Rebirth 2010: I taught Mr. Lei how to make a mobile phone

Chapter 920 The Butterfly Effect, Starting to Form a Group

Musk is currently in a state of extremes, experiencing both triumph and despair.

In contrast to Tesla's 'production hell', SpaceX's development seems divinely aided, unstoppable, constantly breaking records in the aerospace industry and becoming a globally renowned star.

Last year, SpaceX achieved a record 18 launches, all of which were successful!

On February 6, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket successfully completed its maiden flight, becoming the most powerful rocket currently in service.

It sent Musk's own cherry-red Tesla Roadster into Mars orbit, a sci-fi spectacle and marketing genius that caused a global sensation.

Due to its technological success and promising commercial prospects, SpaceX successfully raised a large amount of funding during this period, with its valuation continuing to climb and its funds becoming plentiful.

SpaceX's success and high valuation are a huge endorsement of Musk's credibility; otherwise, Tesla wouldn't have even survived last winter.
Therefore, if a factory can be built in China, Tesla models can avoid import tariffs through local production, thereby significantly reducing costs and allowing the prices of models such as the Model 3 to drop to a more competitive range.

Previously, local authorities had offered extremely attractive terms, even exceeding his expectations, including but not limited to low-interest loans, cheap land, tax breaks, and expedited approval processes—all of which would greatly alleviate Tesla's capital expenditure pressure.

One billion yuan, and not in US dollars but in RMB, with land prices only half that of surrounding areas—it's practically free.

As for the annual tax amount and the number of jobs required in the agreement, he agreed without hesitation.

It's like saying you'll donate $100 million to support a war that hasn't even started yet; it's just an empty promise, something you make first and say later.

If that day really comes, so what if he actually donates? The money he earns from online traffic has already far exceeded the boasts he made back then.

If war hadn't broken out, then all would have been peaceful.

Just like if Tesla really falls into trouble and is on the verge of bankruptcy in the future, those agreement terms will be nothing more than waste paper.

The visit went surprisingly smoothly. The only drawback was that the other party still needed to go through some application and approval procedures, which were quite complicated.

It is expected that the two parties will officially sign the contract in August and start building a factory to manufacture cars early next year!

By then, he will have complete control over everything that flies in the sky and runs on the ground!

Musk's ambitions are burning brightly, and becoming the world's richest person seems within reach.

But he was unaware that while Wall Street capital was secretly targeting Xiaomi and he himself was turning his attention to the East,

In the far East, someone is also plotting against him—

The "hijacking" operation...

In mid-April, in a meeting room at the Shanghai branch of Beyond Technology, sat three people with strikingly different demeanors:

Li Bin of NIO, He Xiaopeng of XPeng Motors, and Li Xiang of Li Auto.

At this time, "Wei Xiaoli" had not yet grown into the industry giant it would become in the future.

They gathered here because of their common financial backer – Beyond Technology.

Over the past two years, Beyond, together with Tencent, Baidu, Shunwei Capital, and others, has invested billions of yuan in these three companies.

NIO was in a clearly leading position in the country at the time.

Its first mass-produced vehicle, the ES8, was launched and pre-orders opened on December 16 last year, with the first batch of deliveries planned to begin in the first half of the year, making it the first brand among "Wei Xiaoli" to achieve mass production.

Therefore, in November last year, NIO completed a Series D financing round of over $1 billion led by Beyond and Tencent, with a valuation approaching $5 billion and a total financing amount of over $2 billion, ranking first among domestic emerging forces, and plans to go public before the end of the year.

In comparison, XPeng Motors started its development slightly later. Its first mass-produced model, the G3, rolled off the production line in a small batch (about several hundred units) last October, but it was mainly used for internal testing and user experience, and was not delivered to the public on a large scale.

The large-scale delivery plan is scheduled for the end of this year. Due to a greater emphasis on independent research and development, especially autonomous driving technology, and a more pragmatic approach based on internet technology, the company received a Series B funding round of RMB 22 billion at the end of January, led by Baidu and other partners.

Although Alibaba also competed for investment at the time, He Xiaopeng and Lei Jun had a close personal relationship, so they ultimately chose Biyan and Shunwei.

To date, XPeng Motors has raised more than 50 billion yuan (approximately 8 million US dollars) in total funding, with a valuation exceeding 100 billion yuan.

Li Auto's development path is the most unique. Li Xiang initially planned two products: a small SEV (low-speed electric vehicle) and a large SUV.

Due to the uncertainty surrounding SEV policies, Li Xiang decisively suspended the SEV project and devoted all his energy to the research and development of the first range-extended electric SUV.

This unique approach of sticking to the technology of range-extended electric vehicles to solve users' range anxiety quickly attracted Chen Mo's attention.

Ultimately, Beyond, together with Baidu, Matrix Partners China, and Shougang Fund, invested a total of 30 billion yuan, with Beyond contributing half of it, demonstrating its deep pockets and financial strength.

The conference room door opened, and the three men immediately stood up upon seeing the newcomer. Even Li Xiang, who was known for his strong temper, greeted him with exceptional respect: "President Chen."

Chen Mo waved his hand, gesturing, "No need to be polite, please sit down." The three of them had barely sat down when they heard Chen Mo's first words, and they immediately became restless.
"Are you interested in a piece of industrial land in Shanghai that's about 1000 acres?"

NIO's headquarters are located in Shanghai. Upon hearing this, Li Bin immediately stood up and uttered an address.

Seeing Chen Mo nod, he excitedly slapped the table: "I'm so interested! I contacted the relevant departments before, but they completely ignored me. Now that President Chen has stepped in, maybe things will turn out differently."

Since XPeng's headquarters are in Guangzhou and Li Auto's headquarters are in Changzhou (the same Changzhou that's now known for its poor performance in the Jiangsu Super League), He Xiaopeng and Li Xiang were not familiar with the specifics of the land plot.

Seeing this, Li Bin quickly gave them a concise explanation.

The plot of land is located in the Lingang Area of ​​the Free Trade Zone, covering an area of ​​approximately 80 square meters. It is adjacent to Sany Heavy Industry on the left and SAIC Motor not far away, making it an excellent location.

“I heard before that Tesla is also in talks here. Could it be that we…” At this point, Li Bin suddenly realized something.

“You guessed right,” Chen Mo replied. “That’s why I called the three of you here together. I wanted to get your opinions first, on whether we could form the ‘China New Energy Automobile Alliance’ to jointly bid. Only then can I move forward with the rest.”

All three knew that the site was tailor-made for a world-class automobile factory, with comprehensive planning, infrastructure (such as ports and logistics), and supporting policies.

If the three companies jointly acquire the project, it would mean solving the most challenging problems in the construction process, such as site selection, environmental impact assessment, and approvals, all at once, saving at least 2-3 years and resolving the production capacity issue.

Any single entity alone would be insufficient in scale; even the combined strength of three would still be somewhat weak. This necessitates the leadership of a powerful major shareholder. Chen Mo, as the head of a trillion-dollar technology empire, possesses top-tier capital influence, media influence, and political bargaining power.

Since it was his initiative, it was the perfect opportunity. The three of them reached an agreement almost without hesitation and formed a powerful "local alliance".
After finalizing the preliminary arrangements, Chen Mo instructed his team, including Wei Xiaoli's team, to prepare the necessary materials for the upcoming negotiations.

Empathy is essential in everything we do. Chen Mo enlisted the assistance of the Tianji Pavilion think tank in Beijing to analyze the pros and cons from both Tesla's and the local perspectives.

Tesla is hailed as the "Apple" of the new energy vehicle industry. Although it is in crisis, its technological strength is evident to all thanks to the success of SpaceX and the delivery of the Model S.

Two Teslas that Chen Mo bought earlier are still parked in the underground garage of the Beyond Science and Technology Park.

Musk needs China's market, but he also needs China's factories and production capacity, which offer a highly cost-effective workforce.

From a local perspective, the hope is to introduce Tesla, a technology company, and through the "catfish effect," force the domestic supply chain to improve its technology, quality, and efficiency, thereby revitalizing the entire new energy vehicle industry chain in China.

Moreover, we will learn from the world's leading manufacturing management experience firsthand and work together to cultivate and expand the Chinese new energy vehicle market.

This is a calculated strategy of "exchanging market access for competition and progress".

This is also consistent with China's past practice of overtaking on curves.

The introduction of Tesla to Shanghai aims to create a world-class automobile manufacturing center, thereby boosting employment, tax revenue, and industrial upgrading across the region.

Just like the effect of introducing Foxconn to Zhengzhou.

These people thought they had attracted a catfish, but Chen Mo knew it was actually a hungry wolf.

Chen Mo's goal is clear: it is extremely difficult and unrealistic to completely block Tesla from entering the market, but he wants to delay its entry into China as much as possible.

If Tesla can hold out for a year, it may face bankruptcy, thereby cutting off SpaceX's "supplies" and potentially affecting even more things.

Gathering "Wei Xiaoli" is only the first step.

Subsequently, Chen Mo visited domestic automakers and supply chain leaders such as SAIC, BYD, and CATL, explaining the pros and cons.

With "Wei Xiaoli" joining the company first, CATL had previously received investment from Beyond Investment, and Chen Mo and Zeng Yuqun had met several times.

Although they were not very familiar with Wang Chuanfu of BYD and Chen Hong of SAIC, they all expressed their support to the outside world.

A week later, under the leadership of the other side, these companies jointly established the "Intelligent Electric Vehicle Industry Innovation Alliance," forming a new local force capable of competing with Tesla.

Chen Mo's overseas expansion was also ongoing; he made a phone call to Zhou Shouzi.
"How much of the money you previously earned from Samsung?"

"$82.3 billion!"

“Keep the remainder, 100 million for you, and give the remaining 130 million to the team below. Then, round it up from the previous pool, and following the previous strategy, short Tesla with 10 billion dollars to suppress its stock price.”

"When?"

"Now, let's put Musk under some pressure, give him the ultimate stress test!"

"Roger that, mission accomplished, I'll beat Tesla so badly his own mother won't recognize him!"

(End of this chapter)