company?"

"We checked, but didn't find anything. It really looks like an internet game startup."

"Go investigate again. Check whether these employees are already working or not. See who they've been in contact with recently. Also, keep an eye on Dexian Electronics and see if they've made any contact with them."

"When necessary, we can use some connections."

Xun Meng was taken aback, not understanding why his boss would have someone keep an eye on Dexian Electronics, even going so far as to use some connections. However, he didn't dare to say anything and quickly went to make arrangements.

BYD's position in Shenzhen is equivalent to that of Flashcar in Beicang, or even much higher.

With all their efforts, investigating a shell company was naturally a piece of cake. Qin Junchao and the former BYD employees never expected that their former employer would send people to watch them.

Not all employees have non-compete agreements, not even those in the technical department.

Those with non-compete agreements are mostly middle-level managers and employees who have access to certain technical information. Weilai Auto takes care of the non-compete agreements for them, so they don't have much to worry about.

These employees didn't usually try to avoid other people when they interacted with Qin Junchao. They were both intentional and unintentional, and in less than half a day, Xun Meng obtained the information he wanted.

Upon receiving the news, the boatman laughed in exasperation: "You little rascal, calling me 'uncle' so politely to my face, acting like a junior, but behind my back you're playing dirty tricks, aren't you?"

Losing 40 mid-to-lower level technical talents in the battery field all at once, it would be a lie to say that Boatman Brother isn't heartbroken.

These are all people I've trained for several years, and this kid got them for free.

"No, we can't let this kid off so easily. We need to have a serious talk with him."

(End of this chapter)