2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 748 Record-Breaking Auto Shows and New Car Launches
The chaotic month of November has come to an end.

Since its rebirth, November has never been this lively, and netizens have had plenty of gossip to enjoy.

Within a month, Dingding established a company, and within less than a month, the number of users exceeded 100 million.

What Tan Jincheng didn't know was that several investment institutions had already begun tracking Dingding's data.

If it were an IM software aimed at ordinary users, investment institutions wouldn't even glance at it if it had 100 million users. However, it's different for enterprise-level software. Starting with 100 million users means there are many, many, and large enterprises involved.

"This kid actually secretly created such an awesome piece of software."

Having been tormented by Zhou Hongyi for half a year, and frequently having to respond in public, Pony Ma has been through a lot in the past six months. Using control over users' computers to suppress 360 has pushed him to his limit and made him break down to some extent.

With the mediation of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the two sides have reached a temporary settlement, and neither is allowed to make any public statements for the time being, which has calmed Pony Ma down a lot.

In terms of eloquence and the ability to be a troll, he really can't beat Zhou Hongyi.

He tried out both the PC and mobile versions of Dingding, and found the software to be very well-made. The blue software icon, composed of a pigeon, a flash, and a nail, was simple, clear, and had a good meaning.

The software is also feature-rich, enabling multi-departmental collaboration and providing chat functionality. From a core perspective, there are likely many more features yet to be added.

Updates are frequent and fast. This time, the official version of Dingding 2.0 is being promoted. The last update was 20 days ago.

"There's something special about this software, isn't there? You guys have noticed it too, Mr. Tan's software is quite something."

Pony Ma (Ma Huateng, CEO of Tencent) didn't care that Dingding was riding the wave of the 3Q dispute for promotion. Dingding and QQ's social attributes were clearly not the same type, but they still needed to study the core of the software.

In the past, Tencent might have immediately thought of copying the same software.

However, at this critical juncture, this approach is definitely not feasible.

"You've done a really good job. Boss, why don't you have a chat with President Tan? He's in Guangzhou right now, and he even visited Boss Ding's company these past few days."

Those who can hold analysis meetings with Pony Ma are all senior executives of Tencent. They understand the situation the company is facing, and their counterattack is overwhelming, but the side effects are also very obvious.

Tencent then entered a period of low profile, and its investment style also began to change.

"Oh? Really?"

Little Ma's eyelids twitched. Had he made contact with Old Ding?
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"Total sales have exceeded 13 units! I remember your sales target for this year was 12 units, right?"

"Yes, last year we set a target of 12 units for the Yuechi A1 for the whole year. Hehe, we were questioned quite a bit at the time."

In November, the Yuechi A1 sold 13905 units, maintaining a close gap with the CRV. It seems the 2010 SUV sales champion will not be determined until the very last day.

"Last year, the CRV was far ahead of the competition. I didn't expect that this year the competition would be so fierce because of you guys."

Sales figures for the sedan market from January to November have been released. The Lavida sold a total of 22.66 units, 1.45 more than the Jetta, which ranked second. The champion title is now virtually guaranteed.

Last year's champion in single-vehicle sales, the BYD F3, sold 19.05 units from January to November, a difference of 3.61 units from the top spot.

Even though not a single Lavida was sold in December, the F3 missed out on the title of best-selling single car this year. From January to November, BYD's total sales volume was 474,200 vehicles.

The sales target was lowered from 100 million vehicles to 60 vehicles, but it still couldn't be achieved.

Since the beginning of December, BYD's Hong Kong-listed shares have fallen for five consecutive days, dropping to around HK$44, nearly halved from their peak. This suggests that institutions have already realized BYD cannot meet its year-end targets and are selling off their shares ahead of schedule.

Mr. Ding has already agreed to be the test driver for Weilai's new car. Having watched many car launch events, he knows that having a celebrity drive the new car is a great way to attract attention.

It wasn't easy to persuade this old guy. Besides promising to consider him when Dingding and TiMi Studio needed funding in the future, Tan Jincheng also gave Pig Factory's car channel an exclusive interview.

Unlike the previous interview, this year's interview can be seen as a summary of WILAI Auto since its establishment, highlighting its sales far exceeding market expectations, the establishment of a research institute, and comprehensive cooperation with Tesla.

The simultaneous release of five new cars garnered significant attention for each piece of information.

"To be honest, my previous expectation was that the average monthly sales would be good if we could reach 10,000 vehicles, but the current sales have indeed far exceeded my expectations."

Currently, the Yuechi A1 is selling an average of 1.2 units per month.

Don't underestimate these 2000 vehicles. They can provide Weilai with about 1.5 million yuan in cash flow every month. The significance of a company receiving an extra 1.5 million yuan in cash flow every month is self-evident.

In his previous life, Lao Wei's legendary car performed very well after its launch, but its performance in the first year was not as outstanding as that of the Yuechi A1. Tan Jincheng now probably understands why.

Since its introduction to China, the concept of SUVs has been quickly accepted by the market. Chinese people seem to have an innate and unique love for SUVs. This year, its market share has risen rapidly, and it has become a mainstream model.

Furthermore, as of now, there are only four true SUVs: the CRV, RAV4, iX35, and Yuechi A1, as well as the newly launched Volkswagen Tiguan this year. The others are just miscellaneous models and do not pose any threat.

It's true that the Yuechi A1 can compete with joint venture brands on its own, but it also has no rivals among domestic brands. The Yuechi A1 is already nearly half the price of joint venture brands, and with comparable performance, it is the best alternative.

The market share vacated by the miscellaneous products was almost entirely taken over by the Yuechi A1. In addition, Captain's proper handling of the Toyota recall incident allowed him to successfully seize a portion of the RAV4's market share.

The right time, the right place, the right people.

"With all the right timing, location, and people in place for the Yuechi A1, why was the expectation for this product in 2011 only 18 units? The market growth rate was only 20%."

"That only applies to this year. Next year, both joint venture brands and our own brands will launch new SUV products, and market competition will become increasingly fierce. Weilai is still a very small manufacturer. Taking it one step at a time is more in line with the company's plan than a great leap forward."

With the SUV market performing so well this year, major manufacturers have announced that they will launch new models.

FAW, GAC, and Changan—the three leading domestic automakers—have all released new SUV models.

Most importantly, Great Wall Motors' Haval H6 will be launched in the second half of next year, which is its biggest competitor.

The Yuechi A1 did not refer to the design of the first-generation Haval H6, but rather leaned more towards the second generation. The first-generation Haval H6 was known as a legendary car, and naturally it had its advantages. Unless Tan Jincheng could steal all the blueprints before its release, even if it released before the first generation, it would not be able to completely suppress the sales of the first generation.

To be honest, Tan Jincheng wasn't afraid of CRV or RAV4, because he knew that the decline of Japanese cars was only a matter of time.

On the surface, the Toyota recall incident caused a 30% decline in overall sales of Japanese brands this year, allowing German and American brands to seize market share. However, the real reason is a change in consumer attitudes.

The popularity of consumer goods in any era is influenced by the prevailing consumer values ​​of that time.

The booming sales of health products in the last century were an extension of consumer habits, and the same was true when cars first entered ordinary households. Compared to German and American cars, Japanese cars were closer to the design style of East Asians and had a more down-to-earth marketing approach.

In addition, being relatively cheaper and marketed as fuel-efficient, it was certainly more popular in an era when the economy was not very wealthy.

As people's understanding of automobiles deepened and their economic situation improved in the latter half of the 21st century, their demands for products became even higher.

In terms of affordability, established domestic brands have an advantage over Japanese brands. As for SUVs, the Yuechi A1 is comparable to the CRV in terms of driving experience. Apart from the lack of brand advantage, it can be a perfect alternative.

In terms of luxury, Japanese cars are inferior to German and American cars, so the decline in sales is inevitable.

This is the choice of our time.

However, to be fair, although Japanese brands are very stingy when it comes to patent technology, they have still made a huge contribution to our overall automotive industry.

Mitsubishi engines, and joint venture factories in China of brands such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan have all brought significant improvements to our automotive industry.

"We all know that Mr. Tan originally did export business, so when will Weilai Automobile be able to export?"

"We have always had export plans, but that will have to wait until our production capacity increases. For now, we are mainly focused on meeting the needs of the domestic market."

At the end of this year, eight ministries formulated guiding opinions on supporting the development of well-known export brands, aiming to cultivate a number of independent export brands and increase the proportion of independent brands to 20%.

According to data forecasts, my country's total automobile exports in 2010 were around 50 vehicles, with passenger cars accounting for about 53%. This figure is considered a good achievement now, but it would be negligible in more than 10 years.

Whether in the domestic or international market, Weilai Auto has great potential; everything is just beginning.

With limited production capacity, Weilai Automobile has indeed had no export plans in recent years. Moreover, in the field of fuel vehicles, we have no advantage whatsoever if we were to export them. We would simply be selling them cheaply to foreigners, which would be a thankless and laborious task.

The real export strategy should start with new energy vehicles.

That said, with the development of the automotive industry, policies are constantly taking care of our factory owners. There are direct subsidies for new energy vehicles and support for exports.

Furthermore, those who are actually in control of companies in the automotive industry, especially those with even a small scale of business, generally enjoy very high social status. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to so easily deceive local governments, as if they were completely ignorant. Unfortunately, several years of good policies have been wasted, with people only thinking about exploiting loopholes to make quick money.

After entering the automotive industry, Tan Jincheng has been thinking about whether, if we had seriously developed our new energy vehicle industry between 2010 and 2015, taking advantage of the favorable international environment, we really needed to introduce Tesla to drive the development of the industrial chain.
“We noticed that among the new cars released by Weilai Auto this time, there are two new energy vehicles. The most stunning one is the Weilai ES6, which is the first model of the Weilai brand. Why is it defined as a new energy vehicle?”

"Or is the Weilai brand specifically designed for new energy vehicles?"

As the interview progressed, Tan Jincheng smiled.

Damn, I've finally waited for you to ask about ES6. This interview, like the last one, was impromptu, without a script, and it was up to the reporter to improvise. However, Tan Jincheng has the right to refuse to answer certain questions or not answer certain questions at all.

It took the reporter a long time to remember to ask about new energy vehicles, which clearly shows that new energy vehicles weren't really a hot topic in 2010.

The BYD F3 DM only sold a little over 40 units last month, a dismal sales performance.

"Yes, the Weilai brand is designed for new energy vehicles and is also our company's high-end brand."

Weilai Auto's brand matrix has basically been formed. The Yuechi series is a city SUV model, priced between 10 and 30 yuan. It does not develop sedan models and takes the low-to-mid-end route.

The Tank off-road vehicle series is a complete copy of Mr. Wei's design. Since they don't have any at the moment, Mr. Tan has no psychological burden. The price ranges from 20 yuan to 70 yuan, targeting the mid-to-high-end market.

Like the Weilai series, the Aion series is a new energy brand series, and its price is basically the same as that of the Yuechi series.

The Yuechi is the guarantee of sales for gasoline vehicles, while the Aion is responsible for sales of new energy vehicles. As for the Weilai series, which is positioned as a high-end model, Tan Jincheng did not expect it to sell very well.

Of course, it would be even better if models priced at 300,000 to 500,000 yuan could achieve high sales volume.

In addition to these three car series, the group also owns a pickup truck series under the Yangzi Automobile brand and a bus series under the Huanghai Bus brand.

With businesses in both passenger and commercial vehicles, and a wide range of models, including both high-volume and high-end products that establish a strong brand image, Tan Jincheng considers this the best model.

It's not bulky, yet it can satisfy consumers at all levels.

Unfortunately, they really ruined the Cheetah brand. Otherwise, even if Li Jianxin didn't want to sell, Tan Jincheng would have found a way to acquire the brand. Tan Jincheng actually quite liked the name.

Changfeng Motors did not perform well in 2010. Li was still thinking about making a move in the passenger car market, but unfortunately, the new models they released last year did not perform well after being launched hastily.

They sell a few hundred vehicles each month, with the best-selling month not exceeding 2000 vehicles. The real support for this group's business still comes from the orders purchased by the government.

It's uncertain whether Great Wall and Weilai will be able to survive after fully entering the off-road vehicle market.

Government procurement orders are not static, especially for some central state-owned enterprises, such as China Telecom and China Mobile. Their procurement orders are frequently tendered and are not fixed.

"The Weilai brand only produces new energy vehicles? So it means that what President Tan said before, that Weilai Auto has been positioned as a new energy vehicle company from the very beginning, is true."

"Of course, Weilai Group has always been a new energy company, and our goal has always been new energy."

"Does Mr. Tan have any sales expectations for the ES6 and Aion S?"

"That's hard to predict. The ES6 was finally launched in 2012, and it was actually available for sale around 2013. How can I predict what will happen three years from now?"

In reality, it's difficult to make predictions. Even with policy guidance, few automakers would forgo making ready-made profits to gamble on the future. The total production of new energy vehicles in 2010 did not exceed 10,000 units.

Dizi's slogans are loud and clear, but in the face of reality, they still focus on developing gasoline-powered vehicles. Otherwise, they wouldn't have driven their dealers to the brink of collapse.

Why would someone like F3, who makes money effortlessly, choose to promote new energy vehicles?

It's really not that bad. Dizi's do-or-die approach to developing new energy vehicles is related to their major setbacks in the gasoline vehicle market this year.

Xia Bing, the scapegoat, has confirmed his departure next year. The entire dealer system will almost have to be rebuilt, and it will take several years to recover. Rather than waiting a few years to be beaten down, it's better to start over with a new account.

The real drivers of profits for new energy vehicles are not the civilian market, but the taxi market and public utilities. The highest subsidy for a pure electric bus can reach 100 million yuan.

If 1000 or 2000 pure electric buses are produced each year, the subsidies alone would be an astronomical figure.

The new energy vehicle market three years from now will definitely be different from what it is now, but Tan Jincheng doesn't dare to say how many Weilai ES6s will sell. According to his expectations, it would be a success if the ES6 could sell two or three thousand units in the first calendar year after its launch.

As for the Aion S, we could consider whether we could sell tens of thousands of units, since it's positioned as a taxi.

By the way, when did Didi and Express launch? Perhaps we could consider collaborating with those two sometime.

The king of ride-hailing services—the name might sound a bit low-class, but the money is anything but.

"I just heard Mr. Tan mention a tank series. Why wasn't this series mentioned at the new vehicle launch event?"

"Oh, that's a brand new series of ours, which is still under development."

The tank series is still under secret development, and Tan Jincheng is unwilling to say too much, lest he let something slip and cause problems.

Whether it's cars or mobile phones, they all need various so-called leaks to keep the new products in the spotlight. After all, a development process can take several years, and without hype, it's simply impossible. But there has to be a limit to leaks; if you say too much, your competitors might just copy your ideas.

Secrecy? What can be absolutely kept secret?

Seeing that Mr. Tan was unwilling to say more, the reporter wisely did not continue to ask. There are advantages to not having a script or not having one. It's like a casual chat between two friends, where they can have a deep conversation.

Today's interview was truly packed with information. Mr. Tan discussed Weilai Auto's product portfolio, sales expectations for next year, and his views on the future of the automotive industry.

There's so much material! After organizing it, I could write at least three to five feature articles. And that's all thanks to the boss's connections.

Which reporter could normally get so much information out of Mr. Tan?

As the largest international auto show in South China and the grand finale of the annual auto shows, the Guangzhou Auto Show has always attracted much attention. Every year, countless exhibitors buy tickets at their own expense and bring their DSLR cameras to the venue.

Due to insufficient preparation last year, the entire venue was in chaos, so this year the organizers have made all the necessary preparations and contingency plans.

Even with the best preparations, including record-breaking global, Asian, and domestic car debuts, the 8th Guangzhou Auto Show still had a shockingly low turnout on its opening day.

"It won't be easy for you guys to attract attention at this year's auto show."

Old Ding casually grabbed a press pass and followed Tan Jincheng into the exhibition hall. This time, instead of visiting various places like last time, they went straight to the Weilai Automobile exhibition area.

Tan Jincheng smiled wryly: "That's right. With so many CEOs here, we're counting on you, brother, to make a splash."

Executives and global presidents from internationally renowned brands such as Volkswagen, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW attended the Guangzhou Auto Show, a level of importance that surpassed all previous auto shows, something Tan Jincheng hadn't anticipated.

Damn, these foreigners never used to come here, what's going on this year?
"So, you were willing to be interviewed by our car channel the other day because you wanted us to create some buzz for you?"

Old Ding pointed at Tan Jincheng noncommittally. The pig farm's car channel had been reporting on Weilai Auto for several days in a row, and had given a comprehensive introduction to Weilai Auto's new car launch and various models.

These reports were also reprinted on other websites, and the car reviewers were also paid generously in order to generate buzz for the press conference.

It's a pity that there isn't an absolute leading figure in this trend these days; otherwise, a single repost could solve many problems.

Think about our Xiao Wang. A single lucky draw he did in collaboration with a shoe app brought the app nearly 200 million users and saved them hundreds of millions in marketing costs.

Old Ding's role as a test engineer is a nice touch. Unlike celebrities, he's not someone that can be easily exploited by Weilai Auto.

"13 exhibition halls and 3 square meters of exhibition area, it's really spectacular. When did our automobile industry become so awesome?"

The exhibition area of ​​Weilai Auto was also packed with people, prompting a reporter who has long followed the automotive industry to remark on the same point.

"Haha, things will get better and better. Now that I think about it, the fact that all these foreign elites came to participate in the exhibition is a sign of a change in the wind. These foreigners are quite good at changing their tune with the wind."

"Haha, Mr. Tan is right. I hope everything goes smoothly at the Weilai new car launch event."

That's right. This year, the sales of domestic brands have almost reached the same level as joint venture brands. If it weren't for some problems that happened to Dizi this year, it might have really risen to prominence.

"By the way, I'm only test driving the ES6, right? What about the other models? Who else is test driving them?"

"Hehe, you'll find out in a minute."

(End of this chapter)