Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

The world's first car was born on September 5, 1885.

This car was tossed out by the German inventor Karl Benz, the originator of Mercedes-Benz is also the old man.

This car is actually a three-wheeled car, equipped with a 0.785L, 0.85 horsepower horizontal single-cylinder two-stroke gasoline engine, with a top speed of 10 miles per hour.

Benz's car design was considered very advanced at that time.

It uses lightweight materials such as aluminum, magnesium and steel to minimize the weight of the vehicle.

It is also equipped with advanced equipment such as steering wheel, brakes and exhaust system, which makes it easier for the driver to control the car.

Even this tricycle has some features of modern cars, such as spark ignition, steel pipe frame, water cooling cycle, rear wheel drive, leaf spring suspension, front wheel steering and so on.

However, the performance of this car is average, imperfect, slow, poor loading capacity, insufficient climbing ability, and high failure rate.

The appearance of automobiles has a history of more than one hundred years.

More than a hundred years have passed, and cars have undergone great changes.

Correspondingly, its development process has been perfected after more than a hundred years of development.

At present, mainstream global automakers, whether it is General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, etc., have their own development processes.

But if you study carefully, you will find that the ideas and processes of each car company to develop a new car are very similar.

Although the process of new models of different auto companies is not exactly the same, they basically include five stages: market research stage, concept design stage, engineering design stage, prototype test stage and mass production stage.

In the market research stage, it is mainly to determine the positioning of the model.

Is your target model a scooter worth tens of thousands or a mid-level car worth hundreds of thousands?

This will affect the development of models.

At this stage, also research the main competitors who are also positioned.

Sales volume needs to be forecasted and profit margin and cost targets set.

After all, the development of a model requires a few hundred million or as many as tens of billions of funds.

If the market positioning is not done well, maybe it will be cold by then.

For Xingchen Motors, although this stage is also available, Cao Yang basically decided on it alone.

To say it is scientific is definitely unscientific.

But everyone can only do what the boss says.

Today's Star Motors has entered the concept car design stage.

The concept is mainly divided into three stages: general layout, modeling design and making clay model.

According to the positioning of the model, the appearance style of the vehicle is determined.

At this time, the normal situation is that the designers of various companies will play.

The designer started from various sketch designs in the early stage, then made small clay models, and finally produced a 1:1 clay model.

In the middle, the big leaders of the model team are constantly invited to review.

After passing the review, it is natural to continue the development step by step.

This stage is the stage where Cao Yang amplifies his moves.

"President Cao, this..."

"Is this really the exterior design for our Xingchen 1?"

Rao Yongxiang is also well-informed.

As the vice president in charge of R\u0026D, his main job during this period was actually building a R\u0026D team.

Now Cao Yang came over suddenly and told him that the appearance of the new model had been released, which directly made people skip the stage of making a small-scale clay model and started preparing to make a 1:1 clay model.

This operation made him feel a little confused.

The most important thing was the picture in front of him, which made him a little confused.

Or a special surprise.

"How about it?"

"Is this car attractive enough?"

Cao Yang had already thought about it in his heart, to regard the appearance of the later Porsche Panamera as the appearance of the first model of Xingchen Motors.

So if the classic shape is released in advance in 2005, it will definitely be amazing enough.

It's not surprising that it even won some awards.

"The lines of the body are round and smooth, without any edges and corners, full of muscle."

"It seems that this car adopts a normal four-door design, with a large air intake on each side of the front face, and horizontal strip fog lamps running through it, which has a unique shape."

"The sideways lines are handled in a simple and soft way, which is both elegant and dynamic."

"The huge five-spoke wheels are paired with powerful yellow brake calipers, suggesting a good sporting potential."

"The hatchback shape coupled with a flat roofline also creates ample headroom."

"The roof and the rear of the car are connected by a smooth curve, supplemented by a rear window with a moderate area, and unnecessary decorations are minimized at the rear of the car."

"Mr. Cao, does this car look like a Porsche to me?"

"It's quite different from the style of the BMW 7 Series."

Rao Yongxiang is worthy of being a professional, and he immediately recognized that this model has the taste of Porsche.

"Smell of Porsche?"

Cao Yang pretended to be innocent, and said: "You say it like this, it seems to be true. When I was designing, I saw the classic appearance of many car companies in the world, including Porsche 911."

"Porsche has a fixed logic for vehicle styling."

"For example, the front fenders on both sides of each model are slightly higher than the hood, and are connected with smooth curves."

"The air intakes on the front of the car are concentrated below the center line."

"The side of the body has a smooth waistline, and the side windows are slightly narrower than the waistline."

"However, Mr. Cao, the appearance you designed has a Porsche taste, which is actually a good thing."

"This is more in line with the positioning of our luxury cars."

"I even think this car is better looking and more cool than any other Porsche."

"This high-end and atmospheric coupe style is equipped with our 3.0T twin-turbocharged engine and 8AT automatic transmission. I think the performance in all aspects will not be worse than ordinary sports cars."

"We can even make a special version equipped with a 6MT manual gearbox, so as to give more choices to some consumers who want to experience maneuverability."

At this time, Zuo Yongxiang is more confident about the future of Xingchen Automobile.

In China, whether a car sells well or not, the appearance is really important.

Obviously, the appearance in front of you is definitely very attractive.

It can even be said to beat the existence of any model on the market.

Relying on this alone, Yongxiang Yong felt that he could help Xingchen Motors contribute 1,000 units of sales.

"Since Mr. Rao also thinks the appearance is good, let's quickly arrange for someone to make a 1:1 clay model."

"Then arrange the designer to push the progress of the project forward as soon as possible."

"It is already September. If our design cannot be completed by January next year, it will not be able to catch up with the production at the end of next year anyway."

"It's a pity that such a good product is not given to consumers earlier."

Now that he has started to enter the car manufacturing industry, Cao Yang naturally hopes to launch new models as soon as possible.

He also wanted to verify, to see if his positioning for Xingchen Automobile could be realized smoothly.

Even though he already has a lot of ideas in his mind, but whether Xingchen Motors is positioned as a high-end car will definitely be recognized, he still has some confidence in his mind.

Sometimes, the influence of a brand LOGO is really too great.

If you look at the various models launched by Zhonghua Motors, some of them are imitated from BMW, but what?

Let’s look at some models of Volkswagen. They are obviously developed on a similar platform to Porsche and Audi, but the logos on them are different, and the prices are quite different.

Even in the later stage, some models of Volkswagen and Audi, except for the appearance and parts visible to the naked eye, have exactly the same chassis and body, and are produced on the same production line and using the same supplier.

But the price is much worse.

The current influence of the star car brand is obviously very weak.

There is still a lot of work waiting for Cao Yang to do it.

"I'll arrange it right away!"

"With such a clear appearance drawing, the clay model can be made very quickly!"

Rao Yongxiang is looking forward to the great response that such a coupe with stunning appearance and amazing power will bring to everyone when it is launched on the market.

Just for this car, he felt that it was worth it for him to jump to Xingchen Motors!

...

Clay model is a car body model made of clay sculpture in modern body design. Basically, every car company designs a new car, and there is a stage of making a clay model.

Of course, the design of cars has not always been made of clay models.

Early car body models used plaster and wood as materials.

It's just that the wooden model is characterized by small deformation and troublesome processing. Even if it is not easy to break and can be stored for a long time, it does not meet the designer's requirements.

Although gypsum is relatively cheap, its strength is low, and it is not easy to modify repeatedly, so it must not be able to meet the designer's requirements.

In 1955, Dongying people used industrial sludge for the design and development of car models for the first time. It was regarded as a latecomer and developed a design method that is loved by all car company designers.

The oil mud used in body modeling is similar to ordinary plasticine, but the requirements are higher.

The main components of the sludge are 62% talcum powder, 30% vaseline, and 8% industrial wax.

Car stylists apply it on the wooden skeleton, and use scrapers, scrapers and other tools to shape it.

Finally, the shape of the car is sculpted according to a certain proportion.

Xingchen 1 already has a clear vehicle shape, and the speed of making the clay model must be very fast.

Cao Yang personally led several stylists, and spent a week to complete the 1:1 clay model.

"Mr. Cao, this is the coolest 1:1 clay model I've ever seen. It's just this clay model. If it is sold in the international market, many car companies are willing to spend tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions. Go shopping."

"As a stylist, I've always had all sorts of fantasies."

"But can fantasy be logical? Can it be logical? I've always wondered."

"But Mr. Cao, the shape you designed makes me firmly believe that the more wild the initial fantasy, the more amazing the final result."

Zhang Feifan was a stylist recruited by Xingchen Motors from Pan Asia Design Center.

Although he is not well-known on the world stage, but in Pan Asia, he can be regarded as a relatively powerful existence.

He has participated in the exterior design of several models of Modu GM, especially in the production of clay models. He is very professional.

This kind of tool man is exactly what Cao Yang needs very much.

"We are like a layman breaking into the automobile industry. If we don't have any amazing performance, we will be lost to everyone, and no one will remember Xingchen Automobile."

"So the shape of Xingchen No. 1 must be stunning enough, cool enough, and eye-catching enough."

"Now it seems that this appearance goal is basically achieved."

"We will give the interior styling as soon as possible, and then we can arrange people to enter the engineering design stage."

With the "effort" of Cao Yang, the first two stages of new model development can be advanced quickly without worrying about the design effect.

But when it came to the engineering design stage, it was impossible for Cao Yang to handle everything by himself.

At this stage, each designer needs to base on the initial vehicle goals of the vehicle, such as cost, weight, performance goals, safety, acceleration, braking distance and other requirements.

Implement these requirements to every system and every part.

Powertrain, chassis, body, interior decoration, exterior decoration, electrical appliances, the design leaders of several fields need to bring back their mission goals, and then lead engineers to develop each part.

After making a version of the initial design, after several rounds of design review, various simulations are carried out on CATIA and other software, and the final product can be formally opened to make parts.

It doesn't seem to be particularly complicated, but the quality of a car is the most important thing to be determined at this stage.

When domestic consumers talk about car design, they often think of the car appearance and the design of the clay model.

It cannot be said that there is a problem with this statement, but it must be very one-sided.

In the design work of a car, the appearance may take a very large proportion, but this thing is very mysterious, it may be completed quickly, and it may be important but not difficult or complicated.

However, the specific design of each system and each part will test the background of the OEM.

Why do the design departments of domestic self-owned brands have the title of "Tape Measure Department" in the early stage of development?

It is because everyone does not understand the design, so they can only copy it from others.

The so-called design work is considered complete when the parts are disassembled one by one, and then the real object is turned into a drawing, and then the drawing is used to guide the supplier to produce the parts.

The designer of the car designed in this situation knows it but doesn't know why.

All kinds of problems can easily arise.

After all, if you disassemble other people's cars for development, the appearance of the parts can be made.

But you can't see the specific material requirements, process requirements, and test requirements of each part.

For parts with the same appearance, you may use different materials and processes, and the performance of the parts will vary widely.

In this aspect of work, Cao Yang can help with key parts, but it is impossible to personally participate in every part.

Otherwise, it is estimated that someone will be dragged to slice and study.

...

"Mr. Cao, after visiting the clay model of Xingchen 1 today, I feel that the confidence of the new model team has been boosted immediately."

"Many people have a lot of smiles on their faces."

Cao Yang had been busy all day. Taking advantage of the leisure time of eating, he slumped on the boss chair and sipped the black tea brought by Mi Ying.

"There is no way. When looking at cars in China, what people care most about is the appearance."

"Only when the appearance is in place, will other things be considered."

Cao Yang couldn't help complaining.

It's not that appearance is not important, but that many consumers in China completely ignore performance because of appearance.

That's kind of frustrating.

Although Xingchen Automobile can handle the aspect of appearance, but in terms of performance, he also hopes that everyone can pay attention to it.

Don't let only your peers pay attention to your performance, and consumers don't care.

That would be embarrassing.

There is no way to give full play to the advantages of Xingchen Automobile.

"This is also normal. If the appearance is not in place, who would consider other things?"

"It's the same as men look at women and women look at men. It starts with appearance, and then there are other things."

"The so-called love at first sight is actually love at first sight."

"It's the same when buying a car. The model you fall in love with at first sight is because you like the appearance of the car."

Mi Ying has been with Cao Yang for a long time, and she has a better understanding of her boss's personality.

Without outsiders, it doesn't matter if you are joking or something.

Besides, she also keenly felt some recent changes in her boss, and she also had some other thoughts in her heart.

"You're right. As a new entrant, Xingchen Motors can't even look stunning, then there's no point in talking about other things."

"We want to make high-end models, and if we want to gain consumer recognition, we must be ahead of our competitors in all aspects to have any hope of success."

Cao Yang couldn't help sighing.

The high-end route is too difficult to walk.

Especially Huaxia's own brand, which gives people the impression of low-end cheap goods.

Now Xingchen Automobile has to do the opposite, the difficulty can be imagined.

"Mr. Cao, in fact, according to the current preliminary estimates of the Finance Department, the production cost of our Xingchen 1 can actually be controlled within 200,000."

"If the price is set within 300,000 at that time, it is not hopeless."

"After all, in this price range, there is really no model that can compare with us."

Mi Ying tried to put forward her own suggestion.

She knew that Cao Yang planned to sell Xingchen 1 to the level of 500,000, or even more expensive.

But she thinks it seems a bit expensive.

"No more than 300,000 yuan, it's actually very embarrassing."

"A model of this level is not a luxury car yet. The configuration of our Xingchen 1 is so high. If it is only sold at this price, it is still a kind of competition with other manufacturers relying on configuration stacking. There is no sense of luxury at all."

In later generations, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi have all launched models with a price of less than 300,000.

But in China now, a 300,000 car is really not a luxury car.

You must know that in the past two years, mid-level cars like the Accord sold for 300,000 yuan.

Of course, if you look at the problem from another angle, you may think that a 300,000 car in this era is already very luxurious.

After all, that is the price of a house.

"Mr. Cao, there is an easier path, why did you choose a path full of challenges?"

In Mi Ying's opinion, if Xingchen Automobile is like BYD, then it will definitely succeed easily.

It is not impossible to become the car company with the highest sales in China in a few years.

But the road we are on now is destined to be more bumpy.

High-end models are very concerned about brand power.

A car logo can cost you hundreds of thousands.

"Some people have already walked the ordinary road, and it doesn't make much sense if we go on it again."

"So I'm going to take a different path from everyone else."

"Although this road is difficult, but after going through it, the front suddenly becomes clear and full of room for imagination."

"At that time, our models will give people a high-end impression, but our cost control will be very good."

"Whether it is to continue to produce high-end models or start to enter mid-range models, it can stir up the situation in the market."

When talking about this, Cao Yang thought of Tesla inexplicably.

This relatively special car company, although it is only in the new energy era, is shining.

But they took the high-end route at the beginning, producing super sports cars.

After establishing the height of the brand there, we slowly produced some models with relatively affordable prices.

The end result is for everyone to see.

Although Xingchen Automobile cannot completely copy the development path of others, there are obviously some ideas that can be used for reference.

If everyone can accept the Xingchen car worth 500,000 to 600,000 yuan, won't it be crazy to sell models worth 200,000 to 300,000 yuan in the future?

"Mr. Cao, what you said seems to make sense."

"But in this way, the pressure you need to bear is much greater."

"Now the Internet is full of bad news about our Xingchen Automobile, and few people are optimistic about it."

"Especially regarding our positioning as a high-end model, it has been criticized by many so-called experts and scholars."

"Should we ask someone to guide the public opinion in this regard?"

One of Mi Ying's daily tasks is to browse the news on various automobile websites, especially the news related to Nanshan Group and Xingchen Automobile.

In this way, Cao Yang can be reminded of some things in time, and it can also keep up with the development of the automobile industry.

Her positioning of herself is obviously not a lifelong secretary.

"No, it's still more than a year before our model goes into production."

"As long as there is a certain degree of topicality."

"Whether this discussion is good or bad is not that important."

"After all, black and red are also red."

Cao Yang spread his hands, looking indifferent.

For the current Xingchen Automobile, the most urgent task is to draw the drawings of each part and design the parts.

Everything else can wait.

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