Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

There are too many automobile companies in China.

Under normal circumstances, when unknown car companies announce to the public that they are going to build new cars, they often fail to make any waves.

Hongqi Sedan used to be one of the unknown car companies.

But now that Hongqi Cars has cooperated with Nanshan Group to establish Nanshan Hongqi, the situation is a little different.

Domestic independent brand car companies such as Chery, Geely, BYD, Great Wall, Changan and Yangcheng Automobile, which have relatively good sales, all use Nanshan Group's engines, gearboxes and various parts.

Even the model layout and future development strategies of some car companies are influenced by Nanshan Group.

Under such circumstances, every move of Nanshan Hongqi will naturally be closely watched by all car companies.

There is no way, everyone is worried that Nanshan Group will favor Nanshan Hongqi and provide better and cheaper products to Nanshan Hongqi, making Nanshan Hongqi our main competitor.

If that is the case, it will definitely be a huge pressure for independent brands.

Geely Automobile, which has always had great expectations for China's auto market, is currently discussing internally how the Nanshan Hongqi news will affect it.

"Mr. Li, from what I have learned so far, Mr. Cao made a special trip to Spring City and had detailed discussions with Zhu Zhengfeng of Spring City Automobile Group for a whole day. He also visited the production site of Nanshan Hongqi."

"This news was also reported on the official website of Spring City Automobile Group."

"So Nanshan Hongqi is going to launch two new models. I think the news should be true."

"It's even possible that Mr. Cao personally participated in the design of these two models."

Peng Lin, the director of Geely Automobile Sales Department, is the one who pays the most attention to the changes in Nanshan Hongqi.

After all, if the new models of Nanshan Hongqi are highly overlapping with those of Geely Automobile, the sales department will be under great pressure.

"If Mr. Cao personally participated in the design, then the appearance of these two models must be very stunning."

"So far, the models designed by Mr. Cao have never disappointed."

"If there is no problem with the appearance, there will be no problem with the power system."

"Whether it is the current 1.5T engine or 2.0T engine, or the corresponding 6AT and other gearboxes, Nanshan Group will definitely provide it to Nanshan Hongqi."

"Even the 3.0T engine used in Dahongqi may continue to be used in these two new models."

"As for the chassis and other configurations, these things are not a problem for Nanshan Group."

"Basically, as long as Nanshan Hongqi doesn't commit suicide, their two new models will definitely be good."

The words of Gao Songlin, director of Geely Automobile Research Institute, also made everyone in the conference room give up their illusions.

From now on, everyone must face the competition from Nanshan Hongqi.

There is no way to avoid this.

"Can you tell me what these two new models of Nanshan Hongqi are?"

Li Su asked a question that everyone wanted to know.

However, Peng Lin's answer was unsatisfactory. He said: "Judging from the current investigation, Nanshan Hongqi's new models are still in a highly confidential stage."

"Everyone knows that there are two new models to be developed, but they have no idea what these two new models are."

"There is no way to determine whether it is an SUV, a sedan, or other models."

"Of course, it is estimated that in a few months, some news will be slowly released."

"I guess the news from Autohome was released by Nanshan Hongqi on its own initiative."

"Releasing a little bit of news every now and then should be a marketing tool for them."

The domestic automobile industry has developed rapidly in recent years, and various automobile OEMs have put a lot of effort into marketing.

Geely Automobile has compiled all the marketing cases of Xingchen Automobile as internal learning materials and conducted careful research.

So faced with the somewhat familiar operations on Nanshan Red Flag, Peng Lin made a decisive judgment.

"There is a ready-made power system, and many parts on the car may directly use parts produced by Nanshan Group."

"In this way, if the development of Nanshan Hongqi's new model goes smoothly, it will be on sale by the end of next year or the first half of the next year."

"This time may seem like a long time, but in fact, for a new model, it is already very fast. It will arrive in the blink of an eye."

Gao Songlin's words simply added fuel to the fire, making everyone feel even more irritable.

"According to my previous understanding of Mr. Cao, he probably doesn't want to fight a price war with everyone. Even if he wants to fight a price war, the target should not be independent brands, but joint venture car companies."

"Nanshan Hongqi's move this time is a bit big, but the Hongqi brand is quite special and should not take a particularly low-end route."

"I think the biggest impact will not necessarily be on us, but on other joint venture car companies such as Didu Hyundai, Yangcheng Honda, and Spring City Volkswagen."

Li Su has always had a good eye.

Although he was a little worried, but seeing the even more worried eyes of his subordinates, he felt that the top priority was to relieve everyone's pressure first.

In case Nanshan Hongqi's new model hasn't come out yet, the morale on his side will be completely gone.

"What Mr. Li said makes sense. As long as Nanshan Hongqi does not engage in price wars, we are actually not afraid."

"Nanshan Group has no reason to provide particularly low-priced parts to Nanshan Hongqi. They also want to make money."

Hou Liang, the Minister of Procurement Department, has been silent.

At this time, after listening to Li Su's words, he also added his own opinions.

For China's current automobile market, what consumers value most is nothing more than the appearance of the car and the price of the car, followed by things like car brand and car quality.

Of course, the situation for luxury car consumers is different.

"Let's do this, everyone, be prepared."

"On the one hand, we should try to find out more about what new models Nanshan Hongqi is working on, and on the other hand, we should also consider how we can do better in our own new model planning in the future."

"Whether the Geely brand alone can really meet our own development needs needs to be carefully considered."

"Nanshan Group has been continuously improving its layout in the automobile industry. We, Geely Automobile, must also keep pace with the times and keep up with the development of the industry."

"At the same time, we must be more proactive in communicating with Ford about the acquisition of Volvo Cars, and strive to finalize the matter within next year."

Following Li Su's words, Geely Auto immediately took action internally.

However, not every car company can have a clear response plan like Geely Automobile.

For example, Spring City Toyota, which is also part of the Spring City Automobile Group, is worried internally at this time.

"Bu Chen, Spring City Motor has cooperated with Nanshan Group to form a joint venture company called Nanshan Hongqi. Have you heard about the positioning of Nanshan Hongqi's new model?"

Miyazaki Hidashi is the sales director of Spring City Toyota and represents the interests of Toyota Motors.

As the deputy minister, Chen Wenzhan represents the interests of Spring City Automobile Group.

Now that the related industries of Spring City Automobile Group may threaten the interests of Spring City Toyota, Miyazaki Nissei will definitely want to find out about the situation from Chen Wenzhan.

He will also need to report to Toyota China later.

"I also learned about Nanshan Red Flag through the Internet. In fact, I don't know more than you about other aspects of the news."

"So far, there is no news on the Internet about the status of Nanshan Hongqi's two new models."

"I estimate that except for the senior management and core personnel of Nanshan Hongqi, no one else knows much about these two models."

"After all, when it comes to the development of new model projects, all personnel are actually like screws. They are just responsible for their own parts."

"As for what the model looks like and what the overall configuration is, I don't know and it won't affect the progress of the work."

Chen Wenzhan really didn’t know about Nanshan Hongqi.

Besides, even if he knew it, he would definitely not talk nonsense to Miyazaki Himasa.

After all, although he is the deputy director of the Spring City Toyota Sales Department, he is first and foremost an employee of Spring City Automobile Group.

When doing things, it is natural to consider the interests of Spring City Automobile Group first.

This is also a dilemma faced by various joint venture companies.

No matter which party is stationed there, when encountering problems, they will not first consider the interests of the joint venture company, but the interests of their respective groups.

Under normal circumstances, there may not be any big problem.

But when you encounter some critical moments, problems may arise.

"The engines and gearboxes provided by Nanshan Group to independent brand car companies have posed a huge threat to our company."

"In the past, the quality of engines and gearboxes of independent brand car companies was not good, and some problems would occur every now and then."

"Many consumers are unwilling to buy self-owned brand models for this reason, but in recent years, this situation has changed significantly."

"Fortunately, our brand influence is not at the same level yet. Although they have brought some pressure to us, it is still within a bearable range."

"Now that Nanshan Group is personally involved in producing mid-size cars, the situation may be completely different."

"Nanshan Hongqi is likely to become Spring City Toyota's main competitor by then. We cannot ignore this."

Miyazaki Himasa could naturally guess what Chen Wenzhan was thinking.

However, he did not intend to let Chen Wenzhan go so easily.

Otherwise, if Spring City Toyota's sales are really affected by Nanshan Hongqi, his life will be difficult.

"No, even if it is to be affected, first of all, the Korean brand car companies such as Hyundai and Kia will be affected first."

"Their brand influence is obviously one level lower than Toyota's, and they will be impacted faster."

When Chen Wenzhan said this, Miyazaki Himasa didn't know how to refute.

After all, what Chen Wenzhan said is not unreasonable.

The influence of the Korean brand is indeed lower than that of Japanese car companies.

By then, the pressure on Imperial City Modern will certainly not be small.

But soon, he found another reason and said: "Chen Bu, you are right, but there is one factor that cannot be ignored, that is, Nanshan Hongqi and Spring City Toyota are both joint ventures of Spring City Automobile Group."

“There are some resources that will be diluted if more people use them.”

"Toyota chose to form a joint venture with Spring City Motor because of Spring City Motor's special influence in China."

"If Spring City Automobile Group allocates its resources to Nanshan Red Flag by then, the blow to Spring City Toyota will be severe."

When Miyazaki Himasa said this, it was hard for Chen Wenzhan to refute.

After all, this is what people say.

If I don't correct my attitude and treat him well, I probably won't be able to survive.

"I understand your worries, but I know very little information about this matter."

"I'll try to find a way to find out later and see what Nanshan Hongqi is trying to do."

"If their new models are really positioned very similar to our models, we will see how to respond."

Although Chen Wenzhan's words did not satisfy Miyazaki Himasa, this was the only way to go for the time being.

In addition to Spring City Toyota, Yi Jia and Zhang Lin of Changan Automobile are actually also very worried.

"Mr. Yi, according to the strategic cooperation agreement we previously signed with Nanshan Group, all Changan Automobile's passenger cars use Nanshan Group's engines and gearboxes."

"Nanshan Group itself has not been directly involved in the same type of models before, so we don't need to worry about whether they will implement this strategic agreement properly."

"Now that Nanshan Group is cooperating with Hongqi Cars and starting to develop new models so seriously, I think it is necessary to reconsider the supply of engines and gearboxes for passenger cars?"

"For example, Chery, Geely, and Great Wall are all developing their own engine and transmission technologies. Even if they rely heavily on Nanshan Group, at least they have other options."

Zhang Lin came to Yi Jia's office with a sad face, discussing Changan Automobile's major future decisions.

"The engine and gearbox are the two most difficult technologies in a car. Chery and Geely have been working on them for many years but have not come up with anything good."

"In recent years, with the technological development of Nanshan engines, the overall domestic engine technology has improved somewhat."

"But whether it's Chery, Geely, or other independent brand car companies, the engine technology they develop themselves is still not as good as Nanshan Engine's products."

"Besides, everyone is now using the first-generation products of Nanshan Engine. In the future, Nanshan Engine will also carry out technical upgrades and cost VA for these products."

"If we start to consider independent research and development of engines now, there will be no advantage at all."

"So I think it's better to just go all the way and be deeply tied to Nanshan Group."

"As long as we can increase the sales volume of passenger cars and make Nanshan Group aware of our value, then there is no need to worry about future cooperation."

It was Yi Jia who made the decision to purchase passenger car engines from Nanshan and not conduct independent research and development.

If he changes his mind now, it will be a threat to Yi Jia's personal prestige, not to mention whether he can succeed.

So far, Nanshan Group has not shown any intention to get stuck with Changan Automobile, so Yi Jia doesn't want to make any trouble.

"Our models are basically developed for the best-selling models of other car series such as Toyota and Honda, and the new model of Nanshan Hongqi is likely to be designed by Cao Yang himself."

"When the time comes, I think Nanshan Hongqi's new models will definitely be very competitive."

"There is no way we can ignore this threat."

"Even if there is competition between the two parties, we will not be able to exempt them from Nanshan Hongqi just because they have shares in Nanshan Group."

"As a result, the relationship between the two parties will be affected to some extent, right?"

After listening to Yi Jia's words, Zhang Lin still couldn't let go of his worries.

According to his own understanding, Nanshan Group's butt will surely slowly sit on the side of Nanshan's red flag.

"Until now, whether it is Nanshan engines or Nanshan gearboxes, the main domestic customers are independent brand car companies like us."

"According to what you said, if Nanshan Group treats Nanshan Hongqi too favorably, it will definitely offend all other independent brand car companies."

"For things like gearboxes, we not only have products from Nanshan Gearbox to choose from, but the prices of products from other gearbox companies such as Aisin have also dropped."

"Then the Nanshan Group will offend everyone, and the losses will definitely outweigh the gains."

"I don't think Mr. Cao would do such a short-sighted thing."

When Yi Jia said this, Zhang Lin didn't know how to refute.

After struggling for a while, he said: "How about we visit Mr. Cao again and make some insinuations to see what he means?"

Instead of guessing, just ask directly.

Yi Jia had no objection to this proposal.

"There's no need to rush there. I'll call Mr. Cao right now and express our concerns."

"I believe we are not the only ones worried about this."

"If this matter is explained clearly, Mr. Cao should be able to understand it."

Yi Jia quickly thought about how to find a reason to mention this matter to Cao Yang.

At the same time, he also took out his mobile phone and prepared to call Cao Yang.

"Mr. Cao, I heard that you personally designed two new models for Nanshan Hongqi?"

After the call was connected, after a few brief greetings, Yi Jia went straight to the topic.

He and Cao Yang were relatively familiar, so there was no point in beating around the bush.

No one is stupid anyway.

"It is true that this happened, but these two cars were mainly completed through the joint efforts of the team, and I cannot take credit."

Cao Yang did not hide anything. Some news has been exposed on Autohome. Sooner or later, everyone will know about this matter.

Now that Yi Jia called to ask, he naturally said so directly.

"Mr. Cao, I won't beat around the bush. Today I heard several people come to me for consultation. They said that after Nanshan Hongqi launches new models, it will have an impact on domestic independent brands such as Changan Automobile. They said that Nanshan Group will We will not provide better technology to Nanshan Hongqi without giving it to us."

"I definitely have confidence in Nanshan Group, but if such rumors spread, I am also worried that it will have some negative impact on Nanshan Group."

"So I confirmed it directly with you."

Yi Jia pointedly expressed her worries.

"Nanshan Group will not dig its own grave. The same engines and gearboxes we sell to Changan Automobile will definitely not be more expensive than those sold to Hongqi Automobile."

"I can definitely reply to you on this point."

"You also know that in Nanshan Hongqi, our Nanshan Group only holds 40% of the shares."

"For us, Nanshan Group is the foundation, and we will not destroy the foundation for the Nanshan Red Flag."

"Of course, if the sales volume of Nanshan Hongqi increases in the future, it would not be surprising that the prices of some parts will be cheaper than those of customers with lower sales volume."

Cao Yang's words were not meant to deceive Yi Jia.

Naturally, I am willing to agree to cooperate with Spring City Automobile Group because of the benefits.

If the price of parts becomes cheaper after cooperation and Nanshan Group makes less money, it will be meaningless.

"Of course I believe this truth."

"It's just that there are many people out there who may have wild speculations."

Yi Jia secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This situation is not bad, it is almost as he predicted.

However, if Changan Automobile wants to continue to cooperate in depth with Nanshan Group in the future, these few words alone are obviously not enough.

"Spring City Automobile Group, Changan Automobile, Xifeng Automobile and other companies are state-owned enterprises, and some personnel can be transferred between various companies."

"Looking back, Mr. Yi can use your own methods to find out what prices Nanshan Group's engines and gearboxes sell to you."

"Although it cannot be said that the prices are exactly the same, considering sales volume and other business conditions, they are basically on the same level."

"Changan Automobile has definitely not suffered a loss in this aspect."

"Even because of our strategic cooperation, many parts have one or two cost advantages compared to other customers."

Cao Yang is really not afraid of Yi Jia and others arranging people to benchmark.

There is not much difference between everyone's prices. If there is a little difference, simple benchmarking cannot tell the reason.

Besides, even if there are differences, Nanshan Group can find countless reasons to explain these differences that leave you speechless.

Anyway, saying this now can at least dispel the doubts in Yi Jia's mind.

Yi Jia's call further made Cao Yang aware of everyone's worries.

It seems that what Mi Ying reminded her on the plane before really needs to be taken seriously.

Otherwise, it is likely to cause BYD, Chery and other customers to accelerate the development of their own engine and transmission technology.