Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 264: Star Car, there are many obstacles in the way

No matter how many people are concerned about Nanshan's car-making project, and no matter whether others support or oppose it, Nanshan's internal new model project launch meeting was held normally.

In this way, building a car can be regarded as a formal project.

Cao Yang is also preparing to focus his work on the car-building project in the next period of time.

After all, only when the early model planning is done, the positioning of the model is clear, and the appearance and configuration are determined, can many specific tasks be carried out more easily.

It is already the end of June 2004. If Nanshan's new car wants to be released by the end of 6, the schedule will be very tight.

Normally, it takes three to five years for international automobile giants to develop a new model.

Domestic independent brands often use outsourced or off-the-shelf powertrains, and the vehicle exterior and other designs are "borrowed" from other best-selling models.

Therefore, the development cycle is usually within two years.

As a new entrant, Nanshan naturally cannot extend the development cycle too long, otherwise the risks and pressure will become much greater.

Fortunately, in terms of powertrain, we already have a relatively deep accumulation, and there will definitely be no problem in catching up with mass production next year.

If the core issues can be solved, the pressure on the rest will be much less.

Even so, there are so many things to worry about.

"Mr. Cao, if we want to produce cars, we first need to solve the license plate problem. Otherwise, even if the car is produced, there will be no way to obtain approval from the ministry and commission, and it cannot be put on the market. In that case, it will really just become a technology demonstration car. "

"For example, some international automobile giants come to China to set up joint venture factories. There are often shortcuts for their production access, so there is no need to worry."

"But as a company that has never produced cars, it is still relatively difficult for us to gain recognition in this area."

"Especially in recent years, many automobile projects have been launched in China, and there are signs of overcapacity to a certain extent."

"It is estimated that the review of this aspect will be more stringent than before."

The new model team has project meetings early every morning, and Cao Yang attends them every time.

Now we must sort out all the bigger problems and assign people to deal with them.

Obviously, the license issue is a huge stumbling block.

"When BYD entered the car manufacturing field, the situation was somewhat similar to ours, but they obtained the car production license by acquiring some car companies that were on the verge of bankruptcy."

"Can we also consider taking a similar approach?"

Zeng Tingting put forward a suggestion of her own.

Although this solution may not be the most suitable, it is definitely one of the feasible solutions.

After all, there are too many domestic automobile companies.

Many of them were launched in the 90s and are now on the verge of bankruptcy, with even one license plate worth some money.

"Our Nanshan Group's turnover exceeded 300 billion yuan last year, and it is expected to exceed 500 billion yuan this year. By then, it will be the largest private enterprise in Lingnan Province, and even if you look at the country, it will be among the top five."

"In addition, our accumulation in the automotive industry is much deeper than other companies. Our previous 6AT gearbox even won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award."

"In this case, do I think I can just apply normally?"

Ji Hua felt that if he could do it without spending money, it would be best not to spend money at all.

If you waste [-] million on obtaining a license, you might as well use the money on research and development.

"I think what Mr. Ji said makes sense."

"BYD may not be able to apply for a license in this area through normal channels. After all, they have never done anything related to cars before."

"So we can only buy license plates from other car companies."

"But we in Nanshan are different. We can apply openly and openly. If the ministry or commission has any questions, we can just face them directly."

Pan Jinxing also agrees with Ji Hua's point of view.

The past few years since joining Nanshan have been the years when his self-confidence has been continuously improved.

Nowadays, Nanshan is regarded as China's leading presence in both the auto parts industry and the equipment industry.

In this case, if Nanshan cannot get access even if it wants to enter the field of vehicle production, then who else is qualified?

Does it have to be given to companies like Yangcheng Toyota and Imperial Benz?

"The automobile industry is now regarded as a pillar industry in Yangcheng. If our group enters the field of vehicle manufacturing, the provinces and cities should be very supportive."

"Can we consider using the overall strength of Yangcheng to advance this license issue?"

Xie Lingyun used to work at Shaogang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. and is very familiar with the methods of dealing with state-owned enterprises and the government.

Now serving as the general manager of Nanshan Special Steel, he has always kept a relatively low profile within the group.

But naturally he also wants to show his sense of existence and value in front of everyone.

Helping the car-building project obtain a license is obviously a good opportunity.

"What Mr. Xie said makes sense. I'll contact the district first later."

"When the leaders came to inspect before, they all mentioned that we should boldly raise any questions."

"This question right now is a very good question to ask for help."

Cao Yang glanced at Xie Lingyun and felt that his plan was the best.

Spending money to buy some companies that are on the verge of bankruptcy can certainly solve this problem.

But that's just spending money to buy a license.

Nanshan can afford this money.

But the significance of going out is not that big.

Nanshan will have to compete with various international parts giants and automobile giants in the future. If it can't even get a simple access license, how will it compete with the giants in the future?

"When I went through some procedures at a special steel plant before, I accumulated some related experience."

"Mr. Cao, I am willing to take the initiative to take charge of this matter and serve as the company's window to be responsible for related promotion matters."

When Xie Lingyun saw that Cao Yang approved his plan, he naturally immediately stepped forward to express his position.

"Thank you for your hard work, Boss!"

"Whenever you need it, I'll run with you!"

Although the first stumbling block has not been solved yet, at least we have a direction.

So soon, everyone started discussing the next topic.

"At present, the first and second phases of Nanshan Industrial Park have been fully utilized, and there is not much free land in the third phase."

"If we want to build a new production plant like those joint venture car companies, I'm afraid we need to continue to apply for land in the district."

"But our vehicle project has not yet been approved, and there may be some difficulties in applying for land now."

"The most important thing is that once we take this step, everyone will know about building a car immediately."

"Even if we continue to promote the prototype car as a technology demonstration, many people probably don't believe it."

Dai Hanbiao then raised a new question.

That's the problem with the production plant.

A normal automobile factory usually has a stamping workshop, a welding workshop, a painting workshop and a general assembly workshop, covering a relatively large area.

Rebuilding a factory like this, even if it is faster, will take at least a year.

As a result, the subsequent production of prototype vehicles for certification and testing may not be able to keep up with the schedule.

Unless the ideal goal of starting production at the end of next year is postponed.

"I think the group's first model only has a production target of 10000 units. Even if it is produced within a year, there will be less than 1000 units in a month."

"If we put it into production within two or three years, the number of units that need to be produced every month will be even fewer."

"In this case, can we make full use of the spare factory buildings in the third phase and build a simple vehicle assembly line first, focusing on the gimmick of manual production?"

"In this way, the movement will be smaller, the investment will be smaller, and we can make adjustments more flexibly."

Dong Shengnan, Minister of Finance, put forward his own views.

She supports building cars.

However, if you can invest less, it is best to invest less, otherwise the financial pressure will increase.

"I think Minister Dong's proposal is reasonable."

"First accumulate relevant experience through a simple trial production line, and then build a specialized vehicle factory later."

"This may be the best solution for our group."

Without waiting for others to express their opinions, Cao Yang gave his own judgment.

Nanshan Group manufactures cars, and its initial positioning is relatively high-end.

This is destined that the initial sales volume will not be particularly ideal.

Even if he had some tricks to promote it, he wouldn't be able to sell a model worth RMB 60 or more to tens of thousands a month.

In this way, small investment and rolling development is a very suitable path.

Yangcheng Honda, which is in the same city, relied on similar concepts to develop rapidly.

"There is another issue that needs to be considered, which is whether we should produce large stamping parts such as four doors and two covers ourselves. This is related to the issue of whether we should invest in a stamping workshop ourselves."

"I personally suggest that the Yangcheng Huaqiang Factory invest in building a large-scale stamping production line and hot stamping production line nearby, which can provide our models with four doors, two covers and body skeleton parts."

As the head of the purchasing department, Su Mingxing is naturally responsible for the parts that Nanshan cannot produce itself.

Which parts are produced in-house and which parts are purchased from outside, this definitely needs to continue to be discussed.

But for large covering parts such as four doors and two covers, you need to think carefully in advance.

When investing in large-tonnage stamping equipment, the preparation period for factories and equipment is relatively long.

He didn't want to see the group's car-making project fall apart here.

"There is no problem with this direction. You can have a chat with Mr. Guo from Huaqiang Factory first to see if he has any ideas in this regard."

Large stamping parts are related to the appearance of the car body and are relatively important.

Normally, you must produce it yourself.

However, Yangcheng Huaqiang Factory can also be regarded as an affiliated enterprise of Nanshan, with [-]% of the shares owned by Nanshan.

So it is not unacceptable to leave the order to them.

After all, the most difficult part for this part is the mold design.

As long as the equipment is put in and the molds are in place, production is not that difficult.

"There is another problem. Although we can now produce powertrains, we can also produce many parts on the body and chassis."

"But to assemble a car, you still need to purchase a large number of parts from outside. You need to accept at least a hundred new suppliers to be able to produce a complete vehicle."

"Then what logic should we use to select these suppliers also requires a general direction within the company."

Su Mingxing must be most concerned about the business he is responsible for.

Supplier selection is a relatively sensitive topic.

Naturally, he hopes to move forward after clarifying a general direction.

"This is very simple. Look at who is using it in the industry, and we will use it for the time being, and then introduce more manufacturers to compete in the future."

"Core parts are basically produced in Nanshan Auto Parts. Most of the other parts are relatively low-tech and can still be produced by some domestic manufacturers."

“The big principle is that there is no need to import parts from abroad, and even materials should not be purchased from abroad as much as possible.”

Although a stable supply chain is very important for OEMs, Nanshan has been able to produce gearboxes and engines, as well as some core parts of the car body. At this time, it is difficult to continue to introduce some suppliers to supplement and improve the entire supply chain. Not high at all.

Some parts can be produced by existing suppliers.

For other parts, we can learn from the supply systems of Yangcheng Honda, BYD, Xifeng Nissan and other companies, and there won't be much of a problem at all.

"There is an issue that I think everyone needs to pay attention to from the beginning."

"Car production seems very simple, and many domestic independent brands can produce it."

"But everyone must also know that self-owned brand models will always have various minor problems. Unlike other joint ventures, there may not be any problems within a few years."

"This involves a complete system, especially quality management and the stability of large-scale mass production."

Luo Hongxing, who had been silent until now, also stood up and spoke at this time.

As a former vice president of Ford Motor Company, he is relatively low-key in the company.

But it doesn't mean that his level is not good.

"If you want to say which industry has the most complex industrial chain and the most parts, it probably has to be the aerospace and military industry, not automobiles."

"If you want to say which industry has the highest safety requirements and the lowest tolerance for quality defects, it may still not be the automobile, but the aerospace and military industry."

"As for which industry is developing and changing the fastest, it is still not the automobile, but the electronic information-related mobile phone, computer and other industries."

"Even if we say which industry has the largest production volume, it is not cars, but consumer electronics such as mobile phones and computers."

“But I think the automobile industry is the benchmark for the manufacturing industry, because although the above industries have high requirements in certain aspects, they are seriously biased. Although the requirements of the automobile industry are not the highest in every aspect, when taken together, the requirements are Very high.”

"Except for the automotive industry, no other industry has the above characteristics at the same time."

"Because of this, when producing cars, we have to adopt a higher level of management. Ultimately, the management level of the automobile industry is the highest in the manufacturing industry."

"There are so many parts in a car, and mass production can magnify the problem."

"Any small problem becomes a huge problem as long as it is multiplied by the quantity of mass production, resulting in huge recall costs and repair costs."

"So I think error prevention needs to be fully considered in the initial design and production processes."

"For example, if some parts are missing, then the whole product cannot be assembled without this part."

"Some parts are easy to install backwards, so design them so that if they are installed backwards, they won't fit in."

"As for error-proofing in the manufacturing process, since I am working on a small-batch production line, the degree of automation is probably not particularly high."

“That makes the need for error prevention a lot greater.”

"In fact, I think that even for small-volume production lines, parts that can be installed with equipment should be solved with equipment as much as possible."

"Imagine that a purely handmade line makes a thousand products every day, but people may always be negligent. Even a 10% negligence will produce [-] defective products."

"As for machines and equipment, as long as the parameters are set, they will continue to operate according to the existing procedures, and the chance of error is small."

"It just so happens that our group has its own equipment industry, and the robots are also doing very well. We can give full play to our advantages."

Seeing that everyone was listening attentively, Luo Hongxing opened his mouth to express his opinions.

He felt that everyone was still a little too optimistic.

Although he is also very supportive of car building, support is support, and difficulties must be realized in advance.

A car is not as simple as a sofa and four wheels.

"What Mr. Luo said makes sense. Both the design department and the production department need to combine the perspective of error prevention and quality requirements in the early stages."

Cao Yang is still very confident in Luo Hongxing's professionalism.

Otherwise, he would not be allowed to concurrently serve as the vice president of the automotive project.

"Mr. Cao, I think it is necessary to start working on personnel recruitment and management processes immediately."

Liu Youmei, the Minister of Personnel and General Affairs, also mentioned the difficulties he would encounter at this time.

"When we want to recruit people, most of them will definitely come from other domestic OEMs. However, the German, American and Japanese brands all have different styles. When our company recruits people, do we need to focus on it? ?”

Nanshan will definitely not recruit talents that can be found domestically.

The costs are completely different.

However, the issues mentioned by Liu Youmei do need to be considered.

Although a company will eventually form its own style.

But which system is preferred in management can still be classified to some extent.

"Germans are good at avoiding mistakes in processes and rules. Their company is characterized by a lot of processes."

"The advantage is that it can ensure stable product quality and solid technology. The disadvantage is that the process is complicated and it cannot respond to changes quickly."

"Japanese people are good at reducing waste. They often think about what is unnecessary, but they are also obsessed with details, so they came up with lean production. This is also the reason why Japanese products are cost-effective, leading in technology, and solid in quality. "

"Americans are good at innovation and are not bound by processes and rules. Things that do not follow processes and rules often happen. This seems to be similar to us Chinese people."

"So they can quickly respond to market changes, but they are often technologically advanced but the quality is mediocre."

Seeing that Cao Yang did not interrupt him or give a direct answer, Liu Youmei added some analysis from the side.

If Nanshan wants to recruit people, the most important thing must be to recruit people from companies such as Yangcheng Honda, Modu Volkswagen, Modu GM, Spring City Volkswagen, Spring City Toyota and Changan Ford.

Domestic companies such as Geely Automobile and Chery Automobile are not Liu Youmei's choices for the time being.

"This problem is easy to solve."

After listening to Liu Youmei's words, Cao Yang made a decision quickly.

"For example, R&D talents can be poached from the Pan-Asia Technology Center. General Motors has cultivated a lot of talents there over the years."

"For quality management, we can recruit people from the joint ventures of Toyota and Honda. They have relatively high quality control requirements."

"As for procurement and project management, we can recruit people from Modu Volkswagen and Spring City Volkswagen."

"As for the sales department, some people can be poached from the sales departments of complex imported car sales companies such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, as well as from the sales departments of independent brand car companies such as Chery and Geely."

"We will make full use of whichever feature is beneficial to the company's development."

"In the end, after fusion, we formed our own characteristics."

Cao Yang's seemingly random combination is obviously very reasonable.

For him, if the powertrain is good enough and the appearance of the model is good enough, then the rest is to produce it step by step.

"Mr. Cao, is our car company also called Nanshan Automobile?"

Mi Ying, who had been responsible for recording, suddenly interrupted.

When she asked this question, everyone's interest immediately rose.

Nanshan Group already has so many companies starting from Nanshan.

It seems that it is not impossible to call it Nanshan Automobile.

But in the end it gives people a feeling of being featureless.

And it seems to be too closely related to the auto parts business and equipment business, which should be detrimental to the expansion of this area of ​​business.

For example, if you go to BMW to discuss business, you are BMW's competitor. Then when people see Nanshan equipment or Nanshan auto parts, they probably won't want to use them.

"The name of the car company should be Xingchen Automobile."

"Many people in the group have a car dream, myself included."

"I hope Xingchen Motors can realize all of our dreams and overcome all the obstacles we encounter!"

When it comes to naming, Cao Yang decided on the name directly from Qiankun.

Fortunately, everyone still thought this name was acceptable, and no one raised any objections.

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