2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 920 "Boss Tan: Holding onto His Bottom Line, Yet Having No Bottom Line at All"

A large group of people followed, looking at Boss Wei with genuine envy.

"Haha, it's all because everyone is so kind to you. But it might also be related to the rise of short videos on the internet. Mr. Wei, you could try opening an account to share some daily life and car knowledge. After all, you have the title of Baoding Car God."

"You little brat, are you making fun of me?"

Mr. Wei smiled helplessly. At first, they hadn't actually thought about inviting Tan Jincheng over, but the popularity he was so eager for him was too much for them to bear. Wang Fengying noticed this as well, so she suggested that Mr. Wei call Tan Jincheng and invite him.

Mr. Wei went along with it, and fortunately, Tan Jincheng was very accommodating, changing his itinerary and heading straight to the Great Wall booth, which also brought considerable popularity to their booth.

The meeting between Wei Lai and the president of Great Wall was far more interesting than the previous meetings of the emerging forces.

From pickup trucks to SUVs, Weilai almost perfectly replicated Great Wall's model in the gasoline vehicle market and achieved great success. In the new energy vehicle market, Great Wall, which started to exert its strength last year, seems to be following the same path as Weilai.

With its massive advertising investment, Weipai quickly gained brand recognition, and its newly launched ORA series, with its highly distinctive appearance and design, is particularly popular among female users who are mostly aesthetically pleasing.

Emerging players flocked to this year's Shanghai Auto Show, while traditional companies striving for breakthroughs in the new energy vehicle sector were equally determined. Great Wall Motors was one such representative. This giant, traditionally a player in the gasoline-powered vehicle market, occupied a large exhibition area this time, showcasing multiple models and cutting-edge technologies under the themes of electrification, intelligence, connectivity, and sharing.

Great Wall Motors brought four concept cars alone.

In addition, they also showcased their research and development achievements in L3-level intelligent driving. However, Great Wall Motors was quite reliable and did not over-hype it, stating that this thing is still in the research and development stage and cannot be mass-produced in the short term.

At the beginning of the year, Li Yanhong sat in a self-driving car and drove on an elevated highway in Beijing, which greatly shocked the industry and ordinary users. Baidu's advanced self-driving technology has really brought too much imagination to the automotive industry.

If driverless cars were just a concept or a gimmick before, the moment Li Yanhong appeared on the elevated highway in Beijing driving a driverless car, all of that could become a reality.

Currently, Baidu is the only company with L3 autonomous driving capabilities, but unfortunately, their reputation is too bad, and their operating methods are also very vague, giving the impression that they have the technology but don't know how to use it.

Since then, countless internet companies and car manufacturers have begun to invest heavily in autonomous driving technology, but inevitably there has been some suspicion of exaggeration in their advertising.

WILAY has always maintained the same restraint as traditional car companies in this regard. Although it claims to focus on intelligence, WILAY has always claimed to be intelligent assisted driving and has always emphasized that safety is the greatest intelligence.

In terms of promotional materials, Tan Jincheng strictly requires the company not to use vague terms and to place assisted driving in a core position, so as not to give consumers the feeling that the intelligent driving system can completely take over the car.

In some public occasions, Tan Jincheng has also emphasized that L2 intelligent assisted driving system can only improve the driving and riding experience for drivers and passengers, and make it easier for drivers to control the car, but cannot completely replace the role of the driver.

"Currently, no car company, including Tesla, has been able to achieve complete control of the car by its intelligent system, which is what people generally understand as driverless. Baidu has that technology, but there are still some adjustments to be made in its specific application."

"If any car company claims in its advertising that their cars can achieve driverless operation, please remember that they are definitely trying to fool you."

"If Tesla can't do it, we at Weilai can't do it either. To be honest, if we can't do it, no other company can either."

"Please remember that automakers can improve their intelligent driving systems using data from countless accidents, but you only have one life. Don't risk your life to experience a technology that cannot yet be widely applied."

This is a quote that Tan Jincheng specifically emphasized when sharing intelligent driving technology on his Douyin personal account, and he even pinned it to the top.

Doing this will cause some trouble for the promotion of intelligent driving and also create some problems for the current promotion of new energy vehicles, but given Wei Lai's popularity and his own, he doesn't want to take the risk.

What is the biggest problem with new energy vehicles? It's the spontaneous combustion of batteries, it's a safety issue, not a range problem.

Battery spontaneous combustion falls under the category of physics and cannot be solved in the short term. Moreover, it will be a long-term technical problem that hinders the development of electric vehicles. The previous spontaneous combustion incidents involving Tesla vehicles around the world caused a great sensation.

This also brought the safety issues of electric vehicles to the forefront. Of course, Weilai's cars have also been involved in accidents and caused injuries and deaths. However, firstly, because electric vehicles were not very popular, and secondly, Weilai handled the situation very promptly.

In addition to these factors, the way companies handle public relations crises also plays a role, preventing the overall situation from becoming too turbulent.

Now, electric vehicles are gaining popularity, and more and more new companies are joining the fray. In the future, even more players will enter the market. These people are used to the exaggerated marketing methods of the internet, and these new companies that have never driven cars don't have much respect for life.

He is indeed very popular, but at the same time, Wei Lai and he are also in the eye of the storm. If Wei Lai's car causes a major traffic accident due to a misunderstanding of intelligent driving, both he and Wei Lai will be involved in a huge public opinion crisis.

To avoid such a public opinion crisis, he must prepare consumers psychologically in advance, making them more respectful of life while driving.

It will definitely cause considerable difficulties for subsequent promotion, but it's better than something going wrong. Besides, he has always believed that the most important thing about cars is safety, and Wei Lai has always prioritized safety in his marketing and promotion.

“You’re right. Consumers don’t really understand a lot of technology. Some of the terms are not clear even to people in the industry. Most people just follow the trend. We really can’t exaggerate in our advertising.”

Tan Jincheng expressed his appreciation for Great Wall Motors' introduction of L3 intelligent driving technology and its emphasis on the fact that mass production and application are currently impossible. Mr. Wei also felt that there was nothing wrong with this.

“I watched your video. As an influential person in the industry, I personally and Great Wall both support you for being able to convey such a message despite the pressure. We will also pay attention to our publicity this year.”

Tan Jincheng's video spread widely due to his and Wei Lai's deliberate promotion, especially his arrogant statement that Tesla and Wei Lai couldn't do it, and no other company could do it either. This directly cut off all the ways that companies wanted to play it safe.

"Yes, in a situation where laws and regulations are still relatively vague, if the publicity is too excessive, we will ultimately be the ones who suffer."

To be honest, Tan Jincheng really didn't want to do this. Nowadays, we live in the era of short videos. The 15-second short videos launched by Douyin this year have greatly lowered the threshold for creation. With just a mobile phone, you can become a "reporter".

The old style of suppressing public opinion is no longer as effective in the era of short videos.

He and Wei Lai are industry pioneers, and the higher-ups are happy to see Tan Jincheng's high popularity, and even intend to promote him. However, once a public opinion crisis occurs, he will be the one who suffers. Even if other car companies have problems, he may be affected.

For his own sake, he must express his attitude in advance so that if something goes wrong later, he will be less affected.

As for the new energy vehicle startups and other car companies that missed an opportunity to promote and sell cars by skirting the rules, what does that have to do with him?
"Let's not talk about this; it wouldn't be good if someone overheard us."

Wang Fengying interrupted Tan Jincheng and Boss Wei's rant, saying that with so many people coming and going, it wouldn't be good if someone overheard them talking about this.

Wang Fengying also greatly admires Tan Jincheng's stance on intelligent driving. This young man has a variety of marketing methods, but he always adheres to the bottom line of safety and will not use the neglect of safety to increase car sales.

Given the current level of intelligent driving technology that Weilai is leading in the industry, if he were to skirt the rules and leverage his influence to make a few boastful claims, it could potentially boost Weilai's sales.

Tan Jincheng himself is simply the best salesman in Weilai. His influence is too great. It is commendable that he and his company can adhere to the bottom line.

In addition, when it comes to vehicle accidents caused by its products, regardless of whether the problem lies with the vehicle itself, WILAY responds promptly and handles them well. This alone is a major plus for the popularity of WILAY's products.

His assertive performance, while provoking discontent among many car companies, also sparked heated debates both inside and outside the industry, with many car company executives criticizing him in the media and on social media.

It's quite interesting, but the executives at Weilai are also quite capable. They managed to suppress the comments from their competitors without him even having to show up.

Li Xiang, the Lotus CEO and General Manager of Lotus China, known for his fiery temper, went so far as to declare on his personal social media: "Stop talking nonsense. If anyone disagrees, let's have a test race and see who's right."

It can be said that his boss strongly supports him.

When it comes to arguing online, the senior management team of Weilai, mainly composed of people born in the 1970s and 1980s, has never been afraid of anyone in the industry.

When it comes to technology, Hu Zhengnan, the dean of the Weilai Research Institute, is there to debate. As for arguing, the former CEO of Autohome has long dealt with the media and car companies. He also succeeded in starting his own business with only a high school education, so he is also a prodigy.

If we're talking about sarcastic remarks, Tan Jincheng's personal assistant, Zhao Xinyi, who is a senior vice president at Wei Lai, is someone who dares to make sarcastic remarks even to her boss. Other executives from other car companies wouldn't even flinch.

Moreover, under Tan Jincheng's influence, these executives, regardless of whether they came from the internet industry, are already very familiar with the internet. They know much more about what to say and what not to say than executives from traditional car companies who are not very familiar with the internet.

Tan Jincheng often emphasized to them that this world is a makeshift organization, and not all senior executives are necessarily very rational. Some of them are actually quite abstract. What we need to do is make as few mistakes as possible, and leave the rest to them.

Li Xiang strongly agreed with this statement.

"Okay, let's not talk about this. Look at President Tan's popularity. It's making me want to ask him to be our spokesperson."

Starting with high-end SUV brands and then extending to lower-end brands, Great Wall Motors' approach to new energy vehicles is exactly the same as Wei Lai's, clearly showing that Mr. Wei is also a good learner.

The two companies learn from each other. Although the competition is fierce, having a competitor that is constantly chasing after you is a lucky thing.

It can encourage companies to maintain their competitiveness in the long term.

Great Wall Motors is also paying great attention to the new energy vehicle sector. The official implementation of the dual-credit policy has forced traditional automakers, whose main products are gasoline vehicles, to pay attention to developing pickup trucks, off-road vehicles, and gasoline SUVs. If they do not develop new energy vehicles, they will fail to meet the carbon emission standards.

At that time, they will inevitably have to buy points from Weilai or BYD. The 2018 Shanghai Auto Show was the first major review of the new energy vehicle industry, and the fact that both Mr. Wei and Wang Fengying attended the auto show shows how much Great Wall Motors attaches to it.

"Haha, endorsing Wei brand? I don't mind, but I wonder how much my endorsement fee is."

The so-called endorsement is definitely a joke. With Tan Jincheng's current net worth, which company can afford to hire him as a spokesperson?

Moreover, Tan Jincheng primarily uses products from his own company's brand when traveling. In Lei Jun's words, Tan Jincheng is extremely stingy; he always appears in public using his own company's brand and refuses to let anyone take advantage of him.

Before acquiring Meizu, he could use Xiaomi phones, but now he only uses Meizu phones, and even deliberately displays the latest Meizu models on some occasions.

Without Huang Zhang, Meizu lost something that fans called its soul, but the equally distinctive founder, Tan Jincheng, also brought something different to Meizu, a fact acknowledged by Meizu fans.

Meizu, under Huang Zhang's leadership, excels in design aesthetics and system optimization. However, as a loyal "lapdog" of MediaTek, Meizu has indeed been heavily criticized for its performance.

Insufficient supply chain capabilities, weak contract manufacturers, and inferior processors compared to competitors are all undeniable facts.

The most important factor is pricing. Huang Zhang seems to have a certain obsession with making high-end products. Meizu's flagship phones are several hundred yuan more expensive than their competitors in terms of performance and other aspects.

Expensive is indeed a reflection of high-end, but not in this way. In an increasingly competitive market, if you keep producing products with low cost-performance ratios, even the most loyal fans will eventually betray you.

While Meizu's weakness and inability to compete with major manufacturers certainly played a role, Huang Zhang's stubbornness also had a significant impact.

After Tan Jincheng took over, Meizu completely overturned all of this. First, it quickly reached a settlement with Qualcomm, which can be considered as having secured a major partner. In terms of domestic component manufacturers, his connections and funds also provided great assistance.

Although Meizu is still a "small factory in Zhuhai", it is different from the small but beautiful era under Huang Zhang. With the backing of a large company, Meizu has a certain degree of bargaining power in terms of OEM manufacturing and negotiating prices with suppliers.

Even though many manufacturers still look down on Meizu, they still give Tan Jincheng some face.

As for pricing, Tan Jincheng's approach was simple and direct: just target Xiaomi. Whether it's a high-end or low-end model, the price should be one yuan lower than Xiaomi's competing products. This strategy is somewhat shameless, but it works very well.

Of course, the most important thing is that although Tan Jincheng took over in a year of dramatic changes in the mobile phone industry, which was somewhat unlucky for him, he was also very lucky at the same time, as he caught up with Qualcomm's generation of legendary chips after taking over.

The Snapdragon 835 is renowned for its excellence, and Meizu, which uses this amazing chip, has achieved remarkable performance, changing Meizu's previous reputation for poor performance.

Speaking of Android phone brands, the performance of their flagship phones each year is like opening a blind box. MediaTek is disappointing, and flagship phones can only use Qualcomm processors.

The performance of Qualcomm processors directly affects a phone's market reputation. If you encounter a high-performance processor, you're doomed; but if you encounter a high-performance processor, you'll be on a roll.

The Snapdragon 835 is a typical example of the iChill series. This year's Snapdragon 845, as an iteration of the 835, has also performed quite well overall. Qualcomm has not released a new iChill series.

Otherwise, it would be a real blow to Meizu's newly recovered reputation. Big companies can weather the storm, but it won't be so easy for small companies.

However, some phones still experience overheating and frame drops when playing games; of course, even Ice Dragon cannot completely avoid this, it mainly depends on the phone manufacturer's tuning capabilities.

But if it's a super hot dragon, then you can only hope for the best.

Thanks to the popularization of mobile phone manufacturers in his previous life, Tan Jincheng still has some understanding of the Fire Dragon and Ice Dragon. The next generation of Fire Dragon seems to be the Snapdragon 888. It seems that as long as it uses Samsung's manufacturing process, it will not be very stable, just like opening a blind box.

TSMC, on the other hand, has remained remarkably stable, so we should be more cautious when making purchases in the future.

Take the Snapdragon 835 for example. This thing has excellent performance. Even though it has been replaced, Meizu has purchased a lot of it. This processor can be used in mid-range models and can still be used in low-end models a few years later.

Anyway, there's no need to worry about not being able to use it all.

After finishing his work at the Great Wall Motors Auto Show, Tan Jincheng's experience as a human billboard at the Shanghai Auto Show came to an end. After a day of this, he was the busiest man at the Shanghai Auto Show, and netizens made fun of him.

Even the official accounts of major brands personally joined in to tease their own bosses and proactively shared materials that netizens couldn't get their hands on.

The internet is filled with a joyful atmosphere.

When it comes to self-deprecating humor, Wei Lai is keeping up with the netizens' pace.

However, Tan Jincheng's agreement to endorse Boss Wei was certainly not a free favor; he had his own ulterior motives.

"Our company plans to spin off the Yuechi series and merge it with the Tank series to form a new subsidiary. I wonder if Mr. Wang would be interested in serving as the general manager of the new company?"

On the first day, no opportunity was found. On the second day, Boss Wei returned to Hebei Province, leaving Wang Fengying behind to oversee the auto show. Finally, Tan Jincheng seized the opportunity.

Early in the morning, avoiding the eyes of the media and other car companies, Tan Jincheng secretly met with Wang Fengying.

It started with a bombshell statement.

Wang Fengying was stunned for a while, then looked at Zhang Li, who was looking a little embarrassed, and said speechlessly, "So that's why a production manager like him came to the auto show. It turns out that President Tan has planted a spy for me."

Zhang Li chuckled. Yesterday morning, his boss called him and told him to drop everything and rush from Ningbo to Shanghai as quickly as possible. At the time, he didn't understand what was going on and thought something had happened.

He only understood what his boss wanted to do after he arrived.

The boss is incredibly cunning, using such a seemingly unscrupulous tactic. However, he is also quite proud of his wife, as he has never given up on inviting her to join the company over the years.

"Don't look at me. I know that the Yuechi series is going to become independent, but I guess only General Manager Zhang knows that the boss has appointed you as the general manager."

The decline in sales of the Yuechi series and the overall team's somewhat lax attitude caused the boss to fly into a rage within the company. Zhang Li must have known about this. In addition, there have been rumors circulating within the company recently that the Yuechi series will be spun off.

Clearly, the boss is eager to change the current situation of the Yuechi series, and the Yuechi series has been making a lot of moves recently, with older models starting to see price reductions and promotions, and a hybrid series also being put on the agenda.

Even though sales have declined and its share in total sales has decreased due to the booming sales of new energy vehicles, the Yuechi series remains the most important asset for Weilai at present.

The spin-off of the Yuechi series, and even the creation of a new subsidiary with the Tank series, signifies a change in the company.

The general manager of such an important subsidiary wields immense power, and there has been much gossip within the company regarding the selection of the general manager.

"I was telling Mr. Wei yesterday that Mr. Tan is able to maintain a safe bottom line in corporate marketing, which is very commendable. Who knew that you would have no bottom line today?"

Instead of answering Tan Jincheng's question directly, Wang Fengying teased him.

"Haha, I'm still the same me. Back then, I was handing out business cards at Tencent headquarters to poach talent."

Tan Jincheng didn't care about Wang Fengying's teasing. He had no choice but to use this tactic. If he went through a headhunter, the information would easily leak out, and Wei Lai and Changcheng would be in a very awkward situation.

He wasn't afraid of embarrassment, but the embarrassment of things being leaked beforehand and not being able to be done was something he didn't want to see.

Using Zhang Lilai as an "insider" was a last resort. He had originally planned to wait a few days, but then Boss Wei returned to Hebei Province overnight. With the opportunity right in front of him, how could he possibly give it up?

"You really are..."

Wang Fengying was at a loss for words. Continuing to criticize would only make her seem petty, which was typical of how Enterprise House poached talent.

Just yesterday he had a pleasant conversation with his boss, and even expressed great interest in Li Xiang's suggestion to organize an intelligent driving test competition and prepare to cooperate in launching an industry competition. Today, he can openly and without any psychological burden poaching of his subordinates.

The change in style is truly remarkable. Indeed, to achieve such success at this age is extraordinary.

Sitting to the side, Zhang Li was a little uneasy when he told his wife that his boss had no bottom line, but he was relieved to see that his boss didn't care at all.

After a moment of silence, Wang Fengying said to Zhang Li, "Go and keep watch outside. I want to talk to President Tan alone."

Zhang Li hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Tan Jincheng. Tan Jincheng smiled and said, "It's alright. I'll talk to President Wang alone. President Zhang, go ahead and do your work."

After so many years, this matter should be settled by now. With the Yuechi series about to become independent, both sides really need an open and honest negotiation to reach a conclusion, whether it succeeds or not.

(End of this chapter)