Chapter 323: Huge business opportunity, "face" is coming
The Spring Festival Transport is not particularly famous in this era.
The number of floating populations in various places is also far from comparable to that of later generations.
But in various cities, the increase in urban traffic has become very obvious, which is also very different from later generations.
In big cities such as Capital, Shanghai, and Yangcheng, more than half of the people disappeared during the Spring Festival in later generations. Except for shopping malls and scenic spots in the entire city, the crowds on other streets have dropped significantly.
But in this era, during the Chinese New Year, big cities are much more lively than usual.
Especially after the Spring Festival holiday in recent years, the lively scene becomes more and more exaggerated every year.
Correspondingly, the demand for urban transportation has also increased a lot.
The subway is still a new thing in this era, and most people have never heard of it.
Then buses have become the choice of many people.
But squeezing into a bus is like squeezing into a can, which is obviously hard to accept for people with a little money.
As a result, more fashionable taxis have become the choice of some people.
Although taxi drivers in later generations did not have much status, this era is different. Taxi driving is a typical good profession.
All taxi companies are also having a prosperous life.
"Dali, can you do it?"
“You can’t buy a car even if you have money?”
Li Baiyun is the general manager of Baiyun Taxi Company.
Although the company has only been established for a year, its current business is very prosperous.
The dozen Nissan Duke and Toyota Crown taxis owned by Baiyun Taxi Company are like money printing machines.
Under such circumstances, he naturally had to find a way to expand the scale, and even raised funds from relatives in Hong Kong City.
But now I can’t buy a suitable vehicle even if I have money.
Importing dukes and crowns costs foreign exchange.
Vehicles like them, which are engaged in the taxi business, would not dare to buy smuggled vehicles from improper roads, which would make it even more difficult to find a vehicle.
"Mr. Li, I have already contacted a car dealer. They will give us priority in providing a Nissan Duke after the Chinese New Year."
Wang Dali wiped the non-existent sweat on his forehead and reported the current progress with some distress.
Although he is the director of the purchasing department of Baiyun Taxi Company, he does not look like Party A at all. Instead, he looks like Party B is begging others to sell the car to him.
He was very unhappy on days like this.
If it weren't for the relatively high salary offered by Baiyun Taxi Company, he wouldn't want to work anymore.
"Only one Duke after the New Year?"
"What is the use of this? What I want is to add at least 10 more cars!"
"The taxi business is so good now. If we cannot expand our scale as soon as possible, when other competitors come in, our life will not be so comfortable."
Li Baiyun was obviously very dissatisfied with Wang Dali's reply.
Although he knows that in the current car market, imported cars are hard to come by.
Even the domestic Santana is now hard to find.
But I know that as the boss, he must still put extreme pressure on Wang Dali to try his best.
Even if you can't get ten, at least get five.
There is only one now, so what’s the deal?
"Of course I know this truth, but I really can't buy a car. How about we consider the BJ310 from the Capital Automobile Factory? This car is not in such short supply. You can still get it with a little effort."< br>
Wang Dali proposed a compromise method, which did not satisfy Li Baiyun.
"The ride comfort of BJ310 is not high. The key is that the price is not cheap, and there are many minor faults."
"Given the choice between Crown, Duke and Santana, I would definitely not consider BJ310."
Since working in the taxi industry, Li Baiyun has gained some understanding of the situation in China's automobile industry.
Especially about the situation of various passenger cars, he specially arranged for people to inquire about it.
Overall, the situation is not optimistic.
At least in the field of producing cars that can serve as taxis, there is little domestic competitiveness.
The limited competitive production capacity is given priority to be supplied to various units as official vehicles.
"If we must purchase dukes and crowns, we can only wait until after the new year to think of a solution."
Wang Dali raised his hands and surrendered.
He really couldn't buy this kind of imported car, and he didn't have any confidence that he could handle it.
At this moment, Li Baiyun's face turned dark.
But he also knew that Wang Dali had tried his best, and there was no point in scolding him anymore.
When he was having dinner with others in the evening, he couldn't help but complain to the National People's Congress about how he couldn't buy a car even though he had money.
"Mr. Li, the current imported Crown and Duke cost hundreds of thousands per unit. Even if the taxi industry is relatively profitable, it will take a long time to recover the investment cost."
"I think it would be better to choose a high-quality and low-priced domestic car, and then the taxi fare will be reduced by half, or even reduced to 30% of the original price."
"In this way, investment will be significantly reduced, and business will definitely be better. Even if the single price becomes lower, you will eventually earn more money."
Gu Tianling is a reporter from Yangcheng Newspaper. He happened to have participated in the BMW Light's offline ceremony and personally felt the ride of a BMW Light.
Although the comfort level is definitely not comparable to that of Crown and Duke, the price is cheap.
The selling price is 29,900 yuan, which is only more than 30,000 yuan.
If you buy an imported Crown car from regular channels and use it as a taxi, you can buy a dozen BMW Lights.
Considering the reduced ride comfort, even if the unit price is only 30%, the actual money earned in the end will be more.
As for the increase in driver costs due to the increase in the number of vehicles, the impact is actually very limited.
After all, labor costs are almost negligible in this era.
“It’s not that I don’t want to purchase domestically produced cars, the key is that there are no suitable models to choose from.”
"There are some taxis in Shanghai that use Shanghai brand cars, but they will have some minor problems every now and then. Sometimes they even break down when picking up passengers."
"Many people would rather spend more money to take imported car taxis than take Shanghai-branded car taxis."
"In this case, what's the point of saving a little money on purchasing vehicles?"
Before Li Baiyun entered the taxi industry, he did some research in major domestic cities.
In this era, people who can invest money like him are not ordinary people, and they also have good vision. “The reputation of Shanghai-branded cars is indeed not particularly good, otherwise they would not have introduced Santana cars to replace them.”
"But this time what I recommend to you is not the Shanghai brand car, but the BMW Light of BMW."
"Perhaps you are not very familiar with BMW Light, nor do you know much about BMW cars, but you must know about BMW Motorrad, right?"
“Today’s BMW 70 and BMW S are the most famous among domestic motorcycles and also have the highest sales volume.”
"Compared with the products of first-line international motorcycle giants, BMW motorcycles are competitive."
“One of the shareholders of the Chaoyang Motorcycle Factory, which produces BMW motorcycles, is BMW Technology, and BMW motorcycles are also the technology of BMW Technology.”
"The shareholders of BMW are also BMW Technologies, and their technology sources are from the same company."
Since he had recommended it to others, Gu Tianling naturally wanted to explain clearly the reasons for his recommendation.
Otherwise, it will look like you are speaking hastily.
"The light of BMW?"
Li Baiyun thought about it for a moment and had an impression in his mind, "Is that a van?"
As someone who is half in the automobile industry, Li Baiyun is quite concerned about news related to China's automobile industry.
When BMW Light rolled off the assembly line, many media reported on it, and Li Baiyun had naturally seen the news before.
"Yes, the BMW Light is a van that can carry people and goods. It is very popular with some small businesses and vendors."
"The key is that this car can seat up to 7 people, which is unmatched by the Crown and the Duke."
"I think Baiyun Taxi Company can use the funds prepared to purchase Crown and Duke to purchase 100 BMW Lights, and directly roll them out in all districts of Yangcheng to form one of your characteristics."
"In this way, the reputation of Baiyun Taxi Company will definitely increase rapidly in a short period of time."
When Gu Tianling said this, Li Baiyun also became interested.
Having spent time in Hong Kong City, he knows the importance of building a reputation.
Although the competition in the taxi industry is not particularly fierce, your visibility is very beneficial in attracting drivers to join.
The number of taxi drivers in this era is not as everywhere as in later generations. If more excellent drivers can be attracted to join, that will naturally be a good thing.
"How is the quality of this BMW Light?"
Cheap is cheap, but sometimes it also gives people the impression that it is cheap but not good.
Naturally, Li Baiyun didn't want to completely ruin his reputation by purchasing cheap vehicles.
"You can find someone to ask about it. I heard it's very good."
"The director of BMW is called Jiang Hui. It is said that he is a very powerful automobile expert. Even American automobile giants have asked him to design cars."
"He was responsible for the design of the new BJ212 of the Capital Automobile Factory."
When Gu Tianling said this, Li Baiyun felt a little more confident.
And what Gu Tianling said next strengthened his determination.
"Mr. Li, the number of taxis in Yangcheng is relatively small. There are not enough taxis every year during the Canton Fair."
“When we wait until April after the Chinese New Year, it will be the new Canton Fair.”
"If other companies purchase a large number of BMW Lights to serve as taxis, I guess they won't have anything to do with you."
As an economically active city in the south, the business competition atmosphere in Yangcheng is obviously different from that in the north.
Various self-employed individuals and private enterprises are also popping up.
If taxis make so much money, they will definitely attract more people.
In the past, the entry barrier was relatively high. A car cost hundreds of thousands of yuan. It was really not something that ordinary people could do.
But now cars worth 20,000 to 30,000 yuan can also be put into the taxi market, and the threshold has dropped significantly.
It is almost inevitable that more people will join this industry by then.
The most important thing is that there is indeed a relatively large demand for taxis in Yangcheng, otherwise Li Baiyun would not actively raise funds to expand the size of the fleet.
"I will personally go to Shenzhen tomorrow to inspect the situation of BMW Light."
"If it can really be used as a taxi, I will definitely listen to your persuasion."
Li Baiyun was already excited and prepared to go to Shencheng to have a look in person.
Li Baiyun, the owner of the taxi company, took the initiative to contact BMW, which immediately made Chen Chenxing, who was in charge of sales, aware of the opportunity.
In this day and age, it is not a shameful thing for a car to be used as a taxi.
Unlike in later generations, many people are reluctant to buy models used as taxis and online ride-hailing vehicles.
On the contrary, the models that can be used as taxis are almost synonymous with good quality, otherwise no taxi company would dare to use them.
"Master, I have discovered a huge business opportunity. I can recommend our BMW Light to taxi companies in various cities and make it a new generation of taxis."
"As long as this scale is increased, the exposure rate of BMW Light in various cities will increase. This will be more effective than any kind of publicity."
Although Chen Chenxing is the person in charge of the sales field, he will definitely consult Jiang Hui for some major decisions related to the future.
In formal occasions, he would always call Jiang Hui "factory director", but when there were only two of him, he would definitely call him "master".
"Promote BMW Light into a taxi?"
Jiang Hui quickly weighed the feasibility of this proposal.
He still has a certain understanding of the requirements for taxis and what the current taxi industry in China is like.
Even when he first came to Shenzhen, he saw that all taxis were imported cars. He wanted to change this situation one day.
Unexpectedly, Chen Chenxing would come up with this suggestion to him so quickly.
In the 1980s and 1990s, "mianzi" seemed to have indeed become a force that cannot be ignored in the Chinese taxi market.
When the price of domestically produced cars has not dropped sufficiently and the quality has not improved, there is still a market for "face-priced" cars.
The most fundamental purpose of taxis is to solve people's travel needs.
Not all people who need to take a taxi are rich.
If taking a "noodle" taxi is much cheaper than taking other taxis, even if the ride experience is slightly worse, it is still acceptable.
The most important thing is that people in this era often carry large and small bags when going out. The loading space of a van is larger, which is sometimes an advantage that cannot be ignored.
This situation will not change significantly until after the 21st century.
In other words, Chen Chenxing's proposal is completely feasible.
Let the "face" appear in advance, that is a huge business opportunity.
(End of chapter)