Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

May 2005.

The entire holiday season in the auto industry was buzzing.

But for Xingchen Motors, things outside are not important now.

Everyone is not interested in caring.

Because the first prototype of Xingchen 1 is about to roll off the production line.

If the development of a new model starts from scratch and follows the way of doing things of international auto parts giants, it will have many productions in different stages and batches.

At the very beginning, many parts were in a state where the specifications had not been finalized. It was just a matter of making the actual car first, so that it could run on the road normally.

As for navigation, seats, instrumentation and other things, some things are still not perfect, so we can take our time.

This stage is mainly to verify the fit of some parts, the size of the parts and the durability of some parts.

After the verification is completed, the drawings will be adjusted again, and a batch of technical verification vehicles will be produced again.

Use these verification cars to continue to do various tests to determine whether the specifications of each part need to be adjusted.

After drawing again, the supplier can basically be notified to officially open the permanent mold.

And there are still several batches of parts and prototypes assembled by suppliers based on Hengjiu's molds.

For example, several cars need to be produced and sent to do some certification procedures and tests of ministries and commissions.

Then it is necessary to take a batch of cars that are in the same state as mass production to do various durability tests, and adjust the drawings in time after discovering problems.

Of course, normally speaking, at this stage, there will be no major problems.

After all, the early development has verified two stages.

After that, in order to cope with the formal mass production, some trials were made in terms of quality, production cycle, production training, etc.

For Xingchen Motors, the technical verification of the two early stages was directly synthesized once.

That is to say, the prototype car that is about to be rolled off the assembly line, after the test, the drawing is adjusted, and the supplier is ready to be notified to make the mold.

After that, two or three batches of prototype cars will be produced, and everyone will be given a process of adjusting molds, adjusting production lines, and training employees, and then they can enter mass production.

Since it is a model limited to 10,000 units, the number of production units per day is bound to be low.

In this way, some mass production verification work can even be skipped directly.

Because this car is not actually produced on a large scale.

According to the current development of the automobile industry, if you don't produce 10,000 cars a month, or even thousands of cars, what about mass production?

"Mr. Cao, this real car is much more beautiful than the drawings."

"Just the appearance alone can attract a group of people to buy it."

Mi Ying followed beside Cao Yang, watching Xingchen No. 1 slowly come down from the production line, her beautiful eyes shining brightly.

Looking at the models of this era with the eyes of future generations, 90% of them are ugly.

And the Panamera of the later generations, even among the stars, has a very brilliant appearance.

In 2005, the impact is even more needless to say.

"This appearance is indeed full of impact. With our 3.0T twin-turbocharged engine and 8AT automatic transmission, the power is also very sufficient."

"If the W12 engine is put on it later, no one will dare to question its coupe positioning."

"I have a hunch that we have a limited edition of 10,000 units, will the supply be in short supply by then?"

Zeng Tingting now has a lot of confidence in Xingchen No. 1.

With this appearance, there is no opponent at all.

The engines provided by Nanshan Engine are not as good as those in the same class, so what is there to worry about?

It's nothing more than a question of how much it will be priced at that time.

"Our Xingchen No. 1 is very good, there is no doubt about it."

"If such a model bears the badge of Mercedes-Benz or BMW, let alone five or six hundred thousand, even if it is more than one million, it will definitely sell very well."

"So I think the next step is that the company may need to start thinking about how to improve the brand influence of Star Motors, so that everyone recognizes Star Motors as a luxury car."

"Domestic consumers pay great attention to face when buying a car."

"When a car is driven out, everyone thinks that the car has face, that the car is very valuable, and that the brand is strong enough, which is very important."

"As for the performance of the car, although it is also important, I think the premise must be to let everyone feel that driving a Star car has face and a sense of luxury.

Rao Yongxiang is naturally very confident in Xingchen Automobile and thinks it is a very good product.

But a good product does not mean that the market is performing well.

As an old man in the automobile industry, Rao Yongxiang has a very accurate grasp of the minds of Chinese consumers.

Why do later generations even sell well for the BMW X1?

Is it really because the performance of the BMW X1 is very good and the configuration is very rich?

shit!

That's exactly selling car badges.

For some Audi and Volkswagen models on the same platform, the difference in logos is even more obvious.

In the same way, some so-called luxury brands have fallen behind in China, not because the cars are bad, but because the brand power is not enough.

For example, the Acura RDX, a subsidiary of the later Honda Motor, actually sells pretty well in the United States, but it doesn't want to be sold in China.

In terms of its product strength, it is really no worse than the Audi Q5, but the difference in car standards is too great.

Cao Yang naturally has a very clear understanding of this.

"Mr. Rao is right. How to improve the brand power of Xingchen Automobile is the key point to consider next."

"Now that the prototype car has been produced, the development work is 80% complete."

"Next, my focus will be on enhancing the brand power of Star Motors."

Cao Yang was thinking quickly about how to enhance the brand influence.

It is now 2005.

Star Motors will be officially listed in December this year if it is fast, and it will be listed in the first half of 2006 if it is slow.

The life cycle of a model is at least four to five years, that is, it will not consider launching a new generation of replacement models until after 2010.

In this life cycle, it is definitely the sooner something is pushed, the better.

"Famous car brands often enhance their brand power by participating in car events."

"For example, in F1 events, Ferrari is a frequent visitor, which should be very beneficial to Ferrari's brand promotion."

"Besides, placing some advertisements in TV movies is also something that can be considered."

"In this regard, whether it is Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi or other car companies, they should have been working hard."

"Then there is advertising, but the cost performance is not so high."

Zeng Tingting, as the head of the sales department, must have something to do with them to enhance the brand power.

This matter may not seem complicated, but it is not easy at all to achieve the goal.

"Inviting some superstars to be endorsers, or finding ways to make some rich people in China willing to buy and ride Star One, should also be good for enhancing brand power."

Mi Ying also actively interjected.

If it's a very professional technical issue, she usually doesn't interrupt.

But she still has a lot of ideas about enhancing brand power.

After all, this kind of task is sometimes just a matter of inspiration.

"Everyone think about it carefully. The project team will hold a special meeting tomorrow to discuss this issue."

Cao Yang has already solved the technical and appearance problems of the main components on Xingchen-1.

Although the prototype car has not been tested, he is actually very confident.

For him, the development of this car no longer requires any thought.

Now it's time to think about other things.

...

The off-line of the Xingchen No. 1 prototype car is still kept secret.

Except for some of the employees inside Star Motors who have personally seen its appearance, most of them don't even know about it.

Of course, Fang Sisi is naturally not a subject that needs to be kept secret.

With different backgrounds and different jobs, Fang Sisi can really provide some inspiration to Cao Yang sometimes.

So during dinner that night, Cao Yang took the initiative to talk to Fang Sisi about the promotion of Xingchen Auto's brand power.

"Your question, if you say it is small, it is very small, but if you say it is big, it is also very big."

"Domestic self-owned brands have so far given the impression that they are synonymous with cheap and low-end."

"Star Motors wants to get rid of this image, but it can't be done by doing one or two things alone."

"It doesn't even take one or two years to completely build one's own brand image, but a long-term process."

"Whether it's Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or luxury cars such as Porsche, Ferrari, and Rolls-Royce, they have achieved today's achievements after a lot of historical precipitation."

"If a luxury brand does not have historical and cultural factors in it, it is actually quite difficult to establish such a brand image."

As a reporter from Huaxia TV, coupled with her own family background, Fang Sisi really has a different opinion on the question Cao Yang mentioned.

"Indeed, in recent decades, among the newly established luxury car brands, that is, Toyota's Lexus has been relatively successful."

"When the first model was launched, whether it was appearance or power, it had a great impact on American consumers."

"Our current situation is a bit similar. In terms of appearance and power, there must be no problem."

"I also have nothing to worry about in terms of various luxurious configurations and component performance."

"To put it bluntly, our Xingchen No. 1 is not shy at all against the BMW 730."

"But the brand power of Xingchen Motors is indeed far behind that of BMW."

"I feel that Xingchen Motors can't simply develop domestically, but also needs to simultaneously expand its development space in the international market."

"Only in this way can we truly establish our own sense of luxury."

In front of Fang Sisi, Cao Yang thought of something to say.

It doesn't matter if you say xenophilia, or say anything else.

In this era, if you have established a high-end image abroad, it will definitely be much easier to promote it in China.

In turn, the difficulty increased by more than an order of magnitude.

"It is impossible for any luxury model to be sold only in its own country, otherwise the sense of luxury would not exist at all."

"Whether it's the American market, the European market, or the Middle East, it can actually be used as a breakthrough."

"As long as we have a foothold in these three markets, the domestic market will be easy to manage."

"However, it is easy to say, but it is actually very difficult to do."

Fang Sisi hoped that Xingchen Automobile would succeed, but she actually had a lot of worries in her heart.

"middle East?"

"I really didn't think about this place before."

"But you reminded me that those big families in the Middle East are very potential customers for luxury car consumption."

"It would indeed be a good thing if they could get their approval."

Cao Yang pondered for a while, and felt that the three major international markets mentioned by Fang Sisi were indeed summed up very well.

Like Japan and Korea, although they are also big automobile consumers.

But it is too difficult for Xingchen No. 1 to open up the situation there.

The United States, Europe, and the Middle East are different.

The auto market there is relatively open.

Star Motors can do a lot.

"Isn't there a lot of noise about hot stamping and forming some time ago?"

"I think you can learn part of the publicity strategy adopted by Great Wall Motors."

"Using a lot of hot stamping body, excellent power performance and extremely low drag coefficient shape, and find some publicity points from the equipment you carry."

"I think there should still be stories to do."

Fang Sisi is very active to be able to participate in Cao Yang's work.

"Do you think it is valuable to advertise on Huaxia TV?"

What Fang Sisi said, Cao Yang would naturally think about it.

However, thinking that she is a reporter from Huaxia TV, Cao Yang also wanted to learn more about the advertising business.

After all, there must be no more suitable place to advertise on domestic TV stations than Huaxia TV.

"It's quite expensive, but I think if you want to advertise in China, there is a better way."

Fang Sisi suddenly thought of something, couldn't help but get excited, and continued: "The Olympics will be in three years, and this is definitely a grand event for China."

"Have you considered making Xingchen-1 the official reception vehicle for the Olympic Games?"

"Especially that kind of high-end car?"

When Fang Sisi said this, Cao Yang's eyes lit up.

Olympic Games.

How could I almost forget it.

As an official reception car, this is definitely very beneficial to enhance brand power.

At the same time, it seems completely possible to find some potential sports stars as endorsements.

Of course, he must be looking for a star with global influence.

It is best to be a star who is not particularly famous now, but will be famous in the future, and can be famous for a long time, without any major negative news.

Finding the right one can be of great benefit to the brand promotion of Xingchen Automobile.

"Sisi, your proposal is very good."

"I will arrange someone to contact the Olympic Organizing Committee tomorrow to see how to obtain this qualification."

Fang Sisi's proposal was very reasonable, and Cao Yang naturally agreed without any hesitation.

"I don't think you need to ask people from the company to contact you directly. The effect of that is probably not good."

"For such an important event as the Olympic Games, there must be many manufacturers targeting this designated car."

"Relying on yourselves to contact, it is estimated that the effect will not be very good."

"It's better to let Lingnan Province help you to advance forward. If you cooperate next to it, the possibility of success will be higher."

"If someone with a higher rank can come to your company to visit the situation of Xingchen No. 1, then it will be even more helpful to this matter."

The family background is different, and the way of thinking about problems will also be different.

For the same thing, the method Cao Yang thought of was obviously not as good as Fang Sisi's in line with the national conditions.

"We Xingchen Motors can get a lot of things now."

"However, if you invite people to come and participate, it is estimated that the appearance needs to be exposed in advance."

Cao Yang quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, to see if this matter is beneficial to Xingchen Automobile.

Normally, the prototype vehicles used in the development stage of Xingchen-1 will not be exposed to the outside world.

Only after the trial vehicle produced by Hengjiu molds is off the assembly line, will we start to consider external publicity.

However, compared with traditional auto giants, the development cycle of Star Motors has been greatly compressed.

In fact, there is only five or six months between the prototype car in the development stage and the prototype car produced by Hengjiu Mold.

If it is exposed in advance, as long as it is publicized in another way, maybe the effect will be better?

"Your proposal is very good, I will find a way to promote it later."

If it is an ordinary enterprise, even if Fang Sisi can mention such a method, there is no way to implement it.

After all, if you want leaders to visit your company, you can't invite success if you just want to invite them.

You can't even find where the inviting door opens.

But Nanshan Group is different.

As the largest private enterprise in Lingnan Province and a star enterprise in Yangcheng, if you want to invite, you still have a chance.

Leaders at all levels in Lingnan Province have already visited, and if they come again, there will normally be higher-level visitors.

...

"Brother, you are still the best. Without any hesitation, you agreed to build another factory next to the Nanshan Industrial Park to supply Xingchen cars."

"Even in order to put into production a large-scale stamping equipment with four doors and two covers and a hot stamping production line, the company also asked a bank for a loan of 200 million yuan."

"Now that I have seen the prototype of Xingchen No. 1, I feel that all my original worries are superfluous."

In Yangcheng Huaqiang Factory, Guo Shufu chatted with Guo Shuyin for a long time in a very excited mood.

As a major stamping parts manufacturer, Yangcheng Huaqiang Factory already knew a little about the shape of Xingchen No. 1.

But that is the shape deduced from various drawings, and it still feels somewhat different from the actual car.

This time, the prototype car in the development stage has been rolled off the production line. For an important supplier like Huaqiang Factory, their general manager and the head of the sales department want to visit together, and it is obvious that they can still get approval.

Guo Shufu, who had long wanted to see how amazing the real car of Xingchen No. 1 was, naturally contacted the relevant personnel of Xingchen Automobile on the day the car rolled off the assembly line, and after watching it, he was in a state of excitement .

Perfect!

Awesome!

Guo Shufu, who feels that his level of education is not low, can only use these words to describe the prototype car of Xingchen No. 1 at this time.

If he didn't know that the shape of the mass-produced model is the same as the current prototype, he would think that this car is just a concept car.

After all, the appearance of the cars of various auto giants, that is, the shape of the concept cars will be more cool.

The general mass-produced models are very ordinary.

"I was gambling at the beginning."

"I bet that Mr. Cao has been successful all these years, and he will continue to be successful in the future."

"Now it seems that I am betting right."

"Although the production quantity of Xingchen No. 1 will not be very large, after a good start, many things will be easier to handle later."

"In the future, relying on the supply from Xingchen Automobile, we will definitely be able to make Huaqiang Factory stand out from the local suppliers in China."

"At that time, it is not impossible to even follow the pace of Nanshan Group and become one of the top 100 auto parts companies in the world."

Guo Shuyin's current ambitions are also constantly growing.

In the past, he felt that as long as the company could be operated into a factory with an output value of over 100 million yuan, it would be very good.

Now he hopes to turn Yangcheng Huaqiang Factory into an enterprise with an output value of more than 1 billion.

In the future, he hopes that the size of the company can exceed 10 billion yuan.

Then he felt that he had no other pursuits in his life.

"Tightly hold the thigh of Nanshan Group and develop together with them. It is really a very correct path for us."

"The 30% of the shares at the beginning was really right."

Guo Shufu is now satisfied with the cooperation with Nanshan Group and couldn't be more satisfied.

This is simply the nobleman in the development of Yangcheng Huaqiang Factory.

...

"Mr. Zhou, I didn't expect this LED headlight to be made smoothly and installed on Xingchen-1."

"The day before yesterday, I also went to the test site of Xingchen Automobile to see the appearance of Xingchen No. 1 with LED headlights installed. It was very amazing."

As the head of the sales department of Xingyu Auto Lighting, Zhou Wenjing is the niece of the general manager Zhou Ling.

This time, the first prototype of Xingchen No. 1 rolled off the production line of some key key suppliers, and they all had the opportunity to go to the scene to see it.

As a part closely related to the appearance of the car light, Zhou Wenjing naturally had the opportunity to watch it on the spot.

"From the appearance design of the car lights, we can already feel that the design style of Xingchen No. 1 is very different from that of domestic enterprises."

"I heard that it is a coupe model. If the shape is really as amazing as you said, I will consider buying one then."

Seeing the excited niece, Zhou Ling was also in a good mood.

Xingchen No. 1 is equipped with LED headlights of Xingyu car lights, which is also the first time that a mass-produced model is equipped with LED headlights.

For Xingyu car lights, it naturally has an extraordinary meaning.

With this case, it will be much easier to go to Mercedes-Benz, BMW and other manufacturers to sell LED headlight technology in the future.

Even Xingchen No. 1 is equipped with LED headlights, which will force other luxury models to consider using LED headlight technology in advance.

This is also a good thing for Xingyu car lights.

"It is indeed worth buying one. If the price is not exaggerated, I would like to buy one."

"Driving a car like that is definitely more exciting than driving a BMW 5 Series."

Zhou Wenjing is only in her thirties this year, so her mentality is naturally relatively young.

With a good family background, she already has her own car.

"Now the sample has been installed on the prototype car, and when it is officially mass-produced later, we can't lose the chain."

"The company has paid such a high price to obtain the technology of LED headlights. It would be a pity if it is not fully utilized."

"This represents the future of headlights."

Zhou Ling struggled for many days before finally deciding to cooperate with Nanshan Group.

Judging from the current situation, this decision seems to be the right one.

The future development of the company is worth looking forward to.

And as these suppliers visited the Xingchen No. 1 prototype, some people in the industry naturally heard some rumors.