2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 852 One Billion? That's Right!
Lei Jun once said, "Even a pig can fly if it stands in the right place at the right time."

In the 2015 car market, Weilai was like a pig riding the wave. After focusing on SUVs for ten years, Weilai finally caught the wave.

"SUVs still have a lot of space, and we need to continue to deepen our efforts in this area."

According to data released by the China Passenger Car Association, total SUV sales reached 597.8 million units in 2015, accounting for 24.3% of total sales. He recalled that SUVs remained very strong after 2020, almost sharing the market share with sedans.

In other words, the SUV market still has at least 20% to 25% growth potential. Based on the current production and sales volume of more than 2000 million vehicles, this means that the SUV market still has a growth potential of nearly 400 million vehicles.

This was certainly a great opportunity for Wei.

On January 4, 2016, at the company's first New Year's meeting, Tan Jincheng once again emphasized the company's SUV strategy.

"We will definitely develop sedans, but our company's strategy remains focused on SUVs, whether it's the new energy series or the traditional fuel vehicle series. The potential of the SUV market is huge."

The specific sales figures for 2014 have been released, and Weilai is definitely the standout performer.

54.60%增速连前五都排不进去，但是67.67万辆的销量，排名总销量第11的位置以及悦驰A1/37.72万辆的单车销量以无敌碾压之势拿下SUV销量冠军。

It is only 1900 units behind the Lavida, the champion in single-vehicle sales. Its sales volume and single-vehicle sales are extremely eye-catching on the list.

"In terms of growth, we benefited from SUVs in 2015. Based on the current trend, the momentum of SUVs has not yet come, so we can raise our sales expectations for 2016."

As early as the end of December, many automakers had already announced their sales forecasts for 2016 based on the growth rate in 2015.

During the New Year's Day holiday, many car companies followed suit, such as SAIC Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, and Changan Automobile. They all have high sales expectations, with six car companies aiming for sales of over 100 million units.

There are also quite a few medium-sized ones priced between 60 and 100 million.

"Let's set our sales target according to Great Wall's standards, and initially set it at 80 vehicles."

Weilai is similar in nature to Great Wall Motors. This year, Great Wall Motors sold a total of 75.33 vehicles, ranking ninth in total sales and first among domestic brands. During the New Year's Day holiday, Great Wall Motors also announced its sales forecast for next year.

With a target of 95 vehicles and a growth rate of 20% to 30%, Weilai is also in the SUV market, but has a limited number of models. Setting the first target at 80 vehicles and a growth rate of around 20% is a reasonable approach.

Great Wall Motors is still being cautious. The difference between 95 and 100 million vehicles is only 5 vehicles. Even with the SUV market booming, they haven't set a sales target of 100 million vehicles.

The 100 million club, that's something else entirely.

If SUV sales continue to grow at the same rate as they are today, Great Wall Motors could very well achieve annual sales exceeding one million units.

Zhang Yong said with a smile, "80 vehicles? People might still think our target is too conservative."

Weilai's sales expectations have always been considered conservative by outsiders. In recent years, SUV sales have been rising year after year. As one of the two best-selling SUV brands among domestic brands, Weilai has never formulated an aggressive sales plan.

"Let them say whatever they want, we'll do our own thing and not let outside influences dictate our actions."

When Dizi announced that he would sell 100 million cars, his aggressive sales plan was not only due to his own overconfidence, but also because he was more or less misled. Besides the media hype, the local government also misled them.

While the media is relatively easy to deal with, local governments, driven by various factors such as employment, GDP, and political achievements, will also encourage companies to increase production capacity and boost output.

As for whether companies will face operational difficulties due to sudden increases in production capacity, heavy investment in expansion, and subsequent lower-than-expected sales, that's not their concern.

The relationship between businesses and local governments is often fraught with contradictions.

With shared interests and a booming market, the two parties will cooperate very well, and the company's development will be rapid, just like Flash and Weilai a few years ago.

However, as the scale of the operation grows larger, it is inevitable that conflicts with the interests of local governments will arise in the future.

Leading enterprises need to fulfill their social responsibilities, but they also need to consider their own business operations. Tan Jincheng's business philosophy is to proceed steadily and cautiously, preferring to leave himself some room for maneuver rather than exaggerate too much.

In fact, the sales surge of Weilai this year is very similar to that of Dizi back then. Dizi had many models, but only the F3 model sold well, while the overall sales of the other models were at an average level.

The same applies to Weilai. The A1 accounts for 55.74% of the total sales. If you remove the sales of the A1, the rest of the vehicles did not even sell 30 units, which is the level of a third-rate model.

"Okay, as long as you can withstand the pressure from above, boss."

"It's not a big problem."

The automotive industry is definitely one of the most favored industries by local governments. Weilai can be considered the "favorite son" of Beicang District, but Beicang District also has many other "sons," such as Shenzhou and Haitian, which are industry leaders.

Although Beicang District also wants to maximize production capacity, it certainly won't do something like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

"Now that the sales figures are set, shouldn't we talk about how much bonus we'll be giving out this year?"

This year, Lunar New Year's Eve is February 7th, which is a month or so away. For employees, the most important thing to know during the Lunar New Year is how much their year-end bonus will be, which is almost always the same topic.

"Our performance this year can be described as a major breakthrough. Although the financial report has not yet been released, the actual profit should be quite high."

Although the fourth quarter report or annual report has not yet been released, Weilai's profit for the first three quarters has already reached 62 billion yuan. In addition to the surge in automobile sales, the power battery business has also seen a significant boom.

Compared to the automotive business, the power battery business is the most surprising. Compared to less than 9 million yuan in revenue last year, the revenue of the power battery business this year will definitely exceed 50 billion yuan.

While revenue increased, net profit also rose significantly. Last year, net profit was around 8%, but this year it has risen to around 15%, which is the biggest surprise for Weilai this year.

Tan Jincheng agreed with this statement: "That's true. Our profit this year is basically guaranteed to exceed 80 billion yuan, so it's really appropriate to improve the benefits for our employees."

To achieve sales targets, employee motivation must be increased.

"We have more and more employees. Although our company's income is still among the top in the industry, the absolute advantage in income that we used to have is no longer so obvious. It's time to boost morale."

Weilai has no shortage of high-end talent or the ability to attract college students to submit their resumes, but the feelings of its grassroots employees must also be taken into account.

The benefits given out during holidays, plus the occasional red envelopes from Tan Jincheng himself, are one aspect. The other aspect is the year-end bonus and various incentives related to the work content.

"How much should we send?"

According to past practice, in Ningbo, the so-called year-end bonus for private enterprises like theirs is basically equivalent to one month's income, which is not very high. However, since the usual income is decent, the employees have nothing to complain about.

Since this has been brought up separately, it must be different this time.

With his fingers gently tapping, Tan Jincheng slowly said after about ten seconds, "Take out 10 billion yuan to distribute as bonuses."

"2015 was a brilliant year for Weilai, and these achievements were all created by our employees. It is what we should do to reward our employees and treat them well, and it is also a way to let everyone share our joy this year."

This year, we can expect to earn more than 8 billion yuan. Taking out one-eighth of that for bonuses seems generous, but if it is averaged out to each employee, it would only amount to about 10,000 yuan.

Zhang Yong clapped his hands with a smile: "The boss is as generous as ever, but the shareholders will probably criticize him for this, right?"

"What's there to criticize? This is a company's normal operating cost. If any shareholder dares to criticize it, I would suggest that they transfer their shares."

On the first working day of 2016, Wei Lai's first routine meeting was a lively affair, but for stock investors, today is an unforgettable memory.

"A circuit breaker? Ha, that thing doesn't last long."

The first trading day of the new year was also the first day the circuit breaker mechanism was implemented. The original intention of the circuit breaker mechanism was good, in order to prevent a stock market crash like that of 2015. However, in practice, this thing is not suitable for the A-share market at all.

"Yes, with the daily price limit, major institutions only need to aggressively sell off those few stocks that can influence the index. The circuit breaker mechanism actually amplifies the probability of a stock market crash."

"That's right. There were only 140 minutes of trading today. This is the first time that short sellers are not familiar with it. Just you wait, the next circuit breaker will be triggered even faster."

1800 stocks hit their daily limit down, and more than 2000 stocks fell by more than 9%, leaving the market in ruins.

Hehe, the first circuit breaker was a kind of rehearsal. Today, the market traded for 140 minutes, but the second one only lasted 15 minutes before closing.

In normal trading, if a stock hits its daily limit down, there will be funds looking to buy it back up, which makes short sellers hesitant. However, this is not the case under the circuit breaker mechanism. After several stocks that affect the index are driven to their daily limit down, trading is stopped.

With the index plummeting, other stocks became readily available for bargain hunting.

"What do we do? We can't just buy it back again, can we?"

It took several months for the A-share market to rise to around 3600 points, but it fell below 3300 points in just one trading day. At this rate, if the circuit breaker is triggered again, the technical indicators that have been painstakingly repaired will enter a technical bear market phase once more.

Tan Jincheng was also a bit of a headache. He didn't care about spending a few hundred million to buy back shares, but this thing couldn't always rely on the major shareholder to buy back shares to prop up the stock price, could it?
Ultimately, the normal secondary market should be left to the traders themselves to manage.

"Let's wait and see. It's been less than six months since our last buyback ended. We can use this as an excuse to delay it. Besides, this is just our own speculation. The actual event hasn't happened yet."

"Besides, we're here to raise funds in the stock market, we can't just keep putting money into it, can we?" ByteDance is the major shareholder of Weilai Shares and the actual controller of Weilai Shares. Considering factors such as ownership, company stability, and liquidity, it's certain that he would never speculate on his own company's stock.

As long as he retains actual control, whether he has tens or hundreds of thousands more shares or tens or hundreds of thousands less, it makes little difference to him.

Price difference? Putting aside the fact that the normal share reduction process for major shareholders is quite lengthy, it would seem petty for someone with his current wealth to care about a pittance in his company's stock price.

"Okay, let's leave it at that for now and see how it goes."

The last repurchase to support the market officially ended in late July, which is indeed less than six months in terms of time, so this excuse is reasonable.

"It's a pity. These past few days were supposed to be a major positive period for Wei Lai, but the retail investors in the secondary market will miss out on this benefit."

With both its power battery and vehicle businesses experiencing significant growth, Weilai is not only a high-performing stock and the leading stock in the new energy concept, but also a sure-fire stock with a projected increase in its annual report.

Based on the financial reports for the first three quarters of 2015, Weilai's annual revenue is expected to increase by at least 80%, and its net profit is expected to increase by at least 60%, a sure sign of a major performance surge.

Under normal stock market conditions, on the first trading day of the new year, after the China Passenger Car Association releases its data, Weilai would definitely be in a buying frenzy. But what about now?

It hit the daily limit down.

If you want to use the circuit breaker mechanism to acquire shares of high-quality growth stocks on the ChiNext board, aggressively selling off shares of Weilai Co., Ltd., one of the weighted stocks on the ChiNext board, is the best and most effective method.

"Oh, right, let's arrange the 10 billion yuan year-end bonus as soon as possible, and try to get it to the employees by the end of January or the beginning of February. Let's finalize the plan as soon as possible."

The CFO looked constipated. This boss is good, but he's unpredictable when it comes to ordering people around.

Formulating a 10 billion yuan bonus distribution plan in such a short time and then distributing it to employees is truly a nightmare for them.

"Boss, our year-end bonuses are usually paid after the New Year, why are we in such a hurry this time?"

Cheng Linfeng smiled and said, "The boss is either letting the losers have a good New Year or giving them some funds to buy at the bottom. This time, the circuit breaker index will definitely hit a new low. If you have money in your pocket and are bold enough, you will definitely buy at the bottom."

Cheng Linfeng also attended the board meeting in Weilai. He was a director of ByteDance, the major shareholder, and attended on behalf of ByteDance.

He usually just goes through the motions, or even skips board meetings altogether. But today was the first regular meeting of the new year, and given the major changes in the stock market, Tan Jincheng specially arranged for him to attend.

"This is just our speculation right now, so you can keep it to yourself. Also, as I said before, if you want to make a quick buck based on this information, you can buy shares of other listed companies that you like, but you can't mess with our own stock."

During the three-year lock-up period, Tan Jincheng's requirement for major shareholders and senior executives who could attend the board meeting was that they could pledge their shares for financing or use other means to realize cash during these three years, and he would not interfere.

However, you absolutely cannot act recklessly in the secondary market. You can increase your holdings, but you must follow the normal procedures.

Tan Jincheng's attitude towards shareholders and executives has always been the same: it's fine for everyone to make money together, and I can also give you some concessions so that you can earn more, but all of this must be based on abiding by the rules.

If anyone breaks the rules and causes trouble for him, or creates negative news, then I'm sorry, see you on the blacklist.

The entire conference room fell silent at Tan Jincheng's warning. During the last stock market crash, Tan Jincheng had dealt forcefully with a group of unruly minority shareholders and some management personnel.

However, everyone has their own little schemes.

Tan Jincheng is known as a "golden touch" in both the primary and secondary markets, while Cheng Linfeng is also famous in the secondary market for his practical implementation. These two said that the circuit breaker mechanism would have major problems and would not last long, but the stock market would continue to decline. Their logic was so clear that they had no choice but to believe it.

If you can't invest in Weilai's stocks, you can invest in others. If you really don't know how to choose, just keep an eye on the stocks held by ByteDance Engine.

Like the national team, ByteDance's stock trading platform, Juxing Engine, also appears frequently in the top ten circulating shareholders lists of some high-quality stocks in the A-share market.

It's difficult to keep an expanded board meeting confidential.

While some topics were not meant to be made public, the news that Wei Lai planned to allocate a massive 10 billion yuan as year-end bonuses to all employees quickly spread.

"Holy crap, is it really true?"

"Is this for real? When did traditional industries become so generous?"

"Speaking of which, this amount of money isn't much. I just checked the number of employees at Weilai, and on average it's about 17,000. That's not much."

"Have you been living the good life for too long? Isn't a year-end bonus of 17,000 yuan enough?"

Every year at the beginning of the year, Wei Lai always makes a big splash. This year, it's only the beginning of the year, and Wei Lai has already made such a big splash, generating a lot of discussion both inside the company and on the internet.

Some netizens even went to Tan Jincheng's personal social media account to ask if this was true.

"It's true. In 2015, Weilai achieved unprecedented results, which is the result of the hard work of all employees. They deserve this money."

Tan Jincheng also made no attempt to hide his involvement, publicly responding to netizens' comments on his social media account. He also revealed that Weilai also has plans to give back to consumers, but this is on a larger scale than the company's employees, so the implementation will be a bit later, and he asked consumers to be patient.

Tan Jincheng's public response completely confirmed the rumors and boosted the morale of Weilai's employees.

"Haha, that's the beauty of marketing."

Tan Jincheng pointed to the more rational comments and said, "Look at this comment. On average, it's less than 20,000 yuan in year-end bonus, which is incomparable to the tens of thousands of yuan in year-end bonuses offered by many internet companies."

"However, if you use the figure of giving each person a year-end bonus of 2 to promote it, it will definitely not be as shocking as the figure of 10 billion."

Giving each employee 20,000 yuan for the New Year might make your own employees happy and other employees in the same industry a little envious, but that won't cause much of a stir. But throwing in a 1 billion yuan figure is a completely different story.

"By the way, when we give out bonuses, let's do what Fangda Group does and give them out in cash."

As part of the Fangda Group, which controls five A-share listed companies including Fangda Carbon and Zhongxing Commercial, their year-end bonuses are incredibly generous, with walls of cash that are quite impressive.

"Is this how you do it? There's no need to be so high-profile, is there?"

Zhao Xinyi looked surprised and puzzled. What was wrong with the boss? He's usually so low-key.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. Making a bigger fuss is for the sake of the secondary market."

Buying luxury cars to show off in business is a common practice. Tan Jincheng has always preferred to keep his wealth hidden. However, the recent downturn in the A-share market has forced the national team, which had been gradually withdrawing, to step in again to rescue the market.

If it weren't for this circuit breaker, and the national team had gradually withdrawn through normal procedures, the stock market might have been in a different state.

The national team's market intervention is beyond their control, but for the major shareholder of Weilai Shares, it's another form of moral blackmail. In January, they can use a short-term trading period of less than six months to avoid further share purchases.

What about February and March? He knows that the A-share market was in a bear market from 2016 to 2018, with frequent systemic crashes. It's impossible to have to come out and buy back shares to prop up the market every time, right?
Then they might as well just delist. They come to the A-share market to raise funds, not to be money-giving fools.

The beginning of 2016 was a rollercoaster of emotions, like fire and ice.

Tens of thousands of employees at Weilai Group are eagerly anticipating their year-end bonuses. Weilai also announced its sales forecast for 2016 as it entered the ranks of mid-level car companies with its sales boom.

The figure of 80 vehicles is still considered somewhat conservative by outsiders, but no one in Weilai has responded to the media's questions, and everything is proceeding according to their own business strategy.

While Wei Lai is thriving, other car companies are not having such an easy time.

"I told you long ago, what goes around comes around. They'll have to pay for what they've been doing. They'll have to pay back what they've taken in if they cheat on subsidies."

Just after New Year's Day, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly launched a special investigation team to investigate fraudulent activities related to subsidies for new energy vehicles.

The automotive industry, especially the new energy vehicle sector, is in a state of high alert.

Previously, CCTV exposed ten companies involved in subsidy fraud, which attracted widespread attention from all sectors of society. These ten companies all had one thing in common: their monthly output in December 2015 exceeded 50% of their annual output.
"Let's check it out too. The parent company should be fine, but we can't be so sure about the subsidiaries."

The highest subsidy for a single vehicle can reach 10 yuan, which is really hard to resist. Under Tan Jincheng's strict requirements, the parent company is unlikely to encounter any major problems, but the subsidiaries are a different story.

Throughout 2015, the sales of Weilai's three new energy vehicles were 2.12 units for the Aion S, 2.83 units for the Aion Y, and 1.88 units for the Weilai ES6. In addition, more than 3000 commercial buses were also sold.

The total sales of new energy vehicles reached 7.15 units, accounting for 38.63% of the domestic market and 12.44% of the global market share.

"Investigating subsidy fraud is a heavy blow to companies that commit subsidy fraud, but it's good news for us."

"By the way, could you contact Mr. Li from Wenjie for me and tell him that the opportunity has come?"

Tan Jincheng had long heard about the current crackdown on fraudulent subsidies, which presented Li Bing with a great opportunity to obtain automobile production qualifications.

Among the ten companies exposed by CCTV, Moufan was one of them!
(End of this chapter)