Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

Nanshan Group is the biggest beneficiary of the development of China's independent brands.

Especially in the past two years, almost all the SUVs launched by various independent brands use Nanshan engines and Nanshan gearboxes.

Many other parts were also purchased from Nanshan Group.

Even robots and other equipment for the expansion of production lines of various car companies are purchased from Nanshan Robotics.

Naturally, this situation is not acceptable to everyone.

Especially some more "ambitious" car companies want to change the situation.

In the past, many self-owned brands had poor technology accumulation in engines and gearboxes, and almost all of them purchased part or all of the engines and gearboxes from outside.

It's not that they don't know the importance of these two things.

But no money!

Without money, you can't recruit a large number of experienced R\u0026D personnel.

Without money, you can't spend a lot of money to do various experiments.

Without money, you dare not find some foreign institutions to cooperate in product development.

Things are different now.

Whether it is Chery, Geely, or Great Wall and BYD, all of them have sold more than 200,000 vehicles this year.

This result is definitely not bad.

The key is that compared with the same period in history, the prices of these models are higher.

The SUVs made are generally priced at around 100,000, or even 110,000 to 20,000.

In this way, the profit of a bicycle is much higher than that of a car worth 50,000 to 60,000 yuan.

The most important thing is that the styling of these cars is based on the current best-selling products of international auto giants, which is more in line with the aesthetics of consumers.

So even if the discount amount in the 4S store is not very large, the sales are good.

In this way, after a year of hard work, each car company can still earn some money.

Let alone a car, if you earn 3,000 yuan, you will have a profit of more than 600 million yuan a year.

In 2007, 600 million could still do a lot of things.

For these enterprises, if they do not expand the scale of production and produce more new products after earning money, it is of no great significance.

Among them, Chery, BYD and Great Wall performed most prominently.

Great Wall Motors has obtained the authorization of Nanshan Engine 1.5T engine technology long ago, and now it is producing corresponding products in its own engine factory.

And Chery is even more different. About 30% of their models use their own engines.

Even if these engine technologies are a bit backward, they have not completely given up.

Now that they have money in their hands, their ideas are even more different.

"Mr. Yin, if we redevelop the products based on the Nanshan engine, then it is inevitable that we will infringe some of their patents."

"And the future cooperation with Nanshan Group should also be affected."

Inside Chery Automobile, Yin Chuan, Zhang Wuchao, director of the research institute, and Song Xianming, director of the purchasing department, are having a meeting to discuss the independent research and development of engines.

The more Yin Chuan saw the rapid development of the domestic auto market, the more Yin Chuan felt that Chery needed its own core technology.

Otherwise, the problem of homogeneity between products of other independent brands will become more and more obvious in the future.

Everyone uses the engine and gearbox of Nanshan Group, and even various key components are still exactly the same.

Sooner or later, the competition will heat up.

This is a situation that Yin Chuan doesn't really want to see.

"We can buy their auto parts from Nanshan Group, such as starters and generators, and buy their products directly. Isn't that a patent infringement?"

Yin Chuan is determined to build his own engine.

It is possible to continue to purchase some engines from Nanshan Group in a short period of time.

But in the long run, most of the engines need to be operated by themselves.

Unless it is that kind of large-displacement engine, Nanshan Group is willing to sell it. If they also have demand, they can consider continuing to buy it.

"It can be, but in this way, the final cost is likely to be higher than buying the entire engine directly."

Song Xianming reminded me from the side.

Regardless of the purchase of parts and components assembled into engines, the price at which Nanshan auto parts are sold inside the group is definitely different from the price at which they are sold outside.

They also understand this truth.

"Nanshan Engine is not the only manufacturer of turbocharged engines. Whether it is Volkswagen or General Motors, they all have their own products."

"At that time, we will combine the strengths of several companies to develop an engine whose displacement is different from that of Nanshan Engine, and various parts can be purchased relatively freely."

"If Nanshan Auto Parts wants to get orders, it has to lower prices."

Yin Chuan also quickly found a solution.

If you directly copy and learn from the products of Nanshan Engine, many of the parts may only be purchased from Nanshan Group.

But if you change it yourself, you will get a 1.4T or 1.8T engine, and even the displacement will be different from your Nanshan engine. It will not be so easy to fight a patent infringement lawsuit.

As for parts, the parts on the engine are not only made by Nanshan Group.

United Electronics, Denso, Hitachi, Valeo, Delphi, BorgWarner and other manufacturers can also produce most of the engine parts.

He didn't believe that he couldn't buy parts for money. It was impossible.

"If we really want to build our own engine, I think we can use some tricks."

"For example, some of our models now use 1.5T engines from Nanshan Group. Then we will ask Nanshan Group if there are 1.2T products, and we want to enrich the product line so that consumers can have more choose."

"Nine times out of ten, Nanshan Engine will not develop a product for us alone. When the time comes, it will be natural for us to develop a 1.2T product ourselves."

Zhang Wuchao proposed a more flexible solution.

He naturally supports his own engine research and development, otherwise the importance of the institute will continue to decline.

But he is also worried that if the research and development work is too radical, then his products will not be available, and Nanshan Group will not sell engines to Chery, which will put too much pressure on him.

"Dean Zhang's plan, I think we can give it a try."

"Including the gearbox, I think we can try a similar method."

“Don’t Nanshan Transmission have 4AT and 6AT products?”

"But they don't have 5AT. We can start developing it from 5AT."

Song Xianming knew that the topic of today's meeting was to discuss the independent research and development of engines and gearboxes.

So I directly brought up the topic of gearboxes.

"Then let's do what you said first, and strive to develop Chery Automobile's 1.2T engine and 1.8T engine, as well as a 5AT automatic transmission within the next two years."

"Then our road will suddenly become wider."

"At the same time, the company is also preparing to establish Chery Auto Parts Co., Ltd. to specialize in researching other core parts and try our best to equip ourselves with relevant R\u0026D capabilities."

"On this point, Great Wall Motors and BYD are already ahead of us."

"The traditional Spring City Automobile Group, Xifeng Automobile and Modu Automobile have always had their own parts industry."

Yin Chuan came up with a new plan.

People not only want to make engines and gearboxes, but also other auto parts.

Anyway, now that there is some money in the company account, my thoughts will naturally increase.

In this regard, this change can also be felt within Nanshan Group.

"Mr. Cao, BYD has successively established the 15th Business Unit and the 16th Business Unit in recent months, which are responsible for the development of automotive chassis, automotive electronics, automotive interior and exterior decoration and other components."

"According to what I've learned, BYD plans to make 80% of the parts on the vehicle in-house in the future."

"Only some parts that are not very important, or parts with relatively high technical content that cannot be handled by ourselves, are purchased from outside suppliers."

Nanshan Group, a ray of sunlight shines through the glass on the evergreens by the windowsill. Cao Yang is watering the evergreens there while listening to Zeng Tingting's report to him.

"Wang always hires talents with technical backgrounds. Most of BYD Auto's parts are now purchased from outside."

"He definitely can't accept this situation forever."

"Have you not been engaged in some technical research and development of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles before?"

"Now it seems that the in-house work on the powertrain is no longer enough, and we want to further expand the research on other parts."

Cao Yang was not surprised at all by the news reported by Zeng Tingting.

The original BYD was developing projects across the entire industry chain based on the principle that it could make all its own parts.

Even components such as semiconductors are made by ourselves.

This is different from many car companies.

Although there is a lot of controversy about whether this method is good or not, judging from the final result, BYD succeeded, so this method is naturally a good method.

If it fails, then this approach will definitely be criticized by many "experts" as reversing the course of history.

After all, Ford and General Motors made a large number of their own parts in the early years, and later they slowly peeled them off.

Now that BYD is doing the opposite, isn't it a step backwards in history?

"The trouble now is that not only BYD is accelerating independent research and development, but Chery Automobile, Great Wall Motors, and even Yangcheng Motors have also made some moves."

"From a long-term perspective, at least in the engine business, it is likely that after reaching a historical peak next year, it will begin to decline."

Zeng Tingting gave her own judgment with certainty.

Although many car companies are engaged in independent research and development, there is definitely no need to worry about this year's performance.

After all, research and development also takes time.

Especially engine research and development cannot be completed in a few months.

But there are already successful templates out there, and the time required is greatly reduced.

If we can’t do it this year, it’s still possible to do it next year.

Then there will definitely be many models starting from the year after next that are equipped with each manufacturer's own engine.

"This trend is definitely like this, but as long as the performance of our engine products remains far ahead, even if the business cannot continue to grow explosively, it will not decline so quickly."

"Great Wall, Chery, and BYD are not the only domestic companies that want to produce cars. There are so many car companies, even if each of them orders 100,000 to 80,000 engines from us, it will be very impressive in a year. "

"Of course, we really can't completely ignore what you said."

"You can come up with a few plans to see how to deal with different situations, and how we plan to cooperate with others in the future."

"This world is not only black and white, there are many choices left for us."

Cao Yang knew that it was impossible for the engine to eat alone.

On the contrary, the gearbox is likely to occupy most of the domestic market for a relatively long period of time.

When the domestic sales volume is more than 20 million, even if only 30% of the cars are equipped with Nanshan gearbox products, that is a very scary statistic.

"That's true. I'll go back and sort out a few plans."

"For customers like BYD and Chery who are planning to use their own engines, we will be different from long-term customers like Changan Automobile in terms of production capacity supply and price concessions."

"In addition, I think the legal department should also be prepared to conflict with them."

"If any customer directly takes our technology and kicks us out, it will absolutely not be tolerated."

Although Zeng Tingting also knows about the engine business, it is impossible to keep expanding the business.

However, the orders that have already been received will be slowly taken away by the factories of various OEMs, and I must feel uncomfortable in my heart.

"The products we have launched are basically internationally competitive products at this stage. In the future, we will at most carry out a technical update on the basis of these products, and then we can consider fully transforming into hybrid engines and electric vehicles. car."

"In a short period of time, it will be very difficult for OEMs to do better than us even if they develop their own engines."

"As for three to five years later, we will have a new generation of products to compete with them at that time."

"At that time, we can also combine the marketing measures of channels such as Autohome and Weibo, so that the sales of Changan Automobile and other customers who have been using our products will exceed those of other models that have transformed themselves to produce their own engines."

"Even on the Internet, some public opinion campaigns can be launched, telling consumers that their new models no longer use Nanshan's engines, and they need to pay attention to quality issues."

Cao Yang didn't panic at all.

He has many ways to deal with clients who want to get rid of Nanshan Group.

Although self-reliance and self-research on engines are a manifestation of the efforts of independent brands.

But Cao Yang's situation is not that big.

Huaxia already has a company like Nanshan Group that can provide advanced engine products. From a higher-level perspective, other companies continue to invest a lot of money in engine research and development, which is actually not as meaningful as they advertise.

Of course, everyone's position is different, so it is impossible to say who is right and who is wrong.

It can only be said that in the market, everyone depends on their ability!

"Shoot the bird that stands out!"

"Kill chickens to make an example to monkeys!"

"Mr. Cao, I think we really need to work hard on this at that time."

"Of course, we definitely can't leave the conversation to other companies."

Seeing Cao Yang's calm performance, Zeng Tingting breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he continued: "Now some customers are tentatively asking us whether it is possible to sell the 3.0T engine. I haven't given a direct reply yet."

"Look at this problem, how do we need to deal with it later?"

Dahongqi has performed well in the domestic market this year.

Although there is no way to compare with Ziweixing, compared with the previous Hongqi high-end cars, it is already very good.

Naturally, some other car companies have new ideas.

"I won't consider this issue for the time being in the past two years, and wait until Xingchen Motors has fully established its foothold."

Cao Yang gave the answer very directly.

Dahongqi is taking the high-end route, and there is no problem selling the 3.0T engine to them.

If some other car companies with insufficient brand power are also using this engine, it will obviously not be a good thing for Ziweixing's sales.

"Then I will quote a very high price and let them give up by themselves?"

Zeng Tingting is also very clear about how to deal with customers.

It would be inappropriate to refuse directly.

But if I quote a sky-high price, you should know what it means, right?

Everyone's emotional intelligence is not low.

...

Domestically purchased engines are basically self-owned brands.

Almost all joint venture car companies have their own engine factories.

Under such circumstances, even Nanshan Engine, which has the highest technical level, is facing some small actions by customers. Engine manufacturers like Aerospace Mitsubishi have even more difficult life.

"Lu Sang, China's auto market has been growing rapidly in recent years, but the company's turnover has not increased for several consecutive years, and even declined."

"Originally we thought that after the launch of a new generation of engines in the second half of last year, the situation would slowly improve."

"But almost three quarters of this year have passed, but the situation for the better has not appeared."

"Is there anything you can do to change this situation?"

Sales Manager Taro Yonekawa is in a bad mood.

The company's performance is not good, and his dream of returning to China for promotion is becoming more and more difficult to realize.

Originally stationed in Huaxia, it was a bit of a distribution to the frontier.

If you don't get very good grades, don't think about getting promoted after returning to China.

"Michuan, the new models launched by various self-owned brands in recent years basically use Nanshan engine products."

"From 1.0T to 2.0T, the performance of their various engines is very advanced, and the fuel consumption is even lower than ours."

"Even in terms of cost, it is comparable to our engines of the same level."

"In this case, it is very difficult for them to increase the purchase of engines from our company."

Naturally, Lu Bin is also very clear about the current situation the company is facing.

He deals with customers such as Great Wall, Chery, Geely, and West Wind every day, and he is relatively clear about the various actions of customers.

In his view, Aerospace Mitsubishi has been able to stabilize sales in recent years, which is already good.

In a few years, it might drop sharply.

So during this period of time, he began to think about running relationships to see if he could be transferred back to the group.

"Of course I know what you said, but we have to find a way to let customers know that such important parts as the engine, if they are all purchased from Nanshan Group, the risk is actually relatively high."

"In particular, their gearbox is also purchased from Nanshan Group. The hard work of producing this car is actually for Nanshan Group to make money."

"In the past two years, while introducing a new generation of products, we have also done a lot of cost reduction work."

"As long as they buy more engines, we can offer better prices."

At this time, for Yonekawa, sales volume is more important than profit.

One point more profit, one point less, the results are not so obvious in many cases.

However, more and less sales are very intuitive data.

"You're right. It's very risky to buy such an important part of the engine from one manufacturer all the time."

"So now Great Wall Motors, Chery Automobile, BYD and other companies have all increased their efforts in independent research and development."

"According to the information I have inquired, starting from the end of next year, they will gradually increase the proportion of self-produced engines."

After Lu Bin said this, Taro Yonekawa fell silent.

All car companies have already made their own engines. Doesn't that mean that the possibility of buying engines from Aerospace Mitsubishi in the future is even lower?

"Yonekawa, Mitsubishi's engine technology is very good. I think if you really want to expand your business, you must find a way to persuade Mitsubishi headquarters to import the most advanced engine technology into our factory."

"Then we can discuss cooperation with some manufacturers through technical cooperation."

"At that time, some engines will be produced by us, and some engines will be used after we license the technology to earn licensing fees."

Lu Bin boldly put forward a new suggestion.

It has to be said that this proposal is theoretically very feasible.

But Yonekawa Taro didn't have confidence in this operation after listening to it.

As a Japanese company, Mitsubishi has always been unwilling to bring the most advanced technology to China.

Even many Japanese companies are like this.

The products produced in the Huaxia factory are all products with backward technology.

No matter how fierce the competition is, at most it will produce things at the same level as Japan.

To import the latest technology that is still under research and development, it is more difficult than reaching the sky.

After considering the words, Mi Chuan shared his opinion with Lu Bin.

"Huaxia already has a company like Nanshan Engine that has mastered the world's most advanced engine technology. If our company doesn't want to go downhill so soon, we must either introduce the latest technology, or reduce prices significantly, and rely on cost advantages to win some orders. "

Yonekawa: ...