The Industrial Giant Reborn

On the fifth day in Yanjing City, Chen Zhiwen finally welcomed the person he most wanted to wait for - Rao Bing, the director of the First Machinery Department.

"Hello, Director Rao." This is an appointment meeting, and the place is in the courtyard house where Chen Zhiwen is. All kinds of goldfish under the garden, watching and chatting, that is more artistic conception.

In the entire history of the development of the domestic automobile industry, it is no exaggeration to say that Rao Bing is the first person. The foundation of the entire automobile industry was built by him, and the project of SAIC Volkswagen was also fully promoted and succeeded by him.

"Mr. Chen, hello." Rao Bing said with a smile after entering the door: "This is Jin Qiwen, deputy director of our Ministry of First Machinery, who is in charge of the civilian vehicle project."

"Hello, Director Jin." Chen Zhiwen also shook hands and said. The First Machinery Department is currently in charge of all automobile fields in China. Cars, trucks, buses, tractors and even agricultural machinery are all manufactured by the First Machinery Department. Naturally, there will be A separate department in charge of passenger cars, that is, the current domestic auto industry is underdeveloped. If such a person comes out in a few decades, it is estimated that the CEOs of several major auto giants will have to be polite.

"Aren't the two brothers coming in? It's so cold outside." Chen Zhiwen looked at the two behind Rao Bing and Jin Qiwen who did not come in, but stood outside.

"They are drivers and guards, and they usually don't come in. Is there any other room at Mr. Chen's side where they can stay for a while." Rao Bing said.

"There's a room on the right, and there's heating in there." Chen Zhiwen said.

"Okay, I'll make arrangements." Jin Qiwen said, and then walked out.

"Mr. Chen, don't mind. What we want to talk about may affect the domestic auto policy and the economic impact of hundreds of millions of dollars. It may also affect our negotiations with Volkswagen, so many things must be kept secret. Only a few People can know that before this, we have learned a lot in other fields." Rao Bing explained.

"Understood." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. It may not be the time of war decades ago, but economic penetration is also very important. Similar to the large cooperation between domestic and foreign capital, it can have a huge impact to a certain extent. If someone Leaking secrets, the consequence is that the country may spend a lot of money wrongly.

With the current situation of Xiaobai in domestic business, he will definitely suffer losses. Only by suffering losses can he grow. I just don’t know which project lost money, but as far as Chen Zhiwen personally knows, the introduction of Baosteel projects in China is occupied by small days. Not a little cheap.

After a while, Director Jin Qiwen came back, and the guards had been arranged.

Afterwards, Chen Zhiwen made tea himself, and there was also a tea table here that was imported from Hong Kong, just like the one in Hong Kong.

After taking a sip of tea, Rao Bing first broke the silence and said: "Mr. Chen, you should be very clear about our reason for coming. At present, there is a big gap between China and foreign brands in the field of automobiles, so we want to introduce foreign advanced technology. , to jointly produce cars together, in return, these cars will be sold domestically, and the foreign party can also get the market.

Now that you have become the boss of the fourth largest automobile company in the United States, it will be much more convenient for us to cooperate. What do you think? "

"From my personal point of view, I am naturally willing to cooperate with China. I probably know some of AMC's contacts with China in the past two months. Since Director Rao is here today, we can discuss some major issues. No matter whether we can reach an agreement or not, we also need to know the thoughts of both sides.” Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, this time he came to Yanjing, ostensibly to inspect Midea’s home appliance factory and expressway project in Yanjing, but in fact, The fundamental purpose is to talk to the bosses of the domestic automobile department. In fact, there will be no major problems with the first two, and you just need to understand them.

"Mr. Chen, if you have any questions, you can ask them first." Director Rao said with a smile.

"I also just had a problem with a general understanding of the progress of the project. Director Rao should be clearer than me. Let Director Rao speak. Today, you and I can basically represent both sides. I don't think it's a matter of principle, and it should be resolved. "Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

This is a big advantage of AMC or itself. As the boss, as long as you don’t make any outrageous demands, people at AMC will basically not object. On the domestic side, Rao Bing is also the biggest leader in the auto industry. Things that people decide, basically set the direction, which is much better than Volkswagen or GM.

Listed companies, especially those without a controlling family, have too many internal factions and too many opposing voices. Even if a project has 99 benefits, as long as there is a little bad, it will be infinitely magnified by those who are interested in it, and eventually lead to the entire decision-making Layer efficiency is extremely low. Not to mention the cooperation with the mainland, it is Kodak or Nokia in the future. Everyone knows that if they don’t transform, they will die, but in the end, these two big companies, which were the top 50 companies in the world at the time, watched themselves die step by step. Fight, it's too serious.

"Well, I have a few questions here, and I need to discuss them with Mr. Chen." Rao Bing nodded and said, "The first question is that after we communicated with AMC, the AMC team insisted on producing Jeep domestically." CJ series, we have no problem with this, but we actually have a jeep similar to BJ212 in China, but it lacks related technologies in many aspects, so we need to buy some technical patents and equipment from AMC to improve the quality of BJ212, but this The request was rejected by AMC, so I hope that Mr. Chen can let go of these technical patents."

"From a commercial point of view, no company will agree to do this. This has nothing to do with domestic cooperation. If an auto company buys a technology patent that competes with another auto company, it will absolutely not If it succeeds, even if both are American companies, it won’t work.” Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said, “If patents, equipment or quality control methods are given to you, wouldn’t that just increase the strength of your competitors? For example, before World War II, Germany gave up its tank technology to France, do you think it is possible?"

"Is it really impossible?" Rao Bing said with a slight frown.

"Actually, it's not impossible. If the production line and brand of BJ212 are a joint venture with us, then we will also have part of the shares of BJ212, and it would be reasonable to provide technical support." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"We have also thought about this issue, but BJ212 is our domestic military and vehicle, and it also has many special uses. If part of the rights are sold, there will be no small difficulties on the domestic side." Rao Bing said.

"I've also heard about this, but you can think of it this way. After we provide some technologies, BJ212 can get stronger power, more stable quality, and better driving experience. Whether it is used for military vehicles or some special occasions, no Do they all have better results? As far as I know, in the past two years, China has also imported some military vehicles from overseas, right? The foreign exchange was all spent, isn’t it a pity?” Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

Based on the basic principle of domestic protection of its own industry, whether it is Volkswagen or AMC, the price will be very high. Therefore, the initial sales will not be very high. Although the supply will exceed demand, the root cause is the insufficient initial production capacity. In 1988, Santana's production capacity is only 8,000 vehicles. After the 1990s, after the nationalization of parts and components, the production capacity will be fully released.

As for the domestically produced BJ212, the annual sales volume is basically around 20,000, and the price is relatively cheap, 20,000 RMB per car, but the quality is not flattering. The car is still Shanghai Automobile, with a very high power and problem rate. What is even more outrageous is that because the engine technology is not good, and the gearbox is not good enough, resulting in super high fuel consumption. This is one of the reasons why China hopes to introduce overseas brand cars. The fuel consumption is too high. High, is also a long-term consumption of foreign exchange, and sometimes, in some environments where cars are frequently used, it may be more cost-effective to use imported cars, because long-term use saves fuel.

If the technology is provided, the BJ212 model will still have great potential, at least in the 1980s, and it will probably not work until the 1990s, because various foreign-funded car companies have begun to produce domestically, and the national foreign exchange is no longer available. If you are nervous, then the BJ212 with a poor foundation may be eliminated unless a major design change is carried out.

This is more in line with Chen Zhiwen's plan for the automotive field. First, take root in the country to build up the brand's reputation, and then when the domestic economy takes off, its own products will naturally follow suit. At the same time, it also occupies an absolute leading position, because the number of domestic car brands introduced in the early stage of reform is limited. Once the basic domestic needs are met, it will not consider continuing to introduce new car companies. Only wait until the mid-1990s. A large number of restrictions on the entry of foreign auto brands will be relaxed.

"It makes sense to say this, but if we go this way, it will take a long time for the domestic side to make a decision." Rao Bing said.

"It doesn't matter. I can wait for a while. This is the best way of cooperation for mutual benefit. Only in this way can it last for a long time." Chen Zhiwen continued. In the original history, AMC and China reached a cooperation agreement in 1983, which also included BJ212 model, this shows that this proposal can definitely be passed in China, and this proposal, even the former Yankee team thinks so, is enough to show its correctness.

"Well, if the cooperation can be reached in this way, I will promote this matter in China." Rao Bing nodded and said, although it is a bit difficult, it is also normal. Both foreign and domestic cooperation need to come up with benefits If foreign countries provide technology patents and U.S. dollars, China naturally needs to provide some existing things, and this matter, compared with the requirements put forward by the German public, is pediatrics. Relatively speaking, it is much easier to solve.

"Then what kind of technical support you need can be prepared in advance, so that everyone can negotiate." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, AMC's technology is far behind that of giants like GM, but it is much better than domestic ones. Technical reserves, production design experience, processing capabilities, etc. are much stronger.

"Mr. Chen, in fact, we also want to prepare these materials earlier, but we don't know much about overseas technology and cars. In many cases, we have no way to start. I wonder if you can support some technical personnel?" Rao Bing asked very cautiously. This request is actually a bit taboo. If you say this to other foreign car companies, you will definitely be rejected. But now the opposite is Chinese and has a good investment relationship with China, so he tentatively asked.

"Yes, after I acquired AMC, I arranged to recruit many Chinese engineers. They can speak Mandarin or Cantonese. I can arrange for these people to come to Yanjing, so that it will be much easier for you to communicate." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, The purpose of recruiting Chinese engineers in the United States is to facilitate communication with China.

"That would be great." Rao Bing said with a smile on his face.

"That's probably the way of cooperation. AMC provides funds, Jeep CJ model drawings and other materials, and domestic land, factories, and BJ212 brands are provided. In the future, the joint venture company will use its own technology to upgrade BJ212. The joint venture ratio is 51:49 as stipulated by domestic law, as for the price, how about having professional financial personnel calculate it?" Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said, in fact, Chen Zhiwen doesn't care about the issues that many big companies care about. What he needs is to establish the brand in the country first, and then solve problems if there are problems in the future operation.

He doesn't even care about some legal issues. Volkswagen has not negotiated with the country over the years. Apart from financial issues, the biggest problem is to ask the country to revise some commercial laws. Although these are reasonable requests, there are basically no domestic disputes. However, simple legal amendments require a long process, which is very time-consuming.

Anyway, with the promotion of the public, Chen Zhiwen can sit back and enjoy his achievements. As a future man, he knows that the re-opening route will continue, the domestic economy will get better and better, and the auto market will start to explode in about ten years. Therefore, , He needs to enter the market early and prepare early. After all, automobiles are not small appliances. They are industries that require a lot of verification and accumulation of experience.

"This is not a problem. As long as the cooperation intention is reached, we will soon invite AMC to visit Yanjing Automobile Factory, and we will also look for a suitable factory site by the way." Rao Bing said.

"It's fine in Yanjing City, as long as the traffic is good." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, when investing in other factories, he still cares about the location. If he can choose a good one, he should try to choose a better one. Cheap, but since we know the future and have options, we will naturally choose a better location.

But the automobile factory is different. This will be a long-term project, and it is unlikely that it will be demolished in the future. Therefore, it does not make much sense to consider the value of the real estate. The most important thing is to do a good job in your own business.

"In terms of transportation, we will definitely choose the best location, and give priority to placing it next to the Jingjintang Expressway." Rao Bing nodded, and said: "If this is the case in terms of cooperation for the time being, the second problem is the localization of parts and components."

PS: My son suddenly had a fever yesterday afternoon, intermittently above 39 degrees, probably due to the new crown or flu, because I have to take care of him, and this disease may still be contagious, I am also worried that I will be recruited, so these days only Can maintain the minimum amount of updates (4000+ words), otherwise it will be troublesome to update later.