Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

"Mr. Cao, in response to Ford and General Motors jointly launching 9AT and 10AT, we are going to arrange a series of tests."

"This includes in-car VOC testing, crash testing, fuel consumption testing and durability testing."

"In addition, we are planning to do a special disassembly and comparative analysis of the gearbox series."

"The models tested will focus on the best-selling models from Changan Ford and Modu GM."

"We will also announce this news in advance before testing."

Yu Yu is very clear about the impact that GM and Ford will have on Nanshan Transmission by producing their own high-end gearboxes.

In this case, how to make Ford and General Motors scruple is a very important issue.

In the American market, Autohome can do very little.

But in the Chinese market, Autohome can do a lot.

As long as they are not stupid, GM and Changan Ford will be able to read something from Autohome's advance announcement of car test projects and target models.

Normally, unless it is a project that they are good at, the OEM will definitely not want their models to be tested and compared.

In particular, this kind of test is conducted without any participation, and no one knows what the final result will be.

Even in these tests, it is difficult to say clearly whether Autohome has done anything.

In short, everyone in the automotive industry knows that when it comes to testing and comparison, the pit is quite deep.

If you are not careful, some car companies will fall into the pit.

"There are actually many quality problems with the models of GM and Changan Ford, and there should be a lot of complaints from consumers."

"We can also collect and prepare relevant information in advance, and even disclose part of the content to them."

Cao Yang is not a good man or woman.

He definitely hopes to at least keep orders from GM and Changan Ford. After all, the sales of these two car companies are still considerable, and they have made some contributions to Nanshan Automobile Group.

Whether you use coercion or inducement, or show off your muscles, don't switch out my parts easily, otherwise I will be rude.

Use the sword when it's time to show it. The Sword of Damoris hanging over Shanghai General Motors and Chang'an Ford will definitely be effective.

Cao Yang believes that Modu GM and Changan Ford should also be able to get this signal.

"Well, we have already started preparations for this and it should be completed soon."

"Changan Ford also has two new SUV models on the market this year. They definitely don't want to have any problems."

Both GM and Changan Ford have relatively high expectations for the Chinese automobile market.

But the actual market competition is very fierce, so even these automobile giants are extremely careful and try their best.

"I hope they can understand us, otherwise we will be rude!"

When Cao Yang said this, he was also thinking that Nanshan Hongqi needed to increase the progress of research and development of new models.

The sales volume of Nanshan Hongqi this year is very good, and it has successfully entered the first-tier independent brand.

Now it is fully capable of continuing to rush upward, and let everyone see the effect of the combination of Spring City Automobile Group, a giant with policy advantages, and Nanshan Automobile Group, a giant with technological and marketing advantages.

That lethality is definitely enough for everyone to drink a pot.

Not to mention other things, just the fact that Nanshan Hongqi is now taking the initiative to attack the official car market has hurt many car companies.

After all, the market in this area is really too big.

No matter which car company it is, it is a big piece of fat.

…

"Austin, I heard that the purchasing center at the headquarters held a video conference with our purchasing department yesterday and are considering using the 10AT produced in the Detroit factory for our domestic Cadillac and Excelle models in the future?"

As the deputy director of the sales department of Modu General Motors, Su Huasheng is actually in charge of the sales business of Modu General Motors.

He is definitely very concerned about the changes in public opinion on the Chinese Internet.

After the series of actions taken by Autohome, the marketing staff of GM were naturally quickly aware of the crisis.

Whose car doesn’t have any problems?

Anyway, the people in Modu General do not have this confidence.

If you are subject to some targeted tests, or even deliberately compare a model that is relatively strong in a certain aspect with your best-selling model, the results will definitely make you uncomfortable.

Similar things have actually happened in the past.

Su Huasheng didn't want to see it again.

"Although 10AT has been successfully developed, it will still take some time to mass produce it on a large scale."

"Of course, it will take a certain amount of time to match the applicability of each model."

"In the early days, the priority was to meet the needs of the Detroit factory."

"But it will definitely be gradually extended to Magic City Universal in the future."

There was nothing to hide from this information, and Austin shared it directly with Su Huasheng.

However, Su Huasheng obviously had more things to consider.

"Our current 10AT is purchased from Nanshan Transmission. If we switch to a self-developed transmission, it will either be imported from the United States or a factory will be built to produce it in China."

"But no matter which option is used, the final cost is likely to be higher than it is now."

"Is it possible to consider not changing the gearbox at Modu General Motors?"

If Austin can be convinced from a cost perspective, that would be the best thing.

After all, from other perspectives, it is actually more difficult to quantify, and it contains a lot of personal speculation.

"We can produce gearboxes ourselves, but we continue to purchase them from outside. I guess the headquarters will not easily agree to this plan."

Austin was the head of General Motors' purchasing center before, and he has a good understanding of General Motors' work style.

Even after bankruptcy and reorganization, many things within General Motors have not changed.

"The situation in China is quite special. Many things have Chinese characteristics and need to be specially considered."

"As the world's largest automobile market, the level of competition in the Chinese market is actually very high."

"Nanshan Automobile Group is a completely unavoidable presence in China's automobile industry."

"Almost all China's independent brand car companies purchase major components such as engines, gearboxes, and ESP from Nanshan Automobile Group."

"And Autohome, China's largest professional automotive media, and Weibo, the largest social media, are both affiliated companies of their group."

"Under such circumstances, it is very difficult for companies that are at odds with Nanshan Automobile Group to develop well in China."

"Toyota and Volkswagen are typical representatives. Even Modu Volkswagen and Spring City Volkswagen are now looking to Nanshan Transmission to buy 6AT and 8AT gearboxes."

Su Huasheng felt that he still needed to convince Austin not to switch gearboxes, but instead of going directly to the topic, he went in a circle.

After all, Austin would definitely not easily refute the headquarters' plan without clarifying some background information.

"Are you worried that after we switch out the Nanshan gearbox, we will offend Nanshan Automobile Group and ultimately affect our sales in China?"

Austin is not stupid. He has dealt with Nanshan Automobile Group many years ago.

Su Huasheng chattered so much that he naturally reacted quickly.

"Yes, if the quality of our own products is very good and the price is very low, then Nanshan Transmission probably has nothing to say."

"But if our costs are higher and the performance is not better, and we do this just to get rid of our dependence on Nanshan gearbox, it will definitely annoy Nanshan gearbox."

Su Huasheng gave his judgment very definitely.

Comparing his feelings, he felt that if he were the person in charge of Nanshan Gearbox, he would definitely be unhappy.

"Don't we have many other parts purchased from Nanshan Auto Parts?"

Austin couldn't help but frown. It must be very uncomfortable to feel like Party A is being threatened by Party B.

In particular, General Motors has been the world's sales champion for many years and has always been relatively strong in front of suppliers.

Now that it is being manipulated by Nanshan Gearbox as a supplier, it is normal for Austin to be unhappy.

"Yes, Nanshan Auto Parts does still have some business, but the value of the gearbox is the highest."

"Besides, the scale of cooperation between Nanshan Automobile Group and various independent brands in China is even larger."

"For the same car, if Chery or Geely is sold, then Nanshan Automobile Group's turnover will definitely be higher."

"In this case, Nanshan Automobile Group is likely to pull a group of Chinese independent brand car companies to deal with us just like it did before to encircle and suppress Korean car companies, Volkswagen, and Toyota Motor."

When Su Huasheng said this, Austin was immediately silenced.

He knew that what Su Huasheng said was the truth, and because of this, he remained silent.

"Let's take a look at what's going on with Changan Ford first, and then I'll ask the purchasing side to try to communicate with Nanshan Transmission to see how they react."

After waiting for a while, Austin gave a relatively compromise opinion.

However, Su Huasheng was not satisfied with the result.

"Autohome has already announced some vehicle model reviews. Among them, our models and Changan Ford's models have almost all entered the target models for various assessments."

"I think this matter itself is related to the official announcement by General Motors and Ford of the successful development of the 10AT gearbox."

"So it is basically certain that as long as Shanghai GM no longer uses Nanshan transmission products, Nanshan Automobile Group will definitely bring a group of companies in China to encircle and suppress us."

Su Huasheng directly put his guess on the table.

Anyway, his opinion is just one: Modu General Motors transmissions should continue to be purchased from Nanshan Transmission.

Otherwise, he really does not have the confidence to continue to let Modu GM maintain the number one sales position in China.

Especially after entering 2013, Huaxia's own brands have continued to exert their efforts. Su Huasheng has no confidence at all how long Modou General can maintain its number one sales position.

"If you want to convince the headquarters to accept our point of view, then you'd better use other more convincing reasons."

"For example, cost or supply risks, try not to mention that Nanshan Automobile Group will surround us."

After another long silence, Austin accepted Su Huasheng's point of view.

He has been in China for several years and knows that the influence of Nanshan Automobile Group in China cannot be ignored.

If the other party really wants to fight against Modu General, then it will definitely be Modu General that suffers the most, not them.

Of course, the outcome is likely to be a lose-lose outcome.

"I'll talk to the purchasing department to see if we can try to advance this issue from the purchasing department's perspective."

"But no matter what the final reason is, I do not support the use of other brands of gearboxes in the Chinese market."

Su Huasheng's words made Austin a little uncomfortable, but this time he didn't say anything more.

Similar conversations are also taking place within Changan Ford.

Yin Chuan, the general manager of Changan Automobile, directly gave instructions to the executive deputy general manager of Changan Ford, requiring Changan Ford to continue to use Nanshan transmission products internally.

Otherwise, it will be detrimental to the development of Changan Ford.

In this regard, it is rare for Changan Ford to reach a consensus within the company.

Currently, there is still a big gap between Changan Ford and GM in terms of scale. They are preparing to increase their sales by continuously launching new SUV models.

These actions require the cooperation of media such as Autohome.

If this offends Nanshan Automobile Group so much, how can Autohome continue to help Changan Ford?

In particular, the people at Changan Ford have also gotten some hints through various methods, so they will not change their gearbox at this time.

This information was finally fed back to Ji Hua through various channels.

"Mr. Cao, judging from the current situation, both GM and Changan Ford should continue to use our gearboxes. Even if there are changes, it will be a relatively long time later."

Nanshan Gearbox's status within Nanshan Automobile Group is not low, and Ji Hua also knows that Cao Yang actually attaches great importance to the gearbox business.

Regarding this change, he naturally reported it to Cao Yang immediately.

"As long as China's market share is stabilized, the impact on other parts of the world will not be that big."

"I will visit Europe with the leaders in a while. In addition to the business cooperation with Daystar Technology, I will also consider having a good exchange with Volkswagen on in-depth cooperation in gearboxes."

"Volkswagen's DSG gearbox has so many problems, and it will definitely continue to reduce the proportion of DSG in the future."

"There is a huge market here."

Although in the long run, gearboxes will be a sunset industry just like engines.

But in the past ten years, the demand for gearboxes must still be very large.

Cao Yang also hopes that Nanshan Transmission can completely become the world's largest transmission company.

This will definitely require obtaining some orders from the international market.

Volkswagen already extended an olive branch last year and began to use Nanshan transmission products in China.

This can be expanded to markets such as Europe. Even if it is only exporting hundreds of thousands of units, it is very meaningful.

"It would be great if the relevant departments could help promote this matter behind the scenes."

"There are some changes in Volkswagen's overall strategy now. Maybe this plan can really succeed."

After hearing what Cao Yang said, Ji Hua's face was filled with joy.

Who doesn’t want to have more and more orders in his hands?

Volkswagen is preparing to become the world's number one car company. As long as it can obtain 20% of Volkswagen's gearbox share, it will be a very huge number.

"Whether it works or not, it doesn't hurt for us."

"Work hard first and then talk about it."

…

The actions of Nanshan Automobile Group cannot be hidden from other media.

"Editor Fang, Autohome has been doing something interesting recently. I think you can consider learning from it."

As the senior editor of NetEase Auto Channel, Lin Jiayan is naturally very concerned about the news of her peers in the industry.

Every day she goes to Autohome, Bitauto and other websites to see what they are reporting.

Of course, the people at Autohome must be doing the same thing.

"How to do it?"

Fang Dawen put down the pen in his hand and looked at Lin Jiayan expectantly.

This is her capable subordinate, and she can still look forward to something valuable.

"During this time, haven't we been thinking about how to further increase the advertising revenue of the automotive channel?"

"Through some special reporting content or test projects, each OEM can feel the pressure we bring to them, and they will increase their advertising investment on our platform."

“Before, I always thought that Autohome seemed to be quite religious about changes in advertising revenue, but now I don’t think so.”

"Several of their articles these days are related to testing."

"They have plans to go to Xijiang Province to conduct in-vehicle VOC emission tests at high temperatures, and are also preparing to cooperate with the wind tunnel laboratory in charge of Lingnan University of Technology to conduct some crash and other various tests."

"These tests are not focused on a single model, but similar models of the same level will be selected for comparative testing."

"There will definitely be a difference between good and bad in the final result, and some car companies will definitely be nervous."

Lin Jiayan slowly expressed her analysis.

"We all know that when testing this thing, there is actually a relatively large space for operation."

"Even without cheating, many things can actually be flexibly modified."

"In this way, if you want to deal with a certain car company, you can make the test results of one of their models very unsatisfactory."

"Or we can directly compare the weakest points of this model with the strongest points of other car companies."

"Back then, Xingchen Automobile was constantly conducting crash tests. Wasn't it just comparing its own strengths with the weaknesses of others?"

"From the results point of view, the effect is very good."

"The car companies that were touched by the scandal also have troubles to say. After all, they didn't lie."

As Lin Jiayan continued to explain, Fang Dawen probably understood what the other party meant.

This matter does seem to be going somewhere.

"Do you want to further expand our testing team and start more testing business like Autohome?"

"Ultimately, through these arrangements, will it bring various pressures to car companies and increase everyone's attention to our platform?"

Fang Dawen briefly sorted out Lin Jiayan's views, and then analyzed what NetEase Auto Channel should do.

"Yes, that's probably what it means."

“The ultimate goal is to increase our influence while also increasing the revenue of our platform.”

Lin Jiayan could feel that she was almost convinced Fang Dawen, and she couldn't help but have a happy smile on her face.

Sure enough, Fang Dawen did not hesitate this time and readily agreed to Lin Jiayan's proposal.

However, their channel will definitely need some time to develop relevant practices.

The launch of those test projects has invisibly put some pressure on various car companies.

It's just that pressure is pressure. Whether it can eventually be converted into advertising revenue is another matter.

Because with the rapid popularity of smartphones, the influence of various mobile apps has slowly begun to surpass traditional websites.

Even if these websites launch their own apps on mobile phones, there is no way to completely reverse this pattern.

Like Weibo, their influence in the mobile Internet field is definitely much greater than that of the four traditional portals.

…

"Ayang, this time when we go to Europe, apart from the activities of relevant departments, we will try our best not to arrange other itineraries."

"Otherwise, I'm not sure if anyone will cause trouble."

Fang Sisi was packing her luggage and talking to Cao Yang.

The 20 billion contract between Daystar Technology and the European Space Agency is finally about to be officially implemented.

For this kind of very special large order, the relevant departments naturally hope to counter-sign on some special occasions.

This will definitely be beneficial to the development of bilateral relations.

Although we have competition and conflicts, we still need to focus more on cooperation and communication.

At least that was the tone in 2013.

"Well, we don't have much schedule, so we can just follow the group."

Cao Yang also cherished his life.

He is very aware of how much changes the emergence of Nanshan Group has brought to the world.

Not to mention that Venus Technology still has many products under development that have not yet been released.

But the fact that these products have not been officially released does not mean that no information has been grasped by the relevant departments in the United States.

Some people must be wishing that they would suddenly die unexpectedly.

Cao Yang didn't want to encounter a car accident or fire for no reason, or "commit suicide."

So even if Fang Sisi didn't persuade him, he had no intention of doing it himself.

No matter how many tourist attractions there are in Europe, I pretended I had never seen them.

There are so many scenic spots and historic sites in the country that you can’t see, so why worry about other people’s things.

"After this cooperation, our Venus Technology will definitely receive more and more attention."

"At that time, all parties will probably want to inquire about what's going on inside Daystar Technology. We have to find a way to screen out people with ulterior motives."

In recent years, Daystar Technology has recruited many new employees.

Not everyone here is definitely here for normal work.

Cao Yang actually knew this.

But now Fang Sisi pointed out this issue.