Reborn in 1977

Chapter 595: Let's Not Talk About It Anymore

A car factory would occupy a considerable area, so the leaders of the special zone moved some small factories next to the machinery factory and approved a 500-mu plot of land for the Yunhu Automobile Factory.

Of course, the car factory wouldn't use all 500 mu at once. The first phase used 100 mu to build several large factory buildings, and then a logistics building and an office building would be enough to open for business.

Chen Fan drove directly through the machinery factory's area, and behind it was the car factory.

It wasn't yet time for work, and there weren't many people in the factory area. Only a cleaning worker was sweeping the floor with a large bamboo broom.

The security guard on duty at the gate didn't stop his car.

Whether they were old employees or newcomers who hadn't been there long, they might not remember the dozen or so official cars of the Machinery General Factory, but they would definitely remember this very special GAZ car.

Chen Fan brazenly drove through the machinery factory, into the car factory's area, and finally parked in front of the office building.

He opened the door, got out of the car, and walked into the office building. Although it wasn't yet time for work, some people were already there, and they were old employees transferred from the machinery factory.

Seeing Chen Fan, they immediately came forward to greet him, "Consultant Chen is here. Director Yang hasn't come to work yet. Please sit here for a while and have a cup of tea. He should be here soon."

Chen Fan didn't decline, sat down in the waiting area in the corner, thanked the person who brought a cup of hot tea, and then asked, "Who came up with the idea for this reception area?"

In this era, very few units would set up a reception area. Either they would be invited into a specially set up reception room, or they would wait in the office of the person they were visiting.

Unless they were leading cadres from other units, most people would just wait at the door.

A small reception area already surpassed most production units of this era.

The person smiled and said, "This was Director Yang's arrangement."

After a pause, he added, "However, according to him, it was your suggestion."

Me?

Chen Fan blinked, thinking that he might have let it slip while discussing work one day. It wasn't impossible.

He nodded slightly, smiled, and said, "Oh, I forgot."

The person smiled and said, "You've given our unit so many suggestions, it's normal that you can't remember every detail."

Chen Fan smiled and didn't say anything more about it, instead asking, "Isn't today the day your new car is launched? Why don't I see any special arrangements?"

"We have made arrangements."

The person pointed outside and said, "We've hung banners at the factory gate, on the factory road, and also on the office building and warehouse. Maybe you were driving and didn't notice."

Chen Fan blinked, thinking that those banners were the arrangements for the new car launch?

He had noticed those banners just now, but he didn't look closely. After all, which unit in this era didn't hang a few banners?

If they were particular, they would use red cloth as the base and then write words on square-cut red paper and stick it on the red cloth. If they were simpler, they would just find a cloth strip, as long as it wasn't colored, any color like red, yellow, blue, black, or white would do. Anyway, it was just a cloth base, and the focus was still on the red paper with writing on it.

When these banners needed to be replaced, they could just change the paper, which was convenient and saved fabric.

Just as he was thinking, Yang Kangnian strode in.

It was as if they had arranged it, as Chen Fan had just stood up when Deputy Director Li, Chairman Zhao of the Labor Union, Secretary Zhang of the Youth League Committee, Director Qian of the Women's Federation, and Chief Sun of the Finance Section appeared behind him.

In addition, there was also Shi Tiezhu, the former workshop director of the Machinery Factory who had been transferred to the car factory as the production deputy director, and Ding Guangsheng, the newly appointed director of the vehicle assembly workshop.

Basically, it was the original team from the Machinery Factory. In professional terms, this was called "one team, two brands."

Director Yang took the lead and saw Chen Fan standing up. His eyes lit up, and he raised his hand to greet him, "I saw your car and knew you were back. When did you come back?"

Chen Fan stepped forward to meet him, smiling, "Last night. I came over early this morning."

Without waiting for the others to greet him, Chen Fan stepped forward and asked, "Today is the first day of the car launch. Besides hanging banners, do you have any other ceremonies or activities?"

Deputy Director Li walked over, laughing heartily, "Of course we do. At 9:50 AM, all 800 cadres and employees of the factory will gather in the square at the factory gate to hold a grand celebration ceremony.

Leaders from the province, the Provincial Mechanical Industry Bureau, and the local committee will also attend the ceremony and give speeches. After that, employee representatives and management cadres will make pledges to produce high-quality cars.

Finally, several units that want to buy cars will purchase them on the spot."

Chen Fan listened and nodded lightly. After he finished speaking, he couldn't help but look up at him, "And then?"

Deputy Director Li was stunned for a moment, turned to look at Director Yang, then back at him, and smiled, "That's it. What else do you want?"

Chen Fan wiped his forehead, leaned closer to the two, and said softly, "Like this, prepare a motorcade later. The front should be sedans, the middle should be mini-trucks with bread, and the truck beds should be filled with bands. Put all the people who can play gongs and drums on them, and don't stop the gongs and drums. Finally, get a few vans to follow behind, fill all the seats, and have everyone hold a bouquet of flowers.

After you're ready, as soon as your ceremony ends, immediately drive the motorcade out and just go around Yunhu City. Go wherever it's lively."

Director Yang's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but nod, "This will definitely be very lively."

The next second, he frowned slightly, "Private individuals can't buy cars yet. Making it so lively is useless, isn't it?"

In this era, car customers were only units. Private individuals were not allowed to buy cars and couldn't afford them.

And which unit in Yunhu City didn't know that the car factory was launching its products today?

Making it so lively, besides wasting money and manpower, what else is the use?

Chen Fan clicked his tongue and explained, "The role of publicity is not only for superiors and internally, but also for subordinates and externally. Yes, everyone knows that Yunhu has a new car factory, but few people have seen what the cars look like.

In this way, apart from the employees and families of the Machinery Factory, the car factory is nothing more than a topic of conversation for most other people. It has no other meaning.

However, if we do the publicity work of our factory to the masses, bind the car factory and the Yunhu area together, and let the general public have a sense of pride in the car factory, then when they go outside and see cars, they will definitely compare our cars with other people's cars, and they will most likely recommend Yunhu people's own cars to people they know…"

Chen Fan gave a long explanation, which made Director Yang and the others suddenly realize, "So it can be like this?!"

He turned to Deputy Director Li and the others and said, "Last time I went to the provincial capital and met with people from Jiangnan Automobile Factory, I felt that the people in their unit lacked a spirit. Now, after hearing what Xiao Fan said, I realized that what they lacked was the spirit of 'being proud of the factory'.

If every one of our cadres and employees can have this spirit, and can also involve the masses as much as possible, this spiritual wealth is also very valuable."

Deputy Factory Director Li nodded slightly, then said with a serious expression, "I'll arrange this matter."

After saying that, he left in a hurry.

After a brief exchange with Factory Director Yang, the others also dispersed to prepare for the celebration ceremony.

Once everyone had left, Factory Director Yang took Chen Fan to his office.

They chatted casually as they walked towards the office. Soon, they reached the second floor. Factory Director Yang walked to the end of the corridor. The office door had already been opened by the secretary. He went straight in, asked the secretary to make two cups of tea, and then looked at Chen Fan, who was sitting opposite him, and smiled, "After working hard for almost half a year, whether we can make a splash depends on today. After that, we'll just do our best and leave the rest to fate."

Chen Fan smiled, "We still have to do our best."

Factory Director Yang was slightly stunned. He looked at the door that had been closed by the secretary, then turned back to look at him, "What do you mean?"

Chen Fan asked, "What's the process for buying a car now?"

Factory Director Yang chuckled, "What process could there be? The unit first submits an application to the Commerce Bureau. After approval, they get a car purchase quota, and then they take the approval form to the car factory to buy the car."

Chen Fan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and frowned slightly, "So, if I want to buy a Hongqi, I still have to go to Changchun to pick it up?"

Factory Director Yang took out a pack of cigarettes from his drawer, opened it, and tossed one over, "Otherwise, what else can you do? Of course, you can only buy a Hongqi car in Changchun, just like you can only buy a Shanghai sedan in Shanghai. You can't run to Shiyan to buy a Hongqi or a Shanghai, because the Second Automotive Works doesn't have them."

Chen Fan picked up the cigarette and looked at it, "Oh, a filter tip? Are filter tip cigarettes so easy to buy now?"

Factory Director Yang lit his cigarette, flicked out the match, and threw it into the ashtray, saying, "Filter tip cigarettes are indeed much easier to buy this year. Although you still need cigarette coupons, there's basically no shortage of coupons. Sometimes, they even issue a little extra."

As he spoke, he opened the drawer again, took out two packs of Bai Jinlong cigarettes, and placed them in front of Chen Fan, "Take these to smoke."

Chen Fan didn't stand on ceremony, moved them aside, took out his lighter, lit one, and continued the previous topic, "Today, Yunhu Motors is launching. What about the other factories? When will their cars be manufactured?"

Factory Director Yang scoffed and shook his head, saying, "When will they be manufactured? I haven't even finalized the pricing, and some factories are already shipping out cars. Basically, they're all within the area where their factory is located. They haven't been selling to other places, after all, they don't want to let the profits go to outsiders."

He took a puff of his cigarette and shook his head, saying, "At first, I was quite worried. Later, I made a special trip to two factories to take a look. Hey, what they were making was a joke, almost like the prototypes our machinery factory made at the beginning, with air leaking everywhere when they were running."

He looked up at Chen Fan and said with emotion, "It wasn't until I saw their cars and then looked at the cars we made that I understood what you meant back then."

He gestured, "Don't worry, with your suggestion, Yunqi Factory has already made the best start. We definitely won't mess up later. At the same price, I don't believe we can't outsell those cars with poor quality."

Chen Fan leaned back in his chair, took a puff of his cigarette, and blinked, feeling somewhat speechless.

He could understand why, in the early days of reform and opening up, when foreign products entered the domestic market, they would mostly have an impact on domestic goods.

Put the products together, and it's clear who has better quality and who has worse quality.

Some things are indeed a bit too careless.

After a few seconds, Chen Fan decided to not say anything for the time being. Let it be.

Since people are willing to come to the factory to pick up their cars, then sell them that way. Wait until they can't sell them anymore, then talk about it.

The car sales model of later generations is already very mature. For high-end cars, there are 4S stores. For economical cars, there are stores of various brands in the auto city. Even in the townships, there are clusters of car stores.

But in this era, if you want to buy a car, you can only do what Yang Kangnian said, take the approval form to the car factory to buy it yourself, and then arrange for a driver to drive it back.

It wasn't until 1986 that the higher authorities explicitly instructed to further reduce planned instructions.

In addition, in 1984, a document that directly affected the national economy and industrial and commercial development was released, namely the "Several Provisions on Farmers' Individual or Joint Households Purchasing Motor Vehicles and Ships and Tractors to Operate Transportation Business."

This document for the first time clarified the legality of private car purchases.

It was because of this document that privately purchased cars could be registered at the vehicle management office.

Also in this year, Beijing and Shanghai had people who bought private cars.

Against this background, in the same year, that is, 1986, the higher authorities decided to establish two automobile service companies, one was the Automobile Trading Center, and the other was the China National Automotive Industry Corporation.

The establishment of these two companies marked the entry of automobiles into the market as commodities.

Entering the market requires stores.

Therefore, starting from 1986, car stores really began to spread.

Before that, there were more city sales offices, but there were no car stores.

Originally, Chen Fan wanted to suggest that Factory Director Yang open stores in several key cities today, but seeing that he was full of confidence, he swallowed the words back and waited until later to say it.

After taking a sip of tea, Chen Fan looked up and said, "The Jiangnan Writers Association wants 5 vans, and the Shanghai Writers Association may also want 3 to 5. Do you have them in stock?"

Factory Director Yang nodded immediately, "Since you've spoken, we must have them even if we don't."

He grinned, "I asked the production department to prepare 200 vans and 20 sedans in stock. If you want them, you can take them away at any time."

Chen Fan thought for a while, "Can you deliver them?"

Factory Director Yang couldn't help but laugh, "You want delivery? Who delivers cars?"

After a pause, he threw away the cigarette butt, smiled, and exhaled a long breath, "Fortunately, we have a good relationship with the shipping company. I can find their leader and ask them to send a boat to help.

But, the cars can only be delivered to the provincial capital wharf and the Shanghai freight wharf, and the cost is not low, at least a thousand yuan."

He thought for a moment, waved his hand, "Forget it, I'll figure out a way to pay for the transportation. There are also units in the provincial capital buying cars today, and the number is quite large. I'll spread some of the transportation costs to them, and they'll definitely be happy to do it.

If you're sure there are no problems, let me know, and I'll arrange the delivery time."

Chen Fan nodded, "The 5 cars in the provincial capital can be confirmed. I need to send a telegram to Shanghai and wait for their reply before deciding on the ones for Shanghai."

After a pause, he added, "If it's urgent, ship 3 first, and we'll talk about the others later."

He grinned, "One of the cars in Shanghai is for my own use."

Factory Director Yang waved his hand, "What's the rush? Water transportation is slow anyway. Coordinating cargo ships, especially large cargo ships that can enter the Huangpu River estuary, can't be done in a day or two. Just contact them. After you've confirmed everything, I'll arrange the delivery."