Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 262 The historical turning point of Nanshan Group

Building a car is no small matter.

This involves changes across the company.

Although what Cheng Tao and Mi Ying said are quite reasonable.

But it was obviously impossible for Cao Yang to make an immediate decision.

Even if he himself feels that he can start the car-making project now, he still needs to bring together the company's senior executives to discuss and brainstorm to form a special project team.

"Zengbu, is there any important meeting in the company today?"

"I just saw the general managers and deputy general managers of each branch going to the big conference room."

In the sales department of Nanshan Group, Zeng Tingting closed her computer and prepared to go out.

Xu Perui, who was sitting next to her, couldn't help but interjected and asked.

She initially failed in her competition with Mi Ying for the position of secretary to the general manager, but her personal abilities were undoubtedly excellent.

So the human resources department later provided her with the option of going to the sales department.

After several years of hard work, Xu Perui is now the section chief of Sales Section [-] of the sales department.

He was very trusted by Zeng Tingting.

Many people in the sales department even regarded Xu Perui as Zeng Tingting's successor.

"Mi Ying personally called everyone for the impromptu meeting at the general manager's office. It is probably that Mr. Cao has something to discuss with the ministers."

Zeng Tingting still didn't know why such a meeting was suddenly arranged today.

Whether it is the various directors of the group or the heads of the various branches below, everyone's schedule is actually very full.

This kind of impromptu meeting will definitely conflict with other meetings.

But which meeting is more important, everyone naturally knows.

"The company just carried out a major reform at the beginning of this year. Will there be any new big moves this time?"

Although Zeng Tingting had already said that she didn't know the topic of the meeting, Xu Perui couldn't help but guess.

"If there is any big move, our sales department will definitely know about it."

"First review the quotations of those customers' new car models. When I come back from the meeting, everything will be clear to me."

After Zeng Tingting finished speaking, she left the office.

……

"Zengbu, what happened today?"

"Why did you call everyone here for a meeting so suddenly?"

As soon as Zeng Tingting entered the conference room, Pan Jinxing invited her to sit next to him.

"I don't know either."

"I didn't know until Secretary Mi called me half an hour before this meeting."

"She was busy informing others about the meeting, so I didn't ask her what the topic of the meeting was."

Zeng Tingting spread her hands and felt a little strange.

"Has anything big happened in the company recently?"

"Or maybe nothing special happened between us and our customers recently?"

Although he would know what was going to be discussed at the meeting later, Pan Jinxing couldn't help but curiously discuss it with Zeng Tingting.

"I haven't heard of any major events happening in the company for the time being, and there's nothing special happening with customers."

Zeng Tingting thought for a while, but she really couldn't think of a reason.

"I see that the general managers and deputy general managers of each branch are here, and four or five ministers from the headquarters are also here. It seems that the things to be discussed this year are not small."

Pan Jinxing glanced around the conference room curiously.

The people who came in one after another at the door were all the middle and high-level people of Nanshan Group.

However, Cao Yang didn't let everyone wait for him there.

It was almost the time when Mi Ying informed everyone of the meeting, that he, Mi Ying, and Cheng Tao walked in from the outside.

This situation immediately caused many people to speculate.

Does today's meeting have something to do with the engine?

Could it be that Cheng Tao caused some trouble for the company?

He seemed to be in a good mood, not like he was in trouble.

So the engine side has come up with a new product?

It must be so!

Soon, many people had speculations in their minds.

After all, it is no secret within the group that Nanshan Engine is researching products with other displacements.

Although it cannot be said that everyone knows it, all of them, ministers and above, know it.

"Everyone, I have called you here temporarily today to discuss one topic."

"That is whether the group should build a car, and what are the pros and cons of building a car."

Cao Yang didn't beat around the bush at all. He immediately announced the theme of today's meeting after sitting down.

As soon as these words came out, the ministers and bosses on each seat could not help showing expressions of surprise, joy, and surprise.

Everyone reacts differently.

"Mr. Cao, didn't our customers say before that we won't build cars in the next three to five years?"

"If we go back on our word, I'm afraid there will be some trouble on the customer's side."

Zeng Tingting looked at the attendees and stood up first to express her concerns.

Of course, in order to avoid misunderstanding, she immediately added: "I am not against making cars, I just think the company needs to consider how to face these problems. It is best to have a unified voice internally."

Building cars is in line with the ideas of most Nanshan employees.

After all, everyone wants their company to become bigger and stronger.

In everyone's inherent impression, OEMs are definitely stronger than parts companies.

Although this is not entirely correct, it is not a problem most of the time.

"Yes, Zeng Bu's worries are justified."

"Currently, our products are basically sold to various car companies. If we want to build our own cars, no matter how we explain it, they will definitely have some concerns."

Ji Hua also stood up and spoke immediately.

As the general manager of Nanshan Transmission, he is actually not that active in building cars.

After all, Nanshan Transmission has finally opened up the international and domestic markets. If it builds its own cars, it will definitely have a negative impact on the expansion of the transmission market.

Of course, it's not like he can't see the benefits of building a car.

So if the group is really determined to build a car, he will definitely not hold back.

"The concerns of Minister Zeng and Mr. Ji are very reasonable."

"But before discussing this issue, I would like to ask Mr. Cheng to share some good news with you."

Cao Yang did not answer the question directly, but pushed Cheng Tao out.

They had just had a discussion, and Cheng Tao had some understanding of Cao Yang's thoughts.

Now let him stand up and discuss it with everyone first, which can save a lot of Cao Yang's saliva.

"Dear colleagues, Nanshan Engine has now successfully developed a 3.0T twin-turbocharged engine. All parameters are very ideal, far exceeding those of its peers."

"So I proposed that the company make a batch of technical prototypes to demonstrate our advanced technology in auto parts."

"The company's car manufacturing can be carried out in this name."

"And we build high-end cars, so there is no conflict with most of our current customers."

"In the short term, it should not have much impact on our parts and equipment business."

"Only when our car-making business has grown and started to threaten these current customers will they react more violently."

"But by that time, our group's dependence on them has been greatly reduced."

"So there is no need to worry about the reaction from the OEMs now, or there should not be a particularly drastic reaction from the OEMs in a short period of time."

When Cheng Tao said this, everyone present immediately understood.

Obviously, Cao Yang had just come in with Cheng Tao, and they must have discussed this topic before the meeting.

Judging from the current situation, the group should be preparing to build cars.

But before building a car, everyone needs to have a good discussion and unify their thoughts.

"I think what Mr. Cheng said is quite reasonable. If we build a car in the name of a technical prototype, it can at least buy the company more than a year to come out."

"At that time, due to product positioning issues, we can further dispel the doubts of various customers."

"So I think the company should quickly set up a new model team and start planning to build cars."

He Qingquan stands very firm in supporting car building.

"There is a big difference in the social influence of vehicle manufacturers and parts manufacturers, and the brand power is also very different."

"If our Nanshan Group does not produce cars, the pace of development will soon enter a bottleneck."

"So I think the advantages of building a car outweigh the disadvantages."

Finance Minister Dong Shengnan also unequivocally supports car building.

She knows the financial data best and has a clear grasp of the mid- to long-term plans of the sales department and other departments.

According to current data, 500 billion is basically a threshold for Nanshan Group.

After reaching this scale, it will be very difficult to continue to grow in the future.

"We at Nanshan Auto Parts have developed many new technology parts, but except for some models of our own brands, most car companies are still unwilling to provide us with cooperation opportunities."

"In this case, we very much need Nanshan's own models to be equipped with these new technology parts, so that everyone can have a more intuitive understanding of our technology."

"For example, the display screen with navigation function we are developing. Many of the things in it are much more advanced than the models currently on the market, but no manufacturer is willing to use it yet."

"I fully support the company to start the car manufacturing project as soon as possible, set up a dedicated development team, and strive to come up with a very competitive model that will become an instant hit."

As the general manager of Nanshan Auto Parts, Dai Hanbiao also strongly supports building his own cars.

He has great confidence in Nanshan's technology.

Even if building your own cars will arouse the fear of other OEMs, as long as the products produced by Nanshan Auto Parts have strong enough QCD competitiveness, you don't have to worry about not having orders.

"The threshold for building a car is not as high as everyone thinks. We have already mastered the engine and gearbox among the three major components."

“Producing some of the remaining parts ourselves and outsourcing some, we can completely build the car smoothly.”

"But I think what kind of car we should build, how to position our models, and how to make our cars sell well are very critical."

Minister of Justice Xiang Wei was originally prepared to make a fuss, but seeing how important the topic was, he couldn't help but express his own opinion.

Everyone hopes that the company can grow in size and influence.

But how to realize this idea requires careful thinking.

After all, there are so many domestic car-making companies, but there are not many that can do very well, and it’s hard to even talk about who is doing very well.

Regardless of BYD, Geely, or Chery, the sales data are pretty good.

But from a global perspective, compared with the nine giants in 6+3, they are not at the same level of rivals.

The size of an automobile company, not to mention the scale of millions of units, as long as it can reach more than 100 million units, its influence will be completely different.

Obviously, there is no such enterprise in China.

"What I told the minister makes sense. Model positioning is very important and even affects the success or failure of our car-making project."

"As the first touchstone, our new models are fully prepared to carry the group's latest powertrain technology and component technology."

"So it is definitely inappropriate to go low-end to compete with independent brands."

"If we make mid-range models like a joint venture, the brand power will be quite different."

"It's better to just create a limited edition to enhance our high-end positioning and brand influence."

“At that time, we will let everyone see the difference of our new models by participating in some events and tests.”

When it comes to vehicle model positioning, everyone has discussed this method, but it may not be the best method.

So Cao Yang simply expressed his thoughts.

And when he said this, everyone attending the meeting understood it.

That means Cao Yang is preparing to build a car.

In other words, they agreed to start the car-building project.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t talk like this.

Soon, the style of other people's speeches also changed.

Private enterprises have obvious advantages in this regard. The boss can quickly adjust the direction of development with just one word.

So a wise boss is very important.

Whether a company develops rapidly or plummets rapidly is often a matter of thinking for the boss.

"Mr. Cao, if it is a limited edition production, it will be very beneficial to our parts preparation."

“You can prepare production lines and materials for various parts very purposefully.”

"But I just don't know what level this limited quantity is?"

Dai Hanbiao immediately stood up and expressed his views once again.

For Nanshan Auto Parts, an accurate planned number of units is very important.

If you plan to produce [-] units a year, but end up producing only [-] units a year, it will lead to a lot of waste of manpower, equipment, materials, etc.

On the contrary, if you plan for [-] units and the sales are very good, if you always have to increase production, there will be many problems.

When the time comes, it will be a big deal to ensure the supply every day.

Therefore, the limited edition model can be said to be the best solution for him.

Of course, the impact of this limited amount is definitely not just that.

"Mr. Cao, the materials used for the molds used in each part can also be selected in a targeted manner according to the requirements of the number of production units."

"If the number of units is small, you can even directly open a soft mold to reduce the mold cost to one or two percent of that of a permanent mold."

"This can minimize the total investment amount of new models."

As the general manager of Nanshan Mold, He Qingquan is naturally very concerned about the number of units.

If all new models are equipped with permanent molds, the expenditure on molds alone will reach three to four billion, or even more.

After all, every body stamping and injection molded part requires a mold to produce. There are at least thousands of sets of molds involved in a car.

This can be said to be the largest expenditure for a new model project besides development fees.

"No matter how many models we produce, our development work is actually the same."

"If we make high-end models ourselves, no matter how limited the quantity is, the sales volume will not be very high."

"This means that our amortization in all aspects is very high, and the selling price will need to be at least 30 or more, or even higher."

"It is expected that the sales pressure of this kind of model will be very high."

Zeng Tingting is no longer entangled in the topic of whether to build a car.

Obviously, it's useless to dwell on it now.

However, as the head of the sales department, she would be more worried if she had to worry about the sales of new models in the future.

Sometimes, just because your product is good doesn’t mean it will be sold.

There are too many cases in the market where bad money drives out good money.

"Everyone's concerns are justified."

"Our first model is equipped with a 3.0T twin-turbocharged engine and an 8AT automatic transmission under development. The price is expected to be relatively high."

"So the number target is temporarily set at a limited number of 10000 units."

"As for sales of [-] units in one year, it will still take three or four years to achieve, and everyone needs to work hard."

"Now that the company is ready to build a car, although it will be produced in the name of a technology demonstration car at the beginning, it will definitely produce other models in the future."

"So setting up a model development team, production and sales team, and building a supply chain system are more important than pure sales or profits."

"As long as this model has stunning appearance and super power, I believe the limited edition of [-] units can be sold."

"And as for the launch time, I hope it will be the first half of 2006, or even earlier than the end of 2005, which would be the best."

Cao Yang directly made the final decision and set the general direction.

Next, everyone just needs to focus on this big goal to discuss specifically what each department needs to promote, consider what problems they will encounter, and then how to solve them.

"The best-selling model in the American market now is Ford's F150. The appearance of this car was designed by Mr. Cao."

"One of General Motors' flagship products is also a pickup truck model from Chevrolet, and that is also the appearance designed by Mr. Cao."

"Even Honda's N-BOX model, which just won the first-quarter sales championship this year, was also creatively provided by Mr. Cao in terms of appearance."

"I believe that the company's new models will have an appearance that will amaze the world. Coupled with our super powertrain, it may have a very different impact on the automotive industry."

"Maybe the limited edition model will be sold out just after it is launched."

When Cao Yang held meetings with various ministers, Mi Ying usually didn't speak much.

But today's occasion was quite special. After seeing Cao Yang listen to everyone's opinions and then decisively determine the direction of development, she couldn't help but stand up and give everyone some tips.

You must have confidence in the company's car-making project!

Even if Cao Yang's positioning of new models is far different from what everyone imagined before, he still has to be confident.

"I compared the power of the current 3.0T twin-turbocharged engine, which is directly comparable to the power of the BMW 730 and Mercedes-Benz S600."

"The current price of these models starts at more than 100 million. When the time comes, our models will look better than theirs, have better power than theirs, and cost only half of theirs. We should still be able to attract a group of people to buy them."

"We can even compete with Spring City Volkswagen's Audi A6 to see if we can enter the purchase category of high-end official vehicles."

When Cheng Tao said this, everyone present couldn't help but their eyes lit up.

Purchasing high-end official cars?

This is a good idea.

The current price of the Audi A6 is not cheap. Nanshan's new model will perform better than the A6 in all aspects. But if the price difference is not big, there is definitely a chance to compete with others.

At least in Lingnan Province, there is no problem at all.

And high-end official cars are also very beneficial to enhancing brand influence.

At least that was the case in 2004.

"How to sell these models is not the most important thing to consider right now."

"How to develop and produce models is the top priority now."

"From today on, the company will set up a special car-making project. I will personally serve as the person in charge of the project, and the ministers and general managers of various fields will serve as the people in charge of each field, and we will start taking action immediately."

Seeing that everyone's ideas were gradually getting closer, Cao Yang did not continue the discussion at this meeting.

Establish the system first and give each department a few days to digest it.

Then a formal project launch meeting for a new model was held, allowing the big ship of Nanshan Group to begin to turn around.

Looking back at today's meeting after this year, it is destined to be a meeting that will go down in history.

Cao Yang even arranged for someone to film and record today's meeting in the corner.

Of course, this video must be kept secret for now and is not suitable for public release.

However, even so, after this meeting was held, it immediately caused a great sensation within Nanshan.

In the past few years, new joint ventures have been established in China every year, and international automobile giants have begun to establish their presence in China.

The sales volume in the automobile market is also very strong, and the growth rate is far ahead of the international market.

Under this circumstance, the topic of car manufacturing is actually very popular among employees of Nanshan Group.

Although the content of today's meeting will not be passed on to ordinary employees, it is impossible to keep a project as big as building a car completely confidential.

Even if everyone doesn't know what model you are going to build or the specific timeframe, the company is going to build a car.

This information is easy to obtain by asking around.

After the meetings between various ministers and branch bosses, they also summoned key members to start preparing for the car-building project.

Eventually, the news inevitably got out.