2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 744 is finished, it can't be hidden anymore (Seeking monthly votes)
Investing a lot of money in marketing and promotion will definitely yield excellent results.

Weilai Auto's sales in September and October were truly impressive.

"Currently, it seems that we can guarantee an average daily sales volume of one vehicle per 4S store. Let's continue to develop another 100 4S stores next year."

"Yes, building another 100 stores is no problem. Mr. Tan, you don't know, but after our sales exceeded 10 vehicles in September, quite a few large dealers have contacted us."

September saw a record-breaking sales volume of 1.4 units for the Yuechi A1, driven by high demand and the peak sales season.

October sales reached 12250 units, bringing the total sales from January to October to 117333 units. Based on this sales forecast, the annual sales volume will definitely exceed 14 units.

The sales of the Yuechi A1 alone have already approached the full-year forecast for 2010.

While the Yuechi A1 sold very well, it also boosted the sales of Yangzi pickup trucks to some extent. In September, Yangzi pickup trucks sold a record 2847 units, and in October, they sold 2413 units.

As of October, Yangzi Pickup's total sales reached 24542 units, only 197 units short of last year's total sales.

Including sports cars and buses, which were sold in smaller batches, Weilai Automobile's total sales reached 14.3 vehicles by October, basically achieving its annual target. Now, the focus is on setting sales expectations for next year.

Since March, Weilai Auto's sales have been able to maintain more than 10,000 vehicles per month. Even in May, when sales were at their lowest, the average monthly sales were still enough to barely reach the sales volume of one vehicle per day for each company at that time.

Currently, Weilai Auto already has 400 stores, and plans to open another 100. In Tan Jincheng's view, 500 4S stores are already enough.

According to this plan, Weilai Auto's sales are expected to be between 18 and 20 vehicles next year, maintaining a growth rate of over 20% compared to this year.

According to the highest-level plan, that is, a growth rate of 33%.

"Let's announce our production and sales plan for next year at 18 vehicles, but internally we can plan for 20 vehicles. A growth rate of 20% to 30% is quite normal."

Next year will be the second calendar year since the launch of the Yuechi A1. According to the normal iteration speed, the second-generation model of the Yuechi A1 should be released by the end of next year, and the second-generation model will be launched in 2012.

“Okay, let’s proceed with this plan. Zhang Li can start working at the end of next year.”

Zhang Yong nodded. The boss was still so cautious about business planning; he really was a contradiction.

Jinqing Investment's true identity has been completely exposed. According to data published on the Forbes Rich List, the owner holds a total of 525.3 million Apple shares, accounting for 0.575% of the total shares, and 890 million Tesla shares, accounting for 9.57% of the total shares.

Since Apple officially entered the Chinese market in September, its stock price has surged by nearly 30%, breaking the $300 milestone. The market value of holding Apple shares alone has reached $15.76 billion.

This is the first time Apple has entered the Chinese market, but the Apple brand is no stranger to mobile phone users. The Chinese version of the iPhone 4 sold incredibly well, although Apple has not released specific figures.

However, according to some statistics, the iPhone 4, which entered the Chinese market at the end of September, sold at least several hundred thousand units by the end of October. This does not include sales through other channels.

Market expectations are that the mainland China market will account for at least 10% of Apple's global sales in the future.

I also chatted with the boss privately about whether Apple stock was still a good buy. The boss just said that Apple stock accounts for about 80% of the total investments of Jinqing Investment and ByteDance.

This truly stunned Zhang Yong. Two investment companies betting on a single stock in the secondary market—this investment style was simply too aggressive.

But their cautious approach to business is perhaps related to BYD's sales expectations for this year?
Indeed, no company can sell 41 vehicles in the first year and then immediately claim that it can sell 100 million vehicles in the second year. This is a car, after all. No matter how hot the market is, there is no way to achieve such growth.

That said, after the boss's identity was exposed this time, he was thoroughly scrutinized by the Forbes rich list. He's truly amazing in the financial market.

Based on the market value of the stocks held by the owners, Apple's market value is $15.76 billion, Tesla's is $1.95 million, Orange Technology's is $6.53 million, and Flash Technology's is 72.46 billion yuan.

There are also other stocks not included in the statistics, such as O-Film, Luxshare Precision, Changying Precision, and EVE Energy, which are listed on the ChiNext board.

Although a portion of the market value held by these companies belongs to ByteDance's advertising platform, which has two other shareholders, that small amount of shares is negligible.

According to Forbes statistics, the boss's net worth in the capital market is as high as 241.56 billion yuan.

The Forbes China Rich List, released on October 28, gave the boss a net worth of US$40.18 billion, equivalent to approximately RMB 272 billion, ranking him 13th on the list.

Compared to 30th place last year, he has improved by a full 17 places. Meanwhile, the richest person in the same automotive industry last year has slipped to 10th place this year, with a net worth of 284 billion yuan.

As for this year's richest person, it is the owner of a beverage company who reached a settlement with Danone, won the landmark transnational lawsuit, and officially regained control of the company.

With a net worth of 534 billion yuan, Mr. Zong leads the pack, ahead of Li Keqiang of Baidu, who is in second place, by 54 small goals.

Tan Jincheng's ranking is also quite interesting. The person ranked 14th behind him is none other than Lao Wang, with whom he recently reached a cooperation agreement. Lao Wang's net worth is estimated at 260 billion yuan.

I vividly remember that after the list was released, the boss's first reaction was that something bad had happened, and he looked miserable. That expression was really interesting.

“My net worth is this much, while those who have been in real estate or business for many years have much more than this.”

Old Wang has been in business for so many years, how could he only have 260 billion yuan? Many of his businesses are not listed yet, so he can say what they are worth, and there is no way to value them.

Even Tan Jincheng's net worth has been significantly reduced.

The listed company holds more than 240 billion yuan in market value. How could other non-listed assets only amount to 30 billion yuan? That's pure nonsense. In fact, personal wealth in stocks is meaningless and fluctuates greatly.

Take, for example, the chairman and his wife of Hepalink Pharmaceutical, who ranked fifth this year. Last year, he didn't even have a ranking, but this year he directly ranked fifth with a net worth of 360 billion yuan.

Haipu Pharmaceutical, which went public in May, had an issue price of 148 yuan, the highest issue price among A-share stocks. On its first day of trading, the opening price reached 166 yuan, and the market value on the first day reached 664 billion yuan.

This is a wealth myth.

With such a high offering price, and a market capitalization of 60-70 billion yuan right after listing, this thing is basically a smaller version of PetroChina. It's ruthless.

And no matter how you look at it, the boatman's net worth is more than 284 billion yuan.

To be honest, the wealth of those people on the list who are from internet companies is relatively realistic, at least most of it is real, the market value of their shares is there, and the rise and fall are clearly visible.

To be honest, Pony Ma is the smartest one in this matter. His net worth this year is 294 billion yuan, which ranks ahead of the boatman.

Ever since becoming the richest man, this old fellow has discovered that being the richest man isn't a good thing, so he's been trying his best to reduce his holdings and make his shares more discreet.

When Tan was reborn, he also thought that this guy’s behavior of reducing his holdings to the lowest point of each stage was ridiculous. But after getting to know him, he realized that this was actually a smart move.

Selling shares at a high price is considered hateful, while selling shares at a low price may only result in some teasing. Besides, do you know that the institutions or individual companies that buy at a low price are not just their own shells?
From a conspiracy theory perspective, if it were his own front, it would make even more sense. Not only would the company still be under his control, but he could also more easily reduce his holdings after the stock price rose without having to make any further announcements.

Little Ma should learn this trick; it's better to keep a low profile on the wealth list.

This year's ranking has risen too fast. Fortunately, there is the chairman and his wife of Hepalink who have the fastest growth. Even so, among the group of people aged 40 to over 60, Tan Jincheng, who just turned 25 in August, is still very eye-catching.

Among the top 20, only three are under 40 years old: a 29-year-old female chairman of a certain company, a 39-year-old "Little Ma", and a 25-year-old Tan Jincheng.

The oldest is the CEO of Midea, who ranks sixth and is 68 years old this year.

Last year's top 30 list garnered considerable attention, but most netizens were too lazy to scroll down, focusing only on what was immediately visible. As a result, the hype died down quickly.

This year is different; he's ranked 13th, which is obvious at a glance.

Goodness, in a group of people in their forties or fifties, or even nearing seventy, a young kid like him is bound to stand out. You know, these days, even our Little Ma is a young entrepreneur.

Those who don't understand the rankings and wealth figures just think Boss Tan is incredibly awesome.

Those who understand the Forbes rankings felt that the data was somewhat off.

"This kid is so clever. He publicly disclosed over 240 billion yuan in cash, but his total wealth is only 272 billion yuan. This is clearly underreporting. He probably paid a lot of public relations fees to that old rascal Hurun."

With 68% of its shares held by ByteDance, Weilai New Energy Group is practically entirely owned by Tan Jincheng. The entire Weilai Group's revenue this year must be over 10 billion yuan.

BYD's automotive business generated 394 billion yuan in revenue in 2009. A simple calculation shows that a quarter of BYD, just the shares in WYD Auto alone, are worth more than 30 billion yuan.

His other group, Flash Group, currently only has one listed subsidiary, Flash Technology.

Jinpeng Industrial, which operates in the apparel industry, saw its GXG menswear brand shine during last year's Taobao Double Eleven shopping festival and has now secured a place in the mid-range menswear market.

In addition, their import and export trade is also thriving. Despite their lack of fame, they are all companies with considerable strength.

He truly belongs to the type who makes a fortune quietly.

"Yes, that kid is really smart. I don't know if you've noticed, but besides the companies and wealth that he's forced to reveal and that are publicly known, it's his low-profile companies that are making the most money."

That's right, nobody knows how much return on investment ByteDance's advertising platform will generate.

The share of his import and export trade is also unknown. If it weren't for the collaboration with Tesla exposing his Jinqing Investment's true identity, his wealth would have been reduced by the equivalent of over 100 billion in Apple's market value. If that were the case, his ranking would have dropped to 26th, not much different from last year.

"He's a smart person. Even at a young age, he knew how to hide his talents and keep a low profile."

The rich list is jokingly called the "pig-slaughtering list," which is not just due to resentment towards the rich, but more so because there is a huge chain of interests behind it.

With such a huge influence, the billionaires on the list and their companies are like a huge advertisement. Some people want to be on the list, but if their wealth is not enough, they can only spend money to falsify their wealth.

Some people want to fake their way onto the list to boost their fame, while others prefer to keep a low profile and don't want to be on the list. The only way to achieve this is to spend money.

Since gaining attention, Boss Tan has had to spend a lot of public relations money to suppress his position, especially this year. If he suppresses it with all his might, his ranking will definitely enter the top 10.

Damn it, it's also Apple's fault for rising against the trend when global stock markets are declining; otherwise, his net worth would be at least two or three billion less.

This foreigner is a real shrewd operator. He's got a knack for manipulating Chinese culture. He runs a shell company that makes a fortune from rankings, and there's nothing you can do about it.

"Never mind my ranking, we should be getting ready for the Guangzhou Auto Show right now."

Being at the top of the rankings isn't all bad. At least the entire group is in high spirits right now, and everyone is proud to be Boss Tan's employee, since Boss Tan has always treated his employees very well.

The overall salary is more than 20% higher than that of the industry average, and there is insurance that is rare in this era. The holiday gifts are also generous. In addition, Boss Tan will also give red envelopes to the company employees when he has personal happy occasions.

There was a bonus for getting married, another for having a son, and another for the company going public. The exact amounts are not worth mentioning, but these are all real cash bonuses, and most importantly, the bonus amounts are the same for all employees.

Management didn't care, but frontline employees felt a rare sense of respect.

For animals like cattle and horses, being respected is already a great achievement.

However, for Tan Jincheng himself, it was a very stressful situation. In just the past few days, there have been quite a few people trying to take advantage of him, and he couldn't refuse some of them.

For example, in the past two days, the Changzhou public transportation department stated that it would order 500 medium-sized buses from Huanghai Automobile for urban public transportation. However, the implication was that it hoped the Weilai Group could increase its investment in Changzhou.

This is what they call "leeching off someone else's money," how can you refuse? You can't pass up such a tangible benefit, can you?

When the topic of the rich list came up, the boss looked constipated, which amused Zhang Yong: "The prototype is ready, and we'll start transporting it to Guangzhou next week. There will definitely be enough to get it to the exhibition before it opens."

"As for the other promotional materials, they are also ready. But boss, should we set up a branch in Guangdong Province to manage our South China market? And the Southwest region as well?"

Next year's production and sales are expected to reach 20 vehicles, with plans to add 100 4S stores. However, there is also pressure to increase sales, and the company cannot rely solely on dealers; it must also coordinate efforts effectively.

"Then let's set up a distribution branch in each of South China, Southwest China, and North China to be responsible for overall sales. You can make the specific arrangements."

Alas, the dealership and 4S store model is somewhat outdated nowadays. In Tan Jincheng's mind, he still appreciates the direct sales model, but it's just not feasible right now.

From the consumer's perspective, 4S stores have too many tricks up their sleeves and all sorts of domineering practices. If there's even a minor problem with the vehicle, they have to put up banners to protest.

Even if you own a Maybach, there's nothing you can do if the roof leaks.

They have absolutely no sense of service.

Tesla's fixed-price approach is exactly what Tan Jincheng likes best; it's simple and doesn't require any scheming. As for discounts, Tesla does offer them.

Besides the regular discounts, Tesla's three- or five-year interest-free policy is actually the biggest benefit.

Tan Jincheng, who will be developing new energy vehicles in the future, also plans to do the same. This interest-free approach is much better than blatant price cuts and can help maintain the brand's image in the long term.

If a product sells for 20 units at launch and then sells for 15 units a few months later, the impact on the brand image can be enormous.

"Okay, then I'll get ready to make the arrangements. There's one more thing: how many Tesla dealerships do we plan to open?"

"How are the trademark issues going?"

If you open a store and set up a website, you need to acquire the trademark. The problem is that Tesla's trademark was registered by a businessman surnamed Zhan back in 2006. If Wei wants to use this trademark in China, he first needs to talk to Mr. Zhan about the trademark transfer.

Tan Jincheng was really careless about this. In fact, he knew about this in his previous life, but he didn't consider cooperating with Tesla at the time. Any business is built step by step. In 06, he hadn't sold many two-wheeled electric vehicles, so he didn't have the mind to care about Tesla.

As for the claim that he preemptively registered the Tesla trademark in 2005 before Boss Zhan, he really hadn't thought of that. In his rebirth, he only played the game of trademark squatting for QQ Farm to annoy Pony Ma.

This wasn't for making money; it was just to act as a firewall. After partnering with Tencent, the trademark was returned to Pony Ma.

Trademark squatting can be lucrative, but if you encounter a shameless person, you won't get a penny, and there's even some risk involved. If you encounter an unreasonable person, they'll resort to gray-area methods.

Zhang Yong could only manage a wry smile: "The asking price is too high, and we can't come down to a deal in a short time. But we still need to make the necessary preparations."

"How much does he want?"

"2000 million? This guy is really asking for the moon."

Goodness, Tan Jincheng couldn't help but chuckle. It was indeed an outrageous demand, but much better than the price he asked Musk for in 2014, when he dared to ask for $3000 million, which was almost 2 million!

They really caught a lucky break, taking advantage of Musk's lack of understanding of the Chinese market. In addition, he was very eager to enter the Chinese market in 2014, even willing to change the name in order to sell cars faster. Otherwise, this guy wouldn't have made much money.

When Tesla first entered the Chinese market, it was called "Tuosu Le".

However, although he received a lot of money, he also fought many lawsuits, which dragged on for many years. Fortunately, it was in 2014. If Factory Manager Ma had planned to set up a factory in China in 2018, he wouldn't have received a single penny.

Another issue is that Director Ma's influence is not deep. If this had happened at HP, it would probably have been a secret. It can be considered that he is both skilled and daring.

Zhang Yong's initial offer was 100 million yuan, but the other party didn't even meet with Wei Lai's representative.

Since the boss secured the cooperation with Tesla at the end of July, three months have passed, and the price has been raised to 200 million yuan, but the deal still hasn't been finalized, which is giving him a huge headache.

The worst thing in doing business is encountering someone who doesn't follow the rules, but you want to follow them.

“Let’s raise the price to 500 million yuan. I’ll also try to find some connections for you and try to secure the deal as soon as possible. In addition, let’s put a few Roadsters on display at the Guangzhou Auto Show and make our cooperation plan public.”

Boss Zhan is from Guangzhou. In Guangzhou and even in the entire Guangdong business world, Tan Jincheng has a good network of connections. He has a lot of connections with Boss Ding, Boss Ma, Boss Wang and his group of fellow townsmen, as well as a lot of listed company bosses. He can give them a few words of advice.

Tan Jincheng didn't care how much Factory Manager Ma had spent in his previous life, but he wasn't planning to spend that much himself—500 million yuan, not a penny more.

If it doesn't work, we'll go to court. Anyway, the new energy era is still at least four years away from its explosive growth. We'll play along with you slowly.

Having four years to work things out with you gives us plenty of time. Besides, this trademark isn't for us; it will eventually go to Director Ma. There's no need to spend too much money on it.

In the end, this can be considered as solving a problem for Factory Director Ma.

"As for experience stores and showrooms, we plan to have 10 to 12 for now. We will adopt a direct-operation model and the price will be fixed."

This is a trial run of Tesla's online ordering direct sales model. In the future, these stores can also be directly converted into Weilai direct sales stores.

"Okay, 500 million is too cheap for him. So, in which cities should the directly operated stores be located?"

"We definitely need to include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. We also need to consider cities like Chang'an, Wuhan, and your hometown's provincial capital. In addition, we need to include Hangzhou and Ningbo. You can decide on the rest. That should be about 12 cities."

Ten slots were given out just by mentioning it casually, so it seems we really need 12 franchise stores.

"Okay, what about Luzhou?"

Zhang Yong is from Henan Province. In 2010, the capital of Henan Province was not considered very developed, and its technological content was also average. The fact that his boss was able to give him a spot in his hometown capital was already a great honor.

"Well, let's count him then. The average income in Luzhou is too low, and the road system is also quite abstract. I really hadn't considered him if you hadn't mentioned him."

Every time Tan Jincheng goes to Luzhou, he feels like he's going to get lost; the city's development is truly baffling.

Well, it's still my hometown after all. Weilai Auto can afford to lose money on an experience store for a few years. I'll just buy the store while the property prices are cheap, and I'll buy a big one too.

We can just change it to "尉" then, which will be perfect.

That said, this year's housing price policy has seen the most severe regulation in history, with many well-known experts publicly stating that housing prices will no longer rise, while there are also many who hold opposing views.

Hey, say whatever you want, the cooling-off period is the best time to make a move.

(End of this chapter)