What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 616 Production Capacity
At the start of the new year, Yu Xing quietly resumed work in Lingang.

Media outlets were still loitering around Silicon Carbon Group, looking for opportunities. Even when employees tried to negotiate, they only kept a slight distance, hoping to capture some of the latest material on the short-selling king.

Compared to his previous travels, Yu Xing now has an additional car accompanying him for security. Although the domestic environment is very safe, it's still to avoid encountering any low-probability, unpleasant incidents.

He shifted from purely online work to offline work, focusing on understanding the guarantee of the first phase of production capacity and the construction of the second phase of the factory with the factory manager, Song Gang.

In December, Silicon Carbon delivered 13,000 Kyushu vehicles, which is close to the capacity limit of Phase I. After all, its initial plan was to produce 60,000 vehicles per year, but after quickly expanding production to around 100,000 vehicles in February based on the market demand.

With the current three-shift system and optimized processes, it's difficult for the first-phase factory to produce more output, provided that there are no major issues with equipment maintenance.

As the factory manager, Song Gang was very worried about this. The second phase of the factory would not be operational until May at the earliest, and the delivery pressure in the next four months would be enormous. The reduction in subsidies would eventually bring nearly 40,000 orders to silicon carbide by the end of the year, almost wiping out the production capacity of the first phase in the first quarter.

Furthermore, the delayed subsidy reductions in Zhejiang Province and Shanghai will inevitably continue to stimulate orders in the two markets during the first quarter, which will bring new pressure.

Song Gang noticed that many customers who placed large orders were already complaining about the delivery time.

When he met with the boss, he made a small complaint about the inaction of the senior management.

“I understand, I understand, Mr. Song. Last month was really chaotic. There were a lot of orders, the stores were under a lot of pressure, and we still had to provide subsidies.” Yu Xing comforted Factory Manager Song. “We launched the Customer Delivery Care Program on the 5th. For Pro versions that are more than 6 weeks late, we will provide a daily delay subsidy. For Max versions that are more than 8 weeks late, we will also provide a subsidy. I just wanted to ask for your opinion.”

Upon hearing this time, Song Gang immediately said, "Doesn't that mean we'll definitely have to pay subsidies?"

With nearly 4 backlogged orders, no matter how hard we try, it's impossible to get the cars out.

“Yes, Mr. Cui and his team are considering a combination of half cash and half points, totaling 200 yuan per day,” Yu Xing said. “This expenditure is also considered part of the marketing cost, and we will try our best to lock in users before the subsidies in Shanghai and Zhejiang Province are phased out by the policy.”

Song Gang muttered, "That part of the expenditure is quite substantial."

Yu Xing said with a smile, "It's alright, the big short sellers have money."

Song Gang glanced at his boss. "Now that the King of Short Sellers has been exposed, he's not going to keep up the act anymore, is he?"

"As long as the second phase of production capacity is released as scheduled, the subsidies in the first quarter will be worthwhile." Yu Xing walked around the factory, explaining the policy clearly. "Next year, oh no, it's this year now. If we can secure most of the market for the whole year, that will be a great success."

The first quarter will inevitably be a period of pressure, and the pressure will be alleviated through customer compensation. This reputation building and the postponement of subsidies in Zhejiang and Shanghai will provide a great boost to the second quarter.

If things are settled in the first half of the year, the momentum will continue in the second half. Around November, a minor facelift and a large five-seater model will be released, which will further stimulate the market.

This was something that should have been discussed and resolved by everyone last month, but it was indeed affected by the additional exposure of the incident.

Yu Xing was chatting with Song Gang when his secretary, Zhang Yangxu, hurriedly ran over.

"Boss, Bosch says there's a problem with the production capacity of the drive-by-wire system," Zhang Yangxu reported in a low voice. "Weebak gave the same explanation around the same time."

Yu Xing's eyes flickered: "Christmas is over in Europe, huh?"

Last month, due to the Christmas season in Europe, although there were many lawsuits and investigations in Germany, France, and the EU, the industry did not react much. For example, Bosch Group, which is deeply involved in emissions and cheating parts supply, also supplies parts such as drive-by-wire systems and millimeter-wave radar to silicon carbide. There is still a lot of cooperation between the two sides in optimizing the solution.

Now that it's the beginning of the month, it's not entirely surprising that the Bosch Group is citing unstable production capacity as an issue.

Upon hearing the problem, Song Gang's expression became extremely serious. The Silicon Carbon Group already faced significant delivery pressures, and the disruption of key component supplies would only exacerbate the situation. Among the international T1 suppliers of components like air suspension, only Wibac was willing to provide them, and the iBooster drive-by-wire system was Bosch's most advanced technology.

After a moment's thought, Yu Xing said to his secretary, "Contact Guo Chuan and have them prepare to launch the domestic air suspension project. Also, tell Cui Zhiyu to set up a temporary handling team. If it is ultimately decided to use the domestic version, inform the customers of the relevant information, provide a lifetime warranty, and open up refund and reconfiguration channels."

"I'll call Lingang later and compile a report on the supply chain situation. I'll meet with Director Zhu tonight."

Zhang Yangxu immediately nodded in agreement.

Seeing that his boss was not flustered and was arranging things in an orderly manner, Song Gang breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Yu Xing noticed Song Gang's expression and reassured him, "President Song, don't worry. The supply of parts won't hinder our development; it can be coordinated. Moreover, Lingang's support for companies like Zhibo and Kong Hui seems very necessary now." Song Gang nodded deeply. He knew that the millimeter-wave radar and air suspension systems could have been implemented last year if they had wanted to.

Yu Xing's inspection of the factory was interrupted by an unexpected situation. He gave a few more instructions to Director Song and then turned around and led his men back to the office building.

Before they even reached the bottom of the building, they spotted Li Song. Upon seeing him, Li Song stopped in his tracks as he was about to enter.

"What's up, little short seller?" Yu Xing joked as he looked at Li Song who was coming to greet him.

Li Song was already desensitized to this kind of title coming from a big short seller. He looked around and even though the person next to him was President Yu's secretary, he still showed a wary expression.

Zhang Yangxu felt a surge of anger and couldn't help but say, "Why are you looking at me, Mr. Li? When I was contributing to Guoshanfeng, you hadn't even started shorting yet."

He was referring to his previous part-time job, which has now been proven to be the boss's doing. Although he didn't make any significant contributions, he was still considered an "unofficial member."

Li Song was startled and immediately realized that Guoshanfeng was indeed a huge organization with a core group and loosely distributed members on the periphery, and the organizational theories circulating among the people were indeed reasonable.

"Mr. Yu, I've compiled all my previous investigations and latest findings about LeEco." Without further hesitation, Li Song took the compiled LeEco documents out of his bag.

Just then, a young man came out of the building. His eyes lit up when he saw Mr. Yu in front of the building. He quickly stepped forward but was then restrained by the vigilant security personnel and kept outside.

"President Yu! President Yu! I have an investigation report on the Tie Niu Group!" The young man suppressed the urge to shout, and his first sentence was the key point.

Seeing this, Yu Xing beckoned him over, but instead of immediately taking the documents the other man pulled out, he asked, "What are you trying to do?"

The young man's eyes were bright, and his second sentence made Li Song's face darken: "President Yu, I am Zhao Shuo, and I would like to join Guoshanfeng."

Yu Xing couldn't help but smile before taking the investigation document handed to him. He casually flipped through it, then carefully examined a few key paragraphs before asking, "Have you done anything wrong?"

Li Song was shocked. "Damn it, I haven't even joined the Mountain Peak yet! How did this guy who appeared out of nowhere manage to get there first..."

“No, Mr. Yu, I’ve never done short selling. I worked at a consulting firm for two years before.” Zhao Shuo said neither humbly nor arrogantly. “I’ve read all of Shanfeng’s short selling reports. For the past two weeks, I’ve been conducting on-site investigations of Tieniu Group’s shadow companies in three major cities. It’s all done using some clumsy methods.”

At this moment, Li Song asked in a questioning tone, "A stupid method?"

Zhao Shuo responded, "I heard that when President Yu was researching Fenzhong Media, he counted the screens one by one. So, I think the old-fashioned method might be more effective."

Yu Xing remained noncommittal, handed the document in his hand to his secretary, and then said to the young man in front of him, "Give a resume to Zhang Yangxu and wait and see."

Zhao Shuo's face lit up with joy, and he quickly exchanged contact information with Zhang Yangxu.

Li Song glared at the impetuous young man, took a few steps beside President Yu, and suddenly realized what was going on when he asked, "President Yu, is Guoshanfeng going to launch activities in China?"

Yu Xing's concise reply was: "I'm considering it."

Li Song immediately said, "President Yu, if Guoshanfeng is operating within China, then I'll apply to join right now!"

Seeing that President Yu did not answer, he continued, "Moreover, I also have nepotism connections. Xu Xin is also a shareholder of our Silicon Carbon Group and Silicon Carbon Data!"

Yu Xing suppressed a laugh: "It's precisely because of President Xu. If you had joined Shanfeng, it would have made things very difficult for President Xu. We'll see, it's not certain. Just saying."

Li Song followed along unwillingly, his eyes darting around as he tried to think of a solution.

Yu Xing didn't have time to consider Li Song's thoughts. He quickly informed Lingang of the situation he had just encountered, and this information was then rapidly relayed upwards.

He thought he would have to wait for coordination and countermeasures, but he received a call back late at night, informing him that his superiors were considering launching a belated investigation into Bosch Group, which provided emissions cheating parts.

The same thing was already being investigated in Europe last year. There was no action in China before because companies like Volkswagen didn't have much of a market share of diesel vehicles there, but now... you're faking it and cheating, and you still have the nerve to argue?
(End of this chapter)