2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 730 The Troubles of Expansion

2010 5 Month 22 Day.

Inter Milan defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League final to win the title, becoming the first team in Serie A history to achieve a treble.

"This is the last hurrah for Serie A, just like the European automotive industry."

Magic Bird is still Magic Bird. In fact, Magic Bird's rise to prominence coincided with the time of Tan Jincheng's rebirth, but Boss Tan no longer had time to watch any matches.

I saw all of this in the news. If a football fan were reborn, it wouldn't be too difficult to make some money. Football fans basically remember the champions of major events and the scores of the finals.

"It was indeed their last moment of glory. What a pity. It was such a small World Cup back then."

True fans can see that Serie A has long been on its last legs. In recent years, Serie A has been declining more and more, and in terms of financial resources, squad recruitment and head coach, it is far behind the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga.

"This is actually a reflection of the economy. Look at how bad our football was, but it's been doing really well these past two years."

The 2002 World Cup was supposed to be the beginning, but it turned out to be the end. However, the Chinese Super League has been quite impressive in the last two years, putting up a good fight against South Korea and Japan.

A few years later, when the real estate market was at its peak, Brother Kuku poured money into it and enjoyed many years of glory in the AFC Champions League. Those years were also the period when the country's strength was at its peak.

The decline of Serie A is essentially due to its economic system failing to keep pace with current global economic trends.

Take the automotive industry as an example: joint venture brands from all over the world are making a fortune in China, while Fiat, an Italian brand targeting the general market, has been almost driven out.

This is only 2010, not 2020.

"Have all the flooded trucks in Guangzhou been dealt with yet?"

On May 7th of this year, Guangzhou experienced a severe rainstorm that flooded 13,000 vehicles, putting the emergency response capabilities of major brand dealerships and insurance companies to the test.

A car owner in Zhonghai Kangcheng bought a Volkswagen Magotan for 200,000 yuan, less than a year ago, and sold it to a used car dealer for 120,000 yuan. The owner suffered a heavy loss.

Flooded cars are a serious problem. During the severe rainstorm in Guangzhou, 60-70% of the flooded cars ended up in the second-hand market, posing a significant safety hazard.

"It's almost all done. Luckily, we only have two brands, Yuechi and Yangzi, which don't account for a large proportion. Otherwise, boss, your plan would really be no good and we wouldn't be able to handle it at all."

"That's right, damn it, I hope there will be fewer incidents like this in the future."

Tan Jincheng could only smile wryly. This was the third time in nearly 30 years that Guangzhou had experienced such a severe rainstorm. The city was flooded for three days, and the losses over those three days were simply unbearable for every household.

Take the car owner in Zhonghai Kangcheng as an example. His car, worth 20 yuan, was practically totaled after only three months of driving. On average, he lost 7 yuan every month. This car was on loan, so he had nowhere to turn for help.

Tan Jincheng's mind inexplicably recalled the saying: "A grain of sand in the era becomes a mountain on everyone's shoulders."

People in Guangdong Province seem to have a natural fondness for Japanese brands, especially in economically prosperous provincial capitals like Guangzhou. However, the proportion of Weilai's entire model series in Guangzhou is not high.

However, more than 400 vehicles were severely damaged or completely destroyed by water, including more than 100 Yuechi A1s that were completely totaled.

Even the car I bought at the Guangzhou Auto Show last year is less than a year old.

Wei Lai's handling of this situation is crucial. Other car companies can shirk responsibility and push everything onto the insurance company, but Wei Lai certainly can't. If he pretends to be stupid like other brands, then Yuechi is finished.

For vehicles that have not suffered serious damage, repairs are carried out as needed, and parts are replaced as required. The 4S store cooperates with the insurance company to provide after-sales service and arranges everything properly.

These don't cost much, and with the manufacturers coordinating, the insurance companies don't really care. But the more than 100 vehicles that are scrapped are more troublesome.

Everyone knows how insurance companies operate, and car insurance these days isn't as transparent as it is in later years. This kind of large-scale vehicle scrapping incident has never happened before, and insurance companies don't have much experience in handling it.

Tan Jincheng had experience in handling claims for flooded vehicles from later generations. He had more than 100 Yuechi A1 cars and dozens of pickup trucks, priced at the highest configuration, totaling about 2000 million yuan.

This amount of money is nothing to Weilai Auto; they could even fully compensate for it. However, this loophole must not be opened, or Weilai Auto will be finished as well.

These days, urban development isn't that great. Even with the four trillion yuan stimulus plan underway, cities like Ningbo, which are developing rapidly, still have only so-so infrastructure.

In the past, when economic conditions were not good enough, there weren't many cars. Each city only had a few cars, and those who bought them treated them like treasures. There were very few problems with cars getting wet in floods. But in the future, there will be many more such problems.

It seems that the large number of vehicles involved in flooding in Guangzhou was also the reason for the revision of the Vehicle and Vessel Tax Law during this year's National Day holiday.

"That's good. We've done a great job building a good reputation among car owners this time. Remember to promote it well. We can't make it in May, but let's try to boost car sales in June."

Tan Jincheng directly adopted the insurance claim process for flooded vehicles from later generations. In addition, Weilai Auto paid most of the compensation privately, giving the good reputation to the cooperating insurance company.

The bulk of the compensation is paid by Weilai Auto, and the procedures are all designed by Weilai Auto. The insurance company only needs to pay a small portion, and can also gain a good reputation in the process.

They can also accumulate experience in claims settlement. All they need to do is cooperate with Weilai Auto to speed up the process, which they are happy to do.

While other car companies are still arguing, the compensation payments for Weilai Auto's car owners have already been received. In addition, 4S stores in the Guangzhou area have also launched a discount program for Weilai Auto owners whose cars were damaged in this incident to exchange their vehicles.

If the car is totaled, we immediately communicate about the compensation plan, and make the payment as soon as it is agreed upon. If you intend to buy a new car, we offer different preferential policies depending on the extent of the damage.

For example, if a vehicle is completely scrapped, the 4S store will offer an additional discount of 5000 yuan on top of existing policy benefits when purchasing a new car with the compensation certificate. Car loan applications will also have different preferential policies depending on the customer's qualifications, with the highest possible loan policy being a three-year term with zero interest.

In addition, Weilai offers different down payment and monthly payment options to meet the needs of different consumers.

For example, with a down payment of 45900 yuan, you can enjoy a monthly payment rate of 0.5%. This financial approach is used to boost vehicle sales, a tactic learned from Tesla.

Compared to existing financial instruments, the car loan policy launched by Weilai Auto based on the recent severe rainstorm in Guangzhou is more flexible. If it performs well, this policy will be extended nationwide.

Times have changed, and people's perceptions of car loans and mortgages have also changed. These days, apart from cars priced above 30 yuan, many people in the low-end market are more willing to pay in full for a car, or even a house.

The concept of advance consumption is not acceptable to everyone. It was only four or five years later, with the rise of internet finance, that people truly embraced it on a large scale. At that time, Alipay was at its peak, and lending apps like Huabei and Jiebei were everywhere online.

There are plenty of young people earning a few thousand yuan a month who dare to buy a car worth around 20 yuan through car loans, without caring about their ability to repay or the impact on their future lives.

The so-called "three treasures of a loser" became popular during that period.

Men know far more about cars than you might imagine. In his previous life, Boss Tan didn't know much about how cars were manufactured, but he was very familiar with the tricks of selling cars in the market.

When the Yuechi series was first launched, the car loan policy was relatively conservative and followed market rules. On the one hand, everyone was doing it this way, and there was no indication that the Yuechi would not sell, so there was no need to do so.

Secondly, ordinary people have just started to have some money in their pockets and have just experienced the subprime crisis, so he doesn't really want to overextend himself.

However, the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis in China has basically subsided now, and there are various policies to encourage it. If Weilai Auto launches some advanced car loan preferential policies at the right time, there shouldn't be any problem.

Choosing to be a businessman means you can make money by any means necessary, and even if the scale is small, it won't have a significant impact on society.

However, if you choose to be an entrepreneur, you must consider the social impact. You cannot do anything to make money. The automobile industry is a large consumer product worth tens of billions of yuan. If a company worth hundreds of billions of yuan were to engage in evil practices, it would be terrifying.

This year is only the first calendar year since the Yuechi A1 was launched, so there is no need for Tan Jincheng to be in a hurry or to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

While ensuring sales volume, building a good reputation and social influence is the most important thing.

"Alright, go and make the arrangements. Also, the technical personnel gathered from various branches need to be arranged as soon as possible."

With the support of several shareholders, Weilai New Energy Group successfully completed its merger and reorganization.

Two days ago, on May 20, Weilai Automobile Co., Ltd. underwent a business registration change, becoming Weilai Co., Ltd., which now owns three major industrial groups: IT, automobiles, and new energy.

Everything is aimed at BYD; Tan Jincheng wants to seize BYD's market share during Dizi's downturn.

To date, Dizi has not released specific sales figures for April. However, before the network withdrawal scandal fully erupted, Dizi's sales actually increased in the first quarter, with a total of 68129 vehicles sold in March.

Now that May is almost over, Dizi has not yet released the specific sales figures for April, which suggests that the decline must have been quite severe.

However, Tan Jincheng knew that Dizi's real crisis was yet to come. The second half of the year would be their worst time. The sanctions on the photovoltaic industry were becoming increasingly strict, and Apple would enter the domestic market in the second half of this year, driving the rapid development of the entire smartphone industry chain.

Nokia and Motorola, the two largest customers of DTI in mobile phone manufacturing, had their market share squeezed so much that DTI's manufacturing industry was almost completely destroyed.

The decline of these two major business segments is intractable. Although the losses are heavy, they are arguably not due to any fault of their own. Thinking about the IT contract manufacturing industry from the perspective of the boatman, Tan Jincheng realized that without the prophetic bug, he would never have imagined that Nokia and Motorola would be so vulnerable.

The boatman's ability to foresee the future of new energy vehicles at the beginning of the century demonstrates his unwavering strategic vision.

He couldn't possibly be unaware of the trend of the smartphone era, and his partners were also very powerful. But who knew that these two powerful partners would turn out to be such terrible teammates in the process of the times?
As for the automotive business, it's purely due to overconfidence after selling too well last year. Even now, after the dealer network withdrawal scandal broke out in April, Dizi is still very assertive in handling dealer network withdrawals.

Some dealers have even been sued by them. Instead of trying to put out the fire, they are adding fuel to the fire. It has to be said that they are really arrogant.

Oh, right, they're still blaming each other with their J-series competitors, accusing each other of poaching their dealers, engaging in empty rhetoric, but in reality, they don't have any policies to retain their dealers.

To ensure the sales target of 100 million vehicles this year, the KPI policies for Dizi dealers are still in effect.

The task was already very demanding, and now that there are fewer distributors, the remaining distributors are under even more pressure.

Dizi's lesson was truly painful; it's so easy for companies to fall into arrogance during their development.

2005年上市的F3，在上市不到20个月的时间里，销量就突破了10万辆，2009年全年销量更是达到夸张的29万辆之多。

Even by 2023 standards, these sales figures would be phenomenal, easily placing them among the top five best-selling single products. In the 2009 car market, they were simply phenomenal.

Dizi's two main competitors, Chery and Geely, had total sales of 500,000 and 330,000 vehicles respectively in 2009. Chery was still a contender, but as for Geely, all their brands combined only sold 40,000 more vehicles than the F3.

Chery's best-selling model is the Chery QQ. Like the Chery QQ 2008, this model is only popular for its novelty and low price. It has no long-term sales trend and is just a result of its strategy of creating a large number of cars.

If they could create another F3, not only would domestic brands be terrified, but even joint venture brands would be scared half to death. It would be hard for them not to become arrogant.

In the eyes of BYD employees at the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010, there really wasn't a single competitor that could rival them nationwide.

"We're making arrangements, but boss, at the current rate, our dormitories are becoming insufficient."

Zeng Jixiang reported on the work item by item. The technical personnel from Jinxin, Yangzi, and Shenzhen would gradually move to Beicang. In addition, the research institute's staff size was set at 3000 people.

With the commissioning of the second phase of Weilai Automobile, the need for employees is increasing, and the current size of the employee dormitory will definitely not be enough at this rate.

Two years ago, the studio apartments next to the headquarters building were empty, but now they are almost full.

The boss has always treated all technical staff very well, whether it's Jinpeng, Shanchi, or Weilai, he treats them all the same. The single apartments near the headquarters building are basically reserved for them.

Besides the better living environment, the boss, who has never been interested in the real estate market, even acquired a property management company to manage the single apartments and his own residential area.

For senior managers, the benefits are even better.

As the director of the president's office, Zeng Jixiang felt it necessary to remind the boss that if they continued to expand like this, the people they hired later would have nowhere to live.

"Damn it, expanding too fast is a headache."

Tan Jincheng rubbed his slightly throbbing head. The merger of the two companies caused the original Weilai Automobile to expand rapidly, resulting in a significant chain reaction.

This merger is no less significant than a company's rapid expansion after going public.

"How about this, let's contact the real estate companies in the district and see if they have any properties that haven't started selling yet. If they do, we can buy an entire complex and paint the exterior walls our own color."

It's too late to build now, and Tan Jincheng doesn't want to get involved in the construction industry; there are some kinds of money he's too lazy to earn.

The housing prices in Beicang District have always been distorted. There is a huge gap between the urban area and the seaside. There are industrial zones everywhere, so the houses don't really have any investment value. If Shanchi and Weilai really wanted to enter the real estate industry, they wouldn't do this in Beicang.

In 2010, the average price of high-end residential communities in Beicang District had exceeded 10,000 yuan per square meter, while mid-range communities were priced at 7,000 to 8,000 yuan per square meter. For example, the Shimao Bay community where Mr. Tan lived in his previous life was priced at just over 10,000 yuan per square meter when it was first launched. However, due to some quality issues with two buildings, the overall average price is now around 7,000 to 8,000 yuan per square meter.

As for low-end resettlement housing, the average price can be as low as four or five thousand yuan. For example, Jiufeng Community on the outskirts of the city is only a 10-minute walk from Shimao Bay, but the prices are vastly different.

"Okay, I'll send a letter to the real estate company in Beicang District right away. What about the location?"

Buying an entire residential complex at once—once this news gets out, all the real estate developers in the Beicang District will go crazy.

"There are no special requirements for the location. The Beicang District is a tiny place. What difference can the location make? At most, we'll just arrange a few more factory buses."

"Also, before you send out the message, ask Boss Zhu first to see if he has any. If he does, give them priority."

Zhu Chengying sold his financial building to Flashpoint, which gave him a large sum of money that helped him through his predicament. He then collaborated with Flashpoint on many projects, such as the Flashpoint residential complex that has already been occupied and the Jinpeng residential complex that is under construction.

The residential area is of decent quality. Zhu Chengying hasn't done anything particularly dishonest and is considered fairly honest. Tan Jincheng doesn't mind helping his old friend when necessary.

A medium-sized residential community is typically defined as having 3000 to 5000 households. In Beicang District, there are not many communities with more than 2000 households.

按1000户基础预算，平均每户按80到100万元的价格来计算，一个小区差不多就是8亿到10亿左右的售价，按2000户算就是20亿元。

With a down payment of 30%, the maximum amount needed is around 600 million yuan, and the minimum is only 240 million yuan. Through bridging loans and other means, Weilai Auto can solve the problem without much difficulty.

Of course, this is just a rough calculation and cannot be taken as accurate, but it is still within the group's control. If all else fails, Jinqing can be taken over.

Jinqing's books are full of cash flow; buying a property in the complex is a piece of cake for them.

It's not quite right to say that Flash or Weilai are rich and powerful, but Jinqing definitely can be considered rich and powerful.

Zeng Jixiang joked, "Okay, then I'll contact President Zhu first, and we can also become a real estate speculation group."

"Haha, if you don't speculate on housing prices in Beicang District, people will criticize me. Over the years, they've said a lot that our group has driven up housing prices in the district. Let them do what they want."

"Oh, right, even if it's President Zhu, the discounts we should negotiate can't be reduced."

Everyone knows that house prices will rise, but for real estate developers, selling off their inventory is the most important thing. There are very few real estate developers who dare to hoard properties. If a developer can acquire a whole project in one go under the name of Wei Lai, he must be ecstatic.

In the small town of Beicang, the largest real estate developer so far is Shimao. The others are all small and medium-sized developers, and they don't have much money in their pockets.

"Okay, you can make the arrangements. Also, keep an eye on my schedule next month and make sure to avoid the days from the end of June to the beginning of July."

Gu Qingqing's due date is June 28th, which is only a month away. Tan Jincheng really doesn't dare to go anywhere.

As early as last month, Tan Jincheng had mentioned this to some familiar partners, asking them to arrange for business trips to Beicang, with all expenses paid by Tan Jincheng.

Everyone laughed it off, saying it was understandable for a first-time mother; everyone has been through that phase.

Actually, the real reason is that it's getting warmer now, and Boss Tan doesn't want to go on business trips. For a super-rich family like theirs, what unexpected things could happen if they have a child?
Not only that, even the meeting that Shen Nanpeng arranged for him to meet with Musk was scheduled for mid-July.

According to internal information received by Tan Jincheng, in early June, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will jointly release the "Energy-Saving Products for the Benefit of the People" policy, and the first batch of 71 models of passenger cars with an engine displacement of 16 liters or less from 1.6 automobile companies will be included.

The 1.6-liter Yuechi A1 model is also included, and can enjoy a discount of 3000 yuan. This policy will last throughout the second half of 2010, and a second and third batch will be announced later.

According to internal sources, the purpose of this policy, in addition to boosting sales, is more about preparing for subsequent subsidy policies for new energy vehicles.

In late May, Shandong Province introduced a number of policies to promote the development of new energy vehicles. In addition to promoting new energy vehicles in seven cities, it is also committed to cultivating a number of independent brands of complete vehicles and supporting industries.

In addition, other regions have also included new energy vehicles in their fiscal subsidy procurement programs, and pure electric buses and sanitation vehicles are becoming increasingly common in the market.

With policies moving at an increasingly rapid pace, the development of Weilai must also be accelerated. It's not enough to just have one model like the Yuechi A1 with a subsidy of 3000 yuan.

According to information obtained by Tan Jincheng, the new energy vehicle subsidy policy will be announced on June 1st, with subsidies for private purchases of pure electric vehicles reaching up to 60,000 yuan and subsidies for plug-in hybrid vehicles reaching up to 50,000 yuan.

As for hybrids, the price is 3000 yuan, and the policy's purpose is obvious.

Weilai Auto needs to develop a pure electric vehicle as soon as possible; the patent technology held by Tesla is crucial.

Ah, I wish this horse was open source right now.

(End of this chapter)