Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 277 A multi-billion dollar business deserves a serious discussion

The more than [-] years since the birth of the automobile have also been an era of rapid advancement in human technological capabilities.

With the advent of the electric age, the electrical components on cars have also undergone tremendous changes.

The most representative one is undoubtedly the development and evolution of vehicle headlights.

In the early days of cars, the primary concern was how to make the car move forward quickly and stably, not lighting.

Therefore, there is no decent headlight installed on the car at all.

Later, with the development of the automobile industry, car lights began to develop continuously.

Starting from kerosene lamps, car headlights have roughly gone through the era of acetylene lamps, incandescent lamps, halogen lamps, and xenon lamps.

Among the models currently sold on the market, almost all mid- to low-end models have halogen lamps, and high-end models almost all have xenon lamps, with few exceptions.

The headlights that Xingchen Automotive Research Institute first designed were xenon lamps.

In order to find qualified suppliers, the purchasing department has launched the first round of inquiry with manufacturers such as Hella, Koito Auto Lighting, Stanley, and Xingyu.

However, for parts like car lights, each model basically has its own design, and there is no so-called universal product that can be used.

This means that even if Xingchen Motors only produces 1 units, it still needs to independently develop and mold the lights.

This price is naturally exaggerated.

For example, Hella directly quoted a price of nearly 5000 yuan for a headlight.

Koito car lights and Stanley are slightly cheaper, costing more than 4000.

Only China's local company Xingyu Car Lights quoted a price of 3000 yuan, and the other party even said that if the production of Xingchen Automobile increases, the price will still have room to drop.

Obviously, Xingyu Auto Lighting really wants to get this order.

They even came to Yangcheng to visit Cao Yang.

"Mr. Cao, xenon lamps are heavy metal lamps. They fill a variety of chemical gases, such as xenon and other inert gases, into a UV-resistant crystal quartz glass tube, and then use a supercharger to instantly increase the vehicle's 12-volt power supply to 23000 volts. At high Under voltage, the xenon gas is ionized and creates a light source between the poles of the power source.”

"In 1992, Hella and Bosch respectively released their first xenon technology headlights, and the BMW 1992 Series released in 7 was the world's first model to use xenon headlights."

"The BMW 730 currently on sale still uses xenon headlights."

"We at Xingyu Auto Lighting have been researching xenon headlights for several years, but we have always lacked a good mounting platform."

"So it seems that compared with automotive lighting companies such as Hella and Koito, we don't have much production performance, but our technology accumulation is enough to complete the development of parts."

"We are willing to develop together with Xingchen Motors and supply the first model at a price that does not make money."

After a brief supplier introduction, Zhou Ling, general manager of Xingyu Auto Lighting, personally explained to Cao Yang the importance they attached to this order.

They also very frankly explained their weakness in xenon headlights.

Because they had already made various investigations and preparations before coming to visit.

Zhou Ling already knew that Cao Yang did not like to use parts from international parts giants such as Hella.

As long as Nanshan's own parts or Huaxia's own parts manufacturers can meet the technical requirements, Xingchen Automobile will definitely give priority to their use.

"Xenon headlights are indeed the most advanced mass-produced lighting technology currently used on various models."

"I also believe that you can produce car lights that meet the drawing requirements."

"But I want to ask another question, have you done any research on LED car lights?"

Cao Yang's question stunned Zhou Ling for a moment.

LED car lights.

Although they heard that Hella and other car lighting companies were already conducting research in this area, they even had some new products ready to be recommended to OEMs.

But their own accumulation in this area is really relatively small.

At present, it is mainly still in the theoretical research stage.

Does Xingchen Automobile want to be so bold in using LED lights?

"Mr. Cao, LED lights are energy-saving, have a long lifespan and are very durable. The LED components are small in size, compact and easy to arrange and design, with fast response speed and low brightness attenuation."

"It can be said that this is a very promising development direction in the future."

"The light intensity of a single LED is still insufficient, so we cannot arbitrarily reduce the number of LEDs to reduce the size of the lamp."

"At the same time, the smaller size is not conducive to the heat dissipation of the light source. This requires LED manufacturers to do a good job in thermal management of their products in order to fully utilize the advantages of LEDs."

"Furthermore, the conversion efficiency of the LED drive system is also a key issue. In high-power applications, many solutions have low conversion efficiency while taking into account costs."

"In addition, driving with a traditional constant voltage source cannot guarantee the consistency of LED brightness, and affects the reliability, life and light attenuation of the LED. Therefore, LEDs must be driven by a constant current source, which is designed into the entire lighting system solution. changes."

"In addition, most of the LED lamp production levels do not meet the automotive-grade application standards. Even if some manufacturers reach the automotive-grade application, their production capacity and product consistency may not be sufficient, and it is difficult to meet the needs of mass-produced cars. high-volume, high-quality demand.”

Although Zhou Ling felt weak in her heart, she showed that she was very confident.

It seems like they have done in-depth research and development on LED lights.

"Mr. Zhou, what do you think of the future of LED lights?"

Cao Yang did not refute Zhou Ling's point of view, but asked other questions.

"In the long run, LED car lights will definitely be a general direction, but I think within the next five years, no domestically produced models will be equipped with LED headlights."

"It is likely that the application will start with some relatively simple light bodies such as fog lights and indoor lights."

Zhou Ling could answer this question very easily.

After all, no model on the market is equipped with LED headlights. According to past logic, even if there are new models to be equipped with them in the future, they will start with high-end models.

After a generation of products, it will slowly expand.

In this way, let alone five years, she thinks it will not be widely used in 10 years.

"In other words, Mr. Zhou, do you recognize the future development prospects of LED lights?"

Cao Yang was not surprised by Zhou Ling's answer.

The entire automobile industry is not focusing on LED headlights now.

Even xenon headlights are already relatively advanced configurations in the eyes of many people.

At most, they just need to make some improvements in the lens.

"Of course, LED headlights have so many advantages. As long as their shortcomings can be improved, large-scale use in the future is inevitable."

"It's just that this time, it may be ten years later."

Zhou Ling wasn't very sure why Cao Yang kept struggling with this issue.

However, this gave her a bad premonition.

Could it be that Xingchen Auto wanted to get LED headlights as soon as it came out?

They can't handle this.

"If Xingyu Auto Lighting can now master mass-produced LED lighting technology, Mr. Zhou, do you think this will be of any special help to the development of your company?"

Cao Yang continued to ask questions at his own pace.

"Mr. Cao, our company attaches great importance to the research and development of new technologies. I also hope that we have mastered LED car lighting technology now."

"But frankly speaking, according to the current progress, it will take at least another three to five years before we can develop mature LED lighting technology."

"With the current market conditions, any car lighting company that can come up with mature and reliable LED car lighting technology in advance will definitely be able to take a leading position in the market competition."

“Not only domestic joint venture car companies may use it, but also international car giants may actively seek cooperation.”

"Especially on some high-end models, LED car lights are still very attractive."

Zhou Ling felt that Cao Yang's questions were getting more and more strange.

Do talented people have special ideas?

"Our Xingchen No. 1 model will use xenon headlights for low-end models and LED headlights for high-end models."

"Currently, your xenon headlights don't have any actual mass production results. They are just in a development state, right?"

"If Xingchen Automobile comes up with LED headlight technology to cooperate with Xingyu, what cooperation plan can you provide?"

We will make some parts ourselves and cultivate a group of related parts companies to make some parts.

This can be regarded as the general direction of parts supply set by Cao Yang for Xingchen Automobile.

Although this Xingyu car lamp is not particularly outstanding now, after it is listed in the future, its market value will exceed 500 billion at its peak.

If you can get a few percent of the shares, then replacing it with LED car lighting technology can be considered a relatively cost-effective business.

A multi-billion dollar business deserves a serious discussion.

After all, it is impossible for Nanshan Group to actually produce all the parts by itself.

At least the last five or six years are not suitable for doing this.

Although headlights are very important, the degree of monopoly is far less than that of ESP and other control system parts.

"Nanshan Group has mastered the technology of LED car lights?"

Zhou Ling couldn't help but have a suspicious expression on her face.

There is no way, Cao Yang's formulation is really surprising.

I came here to ask for an order, but it turned out that they wanted...

"This can be used as a prerequisite for cooperation and written into the agreement."

Cao Yang didn't explain that much. Just saying it directly was more convincing than any other explanation.

Nanshan Group already has strong strength in many parts, and Zhou Ling naturally knows this.

Combined with Cao Yang's words, even if she still had doubts, she could only choose to believe it first.

"Mr. Cao, if your company can really come up with mature and usable LED car lighting technology to cooperate with Xingyu, then we can pay a considerable amount of money to purchase this technology."

"You can even exchange part of the shares."

Zhou Ling is also a very courageous person.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to develop Xingyu car lights to what they are now.

Nanshan Group is not short of money, she knows this.

So although she wanted to use money to buy LED car lighting technology, she actually knew it was impossible.

The other party most likely wants Xingyu's shares.

Although she was a little reluctant to part with this, she was not unable to accept it.

The premise is that the other party's LED car light technology is really mature and reliable.

"This specific plan can be discussed with you later by Minister Su."

"Although Nanshan has this technology, we can also open a factory to produce it ourselves, but our energy is limited after all. For some parts, we still want to make full use of China's existing resources."

Cao Yang did not bargain directly with Zhou Ling here.

Instead, the matter of quarreling for benefits was left to the people below.

……

"51% is too much. LED headlight technology has great value, but it is not worth 51% of the shares."

When Su Mingxing discussed technical cooperation with Zhou Ling, he naturally made the lion open his mouth.

LED car lighting technology is now the most cutting-edge technology in car lighting. Nanshan Group has made breakthroughs earlier than other manufacturers. Naturally, it wants to make full use of this advantage.

"Mr. Zhou, you should know very well that as long as Xingyu takes the lead in launching LED headlights, it will be a very powerful measure to improve brand power."

"When those international automobile giants look at you in the future, they won't look at you through colored glasses."

"In the future, we no longer need to simply compete with others on price. Instead, we can rely on our unique technical advantages to obtain a large number of orders."

"Once a first-mover advantage is formed, production can be quickly increased, and costs can be reduced, more and more car companies will definitely use it."

"Even the 10,000+ cars of our own brands will consider equipping some LED headlights."

"This potential is very exciting."

Negotiation is a game.

Su Mingxing must strive for the maximum benefit for Nanshan Group.

For him, even if the talks fall apart, he is not afraid.

At worst, Nanshan will invest in factories to produce auto parts by itself.

Of course, the schedule may be a bit tight.

The second phase of Nanshan Industrial Park does not have so many empty factories for various parts factories to use.

"Su Bu, so far, Nanshan has only had a shareholding cooperation with Yangcheng Huaqiang Factory. If I understand correctly, it should hold 3% of the shares."

"If the LED car lighting technology provided by Nanshan has mass production value, then we can raise up to 30% of the shares to replace this technology."

"After all, for Xingyu, the main business now comes from halogen lamps."

"We have fully mastered this technology ourselves, and it will definitely continue to be widely used in various models in the next ten years."

"We really want to take advantage of the opportunity of cooperation with Xingchen Automobile to apply our newly developed xenon headlight technology."

"It would be best if LED headlight technology could also be put into application."

"But this price needs to be a more appropriate payment."

Zhou Ling is also a very discerning person and can realize the changes that LED headlight technology will bring to the company.

"How about this? When we sign the cooperation agreement, we can have some additional gambling conditions."

"If the LED headlight technology provided by Nanshan can be recognized by mainstream international manufacturers, then Xingyu will exchange 51% of its shares."

"If we only supply LED headlights to Xingchen Motors, then we will agree to your offer of 30% of the shares."

Su Mingxing naturally grasped Cao Yang's requirements in advance before coming to discuss it.

Naturally, the more shares, the better, but 30% is also an acceptable bottom line.

After all, Huaqiang Factory now only has 30%.

If you ask for too many shares, it is estimated that most manufacturers will not be able to accept it.

Of course, when it comes to Xingyu's core interests, this kind of negotiation will not be concluded in a short time.

Su Mingxing just talked to Zhou Ling first.

At the same time, in order for Xingyu to see the technical level of LED headlights, the two parties first signed a confidentiality agreement and an exclusivity agreement for LED headlights.

If the cooperation between the two parties does not succeed, Xingyu will not be allowed to produce LED headlights in the future without the consent of Nanshan Group.

This effectively prevents the other party from learning the technology but not cooperating with Nanshan.

……

"Mr. Zhou, judging from the technical information provided by Nanshan Research Institute, their LED headlight technology is really ready for mass production."

"Especially according to what they explained, the logic of LED driving and control is already a very mature solution."

"Even if we implement their plan, the cost will be at a level that everyone can accept."

"I just don't understand when they started researching LED headlights, and they have already achieved such results."

"I heard that Koito Auto Lighting's research on LED headlights is at the forefront of the industry. Even so, their parts are still in the early verification stage, and they have not said which models will be used."

Lin Ran, the technical director of Xingyu Auto Lighting, personally contacted Nanshan Research Institute and confirmed the technical information provided by the other party.

Although this set of technical information is not a complete version, a lot of things can be seen.

"Nanshan Group has ranked first in the country in the auto parts business in just a few years."

“Especially in terms of control system parts, their machine tool CNC system once won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award.”

"The engine's ECU, TCU and other parts also have the ability to develop and produce independently."

"So I think it's normal for the other party to have outstanding performance in the driving and control parts of LED headlights."

"After all, their technological accumulation in control parts is the strongest in the country. Even giants like Bosch feel threatened."

"But it's a bit surprising that they will suddenly enter the field of LED headlights."

"The parts they made before were mostly powertrain and chassis-related parts."

“We don’t make a lot of electronic and electrical components.”

Zhou Ling has also been thinking about cooperation with Nanshan Group in the past week.

Naturally, she had read the information on LED headlights herself.

Now that Lin Ran came to such a conclusion again, she felt relieved.

As long as Xingyu Auto Lighting really masters LED headlight technology faster than its industry competitors and can keep costs down, the company hopes to become China's largest auto lighting manufacturer in the next few years.

At that time, even if it is only half of the shares, it will be worth more than 100% now.

"Based on the current situation, the cost of this LED headlight is estimated to be similar to that of xenon headlights."

"We even now only need to make some changes related to the appearance of the lamp body based on the technical information provided by Nanshan, and then we can provide it to other OEMs."

"According to the style of work of each OEM that launches annual facelift models every two years, we have the opportunity to get orders for LED headlights from many car companies for new models after 2006."

"The time in between is just used for us to transform the production line and digest and absorb LED headlight technology."

"Mr. Zhou, judging from the cooperation between Nanshan Group and Yangcheng Huaqiang Factory, I think they are actually a good partner."

“Not only does it have strong technical strength, but it also doesn’t interfere much with the daily management of cooperative manufacturers.”

"Of course, 51% of the shares is definitely too much, and our company must not lose its status as a major shareholder."

Lin Ran felt that it would be a pity if Xingyu missed this opportunity and Nanshan Group found other manufacturers to cooperate.

No matter how many shares you have, they must be valuable.

Otherwise it makes no sense.

Besides, if cooperation cannot be negotiated and Nanshan Group directly enters the field of car lamp production, Lin Ran will not have any confidence that he can win the competition.

"I will communicate with Minister Su again, and the two parties will finalize the details of cooperation."

"This time, let's take a gamble!"

"As long as they agree to exchange 40% of our shares for this technology, I will sign a cooperation agreement with them."

Zhou Ling is not a nagging person.

The more important the matter, the shorter the time it takes to make a decision.

Opportunities won't always be waiting for you.

……

"Mr. Cao, this is the final cooperation plan negotiated with Xingyu Auto Lighting. The main project is that we use LED auto lighting technology to invest in the company in exchange for 40% of the other party's shares."

"There are also some details about technical cooperation and transfer. The other party also needs some designers from our institute to join the new company."

"When we launch the second model in the future, they will consider building a factory in Yangcheng."

"At the same time, we need to assist them in contacting Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen to promote LED lighting technology."

Su Mingxing spent more than ten minutes giving a detailed report on the cooperation between Nanshan Group and Xingyu Auto Lighting.

However, since both parties want to keep this matter low-key, they do not plan to hold a large-scale cooperation signing ceremony.

"Now that the discussion is almost over, let's sign it."

"When the time comes, just let the Finance Department arrange for two financial personnel to go there. No other special intervention is needed."

Cao Yang still has confidence in the management team of Xingyu Auto Lighting.

If there is no level, they will not be able to develop to that scale in future generations.

Instead of arranging for someone to intervene blindly, it is better to act more cheerfully.

Supervise the financial work well and ignore everything else.

"Now that we have a cooperation case between Yangcheng Huaqiang Factory and Xingyu Auto Lighting, can we also actively seek cooperation with outstanding domestic manufacturers for other parts?"

"This should help us obtain orders from other OEMs in the future."

Although as long as QCD is competitive enough, Nanshan Auto Parts can also obtain orders from other OEMs.

However, with the development of Nanshan-based car companies such as Xingchen Automobile, other OEMs will definitely become more and more wary.

Unless Nanshan Group's parts manufacturers are only positioned to serve their own company, otherwise it will definitely be more conducive to development and growth if they adopt a cooperation model similar to Huaqiang Factory or Xingyu Factory.

"Well, sort it out and see what other parts can be made like this!"

Cao Yang thought for a moment and agreed with this direction.

There are three ways to walk, and you will slowly compare which way is the most suitable later.

Maybe there will be unexpected surprises waiting for Nanshan Group.