Chapter 326: Are imported cars no longer popular?
If we talk about the sales of BMW Light in January 1984, many people still think that there was a fluke mentality, then when the Spring Festival in February was still able to maintain sales of 5,000 units, the impact on everyone was naturally greater.
Various supporting factories have also received orders for March in advance. Naturally, there is no way to keep this information completely confidential.
"Director Jiang, I heard that your 1.5L engine production capacity has never been large enough. Do you want to consider cooperation between the two of us and let the Capital Internal Combustion Engine Factory assist in the production of some engines?"
Cheng Tao has always been worried about the fact that the Capital Internal Combustion Engine Plant has not become a supporting plant for BMW.
Especially since the sales of BMW Light are so good, the production plan for March has already reached 8,000 units, which makes him even more uncomfortable.
Their 2.5L engines are supplied to the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, and their current monthly sales are about 8,000 units, with annual sales of just over 100,000.
Coupled with the diesel engines supplied to Humvee military vehicles, there are hundreds of thousands of sales a year.
Before last year, this data was already very good, and it was considered a very good performance among domestic professional engine manufacturers.
But now Cheng Tao has felt the crisis.
On the one hand, the sales volume of Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, which is the main customer of Capital Internal Combustion Engine Plant, seems to be declining.
On the other hand, the Capital Institute of Technology is already developing its own high-power diesel engines. In the future, the Capital Institute of Technology Special Vehicle Factory will build its own engine factory.
This means that a large part of the Humvee military vehicle engines will also be taken back and produced by ourselves.
The two bad news added together already made Cheng Tao feel very uncomfortable.
Now that he was stimulated by the light of BMW, he naturally couldn't sit still.
"The production equipment and tooling of the 1.5L engine are quite different from that of the 2.5L engine. Many of the equipment at the Capital Internal Combustion Engine Factory should not be able to meet our needs."
"In addition, BMW has also begun to introduce new equipment to increase engine production capacity, so it will not consider looking for other supporting factories in the short term."
Jiang Hui refused without any hesitation.
In this situation, if you give Cheng Tao a little hope, the other party will stalk him and make him extremely annoyed.
"If it is difficult to directly supply the entire engine, then can we consider giving some of the engine parts to us for production?"
“This can also reduce BMW’s investment.”
Cheng Tao actually knew that Jiang Hui would not agree to let them produce 1.5L engines, which meant that the other party would share the engine technology.
One is a state-owned enterprise and the other is a foreign-funded enterprise. It is impossible for the other party to do such a good thing.
So when his request was rejected, he immediately put forward a relatively modest proposal.
To a certain extent, this proposal was his real purpose.
There are many parts on the engine, and it is impossible for any manufacturer to produce all the parts by itself.
In this way, the Capital Internal Combustion Engine Plant will naturally have a chance.
Similar things are also being considered by many other factories.
"We can let BMW consider this to see if there are any parts whose production capacity matches the demand."
I have already rejected it once, so it is obviously not appropriate to reject this request again.
In addition, BMW really needs to develop some new supporting manufacturers of its own, so there is no problem in letting the Capital Internal Combustion Engine Plant enter its own supply system.
Anyway, when the sales of BMW cars increase in the future, it will be impossible to find just one supporting factory to produce various parts.
"Then I will immediately arrange for sales, technology, and R&D personnel to go to BMW to communicate and visit personnel from the purchasing department, technical department, and other departments, and we will discuss the specific parts situation."
After listening to Jiang Hui's words, Cheng Tao breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to implement this matter as soon as possible.
Otherwise, there are many manufacturers who are eyeing orders for BMW cars, and it would be a pity if the orders were taken away.
……
"Mr. Li, the car dealer said that a batch of Crowns has arrived, and the price is tens of thousands cheaper than last year. Do we want them?"
As the purchasing manager of Baiyun Taxi Company, Wang Dali has always had a good relationship with the car dealer.
So even though he knew that the company's taxi purchases had switched to BMW's BMW Light, he still had to report it to Li Baiyun.
After all, the taxi industry is now divided into different levels. The taxi prices of imported cars such as Crown and Teana are different from those of BMW Light.
Theoretically speaking, Baiyun Taxi Company still has a certain demand for Crown cars.
"If you don't buy a car that costs 30,000 yuan, I will buy an imported car that costs 300,000 yuan. Are you stupid or am I stupid?"
After several months of trial operation, Li Baiyun's attitude towards BMW Light has changed greatly.
So far, the 100 BMW Lights they have used have not had any major problems.
Occasionally, some minor problems were discovered, and BMW solved them quickly.
In order to better serve customers, BMW even set up a sales and repair shop in Yangcheng. Whenever there is a problem with the Baiyun Taxi Company's BMW Light, you can go directly to it for repair.
Non-operational vehicles have free warranty within one year.
Operating vehicles also have a half-year warranty.
This made Li Baiyun extremely confident in BMW Light.
"Purely in terms of price, BMW Light is definitely more cost-effective."
“But the comfort of Crown and Duke is much higher than BMW Light, and some foreign businessmen cannot accept BMW Light.”
"I think it is appropriate to keep some Crown and other high-end cars as taxis. In fact, it is also necessary."
He also ate the meal and drank the wine invited by the other party, so Wang Dali naturally had to put in some effort.
Anyway, he felt that the reason for his persuasion was somewhat reasonable, and he was not just talking nonsense.
“What kind of cars I make money from, I will focus on that kind of cars.”
"If other taxi companies feel that operating Crown is more classy, then let them operate it."
For the boss, making money is the most important thing.
Nowadays, people don’t pay much attention to brands or brands.
If you can’t survive anymore, who would care about the brand?
Besides, since BMW Light Taxi started operating, the number of people taking taxis in Yangcheng has actually increased every month.
This is very beneficial to the development of the entire taxi industry.
So even if the price of each taxi ride has dropped, taking into account the drop in car purchase costs and the increase in the frequency of car use, Baiyun Taxi Company has actually made more money.
Li Baiyun naturally asked the financial personnel to calculate the specific data.
Otherwise, my current attitude would not be so firm.
"Then...then I'll tell the car dealer that we don't need their crowns and dukes in the future?"
Seeing that Li Baiyun's attitude was very firm, Wang Dali did not dare to say too much.
It would be bad if the boss feels that he is cheating.
The same situation actually happens in other taxi companies.
It can be said that the sales of Crown and Duke cars in China have dropped a lot. These data are naturally reflected in Toyota Motor.
……
"Yu Sang, the sales data in the past two months have declined year-on-year, and the decline is still expanding. Have you figured out the reason?"
As the general manager of Toyota Port City Branch, Watanabe Tsuneichi has lived a very comfortable life in the past few years.
Although the market in Gangcheng is not very big, as the general manager of the branch, he has the flavor of a feudal official.
The headquarters does not pay much attention to the sales of Gangcheng. After all, compared with the sales volume of Japan, the United States, Europe and other branches, Gangcheng is completely inadequate.
As long as he completes the sales target set at the beginning of the year on time every quarter, he has little pressure.
But as the 1983 fiscal year was coming to an end, the situation began to change, and he began to worry that he would not be able to complete the task in the next fiscal year.
Fortunately, Japan's fiscal year is from April to March of the following year. At least in fiscal year 1983, he does not need to worry about the overall sales volume declining year-on-year.
But it was hard to say for fiscal year 1984, so he saw that the data in February and March had been declining, and he immediately became anxious.
"Mr. Watanabe, the situation has been basically clarified. In fact, the sales volume of our various models in Hong Kong City has not changed much and has basically remained at the same level as last year."
"The main difference is in the export."
“Through various formal or informal channels, nearly half of the sales volume of our Gangcheng branch last year was contributed by exports to the mainland.”
“Especially for Crown models, 70% of them have entered the mainland market through various channels.”
"But for some reason, the demand for Crown models in mainland China has dropped significantly in the past two months. Whether through formal or informal channels, everyone is less enthusiastic about purchasing Crowns."
"The dealers below have naturally felt this situation, so they are now more cautious about picking up cars."
Shawn Yue has naturally noticed the company's declining sales.
As the director and deputy general manager of the sales department, Shawn Yue was able to gain the trust of Watanabe Tsuneichi in the past. The main reason was that he could keep Toyota's sales in the port city rising.
Watanabe Tsune only cares about the results, regardless of the process.
So even if he knew that some of the Crown and other models left the port city through informal or even illegal channels, he would not care.
Now that the sales data can't go up, the situation is naturally different.
"Didn't the news say that after the reform in mainland China, the economy has developed very well in the past few years and the demand for various products is increasing?"
"There are a lot more bosses in Hong Kong City going to Shenzhen City next door to open factories, right?"
Watanabe Tsuneichi obviously didn't quite understand Shawn Yue's answer.
In his opinion, the number of models exported to mainland China should be increasing.
Now that Chinese people have money, shouldn’t they buy more cars?
"It is indeed true. I also find it very strange, so I am already planning to go to the Shencheng next door to investigate in person next week to see if I can learn more information."
Shawn Yue knew that if he didn't take any action today, Watanabe Tsuneichi would definitely not let him go.
As a sales branch, the biggest thing is the decline in sales.
If the reason is not figured out and there is no way to reverse the situation, then neither of them will have anything good to eat in the future.
The Japanese headquarters does not pay much attention to the Gangcheng branch. That is because the Gangcheng branch does not cause any trouble every year and achieves its goals very well.
Once this situation changes, the attention from the headquarters will naturally change.
At that time, Watanabe Tsuneichi may need to return to the country to report, or the headquarters will directly arrange someone to come and investigate.
"It is indeed necessary to go and have a look on site and give full play to the spirit of Three Presentisms in order to understand the reasons."
"You make arrangements as soon as possible and I will go with you."
"The best thing is to contact the investment promotion department in Shenzhen in the name of investment inspection. This is more convenient."
Watanabe Tsuneichi has been in Hong Kong City for so many years, and he is relatively clear about many situations.
At this stage, among the various foreign-funded enterprises in Shenzhen City, the bosses from the Hong Kong City side have invested the most.
Shenzhen City will also regularly hold some investment promotion activities in Hong Kong City.
Shawn Yue naturally had no objections to Watanabe Tsuneichi's arrangement and did not dare to have any objections.
It was originally used as an excuse, thinking that just hanging around in the deep city for a few days would be enough to cope with the task.
Now it seems that we need to investigate carefully and truly understand the situation.
Fortunately, although it is very inconvenient for people from Shenzhen to go to Hong Kong City at this time, there is still a convenient way for people from Hong Kong City to come to Shenzhen for inspection.
Just a week later, Watanabe Tsuneichi and Shawn Yue set foot on the land of Shencheng.
"I have inquired with the car dealership in the past few days. Among our various models, the most exported is the Crown sedan."
"After these models arrived in Shenzhen and other places, in addition to some being purchased back by Chinese government agencies as official vehicles, more were bought back by some newly emerging self-employed individuals."
“At the same time, taxi companies in various places are also major purchasing customers.”
“Our inspection this time focused on examining the changes in these three markets.”
Shawn Yue has obviously done a lot of homework in the past few days, otherwise if Watanabe Tsune didn't know anything when asked, he would have worried about whether the position under his buttocks was stable.
Don’t think that Japanese companies won’t hire people easily, so they can keep doing it.
If people want to let you go, they will naturally find various ways to disgust you.
"The Crowns purchased by relevant departments in China are all models imported from formal channels. The prices are very high and few units can afford them."
“I don’t have much expectations for this part of sales in the future.”
"Purchases from individuals and taxi companies are the parts of the market that have the greatest impact."
Watanabe Tsuneichi is not so easy to fool.
He usually doesn't care much about the company's affairs. He is always looking for all kinds of fun and living a life of debauchery.
But when it came to his own future, he still took a serious look at it.
Hearing what Tsuneichi Watanabe said, Shawn Yue's pressure became even greater.
Under the leadership of the reception staff of the Investment Promotion Office, the two people walked around Shenzhen City to first feel the urban changes in Shenzhen City.
However, during this process, Watanabe Tsuneichi felt a change.
“When I look at the taxis on the street, they are mainly Crown, Duke and an unknown car model. Among them, the Crown and Duke models generally do not look like new cars, while the product produced by an unknown car company looks like a new car. But it’s very new.”
Watanabe Tsuneichi was not blind, so he naturally noticed various vehicle information on the streets of Shencheng.
This is also a common problem among people in the automobile industry. When they arrive at a place, they habitually observe the conditions of the vehicles walking on the street.
Not to mention that Tsuneichi Watanabe came here to confirm the reason for the decline in sales of the Crown sedan, so he naturally needed to pay more attention.
(End of chapter)