Chapter 199 Hongqi’s bumpy years, will you listen to his advice?
"Director Zhao, I think the shape of the current Dahongqi sedan is very classic and very attractive."
"What it needs most now is actually not a brand new appearance. Instead, we need to improve the level of production technology and reduce the cost of Hongqi cars.”
How could Jiang Hui let FAW take away his own money?
Zhao Guangming wanted to help him design the appearance of a car for free as soon as he came up. If Jiang Hui agreed, various car companies such as Second Automobile Works and SAIC would definitely use various methods to find him. to do similar work.
This can certainly enhance his reputation, but Jiang Hui is not that holy.
Many of his classic designs are still waiting to be used by his company.
Of course, he would not reject Zhao Guangming so bluntly.
Instead, he analyzed the current situation of Hongqi sedan very objectively, helped make suggestions from a factual perspective, and politely declined the invitation to design the appearance of the new generation of Hongqi.
“The craftsmanship of Hongqi sedan does still need to be improved. We will definitely do this work, but it also needs a more novel appearance to attract talents.”
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Zhao Guangming seemed to think of some stories about the Hongqi car, and the blush on his face flashed away.
In 1959, when the Hongqi CA72 sedan was exhibited in the capital, the rear door could not be opened during a test ride on site, and the windshield had to be removed to escape.
In 1970, when a Hongqi CA770 sedan visited the Badaling Great Wall, its brakes failed on the way back, almost causing a major accident.
Last year, when a leader went to the airport to pick someone up, the Hongqi car he was riding in failed to start, causing considerable embarrassment.
Another time, when the leader was inspecting a certain province, the red flag car broke down halfway. In order not to delay the trip, he had to take a bus to the airport instead.
Since then, in order to avoid similar situations from happening again, leaders usually carry two red flag vehicles as backup when traveling.
However, even so, there were still vehicles smoking on the road, and subsequent inspection revealed that it was a carburetor problem.
Although this is only a small problem, it has a great impact on the image in public.
Considering these problems, there are already some voices calling for the discontinuation of the old Hongqi sedan.
FAW definitely disagrees, but it takes the cost of producing ten Jiefang vehicles to produce one Hongqi sedan. This high-cost, low-efficiency production method is undoubtedly not worth the gain.
Therefore, it is almost inevitable that the old Hongqi sedan will eventually withdraw from the stage of history.
Why did FAW so actively use the First Machinery Department's idea to develop the car industry during this period to develop a new generation of Dahongqi? It's not because the reputation of the old Hongqi sedan is really bad.
I don’t want to use it anymore.
"Director Zhao, actually I think the Hongqi brand is still very attractive in China. As long as the quality problems are solved and the cost is reduced, there is no need to worry about sales."
"When walking on urban roads, sedans have great advantages over the BJ212 of Capital Automobile Factory."
"Hongqi's sales can completely surpass BJ212."
Jiang Hui continued to turn the topic to the quality of Hongqi cars.
This is an objective reality.
In his opinion, Hongqi Car has a very deep foundation. If it is managed well, it has a chance to become the leader of China's luxury cars.
In 1959, Dongfeng was renamed Hongqi and became an independent sub-brand of FAW.
In the 26 years since then, Hongqi has launched one new vehicle after another, including bulletproof vehicles, ambulances, inspection vehicles, etc., covering basically all types of official vehicles, and its popularity has surpassed other brand models.
Especially the 774 series started in 1973, the shape has its own style, and the theoretical technology has reached the world's mainstream level, and it is completely usable, but in the end it is still due to quality issues and safety issues was abandoned.
To give a speechless example, for the Hongqi sedan engine, 97 of the 100 cylinder blocks cast were scrap.
FAW used the "one in a hundred" method to select several casting blanks for processing, and finally made a V8 engine.
No one can stand this situation of high manufacturing costs and high scrap rate, even in the era of planned economy.
Not to mention the new era after reform and opening up.
If FAW does not solve the quality problem from the root, then it will be useless no matter how hard it is on the appearance.
"Does Jiang have any suggestions to improve this quality issue?"
Zhao Guangming is not stupid, he has already seen that Jiang Hui does not intend to help FAW design the appearance of the new generation of Hongqi sedan.
However, the other party did not seem to ignore me completely, but actively extended the ladder for him to get down.
It just so happens that the quality problem Jiang Hui mentioned is indeed a problem that FAW needs to solve, and even a problem that the entire automobile industry in China needs to solve urgently.
If this problem can be solved, this business trip to the capital will not be in vain.
“In the past, engines produced in Shouchou often had some failures, but the situation has been greatly improved in the past year.”
“Especially the new generation BJ212 With the use of many new technologies, the quality level of the engines has not declined, but has improved to a certain extent. This is a very rare thing.”
“There are many factors, among them. One thing is that Shouchi has truly implemented the quality management method of TQC.”
"Only if every worker has a sense of quality and everyone tightens the string of improving quality every day of their work, will there be a certain effect."
"If workers do well and do bad things It's all the same. Even if 100 cylinders are cast and only 3 are qualified, there will be no losses or penalties. It will be very difficult to improve the quality level. "Normally, 100 cylinders are not enough." Among them, 3 units are unqualified, which is already a relatively high defective rate.”
Jiang Hui directly identified a red flag known to many people in the industry as “black.” "Material" was exposed.
No way, the existence of this 97% defective rate has somewhat subverted Jiang Hui's perception.
We are not building a moon landing spacecraft. Is the technical difficulty so high?
There must be various problems here.
"What you mentioned has not been discussed in our factory, but it is still very difficult to completely change everyone's thinking."
Zhao Guangming frowned, knowing that he would do it Maybe Jiang Hui is talking about this issue.
The leaders of FAW are not stupid either. Are they really not aware of some of the problems in the factory?
But knowing the problem is one thing, being able to solve the problem is another.
Everyone knows that China's chip industry needs to be improved, but how to improve it is not that easy.
“Our Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, as the first batch of demonstration plants for factory operation reform, has undergone many changes in the past year.”
“As far as I know, some other demonstration plants such as Shougang Group , the changes in the past year are not small.”
“I think FAW can consider making some reforms, otherwise it will be very difficult to develop the car industry.”
"Compared to products like trucks, cars are basically used by ordinary people abroad, and this will gradually become the case in our country in the future."
"We expect ordinary people to drive. It is unrealistic to come down and repair the car at any time when there is a breakdown. "
"Especially since the country is now negotiating cooperation with many international automobile giants, more and more imported vehicles will definitely enter the market in the future. Come to our country.”
“With this huge contrast, domestic cars, whether they are FAW’s Hongqi or SAIC’s Shanghai brand cars, will be squeezed out by imported cars. Living space.”
“Even if the Planning Commission wants to help, no factory or unit is willing to take the allocated vehicles.”
Jiang Hui directly put a very cruel reality on the table.
Having said all that, Zhao Guangming will listen if he is willing.
If you don’t want to, forget it.
Anyway, when I met with Zhao Guangming today, except that I didn’t agree to help him draw the appearance of the new generation of Hongqi sedan, I was completely benevolent in other aspects.
As for whether FAW will listen to the advice, it’s hard to say.
Jiang Hui felt that there was a high probability that people would not listen.
After all, reform sounds like a very simple matter.
It seems a bit simple to summarize after success.
But the actual process is definitely not that simple. The various resistances in the process are not something that people who have not experienced it can understand.
After all, not everyone has the ability to predict future trends.
"What you mentioned is also something we are worried about."
"Some signs of this have already appeared."
"Some units would rather purchase imported Nissan Duke, Toyota Crown, Ford Chevrolet "No, you don't want to ask for our big red flag."
Zhao Guangming said with a wry smile.
He would ask Jiang Hui to help design the appearance of the new generation of Dahongqi sedan today. Naturally, there is a reason. It is not a decision made in a flash.
"Everyone has never used a good car before, and they thought that all cars are like this, and breaking down is a common occurrence, so the driver must be able to drive and repair the car, because problems may occur at any time."
< br>“But when everyone comes into contact with imported cars, the comparison is like heaven and earth.”
“The speed of their cars is very fast, the quality is very stable, and they feel very comfortable.”
"As the saying goes, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality."
"After this, many domestic brands such as Hongqi will definitely be hit by dimensionality reduction. Although imported cars are very expensive, they will not be blocked." Don’t go to various units to purchase.”
Zhao Guangming is not his own leader anyway, so Jiang Hui said this for the sake of FAW.
So even if it was a bit unpleasant, he said it directly.
After hearing these words, Zhao Guangming felt very heavy.
He had a hunch that all the things Jiang Hui said would probably happen.
(End of this chapter)