Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 96: Magic City Universal almost fell into the trap again

"Holm, I have arranged for someone to help get some information back."

“But the more information I have, the more questions I have.”

Xue Wenqiang is also under great pressure now.

The Huaxia branch has never been taken seriously by the headquarters, but now it has suddenly become the focus of public opinion.

The headquarters is asking about the progress of the matter every morning and evening.

At the beginning, he was very happy and felt that Chinese newspapers were still very conscientious.

SKF did not pay advertising fees to the other party, but actually stood up to help seek justice.

But as the comparison report between SKF and Nanshan wheel bearings was exposed, the style began to change.

As an original supplier, SKF has become synonymous with high price and low quality?

Some people even question whether SKF sells inferior products to China and treats them differently?

Things got bigger and bigger, and they were beyond their control.

"What does it mean that more information means more questions? Aren't your words inconsistent?"

Golmao glared at Xue Wenqiang dissatisfied.

What he hates most now is people following him in circles.

"It's like this. We did some research and found that all the raw materials in Nanshan are purchased domestically. This is abnormal."

"Whether it's bearing steel or the wheel bolts they make, I don't think domestic materials can meet the requirements."

"Originally, I thought it was imported materials they purchased through domestic agents, but after a round of investigation, I found that the steel they used was from Anshan Iron and Steel and Baosteel."

"The best special steel in the world is either produced in Japan or in Germany. The bearing steel of Anshan Iron and Steel and Baosteel, and even China's own universal and human bearings, are only used in low-end products."

"Now Nanshan has used these special steels to produce wheel bearings that are better than ours. I think it is unbelievable."

When Xue Wenqiang explained this, Holmer frowned.

Special steel, also called alloy steel, refers to steel with special composition, structure, production process, and special physical, chemical and process properties.

It is to add an appropriate amount of one or several alloying elements to carbon steel to change the structural structure of the steel, thereby giving the steel various special properties.

It seems that there is no difficulty, but even by 2023, China's steel production has already ranked first in the world, but it still has to import a large amount of special steel every year.

Not to mention that in this era, China's steel industry only focuses on output gains and does not pay attention to quality gains. The production of special steel is even worse than that of its foreign counterparts.

"I heard from people at the OEM that Nanshan's wheel hub bearings use a very special heat treatment process. Could it be related to this?"

Although Holm is not a technical expert, he worked in technology in his early years and later switched to sales.

So regarding the situation Xue Wenqiang mentioned, he was also thinking about what other possibilities there were.

"It's a fact."

"The news I heard is that their hub bearing production line uses a heat treatment furnace as the front-end process, and they reprocess the special steel they bought."

"But generally speaking, unless you add alloying elements again for smelting, it is difficult to completely improve the material properties by just relying on the heat treatment process."

"Our technology has analyzed the chemical composition of Nanshan's wheel hub bearing materials. The types and contents of alloy elements are different from ours."

When Xue Wenqiang said this, Holm immediately asked, "Have you compared the chemical composition and metallographic structure of the raw materials of Anshan Iron and Steel and Baosteel?"

"This...that's not the case yet."

"Hurry up and make arrangements! Be sure to compare clearly. This way we will know whether the special heat treatment process boasted by Nanshan Technology Co., Ltd. is really that powerful."

"If they can significantly improve material properties through heat treatment, then we must pay attention to this situation."

Although Holm always felt that it was impossible for the Chinese to achieve world-leading results in the heat treatment process of special steel, Nanshan's wheel bearing parameters were right in front of him.

He just didn't believe it and didn't dare to completely rule out this possibility.

If this is really the case, then SKF's attitude and strategy towards the Chinese market need to be re-examined.

If not careful, this will affect SKF's status as a giant in the bearing industry.

……

Time is often the best weapon to eliminate the heat of public opinion.

With the emergence of hot news one after another, ordinary people's attention to the chaos in the automobile after-sales market has gradually decreased.

To some extent, this also reduces the pressure on SKF and various OEMs.

However, just because ordinary people no longer pay attention to this matter does not mean that people in the automotive industry do not pay attention.

Whether it is domestic counterparts Wanxiang, Renben and Xifeng Bearing, or NTT and Timken, they are all doing various comparative analyzes with SKF and Nanshan's wheel bearings and their own products, hoping to find improvements. product opportunities.

As for the OEM, it goes without saying.

The industry must review the possibility of using low-cost, high-quality products.

Coupled with the pressure on the localization rate unique to this era, OEMs are more motivated to purchase than at other times.

Not to mention Modu Volkswagen and Shenlong Automobile, they are already communicating with Nanshan about specific switching matters.

Spring City Volkswagen also followed the pace of Magic City Volkswagen and made relevant decisions.

Modu General, which had suffered losses before, was shocked again this time.

"Yu Xing, are you sure that American General Motors has received Nanshan's wheel bearing samples last year and is already conducting actual vehicle durability tests?"

Wang Huiliang was deeply impressed by the original export of nut plates to domestic sales.

He didn't want a story like this to happen again.

That would directly turn into an accident.

"Yes, I also confirmed with Nanshan that last year their President Cao made a special trip to the United States, probably to visit relevant personnel at GM headquarters."

"It is said that the appearance of the Chevrolet silverado that was just launched this month was designed by Mr. Cao. The sales in the United States are very good now. I think the headquarters may use their wheel bearings at any time."

Yu Xing also felt a little scared.

Wheel bearings are too important, so at the beginning, although he paid attention to public opinion, he did not take any specific actions.

I thought this was like previous reports, and no one would pay attention to it after a few days.

Who knew that I almost fell into the pit again.

"You should also report this to Jim and ask him to contact the purchasing center at the headquarters directly to see what the other party thinks."

"At the same time, I also asked the headquarters about the situation of Nanshan's wheel hub bearings, to what extent they have confirmed it, and whether any problems have been found."

"I heard that Modu Volkswagen is already using Nanshan's wheel hub bearings. If the headquarters has not found any problems so far, then we will immediately start a review of the switch."

With Wang Huiliang's decision, Nanshan Technology Co., Ltd. has another customer for its wheel bearings.

Although most customers only provide about half of the supporting opportunities to Nanshan, it is still a huge breakthrough.