Chapter 242 China’s automobile industry has turned a corner and entered a different track
The export of 5,000 Hummer military vehicles not only brought great stimulation to other factories of the Fifth Machinery Department, but also It brought a lot of pressure to the First Machinery Department and subordinate factories.
In particular, factories related to the automobile industry such as FAW, Second Automobile Works, and Shouqi Automobile Works have been put under various pressures by their superiors.
The first to bear the brunt is the Capital Automobile Factory, which was once a major manufacturer of military vehicles.
"Qin Bureau, most of the sales of the new BJ212 now come from units from various places, which basically have nothing to do with military vehicles."
"We want to adopt the same arms trade method as the Humvee military vehicle. It is relatively difficult to rely on BJ212 to export and earn foreign exchange."
"Of course, our BJ212 also has its own unique advantages, and we can completely It is positioned as a civilian off-road vehicle and exported to Southeast Asia, Asia, Africa and Latin America.”
“There are still some opportunities”
Chen Qi went to the Automobile Bureau of the First Ministry of Machinery to report. The next steps for the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant.
After internal discussion and integration during this period, he has come up with a relatively complete development plan.
"What you said makes sense, but how do you plan to export BJ212 abroad?"
"How to attract foreign people to buy your BJ212?"
Qin Hao is not without his ideas. People who have traveled abroad are quite familiar with some situations abroad.
For a model like the BJ212 without any brand influence, it is not a little difficult to open up in the foreign civilian market.
Even many other car manufacturers would not dare to have such an idea.
"That's what I think."
After hearing Qin Hao's doubts, Chen Qi was not panicked at all, "Chaoyang Motorcycle Manufacturing Factory has now achieved huge success through technological cooperation with the BMW factory in Hong Kong. Development. "
"The BMW 70 has not only begun to be provided to Algeria as a product of cooperation between China and the United States, but has also begun to be provided to some domestic units."
"I heard that some BMWs have. 70 is also exported to Southeast Asia and other countries through BMW Technology in Hong Kong City. "We can cooperate with BMW Technology and sell BJ212 to them, and then they sell it abroad."
I have to say that Chen Qi’s idea is actually feasible.
After Qin Hao listened, he immediately thought of several questions.
“In fact, if converted according to our official exchange rate, the sales price of foreign cars is generally lower than that in China.”
“BJ212 has previously assisted a car at a very high price. It is licensed to Argentina, but if you want to sell it in the foreign civilian market, let alone 100,000 US dollars or 50,000 US dollars, even if it is 20,000 US dollars, it is estimated that it will not be sold.”
Qin Hao is not the case. He deliberately wanted to undermine Chen Qi's confidence, but fully shared what he learned about the situation.
BMW Technology is not a fool. How could someone buy BJ212 from you at a high price and then sell it to consumers at a low price?
"Qin Bureau, it is indeed what you said. The sales price of foreign cars, measured in US dollars, is not very high."
"I have no intention of buying it at a particularly high price. Instead, we hope to sell it at a price that is acceptable to BMW Technology.”
“For example, if the price of a similar product of the BJ212 abroad is US$10,000, then we will sell it for US$8,000. We can sell it to BMW Technology for US dollars, even US$5,000. "This way we can reserve some profit margin for the other party, so that BMW Technology can be interested in cooperating with us."
"In business terms, as long as BMW Technology finds it profitable, I think the other party will not give up this cooperation."
Chen Qi gave his judgment with certainty.
After thorough discussions within their factory, they have given up on unrealistic dreams.
Anyway, for them, even if they export at a price of US$5,000, they can complete a large task of earning foreign exchange through export.
After careful calculation, there is still a very large profit margin for their factory.
After all, an export tax rebate alone can greatly benefit the capital's automobile manufacturing plants.
Besides, the factories are all state-owned enterprises, and profit indicators are not the first thing Chen Qi considers. Completing the tasks of his superiors is what he cares about most.
In this era, earning foreign exchange through export is a more important task than anything else.
To be exaggerated, even if BJ212 is exported at a price of US$3,000, many people will support it.
It’s just that at that time, the results of this matter were not so impressive.
After all, the big news that BMW 70 made some time ago was that it achieved the task of earning foreign exchange through export at a sky-high price of US$3,000.
If the export price of a car is lower than that of a motorcycle, it is somewhat unjustifiable.
"Okay, since you are confident, then go boldly and give it a try."
"At BMW Technology, I can ask Jiang Hui to help arrange an introduction. Anyway, he is also I am an old employee of your factory.”
Qin Hao could feel that Chen Qi reported to him after careful consideration, so he would not object anymore.
However, after Chen Qi said this, he did not leave Qin Hao's office immediately. Instead, he continued: "Qin Bureau, our factory has another project that is ready to be officially approved." Since the last time they were stimulated, Chen Qi and Lu Jianqiang They discussed many times in the factory and determined that the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant would develop a car.
Even the R&D center has initially determined the design plan of the sedan based on the powertrain and interior specifications of the BJ212.
Since most of the parts are retained from BJ212 on the largest scale, only the appearance of the model and some chassis parts are adjusted.
So the whole plan is progressing very quickly, and now the preliminary clay model and part of the drawings have been drawn.
Seeing that the preparation of prototypes will be officially launched this year, and a lot of real money will be spent at that time, Chen Qi must report to the First Machinery Department in advance.
In this era, various automobile manufacturers are not very enthusiastic about developing new products.
Generally, the No. 1 Machinery Department issues tasks, and everyone develops new models in order to complete the tasks.
As for the sedan project of Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, it was initiated by itself, so it is even more important to report it carefully.
“What project?”
Qin Hao was still very interested in the news at the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant. Seeing Chen Qi reporting on a big project, and then saying that there were new projects to report to him, his curiosity was aroused.
“The ministry is now encouraging various automobile factories to develop the sedan industry. Our factory is ready to respond to the ministry’s call and develop a sedan product on the same platform as the BJ212 to quickly solve the lack of sedans in the capital’s automobile industry... ..."
Chen Qi spent more than ten minutes explaining the arrangements in the factory.
“Are you really confident to come up with such a car?”
Qin Hao looked at Chen Qi with great joy.
The Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant is going to start a car project, and it seems to be quite promising.
He will definitely not object.
Both FAW and SAIC are negotiating cooperation with foreign automobile giants and want to import foreign sedan products to China for production and sales.
Although there may not be results so quickly in a short period of time, since everyone has started contact and negotiation, there will definitely be some results sooner or later.
In this case, the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant went in the opposite direction, insisted on independent development, and wanted to develop China's own car industry. There was no reason for the First Machinery Ministry not to support it.
Although FAW and SAIC previously reported to the ministry that they were looking for partners, they both thought of "exchanging market for technology", but Qin Hao actually had doubts in his mind whether this goal could really be achieved.
But the plan of Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant is different.
Obviously, if this car is mass-produced successfully, all parts will be purchased domestically, and there will be no need to waste a penny of foreign exchange.
Considering the current excellent performance of BJ212, cars on the same platform as it can definitely become better in terms of comfort and quality.
It is really possible that China's car industry, and even the entire automobile industry, will enter a different development rhythm.
Thinking of this, Qin Hao became even more interested in Chen Qi's plan.
"Qin Bureau, this is how our factory has arranged it..."
Feeling Qin Hao's support and concern, Chen Qi further explained the specific arrangements for the development of a new car.
Hearing that this car could be produced next year, Qin Hao no longer had any worries and directly expressed that the Automobile Bureau agreed with the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant's plan.
He will also personally report this matter to Zheng Haiming and Zhou Jian.
Needless to say, if the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant dares to take the initiative to take on new tasks and does not need to allocate funds from the First Machinery Department, no leader will object.
To be on the safe side, Chen Qi took the exterior design drawing of the car product and asked Jiang Hui to help check it.
"Is this the car you plan to produce?"
Jiang Hui looked at the design drawing in front of him. Although it was not as exquisite as the one he drew, the general situation could still be seen.
“Yes, we compared the styling of the Toyota Crown sedan and combined it with the BJ212’s powertrain and other solutions to form the design plan for our new generation sedan.”
Chen Qi looked at Jiang Hui expectantly, wanting to see how the other party viewed this issue.
"Chang Chen, I think the arrangement of Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant to enter the sedan industry is indeed quite good."
"But I think the wheelbase of the Crown sedan is a bit long, and its positioning is For high-end cars, it might be better for us to produce entry-level cars when we first start.”
“The length of the car is four to four meters, which is enough.”
"Otherwise, we will need to make very large changes to the chassis, and I'm worried that we won't be able to complete it in a short time."
Although at the same price, a larger car will definitely sell better.
But the premise is that the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant can produce it.
Minimal design changes and producing products for sale as quickly as possible are what the other party needs to do now.
(End of this chapter)