Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

Ziweixing can't make a lot of money.

This point, Cao Yang is also well aware of.

Although the prices of 799,900 and 899,900 are not low, the sales volume is limited. If the various early development costs and equipment amortization are included, the profit is not particularly high.

So Xingchen No. 2 and Xingchen No. 3 are very important.

In particular, Xingchen No. 2 undertakes important tasks such as helping to amortize research and development costs and plant equipment costs.

The most important thing is to undertake the task of increasing sales.

As long as the Xingchen No. 2 is successfully launched on the market, Xingchen Automobile's annual sales can reach the level of 100,000 vehicles, so there is no need to worry about not making money.

Even at that time, the profit of Star Motors' 100,000 cars was more than that of other independent brands with 1 million cars.

This is entirely possible.

It can be seen by looking at how moist the life of later generations of Porsche is.

To a certain extent, Xingchen Motors must first make itself an existence beyond Porsche.

"Mr. Cao, so far, the development of Xingchen 2 is quite satisfactory. The main reason is that there are still some areas that need to be worked on in the four-wheel drive system."

"In addition, as for the chassis, due to the length of 5.2 meters, there is no experience in this area in China. We are still verifying whether the designed parts can meet the technical requirements."

"Other parts are basically under development as planned."

"Even for the relatively difficult integrated hot stamping door knocker, the blueprint design and soft mold production have been completed."

"The production of the prototype will take another two months to officially roll off the assembly line. If there are no problems in the test at that time, we can start preparing the permanent mold."

"Finally launching Xingchen 2 in the first half of next year, there should be no problem."

Rao Yongxiang must have reported the good news first.

Sure enough, after he finished speaking, he bit the bullet and said: "However, because it is a sports car, it also uses a hybrid system unprecedentedly, and some parts such as the rearview mirror and spoiler are made of carbon fiber. .”

"So we still have some difficulties to overcome in this regard."

"Of course, there are also some development topics related to the motor used in the hybrid system, and the drawing specifications have not yet been finalized."

"In addition, the number of chips used on the Star III is more than that of the previous two models."

"Especially the IGBT and other chips on the power control unit still need to be imported."

"According to the current development progress, it may be difficult for Xingchen III to be launched in the second half of next year."

"Of course, we are also doing our best to fully cooperate with various universities."

"Like the research on hybrid batteries, we hired a professor from a university to take charge."

"We also recruited dozens of technicians from Dongying to fill the R\u0026D team. The current number of battery R\u0026D personnel has exceeded 200."

Rao Yongxiang explained while watching Cao Yang's reaction.

Now all the reports are bad news, and he is also worried that Cao Yang will be furious.

"Later on, you and Mi Ying coordinate your time. I spend at least one full day every week with you to tackle technical bottlenecks."

"Star No. 2 will be launched in the first half of next year, and Star No. 3 will be launched in the second half of next year. This time cannot be delayed."

Then there will be the financial crisis. At that time, everyone's attention will not be on the models.

So Cao Yang thought about launching three models before the financial crisis.

Of course, the main technical bottlenecks mentioned by Yongxiang Yong, he has the confidence to solve them.

"It would be the best if you, Mr. Cao, can participate in the development of parts together."

"Now the development team still has a lot of disputes about batteries, motors and electronic controls."

"Even if Mr. Cao mentioned some related technical directions to everyone before, there are still different voices within the team."

"It's also hard for me to immediately judge which voice represents the future."

For the development of a new technology part, not knowing where the right direction is is the most confusing.

The direction is wrong, no matter how hard you try, it is useless.

This point, people who engage in research and development are very aware of it.

But after all, not everyone has the vision like Cao Yang, who can clearly grasp the future.

"Tomorrow morning, I will spend half a day to see the research and development of batteries and motors."

"I'll see the schedule for other parts later."

The problem of battery and motor must be paid attention to.

This is also one of the core competitiveness of Nanshan Group in the future.

Although a hybrid battery is a power battery, it is quite different from the battery used in a pure electric vehicle.

But the production process of the battery is not fundamentally different.

The development process is also the same.

It's just that the formula is different and the test conditions are different.

Similarly, as one of the three electric parts, the motor is naturally worth working hard.

It is not difficult to achieve results in this regard.

There are a lot of motor manufacturers in Huaxia itself in the later generations, and they all do pretty well.

Afterwards, Cao Yang asked Yong Yongxiang about the general research and development progress in various fields, and it was time for lunch.

In the afternoon, I naturally listened to the report of the finance department step by step to understand the sales situation of Ziweixing in China, and then went to the scene to see the development of Nanshan Equipment's laser cutting equipment.

The last is the report of the low-key but very profitable Nanshan Special Steel.

"Mr. Cao, although the domestic steel market is still relatively sluggish, and the production and sales situation is a bit out of balance, in the field of high-end special steel, there has always been no worries about no one buying the products."

"We now plan to expand the production capacity from 300,000 tons to 500,000 tons, so we don't have to worry about overcapacity at all."

"Even if it weren't for the limited space for expansion of the current plant, I think it would be no problem to directly launch a 1 million-ton special steel deep processing project."

"Like die steel, the current domestic demand is growing rapidly. Except for our Nanshan Special Steel, which can produce high-end die steel, other manufacturers are either not good in quality or high in cost."

"In addition, the demand for spring steel, bearing steel, gear steel and other products is also increasing."

"So I think that after the company's approval this week, I will immediately start the bidding work, complete the energy expansion work as quickly as possible, and strive to realize the expansion of production early next year."

Xie Lingyun is now in high spirits.

At the beginning, as the deputy chief engineer of Shaogang, although his rank was not low, he actually had no right to speak in the company.

But now, as the general manager of Nanshan Special Steel, except for Cao Yang and Rao Yongxiang who occasionally take care of him, he almost has the final say at other times.

Not to mention that the employees of Nanshan Special Steel respect him very much, even the leaders and colleagues of Shaogang, now they all look a little flattered when they see him.

Especially after the news that Nanshan Special Steel was going to expand production spread, the director of Shaogang took the initiative to ask him out several times.

Without him, in order to consume more crude steel.

Otherwise, the crude steel produced cannot be sold, and Shaogang will be under great pressure.

"Since there is a large demand for special steel in our group and the market, let's expand production."

Cao Yang actually read the specific plan for the expansion of production in the email before.

Naturally, a major event like this can't be concluded with just such a report.

It's all about doing a lot of work up front.

Cao Yang is naturally very aware of the importance of special steel.

Nanshan Group is developing so fast now that it needs to consume a lot of special steel.

Although considering the background of the overall excess steel production capacity before, Cao Yang did not want to compete with domestic manufacturers such as Baosteel to compete for the market.

But now Baosteel can't meet the demand for high-end special steel. Instead of making money for those steel factories in Japan and Europe, it is better to make money from Nanshan Special Steel.

"Okay, then I will contact the purchasing department immediately and inform them to start bidding for equipment."

"Since most of the equipment has been bought before, the work this time should be completed relatively quickly."

"By the way, Mr. Cao, Nanshan Special Steel received several batches of special guests last month, and even ordered a batch of special steel for us. Look at this matter, we..."

Naturally, Xie Lingyun probably knew the identities of those special guests, but before Cao Yang was overseas, he didn't dare to report these things by phone.

After all, the other party made some warnings at the beginning.

Now that Cao Yang has returned to China, Xie Lingyun naturally wants to report properly.

"As long as it is confirmed that there is no problem with their identity, and if they have any needs, we will try our best to cooperate."

Cao Yang gave his own answer without much entanglement.

Although it is not the time to enter special fields on a large scale, it is not a bad thing to have some intersections when appropriate.

Whether it is flying in the sky, running on the ground, or swimming in the sea, some special steel is used.

The level of Nanshan special steel is among the best in the country.

Except for some special-purpose steels that have no design, the traditional high-end special steel, Nanshan Special Steel dares to be the first, and no one dares to be the first.

Cao Yang chatted with Rao Yongxiang for about an hour, and finally finished today's work.

At this time, I have time to stretch and prepare to have dinner with Fang Sisi.

Weibo has a headquarters in Yangcheng and the Imperial Capital, which is a bit strange to implement the dual headquarters model.

Of course, as long as Cao Yang is in Yangcheng, Fang Sisi is also in Yangcheng most of the time.

So to a certain extent, Yangcheng is the real headquarters.

Most of the R\u0026D personnel are also in Yangcheng.

There are mainly public relations and review personnel in the imperial capital, as well as some technical support personnel.

Although Weibo was launched less than half a year ago, the general trend has already been achieved.

Several other portal websites have launched their own Weibo one after another, but the combined number of registered users is not as many as Weibo.

I have to say that sometimes the first-mover advantage is still very important.

Especially when the first-mover advantage is in the hands of Cao Yang, it is even more difficult for others to catch up.

From the beginning, Cao Yang used Zhang Songwen to contact a group of celebrities to settle in, and quickly accumulated a group of users.

At the same time, because a large number of people from the automobile industry were mobilized to enter Weibo, it also drove millions of high-quality users in disguise.

Then, Fang Sisi used her special resources to quickly promote many organizations to open official Weibo on Weibo.

This further caused many people in the system to start registering on Weibo, and the number of users once again ushered in an explosion.

After these major actions were completed, the microblogs of other companies were launched one after another.

Obviously, this time, the day lily was cold.

Weibo's moat has already been initially constructed.

Next, due to the various actions of Nanshan Film and Television, people in the entertainment industry are more active in extending olive branches.

Even if other platforms attract some celebrities, the effect is greatly reduced.

As for people in the auto industry, they don't even register for several microblogs.

Try to think about it, if there are several softwares similar to QQ, how many people will log in several at the same time every day?

The winner takes all, and it won't take long for the winner to be determined.

"Mr. Fang, you goddess of entrepreneurship, have you descended to earth today?"

In the box beside the Banjiang River, Cao Yang saw Fang Sisi who had just rushed back from the imperial capital today.

This little girl is better than a newlywed, if it wasn't for being in the private room, it would have been about three hundred rounds of fighting.

"If you don't come back here, the goddess will become a fairy."

Fang Sisi rolled her eyes at Cao Yang who stepped forward to hug her. She obviously had some opinions on Cao Yang's long business trip this time.

Fortunately, both of them have their own careers, and after arguing for a while, everything goes back to normal.

"Many venture capital institutions now want to invest in Weibo. According to the direction I discussed with you before, I initially plan to take out 20% of the shares and introduce two venture capital institutions."

"What do you think should be a better choice?"

Fang Sisi is now concentrating on Weibo, feeling full of accomplishment.

Now naturally, I also hope that Weibo can reach a higher level and gain a firm foothold completely.

"It's actually very simple. The development speed of our Weibo is much faster than that of ordinary Internet start-ups."

"So there will not be as many rounds of financing as other companies, such as angel rounds, A rounds, B rounds, and C rounds."

"Now that the development of Weibo has entered the right track, the next step we need to consider is which investment institution can make it easier for us to go public."

Cao Yang pointed out the fundamental purpose of financing.

With the support of Nanshan Group, there is no problem with Weibo not raising a penny.

Now the advertising fee has also increased steadily, and there is even hope to achieve profitability this month.

In this case, to raise funds, it is natural to go public.

Nanshan Group and Cao Yang will definitely not be listed.

Even the various entities under the Nanshan Group have no plans to go public.

But Internet companies like Weibo are different. If you don’t go public, you have no way to collect money, and you can’t compete with other listed companies to burn money.

After all, other people's money comes from the financial market, and your money is earned penny by penny.

When using money, the mentality is naturally different.

"Listed?"

Fang Sisi froze for a moment.

Weibo will be listed in the future, Fang Sisi has long thought about this goal.

But when she started thinking about going public so early, she really didn't understand it.

"That's right, the financial market has become hot this year. You can see how hot the financial market is by looking at the income of Nanshan's investment in the stock market."

"So the best thing for Weibo is to be able to quickly promote the listing work this year and fully list before the end of the year."

As soon as Cao Yang said this, Fang Sisi was stunned again.

Weibo was only established this year, and it will be listed this year?

Is this an exaggeration?

Although she has stayed abroad, she knows that places like Nasdaq have much looser requirements for listing companies than A shares.

But is it too exaggerated to send Weibo to the market within this year?

"It's already the end of April, is it too late to go public this year?"

Fang Sisi certainly did not have this question.

At that time, many people in Weibo will have it.

"As long as the venture capital institutions choose well and the listing sponsors are strong, there will be no problem in listing within this year."

"As a major shareholder, there is no way for us to conduct stock transactions immediately after listing."

"So even if it is listed at the end of this year, it will not start trading until the end of next year."

"Who knows if the financial markets can stay that hot?"

Cao Yang had no way to tell Fang Sisi that the financial crisis occurred in 2008.

So either don't go public first, or go public this year if you want to go public.

Otherwise, at the time of the financial crisis, watching the value of the stocks in your hands decrease by one zero, you will definitely bleed.

"If you look at it according to what you said, then Sequoia and IDG are the most suitable. They are both familiar with the situation of Nasdaq, and they can be regarded as landlords."

"We gave up 20% of the shares, which is considered as road money."

Combining Cao Yang's opinion, Fang Sisi quickly came to his own judgment.

Some money, you have to earn for others.

If you eat alone, it is not so easy to make money in Nasdaq.

Thinking that the wool comes from the sheep, and in the end it will all be the money of American stockholders, Fang Sisi quickly thought about it.

"No problem, just do as you say."

"When signing the agreement, let's talk about the idea of ​​going public by the way."

"I believe they are very willing to quickly promote Weibo, a dark horse in the Internet industry this year, to the market."

"It's definitely a win-win thing."

Cao Yang is too familiar with the urine of those financial institutions.

As long as you can make a lot of money, you can talk about anything.

Besides, there are gimmicks that can be done while making a lot of money, so the enthusiasm will naturally be higher.

"Now their valuation of Weibo is about 300 million US dollars. If they give up 20% of the shares, they can raise 60 million US dollars."

“We can burn through the $60 million before we go public, exponentially increasing user data.”

I don't know when it started, the financing of Huaxia's Internet industry is valued and financed in US dollars.

Fang Sisi also has no way to be different.

"Yes, on the one hand, expand the strength of technical personnel and security auditors, and on the other hand, increase the promotion of new users."

"In addition, the Asian version of Weibo may also be considered for launch next month."

"Even a European version or an American version could be launched."

"This should also be a good story for the listing."

In fact, Cao Yang did not particularly expect Weibo to have a particularly good long-term performance in the United States or Europe.

But now it has just begun, and competitors have not yet been officially born.

Relying on the first-mover advantage to attract a wave of users, help Weibo go public smoothly, and the stock price soars, there is still no problem.

When other competitors grow up, it will be a year or two later.

At that time, it is the time of the financial crisis, and I must have already cashed out part of it.

Just wait until the trough to repurchase again.

After all this coming and going, it is estimated that the money earned is enough for Nanshan Investment to invest in a large number of companies in a mess.

"If this is the case, then a large number of technical personnel will be required, and the labor cost will also increase a lot."

Although the salary level of programmers now is completely incomparable with that of ten years later.

But compared to other industries, it is not low.

It's no wonder Fang Sisi has this concern.

"It doesn't matter, technicians are also an asset."

"At that time, even if you don't need so many people on Weibo, you can give it to Autohome or Nanshan Group."

"As many animals as program apes exist, we can eat as many as we can eat now."

Cao Yang's confident expression made Fang Sisi heave a sigh of relief.

"Weibo has just been established this year and can be considered for listing, so can Autohome also arrange for listing?"

Although Fang Sisi is not in charge of Autohome, it can be regarded as the earliest Internet company invested by Nanshan Group.

And up to now, Autohome should be firmly in the first place in the automotive media category, and it has also achieved profitability.

In this case, it stands to reason that the conditions for listing are fully met.

That's why Fang Sisi mentioned it.

"The situation of Autohome is a bit different from that of Weibo."

"Compared to the Weibo platform, Autohome is still relatively small, and the main purpose is to do a good job in the Chinese domestic market."

"In the next few years, China's auto industry will definitely develop at a high speed, and the number of Autohome users will continue to increase."

"So it doesn't matter if you think about going public after a few years."

"Anyway, they are now profitable and don't need to rely on listing financing to obtain funds."

Cao Yang didn't want Autohome to have so many external shareholders, and the business could continue without the cooperation of other investment institutions.

Unlike Weibo, which is more sensitive.

If you Nanshan Group wants to eat alone, it must not work.

And it is not good for getting out of China.

Listing must be useful to the company's development.

Obviously, Cao Yang doesn't think there is any advantage in going public with Autohome now.

"That's true, the route taken by Autohome is a bit different from Weibo."

"And it is estimated that it will be more difficult to enter the overseas market."

After listening to Cao Yang's words, Fang Sisi quickly understood.

"Then let Weibo become the first listed company under Nanshan Group."

"At that time, we will also use investors' money to burn it, and let other competitors completely eat ashes."