In order to live in seclusion, I tricked my roommate into falling in love.

Chapter 464 Don’t Talk to Me About Grand Narratives

Li Xiang's net worth is 50 billion yuan, most of which comes from the equity value of Li Xiang Auto, which is listed on the US stock market.

In the past two months, with the sales impact brought by the launch of My Neighbor Totoro, the stock price of Lixiang Auto has plummeted by 30%!
In other words, his wealth evaporated by more than 10 billion!
So in terms of actual personal cash flow that goes into his pocket, he may not be able to compare with top internet celebrities like Zi Xiaowei.

Even car companies that seem to have sales revenues of tens of billions of yuan end up with huge losses and many of them cry out for help.

Working in manufacturing is so hard.

And once it involves capital operation, it comes quickly and goes even faster.

As long as Lixiang Automobile cannot find new profit growth points, tens of billions of assets will be wiped out in an instant.

Zi Xiaowei remained unmoved: "Is it my fault? There are only a few spots available for Peking University and Tsinghua University in a provincial entrance exam. Are you blaming the top student for stealing my future?"

The billionaire who never went to college looked at Zi Xiaowei and asked, "How's the driving experience?"

Teacher Zi commented: "Similar to the L9 I bought, you guys were so cunning that you focused all the skill trees on user comfort, leaving aside the control. This commercial vehicle amplifies this feature, so..."

Coming out of the northern suburbs is the hot spring hotel at the gorge, which is also the hot spring park. Immediately afterwards, you will enter the forest mountain area. Even though the scenic area road is of a high grade, it is winding and undulating.

Zi Xiaowei deliberately accelerated and immediately made this 5.3-meter-long large MPV speed along the mountain road. Even at this speed, it could kill a bunch of fuel vehicles in seconds.

It is obvious that under such changeable cornering conditions, the comfort shock absorber that is deliberately adjusted to be softer begins to wobble.

The front row might be okay, but the back row is full of waves, just like being on a boat!
In particular, some bends are followed by uphill and downhill slopes, and when turning, either the whole car sinks or the shock absorber travel is very large.

Li Xiang began to frown: "Are you deliberately using the special road section to highlight the shortcomings?"

Zi Xiaowei laughed. "Haven't you ever been to Jiangzhou? This kind of terrain is everywhere. Northern cities are mostly divided into horizontal and vertical grids. This actually exposes Lixiang's biggest weakness. Your investment in long-termism, especially in technological research and development, is insufficient. You're still lacking the foundation for chassis tuning. This is the main reason why I've been emphasizing in the live broadcast that new energy vehicles should be prioritized by established car companies. Safety hazards and chassis tuning are things that can't be achieved overnight. They are accumulated through repeated blood and tears. The established car companies have paid almost all the tuition fees over the past twenty years."

Li Xiang still gestured: "Slow down, you're dizzy. Traditional car companies don't know shit. They don't understand the new energy vehicle strategy at all, and they won't listen!"

The tone was a little angry.

Zi Xiaowei nodded. "Yes, ten years ago, they wouldn't have listened to your fantastical talk about change. In that sense, you new forces are pioneers, slapping the old car companies in the face, letting them know that new energy vehicles are more than just gasoline-powered cars. But your independent approach forced you to start from scratch, or acquire some small car companies and start over. I'm different. I'm taking advantage of the situation you've opened up and choosing to persuade the executives of the old car companies to cooperate. By combining your new ideas with their car manufacturing foundation, and finally adding my sales ability, I've become a top student from Peking University and Tsinghua University who has surpassed them."

He always likes to use this kind of teaching and training thinking as an example.

But it is indeed concise and easy to understand.

Li Xiang, who had practiced the magic of wedding dress, had a soaring blood pressure. Nearly ten years ago, they entered the new energy vehicle track, but all car companies dismissed them, let alone cooperated with them, so they had to do it on their own.

I never expected that after risking my life and all my wealth to achieve this situation, and finally celebrating the triumph, this monster would jump out and say, "You... this will destroy fair competition in the new energy market. This is a devastating blow to startups!"

Zi Xiaowei laughed even more. "Hey, a business is a business. Don't always use grand narratives. It's like some people constantly linking shopping with patriotism. In the past 20 years, consumers preferred imported and joint venture cars if their financial conditions allowed. Now that situation has changed, are they more patriotic? No, it's because domestic automakers have improved their capabilities, and their products have surpassed those of imported and joint venture cars. So, focusing on our own products is the right path."

He patted the steering wheel and said, "Let's get back to the car itself. I don't know what's wrong with you guys, but SUVs are very focused on a well-balanced exterior design. I like how unique and avant-garde this is. But consumers may not necessarily buy into this kind of design. It can still do quite well in livestreams, but offline sales probably won't be easy."

Li Xiang's face looked very ugly, but he didn't say anything. He just made a gesture to indicate that you can go ahead and speak.

It is estimated that it is difficult for anyone to speak so freely in front of this young tycoon with a net worth of tens of billions.

Zi Xiaowei really didn't mean to slap someone in the face, but for the other party's betterment: "I didn't think highly of Li Xiang at first because I knew you used Yunfan's qualifications to build cars. I've suffered a lot with their product quality, but in fact, domestic cars have been improving and changing over the years. I had a stereotype, but when I reverse-disassembled them, I accidentally discovered that you saved on materials and production processes. I found that you seemed to have a very clear understanding of input-output, and it would be best if you could realize profits in the short term. This is a huge difference from Wei Lai. In my heart, I basically don't think highly of Wei Lai... I'm saying this even when you're recording." A new energy vehicle is a portable mobile phone, computer, and multi-functional appliance. The background remotely records all operating details, and recording and videotaping are just basic operations.

It’s just that companies have a responsibility not to leak information.

Of course, the CEO of the car company can access all the data. Zi Xiaowei didn't know whether the many times he and Dai Anni tumbled in the back seat of the L9 were recorded. Anyway, he had installed all the cameras in the car.

Li Xiang also looked at it and said: "If you want to change the place to talk, it's fine. Continue to talk about your feelings."

Zi Xiaowei didn't hold back. "After returning to our MPV R&D workshop from your visit at noon, I casually drew a design for my R&D team. I was simply curious why you chose such a radical design. We wouldn't copy it. We discussed it and everyone expressed their opinions. I suspect you may not have enough experience in pure electric vehicle technology. To control power consumption in such a large vehicle, you have to rely on reducing wind resistance, thus compromising on the appearance. Then I noticed you emphasized the use of 5C batteries and ultra-high voltage fast charging, and I realized you've made a mistake in solving range anxiety."

He is considered an expert. Car manufacturing has a drag coefficient. Better cars can reach a few tenths of a degree. Usually, every 0.01 reduction means an increase of seven or eight kilometers in range.

For large MPVs, this is indeed of great significance. A pure electric car consumes 11 or 12 degrees of electricity per 100 kilometers, while an MPV generally consumes around 20 degrees.

The 5C battery only takes one-fifth of an hour to be fully charged. In order to fully charge it in a short time, the voltage must be increased by running faster. The battery cell has low energy density, high cost and large thickness, which will inevitably cause the entire vehicle's internal chassis to be raised and the space to be cramped.

He pointed to the mileage on the central control screen. "The L-series SUV is an extended-range hybrid, so there's no range anxiety. I don't know why you gave up the extended-range model you're familiar with to develop this pure electric MPV. But to avoid range anxiety, you've got a streamlined body, ultra-high-voltage fast charging in ten minutes, and even built your own ultra-high-voltage charging stations. You've put the cart before the horse. All the balancing acts you carefully calculated on the L-series have been abandoned on this car. It clearly uses a 2C or 3C battery, which is cheaper, larger, and has a longer range. The charging time between 20% and 80% is only three to five minutes. Please, wouldn't that cost and effort be better spent on the interior and electrical appliances? Why do you have to compare supercharging times?"

Li Xiang finally spoke, "This car project was launched at the beginning of last year. Besides Tesla, the only competitor was Weilai. To beat Weilai's sole claim to fame, battery swapping, we prioritized the 5C battery as the key to the high-end pure electric market. Who knew you'd burst onto the scene with Ella and Evita at the end of last year, and then you started pushing the Leading brand this year? The whole situation has been completely messed up. Not to mention the Totoro issue over the past two months, forcing us to bring out the MPV model, which was still under refinement."

Zi Xiaowei thought about it with his eyes wide open, and it was indeed the case. At the beginning of last year, there were only two or three companies that could stand firm in the market with a sales volume of more than 300,000 or 400,000 yuan.

But this year, almost all car companies are making great efforts everywhere, and the situation is completely different.

This selling point was completely missed.

Since the other party was frank, he also responded: "So that's the case. What should we do? If the product price drops to over 300,000, I think it can still be sold. If you can't bear to give up this profit margin, then you have no choice but to make changes. Make major changes, from the battery to the interior, and even the appearance."

It’s better to redesign it!

Li Xiang leaned back in his chair in pain. "Domestic cars have reached a price point of over 400,000 yuan and have established themselves, snatching market share from BBA. This is what we are most proud of!"

Zi Xiaowei isn't moved by grand narratives at all, because they could put all teachers out of work: "You're using the cost advantages and differentiated experience of new energy vehicles to earn a large premium, using the comfortable experience to offset the brand heritage of BBA. Once everyone rushes into this premium zone, you'll become mediocre."

As he said this, he turned the car into the underground garage of the hot spring resort. In this sealed corner, there were indeed the prototype cars of Totoro and Evita Coupe hidden. A bunch of engineers were busy here, testing and adjusting them day and night.

This team of elite soldiers specially selected by Ella Automobile is involved in the development of Jiangan Automobile's car tuning technology.

That was a skill learned from the Eight-Nation Alliance.

Technically, Changjiang Automobile made a lot of money.

What Jiangan Automobile got was marketing with a new Internet mindset and a more down-to-earth design perspective from a product manager.

Lying there like two generals, Heng and Ha.

Li Xiang leaned back on the passenger seat, feeling even more miserable.

(End of this chapter)