2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 939 The Troublemaking Boss Li and His Real Rival
On Media Day, news of the Notre Dame fire dominated social media. All the major news related to the auto show combined couldn't surpass this explosive story.

The way news spreads seems to have changed after the advent of WeChat Moments and the forwarding of WeChat group chat records. A topic that is painstakingly created may not be as widely spread as a chat record forwarded on WeChat.

Weibo is gradually declining, and as a business, it's time to make some changes to our public relations approach.

However, no one in Weilai seemed to have much of a reaction to this. Wang Fengying's first appearance was aimed at Yuechi Auto and the automotive industry. Tan Jincheng didn't want to use her to create any buzz, otherwise he wouldn't have reached an agreement with Great Wall Motors in the first place.

"Shall we go take a look at the Great Wall?"

"Go ahead, what am I afraid of?"

When it comes to creating buzz, Geely's Li Shufu is second to none. Tan Jincheng will attend public events whenever his schedule allows, as this is the best way to increase his popularity. This year is different.

At the entrance, Tan Jincheng encountered Li Shufu from Jili. The big boss Li extended an invitation to Tan Jincheng with a smile, but there was an undisguised mockery in his eyes.

"Haha, it has to be you, kid. Let's go."

Weilai and Great Wall are direct competitors, but as for their relationship, Geely and Great Wall have really not been on good terms in the past two years, with them going all out and engaging in a lot of verbal battles and lawsuits. Judging from Mr. Li's attitude, he is obviously here to "stir things up" at this auto show.

However, Tan Jincheng isn't the only one who knows how to generate buzz.

The 2019 Shanghai Auto Show was quite lively, especially the Mercedes-Benz booth. Due to the impact of the Great Wall 4S store rights protection incident, it was particularly bustling, with a significantly higher number of security guards than other booths, and all of them were wearing helmets.

This kind of liveliness is quite rare.

"Speaking of which, you've really made some big moves these past two years; by the way, I haven't congratulated you on your big overseas sales yet."

Of the three car companies in Zhejiang Province, Zhongtai is finished. Geely has made all-out efforts in the past two years and has become the number one domestic car company. Li Shufu believes that they have accumulated strength and then made a breakthrough, while also taking advantage of the benefits brought by Volvo's technology.

However, Geely has not made much progress in overseas markets except for the Volvo brand. It has not yet found a good way to go global. For Geely, which has always been committed to internationalization, Li Shufu is well aware of the difficulties that domestic brands face in going global.

"Haha, this is indeed a result to be proud of, but we still need to keep up the good work."

As Tan and Li walked towards the Great Wall exhibition area, they greeted the surrounding crowd and whispered to each other. The media and car enthusiasts watching were also very excited to see that the two were heading towards the Great Wall exhibition area.

While the news coverage couldn't rival the Notre Dame fire, the experience on-site was entirely different. Wang Fengying's public appearance at the media day, the verbal sparring between Geely and Great Wall Motors last year, and the direct competition on vehicle models made the entanglement between these three leading domestic automakers increasingly interesting.

Speaking of domestic brands, Changan Automobile is one of them. This joint venture killer also has incredibly good sales. In 2018, Changan Automobile's total sales exceeded 200 million vehicles, so it should be the real leader among domestic brands.

Unfortunately, both car enthusiasts and the media selectively ignored Changan's existence, which is undoubtedly a failure in marketing and promotion.

Are you two heading to the Great Wall exhibition area?

Finally, some couldn't help but ask. The direction was indeed towards the Great Wall exhibition area, but there was more than just the Great Wall there.

"Yes, we'll go to the Great Wall booth to learn from them. I've heard their pickup truck this year is quite good. It just so happens that our Yangzi pickup truck has recently merged into Yuechi Automobile, so we can learn some advanced experience from them."

Before Li Shufu could answer, Tan Jincheng spoke up frankly and openly.

"Mr. Tan, what is the purpose of Yuechi Automobile's overall acquisition of Yangzi Automobile? Yangzi Automobile is fully qualified for an IPO. With the arrival of the Science and Technology Innovation Board and the registration system, wouldn't an IPO be a good option for Yangzi Automobile?"

Tan Jincheng glanced at the other person, who was wearing a work badge from the Chuzhou RI Daily. It seemed that some locals still had some reservations about Tan Jincheng's attempt to stifle Yangzi Automobile's listing.

"Of course, it's for the better development of the company; going public is not the only goal."

Back when he acquired Yangzi Automobile, Tan Jincheng was preparing to go to Nasdaq to ring the bell, hoping to teach the Americans a lesson about the "American Dream," as Orange Technology had become the fastest company to go public in China, at Shen Nanpeng's suggestion.

It could be said that he was at the peak of his life, when he was only 23 years old.

At the time, due to his schedule, he was too lazy to argue with Changfeng Group and directly gave an overall valuation quote of 5.5 million yuan. This price had a very good premium at the time, and at least the major shareholders of Yangzi Automobile were very satisfied.

The price for Yuechi Automobile's acquisition of Yangzi Automobile was 40 billion yuan, which was 34.5 billion yuan more than the original price of 5.5 million yuan. From any perspective, this investment return over ten years is quite worthwhile.

Take Changfeng Motor as an example. Although its shares have been diluted to less than 5%, its investment in Yangzi Motor has definitely yielded substantial returns. Back then, they received 280 million yuan, which is almost 300 million yuan in cash.

The remaining shares will bring in over 100 million yuan, which is a lifeline for Changfeng Motors right now.

In 2018, Changfeng Motors faced another serious business crisis, with overall sales falling to 7.76 vehicles. It was criticized by name on the 315 Gala for its lack of progress in the development of new energy vehicles and its insufficient competitiveness in the traditional SUV market.

Earlier this year, Cheetah Motors was rumored to be facing negative news such as production stoppages, layoffs, and dealer rights protection issues. They did not participate in this year's Shanghai Auto Show. At such a critical time, obtaining nearly 200 million yuan in cash is much more practical than a vague listing plan.

Li Jianxin, 66 years old with graying temples, was the most agreeable to sell Yangzi Automobile directly. In his words, Tan Jincheng had saved Changfeng Automobile's life once again.

Some people are satisfied, but others are not. The valuation of 40 billion yuan is not low for Yangzi Automobile, but it is indeed much less than the IPO valuation. According to the predictions of institutions, if Yangzi Automobile successfully goes through the IPO, its market value in the short term will be more than 60 billion yuan.

The gap of at least 20 billion yuan will certainly make some greedy people dissatisfied, but they have not considered that with Yangzi Automobile's meager business, it would still require his own efforts to pass the IPO.

The CEOs of Geely and Great Wall Motors were always present at Great Wall Motors' booth, making the first public day a truly exciting day, and Great Wall Motors' booth was also a major attraction.

"The Great Wall Cannon is really good."

The renowned Great Wall Cannon has finally made its debut. Yangzi Pickup has done well in recent years, but in terms of pickup truck technology and business philosophy in China, no one can compare with Great Wall.

In other words, there are restrictions on pickup trucks in China; otherwise, given Great Wall's advanced concept, pickup trucks would definitely be a business growth point that rivals SUVs.

"This car is really beautiful. Your Yangzi pickup trucks have a bit of a Ford feel to them, but they can't replicate the Great Wall style."

Tan Jincheng realized that Boss Li was trying to stir up trouble, but he didn't care. Controversy creates buzz, after all.

"Of course it's different. Compared with an older brother like the Great Wall, we still have a lot of room for improvement."

In addition to the newly unveiled Great Wall Cannon, Great Wall's exhibition area also features their brand-new ORA R1 Goddess Edition. Since the ORA was launched and became very popular among female users, Great Wall has been fully exploring this market.

Why isn't your General Manager Wei here?

"President Wei has other matters to attend to and cannot get away at the moment."

The person who answered Li Shufu's question was Mu Feng, Wang Fengying's successor and the new general manager of Great Wall Motors. He is also a long-time employee of Great Wall Motors, having joined in 2007, and can be considered one of the younger generation of employees at Great Wall Motors.

Mu Feng glanced at Tan Jincheng subtly while answering the question.

In fact, what he knew was that President Wei did not want to meet President Tan from Wei Lai at this kind of event. As everyone knows, whenever President Tan attends such a large international auto show, he is like a vagrant who goes around looking at the exhibition.

This young CEO is completely different from the older generation of entrepreneurs. He can shamelessly poach people like a leech and dares to stand up to foreigners for the sake of the company's interests. In short, he is an open-minded and responsible person.

Don't be fooled by the fact that President Wei sometimes dares to say anything; in this uncontrollable environment, he really wouldn't dare to confront President Tan. When it comes to shamelessness, the younger President Tan is more uninhibited.

How are the Euler models selling?

"It's alright. We delivered around 7000 vehicles of the two models in the first quarter; that's not bad."

"For female users, it's more competitive in price than the Cooper you co-developed with BMW, and the design and colors are quite cute too."

Tan Jincheng rolled his eyes at Li Shufu and realized that this guy was really here to cause trouble today. Li Shufu was going to the exhibition area of ​​new energy vehicles, specifically WM Motor and Wenjie, while Tan Jincheng was going to Xiaopeng Motors.

"Haha, what kind of look is that? It's true."

Starting in April, subsidies were phased out, and new energy vehicles on the market saw varying degrees of price increases. These price increases were not due to higher selling prices, but rather to increased purchase costs after the subsidies were reduced. Apart from companies like WM Motor, which had previously made boastful claims, most other companies followed the dynamic changes in subsidies.

The ORA R1 Goddess Edition has a nationwide unified price of 7.98 yuan after subsidies, which is quite cheap. In terms of price, it is indeed incomparable to the MINI Cooper electric version, which made its debut at the Shanghai Auto Show.

“What we do is not just specifically targeting female users, and there is no competition between us and Euler.”

BMW still had its own ideas, and Tan Jincheng had to respect them. After all, they were offering a real brand to cooperate with, and you couldn't treat them like a trivial matter. Besides, Wei's cooperation with BMW had always been very in-depth.

Wei learned a lot of advanced business concepts from BMW, and there was no need to upset an old friend over the pricing of a car. However, BMW wasn't so rigid either; Mr. Tan's pricing strategy made some sense. A price that was too high would indeed be a limitation for the MINI brand, and if they wanted to tap into the male consumer market, they had to consider this aspect.

Therefore, MINI Cooper's pricing strategy is the same as that of gasoline cars, with the three-door version starting at 18.88 yuan and the five-door version starting at 20.38 yuan, under the banner of simultaneous gasoline and electric power.

According to the latest national subsidy policy in 2019, the lowest price for an electric MINI Cooper is around 16.38 yuan, which is quite attractive.

MINI Cooper also has its own exhibition area, and like Yuechi Auto, it is making its first official appearance. At this time, there are quite a few people gathered around the booth area, and Tan Jincheng will also go over to take a look later.

"Haha, that's hard to say. Although you've done a lot of work, MINI's established image is still somewhat difficult to change, at least for now."

"But our prices aren't uncompetitive either."

The pricing of the MINI is indeed very attractive. Although it did not reach the price of under 15 yuan as Tan Jincheng said, it is still under 20 yuan. With the appeal of the BMW brand, it still attracts a considerable number of users.

Of the 5000 MINI Coopers currently in stock, several hundred have already been sold since orders opened at the Shanghai exhibition. This inventory of 5000 vehicles will be cleared out in no time.

As for Li Shufu's claim of competition with ORA in terms of customer base, Tan Jincheng knew after reviewing the configurations of the ORA series models that there was no issue to worry about.

The ORA R1 series has six main models and nine smaller models, in addition to the Goddess Edition and Family Edition, making a total of more than 10 models, with prices being chaotic. What does that mean?
This is purely a scam to fleece consumers. They come up with a bunch of names and confusing car models. At first glance, they seem stylish, but it's hard to really establish a real presence. Even the higher-end IQ series has a huge number of models.

It can't be done.

With the consumer base becoming increasingly younger, this kind of exploitative approach is likely to provoke resentment. Moreover, with so many car models available, not only will consumers be overwhelmed with choices, but even salespeople might struggle to remember all the different configurations.

One reason why Weilai Auto sells well, as they have summarized internally, is that the model selection is simple, with only a few models available, making it easy for users to understand and allowing sales staff to provide more accurate information.

With each new model, Weilai makes the choice for users, avoiding any unnecessary frills or extravagance. It's all about the price, the configuration, and the model – very convenient.

In addition, this approach can save costs in mass production and make inventory allocation more convenient. Nowadays, before each model of Weilai is launched, there is a certain amount of inventory. Even BMW thinks this is very good, and Weilai has also learned from it.

In addition to the new models, Great Wall Motors' booth also featured their newly launched intelligent robot, as well as a vehicle OS developed in collaboration with Baidu, which can be interacted with on-site. This is a highlight of Great Wall Motors' booth.

"Oh, why did Mr. Wei come to Baidu? Why not cooperate with us? Orange is also doing this, and if all else fails, Horizon Robotics is doing quite well."

After teasing Xiaodu for a while, Tan Jincheng got bored and prepared to leave.

"You poached their number two, and you still expect them to cooperate with you?"

"How can you call it poaching? This is called a new career development plan. Besides, talent is free."

"Tch, let's see if you'll be so easy to talk to if someone poachs your number two one day."

"I'm not going to argue with you about this. You should go and take a look at Volvo. Your vice president is practically public enemy number one."

Tan Jincheng pointed to the Volvo booth. At that moment, Yuan Xiaolin, Volvo's Global Senior Vice President, was interacting with Lin Chi-ling. Although Aunt Lin is getting older, she is still very popular. What year did she get married?

He had no idea what Boss Li was up to, but he was sure that this year's actions were purposeful. Before he could figure it out, Tan Jincheng didn't want to play along with him any longer.

As for his mention of poaching the number two, he was actually referring to Zhang Yong. Tan Jincheng didn't really care about that. First of all, the current structure of Weilai is stable, and the poaching of a CEO wouldn't have a significant impact.

As long as Hu Zhengnan isn't poached, the director of the Weilai Research Institute is the soul of Weilai.

In recent years, Weilai has developed rapidly, and almost all of its models have the potential to become bestsellers. Even the ET7, which did not sell well, has a good reputation. In addition to Tan Jincheng's foresight, Hu Zhengnan's maturity is the key to Weilai's success.

Over the years, the head of the Weilai Research Institute has made outstanding contributions to Weilai's development by leading vehicle development, promoting technological innovation, and guiding research and management.

Despite the unfavorable market conditions and fierce competition in 2018, Weilai still managed to deliver impressive results and maintain its position in the top tier of domestic brands.

It can be said that Hu Zhengnan was the key figure in Wei Lai's success.

If there's one person to guard against being poached, Hu Zhengnan would definitely be at the top of the list. Tan Jincheng has made considerable efforts in this regard, including gradually increasing the proportion of equity incentives and other measures such as strengthening personal relationships.
There were also other benefits, such as care from family members; of course, the most important thing was the extension of Hu Zhengnan's contract period, and the two parties renewed the contract in 2017, which was the second year of Wei Laitengfei's career.

The new ten-year contract has secured the key figure, Wei Lai. By the time the contract expires in 2026, Hu Zhengnan will be 51 years old, and Wei Lai will have secured the best years of his life.

As for what will happen after 2026, that depends on Hu Zhengnan's own choices.

"Let's hire more beautiful models next year, since most people who come to the auto show still prefer to see pretty women."

The group of foreign models from the Great Wall performed a hot dance that attracted a lot of onlookers. They also had the models interact with their robot, which was another highlight.

"Didn't we already invite them?"

The next stop was the BMW MINI booth area, but Li Shufu did not come along.

"It's a bit too little; we made a mistake this year."

This year's Weilai exhibition didn't feature any new models, and the overall changes to the models were minimal. Most of the exhibits focused on technological aspects, which were gimmicky, but lacked appeal for those simply there to see the exhibition.

The exhibition featured presentations on intelligent cockpits, Level 3 autonomous driving technology, and Level 4 intelligent driving technology, as well as interactive displays related to vehicle networking. In the parts and components area, parts and components companies from Weilai made a collective appearance.

The exhibition showcased a range of new energy-related products, including powertrain systems, transmission systems, electric drive systems, intelligent steering systems, interiors, and chassis systems. Other exhibits included PHEV modules, battery cells, small solid-state battery samples, and positive and negative electrode materials.

In short, at this exhibition, Weilai's focus was actually on its subsidiaries, especially its parts and components subsidiaries.

"You really are something else; alright, invite more next year."

Whatever the boss says goes. He previously said that this year the focus would be on promoting auto parts companies, since there are no new cars here and there is no need for excessive promotion. But now it seems that Great Wall Motors, which was doing well, has changed its tune.

This year, we're focusing on components, and it's not just about making a quick appearance.

"Our biggest competitor has arrived."

For the first time, Chrysanthemum Factory participated in this year's auto show as an automotive parts supplier. In addition, the Sharing-Van, an autonomous vehicle they helped develop, also made its debut at the show.

However, this car did not appear at the Chrysanthemum booth, but at the Dongfeng booth.

5G, autonomous driving, intelligent transportation and other pure technological technologies were the focus of Huawei's exhibition this time. For ordinary visitors, these technologies were impressive but not fully understood. Coupled with its booming popularity and reputation, their booth was also surrounded by people.

"This year, Weilai's biggest competitor in integrated intelligent system solutions is Huawei."

While BYD has a significant advantage in the pure technology sector due to its user base, the different nature of the companies means that, apart from competing fiercely in the ride-hailing field, Weilai and BYD can coexist peacefully.

So far, there is almost no conflict between the models of Weilai and BYD, and there is not much competition in the battery business. BYD's current battery business is mainly for supplying its own batteries.

Unlike the Chrysanthemum Factory, which came with the support of the people, the Chrysanthemum Factory, with its external business almost at a standstill, is bound to develop new businesses to seek growth points. Rumors have circulated more than once that they are going to manufacture cars.

Despite repeated denials, Tan Jincheng knew that they were absolutely serious about making cars. Even Xiaomi wanted to make cars, not to mention Huawei, which was the most affected.

So far, they have already established partnerships with several car manufacturers. Compared to Baidu, which has a less-than-stellar reputation, many car manufacturers are willing to cooperate with Huawei. Furthermore, Huawei, which started in communications, has a level of technological integration capabilities that Baidu cannot match.

"Let's go check out the chrysanthemum exhibition area."

After leaving the Weichi exhibition area, Tan Jincheng changed his itinerary and decided to visit the auto parts exhibition area. Meanwhile, Li Shufu was still up to something. After leaving the Great Wall exhibition area, he went straight to the territory of the new forces, but he deliberately did not go to Xiaopeng's booth.

The situation at the new powerhouse booth was also quite interesting. The drinks at Wenjie's booth became the subject of jokes, which actually helped Li Bing gain a lot of fans and somewhat made up for some of the negative news from the previous period.

When He Xiaopeng heard that Tan Jincheng had changed his itinerary, he frowned slightly, seemingly lost in thought.

P.S.: It's fixed now, so I only wrote one chapter.

(End of this chapter)