Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

Aisin is a giant in the auto parts industry.

They not only supply gearboxes and other parts to Toyota, but also supply parts to many OEMs.

Therefore, their sales department has direct contact with the procurement of many OEMs.

In addition to arranging for Zhang Hao to go to Yangcheng to inquire about news, Saburo Sato asked other colleagues in the sales department to try their best to find out

"Minister, from what we have learned so far, Nanshan Technology Co., Ltd. does have some research on gearboxes."

"Some time ago, they also had some cooperation projects with Huaqing University and Lingnan University of Technology in terms of control systems."

"They also hired a professor who specializes in gearboxes from Beijing Institute of Technology to take charge of this project."

"It's just that normally, their gearboxes shouldn't come out that fast."

Zhang Hao's working ability is still very strong, and he quickly learned some information through various public and non-public channels.

After all, the circle of the automotive industry is actually not that big, and everyone can find some intersections through various means such as former customers, their own classmates, and colleagues’ classmates. Basically, every OEM or supplier can find some intersections.

In addition, Nanshan did not keep this information secret, and there was no way to keep it completely secret.

So Zhang Hao quickly formed a preliminary report.

"Since Ford Motor dares to send Changan Ford's transmission order to Nanshan, and Changan Ford's first model, the Fiesta, will be mass-produced in January 2003, the time in between is very tight."

"Nanshan's gearbox must already have some products to convince Ford."

"In this area of ​​work, we need to work harder to figure it out."

"The best thing is to get some samples from them, and let's send them to the headquarters for research."

Saburo Sato felt that the situation was not that simple.

The switching of auto parts is a very cautious matter. Even if Ford Motor is not as good as Toyota and Honda in this regard, it will not be much worse.

So Sato felt that Nanshan must have news on the gearbox that he didn't know.

"Nanshan is a leading manufacturer in China in terms of bearings, bolts and nuts. It not only supplies domestic customers, but also exports to customers such as Ford Motor, General Motors and Volkswagen."

"They may have given full play to their advantages in this area, and then imitated which 6AT gearbox on the market, and obtained orders from Ford through low-cost methods."

"After all, the cost pressure of Ford Motor this year is very high, which is something that everyone in the industry knows."

After Zhang Hao's analysis, Saburo Sato felt quite reasonable.

"If this is the case, then for Nanshan, the weakest point is the design of the TCU."

"Have you heard anything about this?"

To deal with Nanshan, it is natural to find the weakness of the opponent.

If Nanshan's product quality or schedule cannot meet the needs of Changan Ford, the order will naturally go back to Aisin.

In this way, it will not reveal the information that Toms disclosed to Sato.

"Really, didn't you just say that Nanshan and Huaqing University have cooperation in gearboxes?"

"According to my investigation, their main cooperation is the design of the TCU of the gearbox."

"Huaqing University has done a good job in this area. It is very likely that Nanshan's plan is to get TCU through this cooperation project."

When Zhang Hao said this, Saburo Sato immediately came up with an idea.

"You said that if Aisin cooperates with Huaqing University in the TCU project, will the other party be interested?"

"Sure! We, Aisin, are an internationally renowned component company and a foreign company, so we can provide a certain amount of foreign exchange as research funding."

"What are they Nanshan? It's just a small local business."

"It's not our opponent at all."

"We can even ask them to suspend cooperation with Nanshan's TCU through cooperation with the other party."

"At that time, there will be no qualified TCU available in Nanshan, and the schedule of the transmission project will definitely be affected."

Zhang Hao knows the domestic situation too well.

Whether it is investing in building factories or cooperating in various projects, foreign capital has great advantages over domestic private enterprises.

Most people are also more willing to work with foreign-funded companies, and their names appear to be more prestigious.

"So, is this idea really feasible?"

Saburo Sato was moved.

Aisin already has some research and development expenses in cooperation with scientific research institutions in China, and these expenses were previously given to some institutions that can influence industry policies.

It can be said that this is Aisin's public relations fee in the name of research fees.

They didn't really expect to improve Aisin's R\u0026D technology through these collaborations.

People's real research and development are all in Dongying, how can they be in Huaxia?

"Absolutely doable!"

"We don't even need much higher research funding than Nanshan, and we can snatch Nanshan's cooperation project from Huaqing University."

"As long as we provide foreign exchange and our reputation, we can definitely get it done."

Zhang Hao gave his opinion very positively.

The emphasis placed on foreign exchange by various institutions in China was very exaggerated in the 1980s and 1990s.

Even in 2001, this situation has eased, and everyone still prefers foreign exchange.

After all, it has not yet joined the WTO, and Huaxia's foreign exchange amount is still relatively small.

"Okay, then we will arrange for someone to contact you right away, so as to disrupt the cooperation between Huaqing University and Nanshan."

"At that time, let's see if there is no qualified TCU available in Nanshan, and whether it can smoothly respond to Ford's order."

Saburo Sato was in a depressed mood at first, but it suddenly became much better.

It's really satisfying to have solved this problem so easily.

...

Aisin moved quickly.

Before the news of Ford Motor's cooperation with Nanshan has been fully spread in the industry, their efforts will bear fruit.

"Mr. Cao, Huaqing University contacted us. The project we cooperated with has ended because all the funds have been used."

Ji Hua came to report to Cao Yang in a bad mood.

As a former university professor, he is well aware of the situation of industry-university-research cooperation projects.

Before reporting to Cao Yang, he also called Huaqing University.

But the situation is not optimistic.

Of course, in a circle, it is not difficult to inquire about information, and he has figured out the situation behind Huaqing University's practice.

"Used up so quickly?"

"Didn't it mean that there would be no problem persisting until next year?"

"Besides, even if the funds are exhausted, shouldn't they take the initiative to communicate with us, can they increase the funds?"

For the first time, Cao Yang felt that Huaqing University was so unreliable.

This kind of thing should not happen.

"I heard that they used the funds to urgently purchase a relatively expensive test equipment, so they quickly ran out of funds."

"But this is not the real reason, there is a story behind it."

The joint research project of Huaqing University was originally entrusted to Ji Hua by Cao Yang.

Now that it has become like this, Ji Hua naturally wants to explain clearly what he has heard.

Otherwise, it will become a blame.

"Um?"

"Have a story?"

"what story?"

Cao Yang really didn't understand why he became like this.

This doesn't match my perception.

"Aisin has contacted Huaqing University, and in the next three years, it will set up a joint research TCU with 500,000 U.S. dollars."

"And also invited the personnel of the project team to visit Dongying."

"But their request is to stop cooperating with us, and not to cooperate with Nanshan on TCU in the future."

"Mr. Cao, I think this matter is a bit weird. Obviously, Aisin is targeting us."

"Otherwise, their TCU technology is much more advanced than that of Huaqing University, and there is absolutely no need to create such a cooperative project."

Based on the information he has inquired, Ji Hua also has his own judgment.

When Cao Yang heard this, he immediately realized that Aisin was indeed targeting Nanshan.

"It seems that Aisin has already known about the 6AT order we received from Ford."

"These international giants are really not fuel-efficient."

"However, the TCU we use has nothing to do with the Huaqing University cooperation project."

"It didn't have much impact on our 6AT in a short period of time. It's just that Aisin disgusts us like this, and obviously wants to suppress us."

Although when he entered the gearbox field, Cao Yang knew that there would be conflicts with giants such as Aisin and ZF in the future.

But he really didn't expect this conflict to come so quickly.

"That……"

"How are we going to fight back?"

Ji Hua is also a little tangled now.

Should I swallow my anger or find a way to do something?

"Stealing part of Aisin's orders from Ford is already a counterattack."

"The next thing we have to do is grab more orders from them."

"It's them who will be anxious at that time, not Nanshan."

"As for Huaqing University, if they are willing to cooperate with Aisin, let's do so."

"In the future, we will try our best to cooperate with Lingnan University of Technology and other schools in our cooperation projects."

"Forget about Huaqing University."

Although the incident this time had little impact on Nanshan, it was disgusting.

Cao Yang doesn't want to spend money on nausea.

...

Saburo Sato considers himself a very responsible employee who is dedicated to the company.

Therefore, realizing that Nanshan Technology Co., Ltd.'s entry into the gearbox field will have a great impact on Aisin, after sorting out some information, it immediately arranged to report to the headquarters.

However, the situation reported this time was very different from what Sato had imagined.

"Satou, you specially invited so many people to listen to your report today, is this what you are talking about?"

After listening to Sato's report, Okumura, the head of the sales department of Aisin headquarters, showed a disdainful expression on his face.

In his opinion, Sato is completely idle and can't find the point of the problem.

What are the reports?

"Yes, Nanshan 6AT has already received an order from Changan Ford, directly occupying our market, and will become Aisin's biggest competitor in time."

"I even suspect that they simply copied our gearbox technology and achieved malicious price competition through low labor costs, so they won the order from Ford."

The manufacturing cost of Huaxia is lower than that of Japan, everyone knows this.

However, Sato's point of view this time was not recognized by the staff at Aisin headquarters.

"It's not been a year or two since the Chinese wanted to make an automatic transmission. Have they figured it out for so many years?"

"Which of their Great Wall Motors, Geely Automobiles, Chery Automobiles, and Changan Automobiles has produced a decent automatic transmission?"

"Let's not talk about the advanced 6AT, they can't make it even 4AT."

"The gearbox is not just a shell, which can be made casually."

"As far as the level of parts companies like Huaxia is concerned, it is simply impossible to produce 6AT that meets the requirements."

"Don't listen to the wind is the rain."

"Any insignificant and trivial things are a waste of everyone's time to report there."

"Our biggest competitors of Aisin are Jatco and ZF. You should pay more attention to the performance of these manufacturers in the Chinese market. This is your task."

Sato, who originally wanted to be valued and performed, not only failed to achieve his goal, but was sprayed all over the face.

The Aisin employees in Dongying didn't think that any manufacturer in Huaxia had the strength to threaten them.

And it is still the 6AT that Aisin is better at and more advanced.

It's just a joke.

If you talk about the MT gearbox, Huaxia has produced it, and there is still some possibility.

After all, the difficulty of MT gearbox is several levels lower than that of AT, and it effectively avoids the relatively weak control links of Chinese manufacturers.

"Minister, before the emergence of Nanshan Technology Co., Ltd., the situation you said was completely correct."

"However, this manufacturer in China is relatively evil. Their current bearings have been used in many car companies, and even SKF and NTN are under pressure."

"In this case, although the actual level of the 6AT they produced may not be very good, but relying on the low price, they may still obtain a certain market."

"I think it needs attention."

Saburo Sato wanted to explain again.

"Huaxia people could not produce excellent automatic transmissions in the past, and it is impossible to produce excellent 6ATs now, and it is impossible to make any progress in automatic transmissions in the future."

"Sato, you have to have confidence in Aisin, otherwise how can you convince customers that Aisin's gearbox is the best in the world?"

"If you can't distinguish the key points like this, then I think the position of head of the sales department of Huaxia Branch is no longer suitable for you."

Okumura looked at Sato very bluntly.

This subordinate was not very popular with him.

Otherwise, he would not have been arranged to go to the Huaxia branch.

You must know that in 2001, unless you went to the American branch, or went to work in other places, it was considered to be assigned to the frontier and belonged to people who were not valued by the headquarters.

There is a natural disadvantage in terms of promotion.

It's not like in 2023, China has become the largest market in the world.

Being stationed in Huaxia is often a sign of importance.