Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

"Mr. Cao, are you free next Friday?"

Zhao Tianling got straight to the point right away.

It wasn't the first day they had met.

"Mr. Zhao, if you want to come to Guangzhou, you must squeeze out some time even if you don't have time."

Cao Yang's daily schedule is quite full. If he doesn't make an appointment in advance, he may not be able to spare time.

However, many things are not absolute.

After all, schedules can be adjusted.

"I will definitely go to Guangzhou to have a good exchange with Venustech in the near future."

"But this time it's the Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation, the C919 project is about to make its maiden flight."

"The engine of C919 is provided by your Nanshan Engine, the avionics system is provided by your Venustech, and some parts are provided by Nanshan Auto Parts."

"It can be said that you have made an indelible contribution to the successful maiden flight of this project."

Zhao Tianling's words are not just flattery. The successful maiden flight of C919 is indeed due to the contributions of Nanshan companies.

Although the first flight does not mean that the C919 has been successfully developed, it is at least a very critical node.

If no major problems are found in the first flight, and various tests are continued, there is hope that small-scale delivery will begin next year.

This is very meaningful for breaking the monopoly of Boeing and Airbus on related models.

"How is the first flight route of C919 arranged?"

Although this project is led by Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation, many core parts are provided by Nanshan companies, and Cao Yang naturally hopes that it can develop smoothly.

In this way, by selling other parts such as aircraft engines, Nanshan companies can also share a large part of the profit.

And this business is also meaningful for the future development of Venus 777.

After all, the structures of some parts such as flight control systems on different models are actually quite similar.

After accumulating rich experience on C919, it will be more experienced in large-scale supply of Venus 777 in the future.

"The initial plan is to fly from Shanghai to Chang'an City, and test the performance of C919 in all aspects through long-distance flights."

"Next Friday is only the first flight of the first prototype, and there will be a series of flight tests later."

"Combined with some problems found during the first flight, the second and third batches of prototypes will be produced within this year for testing."

"Finally, the product finalization of C919 will be completed as soon as possible."

Zhao Tianling quickly told some relevant plans for C919.

This gave Cao Yang a more intuitive understanding.

"I will let Cheng Tao of Nanshan Engine and Zhao Siyu of Venusstar Technology participate in the first flight ceremony as representatives."

"I won't fly there for now."

If you can avoid business trips, don't go on business trips.

This is also Cao Yang's work style in recent years.

On the one hand, it is considered from the perspective of safety, and on the other hand, the moving process of business trips will waste more time.

It would be better to stay in the company to participate in the development of some key projects, which will play a greater role.

Although Zhao Tianling had predicted that Cao Yang would not participate in nine out of ten times.

But after really hearing this reply, I was still a little disappointed.

"Okay, I'll come over to discuss the situation of the H-20 with you later, and then we can have a good discussion."

Zhao Tianling will definitely attend the first flight ceremony of the C919 next week. He originally wanted to communicate with Cao Yang at the ceremony.

Now it seems that there is no way.

But he didn't force it.

Although Cao Yang did not attend the first flight ceremony of the C919, when the news of the first flight of the C919 was officially reported on the Chinese TV, it still caused a great response in the industry.

The first to be stimulated was the Japanese side.

Their MRJ project has been going on for so many years, and now there is no progress.

"Inukai, you must speed up, the Chinese have already walked ahead of us."

As the president of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hideaki Omiya is obviously very dissatisfied with the progress of the MRJ project.

Although there are many reasons for this matter, many of them are not under the control of Ichiro Inukai.

But in terms of the result, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' MRJ project lags behind the C919 of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation.

The key is that the size of MRJ is smaller than that of C919, and the theoretical development difficulty is a little lower.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has always felt that its ability in aircraft design is stronger than that of China.

In particular, many parts of Boeing's aircraft are produced by Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

In this case, isn't it easy for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to develop the MRJ aircraft?

In fact, it has not officially carried out its first flight so far.

Mass production is even further away.

"President, the progress of the parts produced by our domestic suppliers is very good, and some parts are even ready for mass production."

"But some parts purchased from the United States are always unable to be delivered on time for various reasons."

"Even every now and then, they find some reasons to ask for price increases. In this case, it is difficult for our project progress not to be affected."

Inukai Ichiro felt that he was wronged.

He has forgotten about food and sleep, working in the company most of the time, and rarely resting on weekends.

However, the progress of the MRJ project is not smooth at all, and the overall delivery schedule has been delayed again and again.

ANA has even threatened to cancel its order if the MRJ project is unable to be delivered.

This is definitely a very big negative for the MRJ project.

"Is there Boeing involved in this?"

Omiya Hideaki is not stupid. Parts suppliers in the United States always have problems, which is a bit unreasonable.

If the level of American parts companies is really that bad, it will be impossible to support the American aviation industry to become the world's number one.

In this case, he had to wonder whether the giant Boeing was behind it.

Although the threat of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' MRJ project to Boeing is very limited, they are not even opponents of the same level at all.

But MRJ is still a regional airliner after all, and will be widely adopted in Japan after mass production.

Japan's aviation market is definitely Boeing's traditional market.

Most of the passenger planes purchased by various airlines are produced by Boeing.

Therefore, if there is any threat, the other party may take some actions.

"Although there is no direct evidence, the possibility is very high, and only this explanation can make sense."

Inukai Ichiro gave his answer very firmly.

Even if Boeing is not responsible, he will find a way to blame Boeing.

Otherwise, if he, the project leader, spent so much project funds but ended up with nothing, he would consider committing seppuku.

This is definitely not the situation he wants to see.

"Comac's C919 project also purchases some parts from American parts manufacturers. Why are they not affected?"

Omiya Hideaki asked a rather tricky question.

However, Inukai Ichiro quickly gave his own explanation, saying: "In the early days of the C919, many parts were purchased from the United States, and even the engines were provided by overseas manufacturers."

"But after Modu Commercial Aircraft Co., Ltd. cooperated with companies from the Nanshan Group, the situation has changed a lot."

"First of all, the engine is purchased from Nanshan Engine, and the avionics system and other parts are purchased from Venus Technology."

"Today, more than 80% of the components on the C919 are purchased in China."

"If there are problems with some parts purchased from overseas, they may be replaced by domestic manufacturers in China at any time."

"In this case, American parts manufacturers will definitely not dare to hold back, because once something goes wrong, they may be replaced."

"The orders for the C919 in China will be huge in the future, and it may even be the single model with the highest sales volume in the next ten years."

"Faced with such a large order, American suppliers are too late to cooperate. How can they be held back?"

"Even if Boeing puts pressure on them, it may not be effective."

When Inukai Ichiro said this, Omiya Hideaki felt very uncomfortable.

When did the status of Japanese companies in the United States become inferior to that of Chinese companies?

It shouldn’t be!

"China can use this method to put pressure on suppliers. Can we also use the same tactics?"

Omiya Hideaki asked unwillingly.

"It's a bit difficult. On the one hand, we have signed relevant contracts with suppliers. If we don't use them directly, there will be some risk of compensation."

"On the other hand, we were developing MRJ with those manufacturers before. If we switch to a new supplier, everything will have to start again."

"The most critical thing is that we can't find domestic manufacturers that can produce some key parts."

Inukai Ichiro's words made Omiya Hideaki very disappointed.

This won't work, and that won't work either. Are we just going to watch China take the lead in commercial aircraft?

He is not willing to give in!

…

"David, the C919 aircraft of China Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China has successfully completed its first flight. It is said that some airlines have placed orders for them in advance."

"This situation is very unfavorable to us. Is there any way to disrupt their project?"

As the president of Boeing, Muilenburg has been under a lot of pressure in the past two years.

As the former leader in the global aviation field, Boeing has had many internal problems, and the external competitive environment has also deteriorated.

Under such circumstances, a lot of effort is naturally required to maintain performance from declining.

"The C919 project is a project fully supported by relevant departments in China, and most of their domestic airlines are state-owned enterprises."

"Under this situation, even if the C919 has not yet been mass-produced, some companies have begun to order aircraft due to pressure from relevant departments."

"This is no longer a competitive situation in a market environment."

David felt that he had to explain the major premise clearly first.

Otherwise, things will not be settled when the time comes, and it will appear as if you are incapable of doing things.

In fact, this kind of thing has little to do with the ability to do things, but mainly with the support of the relevant departments.

"Of course I understand what you're talking about."

"But from the results, C919 will threaten the sales of many of our models in the future, and this matter must be taken seriously."

Bosses are basically used to result-oriented.

If your results are very good, then it doesn't matter if there are some flaws in the middle.

On the contrary, if the results are very bad, even if a lot of efforts are made in the middle, people may not necessarily recognize it.

"Some of the parts of C919 are supplied by our suppliers. I have tried to communicate with some manufacturers before to see if I can do something about the supply of parts."

"But the more core parts have been snatched away by Nanshan companies such as Venusstar Technology. If other manufacturers continue to drag their feet, it is very likely that the remaining parts on C919 will also be handed over to Venusstar Technology to complete."

"So those suppliers are now doing things according to the contract and dare not easily drag their feet."

David explained his previous efforts and said that he did not do nothing.

However, this explanation must be unsatisfactory to Muilenburg.

"C919 will definitely find a way to obtain various airworthiness certificates by then. It should be okay for us to do something here, right?"

"Of course there is no problem. C919 will never get our airworthiness certificate. But in the short term, the domestic market demand in China alone is enough to support their rapid development."

After hearing what David said, Muilenburg was even more depressed.

The Chinese market!

That is the largest market in the world.

Relying on this huge market, C919 can really get a very good development foundation.

When their wings are hard, even if Boeing wants to make trouble at that time, it is estimated that it will be difficult.

This is indeed a big problem.

The most important thing is that if Boeing keeps doing it, China will also adopt the same plan to deal with Boeing aircraft, which will be very troublesome.

At that time, Boeing may suffer even greater losses, which is definitely not the situation Muilenburg wants to see.

"No matter what, we have to think of a solution. We can't let C919 develop rapidly."

There was no better solution for the time being, but Muilenburg didn't want to give up so quickly.

"Muilenburg, I think the most urgent thing may be to keep an eye on Venustech's Venus 777. This aircraft may pose a greater threat to us than C919."

"Once the Venus 777 is successfully mass-produced, our sales in the Chinese market will decline significantly."

David raised another question.

Although there is no accurate information yet, the C919 has already started its maiden flight. David thinks that the time for the maiden flight of Venus 777 will not be too late.

At that time, Boeing will be under greater pressure.

The board of directors may have great opinions on them.

"You arrange it and find time to communicate with Airbus to see how everyone will deal with it."

If you can't do it yourself, then pull Airbus together.

Anyway, although everyone is a competitor, they are also partners.

And when Boeing contacted Airbus, they were also headaches about the changes in the Chinese market.

"Chen, Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation's C919, how likely do you think it is to be put on the market for commercial operation on a large scale in the next year as they advertised?"

After Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation suddenly announced that the C919 had successfully completed its maiden flight, Chen Jumin, general manager of Airbus China, immediately flew to the headquarters to make a special report.

Changes in the field of civil aviation are normally relatively rare.

What attracts everyone's attention every now and then is the news of some plane crashes.

After all, there are not many players in this field. Europe and the United States have already solidified the pattern, and there are few companies in other places that can challenge this status.

For example, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan originally thought that it could rely on Japan's strength to start the MRJ project and share the cake of regional passenger aircraft.

But in the end, it will never succeed.

Both Airbus and Boeing's senior executives are very clear about this.

Only Japan has always been lucky, thinking that as long as they work hard, they can get the MRJ project out.

In fact, both Boeing and Airbus have many means to mess this up.

So from the beginning to the end, Fabrice did not focus on Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

"If it was two years ago, when Nanshan Group's enterprises had not yet participated in this project, I think C919 would definitely not be able to achieve mass production so quickly."

"But the situation is a little different now. The core components of C919 are all purchased from Nanshan Group's enterprises, and various problems will be solved quickly in the end."

"So large-scale mass production next year is very likely, at least in terms of cargo aircraft, C919 will be adopted on a large scale."

Chen Jumin did not dare to paint a rosy picture for Fabrice at this time.

Because this story will soon be over.

Fabrice may not have a sense of how strong the combat effectiveness of Nanshan Group and Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation is after the cooperation.

But Chen Jumin, general manager of Airbus China, is very clear.

"If this is the case, won't our A320 sales drop significantly in the future?"

Fabris asked in a rather heavy tone.

Airbus aircraft have no market in the United States, and the market share that can be seized in Europe has basically been seized.

Other places, like polar bears, basically use their own products.

For the rest of the world, China is the most important market.

But the Chinese market has now experienced such a big change.

This is something Fabrice absolutely does not want to see.

"There is indeed this risk, but the growth rate of the Chinese aviation market in recent years has been very large. Even if C919 has entered the stage of large-scale mass production, the production capacity should be relatively limited."

"And they can't set plans for all aspects according to very high production from the beginning."

"So there will definitely be a few years when the production capacity is in short supply, and the impact we will suffer in those years should be relatively limited."

After Chen Jumin's explanation, Fabrice's pressure was slightly reduced.

C919 will be mass-produced the year after next. If the production in the first few years after mass production cannot meet the demand, then the impact on Airbus can indeed be minimized.

By the time the production capacity of C919 is fully improved, Fabrice should be almost retired.

At that time, any headaches can be left to the successor to deal with.

After thinking this through, Fabrice's mood has improved a lot.

Of course, as a professional manager, he still has the qualities he should have.

"China is not doing anything about C919 or Venus 777. You should pay full attention to it and report any movement in time."

Anyway, he can't think of any response plan in a short time, so he will make a soy sauce arrangement first.

...

"Mr. Cao, all static tests of our Venus 777 have been almost completed. From the current situation, there are very few places that need to make major changes."

"It's time to consider arranging the production of the prototype for the first flight."

Seeing that the first flight of C919 has been popular in China for more than a week.

Zhao Siyu, who personally participated in the first flight event, soon held a technical evaluation meeting for Venus 777 after returning to the company.

Judging from the current results, it is obviously still very good.

Otherwise, he would not dare to directly propose to Cao Yang to start producing the prototype for the first flight.

"Since there is no problem, then produce the parts as soon as possible."

Cao Yang was not surprised at all by what Zhao Siyu reported.

After all, Cao Yang personally participated in all the development tasks of the Venus 777.

This is a product modified on the basis of the mature solution of the Boeing A350 in the future, so there should not be any major problems.

Besides, Venus Technology is now simultaneously carrying out the H-20 project, and some of the confirmed contents are similar.

Several projects are carried out together, and some problems are handled together, which is much faster.

"After we successfully developed the Venus 777 this time, NSCAD's aviation module will become more mature."

"At present, Yangcheng Zhongwang basically maintains the rhythm of updating one version every month, and iterates products rapidly."

"The various feedbacks from Aerospace Science and Technology and AVIC are also getting better and better."

"It's not so easy for Dassault's CATIA to block us."

Zhao Siyu has been stuck by the software before.

In particular, the various software related to the aerospace industry produced by the United States can no longer be used.

If Venusstar Technology does not have suitable software to use, then the speed of product development will be reduced to a snail's pace.

"With enough application scenarios and enough talents to improve, industrial software is not that difficult to deal with."

"In the future, we will strive to make all the industrial software used in various industries in China domestic software."

"Even in the future, we will let our domestic software go global and let more companies in more countries use our software."

Compared with hardware, it is obviously more difficult for software to go global.

In many cases, it is necessary to promote it together with hardware to attract others.

However, as long as China's comprehensive national strength continues to improve, the attractiveness of all aspects will continue to increase.

Both Zhao Siyu and Cao Yang are very confident about this.