2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 775 Car Rental Company VS Didi (9K)

P.S.: This chapter has over 9000 words, which is equivalent to two chapters.

Which smartphones were the most popular in 2012?

Apple, Samsung, HTC, Xiaomi, Nokia, and Motorola are all traditional brands that are now in decline.

As for companies like ZTE, Huawei, Coolpad, and Lenovo, they were still playing the contract phone game game with suppliers at that time, and their designs, workmanship, and price-performance ratio were all questionable.

In terms of popularity, only Apple can rival Xiaomi.

Using Apple or Xiaomi in a lucky draw would definitely be a status symbol. Therefore, even though Xiaomi is being criticized a lot right now, collaborating with the ES6 will not affect its high-end positioning.

Unfortunately, Apple is unlikely to engage in collaboration, otherwise it would be more suitable for ES6.

The Weilai APP has been installed on more than 5000 devices, two-thirds of which are Apple users.

"For this batch of collaborations, you need to make the quality better, optimize the system, and change the material of the back cover. Don't use the inferior plastic that you're currently using."

One advantage of Android phones these days is that the battery can be disassembled, but even high-end brands, including Samsung, use plastic back covers, which doesn't feel very high-quality.

"In addition, the co-branded phones should highlight our brand more and reduce the Xiaomi elements. I hope Mr. Lei can understand this."

Lei Jun is an extremely shrewd businessman. If you don't explain things to him beforehand, he'll definitely use the collaboration for Xiaomi's marketing.

Tan Jincheng's idea was actually to use Xiaomi's supply chain to do OEM manufacturing, but considering that Xiaomi also wants to become a big brand, doing this kind of OEM manufacturing would damage the brand.

Even if Lei Jun (CEO of Xiaomi) agreed to this, the Xiaomi team and shareholders would not. As Xiaomi's second-largest shareholder, he would not do something that would harm his own interests.

Lei Jun nodded: "I understand. We'll show you the design drafts first for your approval. Once you're satisfied, we'll start production. How many units do you plan to order?"

Tan Jincheng thought for a moment and said, "Let's order 5000 units; don't worry, I'll cover any extra costs."

Tan Jincheng didn't plan to sell many of these; it was just a publicity stunt. Most of the supply would be for ES6 users, and he also planned to give some away. 5000 units would be enough.

"No problem, I'll arrange it for you tomorrow. Let's use the Xiaomi 2, but your launch will be a while later than ours."

Other phone manufacturers would definitely use the previous generation model, because that would mean clearing out some of their inventory. But Xiaomi doesn't need to use it at all; their current phones sell very well.

Shen Nanpeng shook his head with a smile: "This investment alone must be tens of millions. You're really going all out for the new energy vehicle project. The State Council should give you an award."

These customized models aren't actually that popular. With 5000 units produced, there will definitely be a lot of inventory left over. And mobile phones are things that are updated very quickly, so they won't be fashionable by next year.

These tens of millions of yuan were basically just for advertising.

"Yeah, that's right. It's really not easy to sell an electric car these days. I've tried every possible way."

Take the green license plate he's currently displaying, for example. Only a handful of upper-level designers know about it; it hasn't been promoted.

Tan Jincheng used his connections to obtain a batch of green license plates.

In reality, most people don't recognize any car brands. If they can remember something like BMW, that's already pretty good. The ES6's exterior design is stunning, but that's about it for a moment and then it's over. They probably won't bother to learn about the brand.

However, a green license plate is different. People with a gossipy nature will want to know the meaning of different colored license plates. An ES6 with a green license plate on the road will definitely make people more curious about it.

He was also thinking about whether he could use his connections to get all the ES6s issued green license plates, which would not only promote the ES6 but also promote new energy vehicles in general.

I'll give it a try when I get back to Ningbo, at least to see if I can promote it there.

"How many ES6s have been ordered so far?"

Shen Nanpeng was a little curious. The sales figures for the Weilai ES6 had never been released to the public, but the Weilai APP was open to the market, and Shen Nanpeng had some understanding of the popularity of the ES6 through the Weilai APP.

The car owner community section was quite lively, with many car owners showing off their cars, and others who hadn't bought a car but were interested in buying one also joining the discussion.

The ES6 uses a pre-order system, with the same system used both online and offline.

It's impossible to determine the exact sales volume, but we can make a judgment based on the delivery time. The initial delivery time for the order was one week, which means that there was plenty of inventory at the time, but now the delivery time has been delayed to two weeks.

"Haha, sales are pretty good, far exceeding our expectations. This month's sales should reach around 100 units."

Three months after its launch, the sales figures were indeed beyond Tan Jincheng's expectations. Not counting his personal connections, there were only about 30 individual consumers in the first month, but by May, the sales had already doubled.

If we can sell more than 200 vehicles in three months, and there are still two quarters left in the year, the total sales should be around 600 vehicles.

600 units sold is quite a lot; it's almost three percent of the total sales of new energy vehicles in 2012, including the 5000 vehicles ordered by Wei Lai last year.

The market share of these three points should not be underestimated. The reason why BYD was able to exert its strength in the new energy vehicle sector later on is actually due to the significant role played by its F3, which only sold a few thousand units, and the first-generation Qin.

The sales of the first-generation Qin were actually just average, but it was precisely because of these seed users that the most authentic data could be collected, which is the advantage of being a first mover.

"That's really good. It seems like you guys should be able to sell five or six hundred cars this year. If you include some favors and such, the total sales for this year should be around a thousand cars, right?"

Shen Nanpeng was also somewhat surprised. Selling 100 electric cars a month is not a low number, especially considering that the ES6 is priced so high.

"Haha, that's about right. We originally thought we could only sell two or three hundred cars at most, but it seems I underestimated the market."

Under normal circumstances, the sales expectations of Weilai Auto, whether for fuel vehicles or new energy vehicles, are determined in combination with policies and its own production capacity. The production capacity of new energy vehicles is mainly focused on the Aion S.

Selling a thousand or so ES6s wouldn't affect production capacity, but we really didn't expect the car to be so popular.

This is most likely related to the launch of the app. A highly rated app was created specifically to support car sales, which would have been a game-changer in 2012.

It's no exaggeration to say that many car companies can't even fully understand how to copy an app.

For a niche app to have over 5000 officially registered users in three months is already quite an impressive number, indicating that the acceptance of new energy vehicles is still not high.

Once new energy vehicles are more widely accepted, and major automakers follow suit with their own apps, Weilai's app will be the first one that comes to mind.

Furthermore, as time goes on, this registration rate will increase. Even if most people are just watching for fun, there will definitely be a certain conversion rate, just like when an internet celebrity reaches a certain number of followers.

After briefly explaining his requirements to Lei Jun, Tan Jincheng left the table early.

Today, Lei Jun and Shen Nanpeng are the main characters, so it's a bit inappropriate for him to steal the spotlight so frequently.

"I'll talk to you about your semiconductor company when I have time."

As Lei Jun saw Tan Jincheng to the door, he said something softly.

The Jiangcheng government, from his hometown, asked him to inquire with Tan Jincheng about the establishment of a semiconductor company, but today's situation was indeed not suitable for discussing such matters.

Furthermore, based on his understanding of Tan Jincheng, it seems that the chances are slim.

Having worked with Tan Jincheng for a while, he had more or less figured out the tricks of business conduct. If something wasn't within his considerations, he might not agree to it no matter how much preferential treatment the local government offered.

Furthermore, he prefers cities in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai area. If a city can be located in Ningbo, he will place it there; if not, Luzhou is his first choice.

If he really has no other choice between these two places, he will go to Shenzhen.

However, he had no choice but to accept the request.

"Okay, let's talk again when we have time; I'll be going now, feel free to let me know if you need any help."

Many of the trajectories have actually deviated from the original path. For example, in the original timeline, Sequoia Capital had nothing to do with Xiaomi's latest round of financing. It seems that Sequoia Capital never entered Xiaomi's investment circle from beginning to end.

The financial investment industry also has its own circles. To put it bluntly, Sequoia Capital in its previous life failed to enter Lei Jun's circle. At that time, the Series D round was led by DST, and you can find out more about this company by looking up its information.

However, in this life, due to his intervention, Xiaomi's investment circle has deviated from its original track, and it is uncertain in what direction the company will develop and whether it will continue to manufacture cars in the future.

These are things that are beyond his control, and there is nothing he can do about them.

After the Series D funding round, his role at Xiaomi was essentially over. As an investment institution that entered through a venture capital round, his main responsibility was to help entrepreneurs provide funding and the resources they needed in the early stages.

He has accomplished all of these tasks well. Unless he covets control of Xiaomi, future financing and company strategy will be irrelevant to him.

Having passed its initial startup phase, Xiaomi is now a company qualified for an IPO, and for ByteDance's advertising platform, it's time to reap the rewards.

"Sure thing. By the way, if ByteDance needs to raise funds in the next round, remember to let me know."

"Haha, you can go visit ByteDance if you have nothing to do, it's not that far anyway."

Those with technical skills can understand the meaning behind ByteDance's algorithm. ByteDance's algorithm can accurately find target users, which is very beneficial to both Xiaomi and Weilai Auto.

The simplest benefit is that advertising can be more precise. The technology is not yet mature, but it definitely has great potential.

Lei Jun really wanted to invest in ByteDance, but Zhang Yiming was just too frugal. He even hired part-time college students to review the app. He didn't want to spend a single penny. The millions of dollars that Tan Jincheng gave him were enough to last him a year.

At this rate, the next round of financing won't cost much.

"Then you still need to speak up, right? If you don't speak up, the other organizations won't have any advantage."

With ByteDance, Tan Jincheng followed the same investment model as with Xiaomi, providing funds and resources, and offering some constructive suggestions, but never interfering with Zhang Yiming's operations.

Such a financial backer is a godsend for entrepreneurs.

Having failed in several entrepreneurial ventures and having received little interest from investment institutions before meeting Tan Jincheng, it would be a stretch to say that Zhang Yiming wasn't moved when he met Tan Jincheng, a peer of the same age.

He will definitely refer to Tan Jincheng's opinion when choosing investment institutions, just like Lei Jun chose Sequoia Capital this time.

"Okay, I'll ask him when I have time. Logically speaking, no matter how much he saves, he should be short of money by now."

There's nothing wrong with Shunwei Capital entering ByteDance. After all, Lei Jun's investment firm is a clean domestic fund, and now they're all part of the same circle.

By uniting the strengths of others, we can strive to ensure that the large companies we invest in remain as clean as possible in terms of capital, which is beneficial in every aspect.

After the party, Tan Jincheng left the capital and returned to Ningbo that same day.

Li Weixin arranged to meet him at the headquarters of Flash.

It's kind of funny, but Tan Jincheng is currently focusing all his attention on Weilai. However, Weilai doesn't have a proper headquarters building yet, and most of its senior executives work in the Beicang factory area.

He himself mostly works at the Flashpoint headquarters building.

With Weilai Auto's current cash flow, building a headquarters building wouldn't be a problem at all. The Beicang District government has also mentioned this, and banks are very willing to provide low-interest loans, but Tan Jincheng has rejected them all.

He's really not interested in building houses anymore; a real man should be involved in factories.

Last month, he visited BMW's factory in Frankfurt. It was indeed much more advanced, more intelligent, and more human-centered than ours.

Don't assume that car models have high and low configurations; in fact, car manufacturers' production lines also have high and low configurations.

Take the BMW factory that Tan Jincheng visited this time as an example. This factory went into production last year. The lifting equipment they use for the car body is a Siemens C-type crane, which can turn the car body to the side. This way, when workers are installing some oil pipes and bolts on the chassis, they don't have to look up, and they won't get too tired from working for a long time.

However, domestic manufacturers have not yet seen such lifting equipment; all of them use ordinary lifting equipment that can only move up and down and cannot rotate.

The costs of the two are not even in the same league.

Then there are the assembly stations at the final assembly plant, where sound insulation materials and wiring harnesses are installed. BMW uses an intelligent lifting platform that can adjust the height according to different workstations and the height of different workers.

Domestic OEM manufacturers simply fix a few iron frames at the workstation, requiring workers to bend over frequently during installation, and even their flooring is different.

Whether from the perspective of humanization or intelligence, the first-tier OEMs are much more advanced. It would be good if domestic OEMs could use these devices more than 10 years later, while BMW had them all equipped in 2011.

In 2023, it seems that many factories still use this kind of 'retro' production line, which is incomparable in terms of cost.

Next, Wei will focus on building a new energy vehicle production line. The factory plan is already in the design phase. After visiting the BMW factory this time, he was truly amazed.

Cheating has its advantages, but there are also some misconceptions about it.

He has always believed that the level of intelligence at this stage is relatively backward, so he simply follows the lead of domestic host manufacturers. This is partly due to cost considerations and partly due to a misconception that he has not thought about this aspect.

Looking at it now, the equipment that people have been using for more than 10 years is still a mainstream product more than 10 years later, and its intelligence is no less than it was 10 years later.

In that case, it's necessary to make the new factory in Weilai more intelligent.

The initial investment is higher, but it won't become outdated even after 10 or 20 years, making it very worthwhile in the long run.

This year, Weilai's overall sales are destined to increase significantly. The existing production capacity can barely guarantee market demand. Weilai has encountered the same situation that Shanchi had in the past, where sales were so high that factories were being built in quick succession.

Wednesday, September 6th.

Ningbo is quite hot after the Dragon Boat Festival, and there are more and more bare legs on the streets.

Tan Jincheng arrived at the company in his green-plated ES6, with Li Yaohui following behind in his old A6.

It's not that Boss Tan is being capricious, but driving a new energy vehicle is definitely more enjoyable than riding in one. The driving experience is completely different. Moreover, the one he drives is different from those sold on the market. It uses the most advanced technology from Weilai and has been modified to some extent.

As the company's owner, Tan Jincheng is actually quite confident in his products. He has always adhered to a consumer-centric approach to product development, trying his best to consider issues from the consumer's perspective, and he also personally experiences the products when he has time.

He has driven the Yuechi A1, A3, and even several pickup trucks, and has also experienced the Aion S and ES6.

In addition, Wei Lai also employs many racing drivers for testing purposes. In terms of the overall quality of the cars, Wei Lai is still up to standard.

Has Mr. Chen arrived?

"We've arrived. We're waiting for you in the conference room."

"Okay, prepare the documents, let's go."

The Kuaidi app has been developed and the internal testing is basically complete. Next, Li Weixin needs to consider the operation after the app is launched.

After careful consideration, in addition to launching in Shanghai, Li Weixin also decided to launch in Hangzhou at the same time. He still has some connections and resources in Hangzhou, his home base, and the Hangzhou municipal government is also quite supportive of internet entrepreneurship.

Launching in two major cities simultaneously would require significantly more funding; frankly, Li Weixin was there to ask for money and resources.

Before the entry of Jack Ma and Pony Ma into the ride-hailing industry, the amount of money that could be burned was actually limited. Burning a few million yuan for a year was not a problem. However, from the very beginning, Kuaidi was aiming to become the leader.

Unlike Chen Wei's first version of the Didi app, which was misled, the Kuaidi app was exceptionally well-made.

The story actually started when Wang Xin was talking to Tan Jincheng. He knew that Didi was also founded this year, but he hadn't paid much attention to it. Chen Wei, who had officially embarked on the path of entrepreneurship, was just like Tan Jincheng and didn't understand technology.

The first version of the APP design was outsourced to an agency, costing hundreds of thousands of yuan. However, the agency misled him and outsourced the design of the APP to college students.

The app they created was completely unusable. Chen Wei only realized it was garbage when he approached Wang Xin for investment after he received the app.

When a certain group launched its food delivery app, Tan Jincheng called Wang Xin last time to ask if they had any plans to purchase electric vehicles. Wang Xin told Tan Jincheng the story as a joke.

If we hadn't been scammed this time, Didi might have been able to launch much faster.

"Mr. Chen, I've looked at the software, and it's very well done. The positioning is very accurate."

In the conference room on the top floor, Chen Weixin was sitting idly, flipping through the corporate culture brochure of Flashcar, when Tan Jincheng's voice came from behind him.

If we were to pinpoint the biggest problem facing ride-hailing apps in their early stages, it would undoubtedly be the lack of accurate location tracking.

Inaccurate location tracking is often a major headache for both drivers and ride-hailing users. However, if both parties are easy to talk to, timely communication via phone is usually sufficient.

However, if one party has a bad temper, the taxi experience will be greatly diminished, and there may even be safety hazards during the argument.

"Haha, the accuracy is indeed quite good, but Mr. Tan, you need to explain this in advance so that we can focus our efforts on overcoming this challenge."

Just like how BMW's factories are more than 10 years ahead of us in terms of intelligent manufacturing, once you find the right technology, the difficulty in overcoming it is not actually that high.

After forming a strategic partnership with Gaode, Kuaidi worked closely with Gaode on accurate positioning and adapted the technology together. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to lag behind Didi in app development even though Kuaidi was established a few months earlier.

While their opponents were still playing the 2012 version, the fast ones had already entered the 2015 era, or even a more advanced one, and were playing a game-winning hand from the start.

For users, what is the most essential feature of any functional software app?
It must be simple and easy to use, with complete functions. Developers, you have to imagine users as 'idiots' so that it is easy to promote.

The reason why WeChat mini programs have replaced apps more in the past is ultimately because they are more convenient, unlike apps which are becoming increasingly difficult to use.

"Yes, we can. We need to continue to optimize this aspect. We must ensure a good connection with Gaode Maps. If necessary, we can also cooperate with other map service companies to strive for positioning accuracy within 100 meters."

“That makes sense. Our current positioning still has some flaws, but compared to similar products, we are still very confident.”

There are actually quite a few ride-hailing apps on the market right now, and there are already several mature ride-hailing apps in Beijing. Compared with similar apps on the market, Chen Weixin and Lü Chuanwei both believe that their products are excellent enough and are not afraid of competition at all.

This is why they dared to launch promotions in both Shanghai and Hangzhou simultaneously.

Chen Weixin exclaimed with great admiration, "No wonder everyone says that President Tan is an excellent product manager. I am truly impressed now."

Tan Jincheng had used the fast-paced app before. During the ride-hailing wars, it was like rides were free. He even discovered the business opportunities in it, but he was too embarrassed to do it because of his status.

It's not worth it. Making a little money is not worthy of his status, and making too much is too risky. He's not exactly penniless.

This isn't the first time I've participated in designing an app. Developing an app that I've used before isn't particularly difficult. As for the driver version that I haven't seen before, that's easy to solve. There are existing apps on the market, so I can learn from them and apply the knowledge to other apps.

"Haha, let's not talk about that for now, tell me about your plan."

Before an app is released, venture capitalists invest in people; later, to provide funding, you need to come up with a concrete plan.

"First of all, we hope that Mr. Tan will support some of the ground promotion teams."

Chen Weixin looked at Tan Jincheng with a smile. In such a short time, they were able to seize the market share of established electric vehicles such as Xinri, Luyuan, and Yadi, and also promote Leichi. The ground sales team of Shanchi was no joke.

After Flash and Thunder were promoted to a certain extent, some of the ground promotion teams were put on hold and moved into leadership positions, while others went on to promote apps such as Dingding and Orange Payment.

“That’s no problem; how about this, you can handle the ground promotion team in Hangzhou yourself, and you can send a person in charge to Shanghai. I’ll provide you with the ground promotion team; we have quite a few ground promotion teams there.”

"That would be wonderful, thank you very much, Mr. Tan."

With the help of Flash's ground promotion team, the promotion of the APP will be twice as effective with half the effort. This is a top-notch team with successful experience in promoting several offline products.

"Another thing is, Mr. Tan, what's the deal with the car rental company you mentioned last time? Are you still going to get it done?"

For ride-hailing services in the city, electric cars are naturally the most suitable. He test drove the Aion S last time, and the pure electric version of this car starts at just 8 yuan after subsidies.

This year, a new option to exempt vehicle and vessel tax has been added, making it even cheaper to buy a pure electric vehicle.

Seventy or eighty thousand yuan is a perfect amount to use for driving a ride-hailing or taxi. You only need to charge the car regularly, and when the battery needs to be replaced, you've basically earned back the money.

But it would be even better if there were a car rental company that could rent to these people who want to drive for ride-hailing services.

He came here not for money, but to ask Tan Jincheng for resources, such as a ground promotion team and cars, which Mr. Tan already owns.

There's still money in the company account, and besides, he's made quite a bit of money making games over the years.

"Of course we're going to set up a car rental company. So what? Are you planning to use QuickSmart Technology as the main entity for it? Or do you have other ideas?"

The two had talked about this before, but Tan Jincheng was just too busy. He started a car rental company that used only Aion S cars, similar to a low-end version of Shenzhou Car Rental, and also provided services to Kuaidi Dache.

Most importantly, it can boost the sales of the Aion S, and incidentally, we can also get more subsidies, hehe.

"Hehe, I can't hide it from you, Mr. Tan. I want to use the main body of Kuaizhi Technology to do this car rental service."

He recently conducted research and found that the car rental market, like the ride-hailing market, is a market worth hundreds of billions of yuan. Mr. Tan had previously told him that if you want to start a business, you should go into an industry with a large market size.

Even if you play your part perfectly in a market worth hundreds of millions of yuan, and manage to capture the entire market, you'll only get a few hundred million yuan. In larger markets, you can easily achieve breakthroughs.

Car rental and ride-hailing services are complementary. Combining the two would be a good development direction for Kuaidi.

“Sure, you can use the Quick Intelligence platform to do it, just start with Shanghai and Hangzhou.”

"Oh? Mr. Tan, you've agreed already?"

Chen Weixin was somewhat surprised. Before coming, he had been thinking about how to persuade Tan Jincheng, but he didn't expect that the non-mainstream person would agree so easily.

"Haha, I'm just a car seller. I'd be happy if you wanted to start a car rental company. I could even design a custom model for Kuaidi."

"But this is a huge market, isn't it? Mr. Tan, you mentioned before that a well-run car rental company can raise funds and go public."

Tan Jincheng nodded noncommittally: "I know, but just because the market is big doesn't mean we have to do it. Besides, President Chen should know that we recently acquired shares in Nvidia and are preparing to establish a semiconductor company."

If he hadn't been involved in semiconductors, Wei Lai might actually have started a new energy vehicle rental company, just like Zhongtai.

But now there's no need for that, nor do we have the energy for it.

It's good that Chen Weixin has this ambition; growing up quickly will benefit both him personally and Wei Lai.

Furthermore, if he were to establish a car rental company with Kuaizhi Technology as the main entity, and sell the Aion S to this company, he could legitimately receive subsidies.

This is not a simple transfer of funds between different parties, but a real application in service scenarios, which can also promote the market share of Weilai New Energy in Shanghai, Hangzhou, and the national market in the future.

Chen Weixin was taken aback for a moment, then asked with some curiosity, "Aren't you tempted?"

Tan Jincheng wouldn't lie to him. Given the cooperative relationship between the two parties, if Kuaizhi Technology's main entity had set up a car rental company, Wei Lai wouldn't be able to do the same.

"I'm tempted. How could I not be tempted? It's a market worth hundreds of billions. I could make a fortune just by doing a little bit. Even if I don't do it myself, I can let others do it. But there's always a trade-off to be made."

“Weilai is an OEM. If we get involved in everything around us, what will our partners think? I can support or invest in our partners in some things, but there is no need to get involved myself.”

Lei Jun was able to make the painful decision to focus on hardware, and so can he, who is an OEM.

All investments in components are aimed at reducing costs and mastering core technologies, but it's not possible to make all the money yourself. The more partners in the surrounding industrial chain, the more beneficial it is for the OEM.

"Wow, it seems I was being petty. I was thinking about how to persuade you before I came here."

Li Weixin gave a thumbs up, then added, "But we don't have that much money right now, Mr. Tan, what do you think?"

With simultaneous launches in Shanghai and Hangzhou, there would need to be at least 1000 Aion S vehicles, right? Even at the lowest price, that would cost tens of millions of yuan. Without a financing plan, Kuaizhi Technology simply cannot come up with that kind of funding.

"Haha, you're trying to get something for nothing, aren't you?"

"Hehe, don't say such unpleasant things, Mr. Tan."

"Tell me how many you plan to buy first."

"Of the 1000 vehicles, I plan to deploy 600 in Shanghai and 400 in Hangzhou."

Tapping lightly on the desk, Tan Jincheng couldn't help but admire Chen Weixin and Lü Chuanwei, the two partners. They truly deserved to be the founding team of Kuaidi, whose market share once exceeded 50% of the national ride-hailing market.

If you're going to do something, do it big. 1000 vehicles in two cities is quite a lot. Even after deducting subsidies, it would still be worth more than 6000 million yuan based on the ex-factory price.

If Chen Wei hadn't betrayed Lao Ma, the ride-hailing market might have been in a different situation.
Perhaps there would have been no money-burning war, or perhaps the two would never have merged.

“Okay, no need to pay now. I’ll provide you with 1000 specially made Aion S vehicles. We can talk about money when we have the next round of financing. You can also let me know if you need money.”

Each person has their own style. Zhang Yiming was afraid of taking too much money from investors, while Chen Weixin was different; he was focused on making the company bigger and stronger.

Chen Weixin, who is financially independent, operates his company in a way that is somewhat similar to Lei Jun (CEO of Xiaomi), as he is not short of money.

Unlike Zhang Yiming, who doesn't have that much money, the investors' increased investment means his shareholding will decrease further. Currently, the most valuable thing for Zhang Yiming is his shares, and he doesn't plan to give them up unless absolutely necessary.

While Tan Jincheng increases his capital, Chen Weixin can simultaneously complete his capital increase, and the shareholdings of both parties will not change.

This includes Lü Chuanwei, who returned to China to start his own business after achieving great success and is not short of money, just like Lin Bing, the second-in-command of Xiaomi.

Chen Weixing nodded happily: "Okay, thank you very much, President Tan. I am very grateful for your support."

Tan Jincheng readily provided assistance with everything from ground promotion teams and cars to funding, truly deserving of his reputation as one of the most respected investors in China.

Tan Jincheng laughed and said, "Of course, we've partnered up to expand the company. With these 1000 cars, we can ask for more money in the next round of financing."

With fixed assets and a clear concept, the company's valuation will definitely reach a whole new level in the next round of financing.

"Mr. Tan is right. Our valuation will definitely increase significantly in the next round, and that is my responsibility."

The 1000 cars will be provided free of charge for the time being, and necessary financial support will also be provided. In fact, Tan Jincheng has covered both the venture capital round and the Series A round. The next round of financing can be considered the Series B round.

"When is Nakuai's app scheduled to launch? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"The plan is to launch simultaneously in Shanghai and Hangzhou in August this year. I really hope Mr. Tan can help promote it then."

Offline, they need a ground promotion team; online, they really need Tan Jincheng's help. The market for mobile internet app entry points is almost entirely in Tan Jincheng's hands. If they can push the ranking of Kuaidi's app higher on application software such as 91 Assistant and Wandoujia, the download volume will definitely explode.

"That's no problem, but you still can't reduce the advertising fee you have to pay. Also, let me contact Mr. Lei for you and see if you can negotiate to pre-install it on the Xiaomi 2."

"Holy crap? Really? Mr. Tan, you're not kidding me?"

The combination of mobile app software and pre-installed hardware is a powerful weapon!

"Why would I try to fool you? Whether you can close the deal depends on your own abilities. I'll only introduce you to potential partners, not force you to do anything."

Pre-installation of functional apps is actually quite effective. If you can negotiate with more Android hardware manufacturers, the promotion will be much more efficient.

As for why the Weilai APP doesn't go the pre-installation route, there's no need for that.

Pre-installing apps with hardware manufacturers costs money.

(End of this chapter)