I want to be emperor

Chapter 1067 Song Erniu’s road to building a car

Song Erniu personally returned to China to inspect the automobile industry, and successively contacted the four major automobile manufacturers, and also communicated with some third-party automobile manufacturers, such as Jinling Carriage Company.

During this inspection, Song Erniu became more determined that the future is the era of automobiles...the automobile industry must squeeze in no matter what.

But how to squeeze in is also a big question.

First of all, don't expect to develop gasoline engines by yourself at this stage. This thing has been built by the three major automobile manufacturers with extremely tight patent walls. For example, Lee Iron and Steel Co. spent money and people in the early days to try to break through, but in the end it was still blocked. He was forced to resort to roundabout ways and secretly acquired the patent through a third party, and finally obtained the patent authorization.

But this road has been blocked after being passed by Lee Steel... It is impossible for the three major automobile manufacturers to license basic patents to external parties.

The second is the core product of gearbox. The patent threshold for this thing is also very high. It is basically monopolized by the three major automobile manufacturers. The reason why Li's Power Company has been unable to launch a complete vehicle is because it cannot get the patent for the gearbox. , and at the same time, it is impossible for them to obtain gearboxes from the three major automobile manufacturers... Therefore, Li's Power Company's vehicle business is stuck at this step, and it can only sell engines to third manufacturers to make a living.

Relatively speaking, third-party automobile manufacturers, as long as you are not on the side of Li's Power Company, blatantly want to do everything yourself, want to be the most upstream competitor, and insist on obtaining patents, in fact, the three Large automobile companies will still be willing to cooperate with third-party automobile manufacturers.

After all, selling a car is selling, and selling engines and gearboxes is also selling...and the latter will not make less money than selling a complete vehicle.

Therefore, when Song Erniu, the richest man in the Americas, wanted to enter the automobile industry and engage in assembling cars, the four major automobile manufacturers expressed their welcome, saying that they could sell engines, gearboxes and even other parts to them.

Of course, good things are definitely not for sale...for example, engines for cars. Tangshan Machinery Company and Liaodong Machinery Company have made it clear that four-cylinder engines are not for sale...only single-cylinder or two-cylinder engines are sold.

In short, although the three major automobile manufacturers supply goods to external parties, they are not only expensive but also have many restrictions... It is impossible for them to say that they sell all good products cheaply and then cultivate their own competitors.

They immediately said that they were going to develop and produce a royal car for His Majesty. Regardless of whether you were willing or not, you had to show your joy and enthusiasm when sending it to them.

Of course, Jinling Carriage Company only uses this top-level engine and gearbox in royal cars and high-ranking official cars, and does not sell them on the market... For Jinling cars sold in the private market, they are actually practical The performance of the previous generation four-cylinder engine from Tangshan Machinery Company and the previous generation gearbox from Hekou Machinery Company is much worse!

The reason why Jinling Carriage Company is able to obtain the supply of such top-level engines is because their status and background are very special: Jinling Carriage Company is affiliated to the Royal Assets Department and is a serious royal asset. This company originally The main purpose of its establishment was to provide luxury carriages to the royal family, and developing and manufacturing royal carriages was their number one task.

Because the Great Chu Empire did not allow private individuals to hold large amounts of land...but in many remote places and overseas areas, the land was vast and sparsely populated, horse farming and mechanized farming were used, and the per capita cultivated area was generally very large. It was impossible for the government to copy the local situation. Agricultural policy over there.

Most of them are small farms of a few hundred to several thousand acres, and farmers generally use horses and machinery to farm.

Under this background, Jinling Carriage Company has become the only carriage supplier to the royal family, and it will also be the only automobile supplier now and in the future.

Although most of the farmers are just ordinary farmers, owning only a few hundred acres of land...but there are also quite a few farmers who own thousands or even thousands of acres of land, and these farmers are relatively wealthy...Accurately Said that these farmers are not actually farmers in the traditional sense, but are the bosses of small agricultural companies!

There are no restrictions on gearboxes, I will sell you whatever you want!

As for Hekou Machinery Company, no matter if it is a four-cylinder or even a six-cylinder engine for engineering equipment that they are currently developing...the price is still cheap...whatever the heat pipe ignition engine can sell is whatever.

Therefore, as the population in the Americas gradually increases and the developable wasteland resources gradually decrease, although the supply of land to companies has been stopped, farmers are still allowed to rent more land for farming, but the number is limited to less than 3,000 acres. .

Well, the Jinling car purchased by Song Erniu falls into this category.

After all, Song Erniu is not targeting the local market in East Asia where there are many rich and powerful people, but the overseas American market.

Therefore, it is actually possible to establish third-party automobile manufacturers in the Dachu Empire, but except for national defense manufacturers and Jinling Carriage Company, other third parties cannot buy the best parts and components to make the best cars.

To sum up, you can buy the two core components of engines and gearboxes, but you can only buy sub-par products. Really good things are not sold at all.

Only for rent, not for sale.

All that can be bought are cars equipped with Tangshan Machinery Company's previous generation four-cylinder engine.

Such Jinling Carriage Company came to ask for the most advanced engines... Tangshan Machinery Company had to give them very hard.

If you have money and want to buy something, there is no place to buy it for you.

People at Tangshan Machinery Company even frankly said that except for defense manufacturers and Jinling Carriage Company, it is impossible for them to supply real top engines to external parties.

What Song Erniu wants to buy is a cheaper car... After all, there are fewer rich people in the Americas, so if the car is too expensive, it will be sold as much as possible.

But now, except for government-run agricultural companies, private agricultural companies are no longer allowed to apply for leasing land locally, and existing land lease contracts for civil enterprises will not be renewed after expiration.

At the same time, the situation in the Americas is similar...but the Americas are even more special, because many of the so-called agricultural companies in the Americas are actually run by farmers themselves...not by capital.

For example, Tangshan Machinery Company is very active in promoting twin-cylinder engines, and the price is relatively favorable... Why, because even if this thing is inferior, it is still better than some heat pipe ignition or closed ignition engines. If you sell one more, You can suppress these two competitors by one more point.

The top-grade four-cylinder engine purchased from Jinling Carriage Company also has limited use. It can only be used in high-end official vehicles purchased by the royal family and the government, and the quantity is limited. The signed supply contract is only 1,000 units.

Li's Power Company also stated that their closed electronic ignition engines are also sold casually... As for the others, I don't have them myself, so it's useless for you to ask me.

Not only does it sell things, but it also sends engineers to collaborate on research and development.

But Song Erniu had already been mentally prepared for this... Besides, he had no intention of buying expensive high-end cars from the beginning.

As for the truly top-notch Jinling cars, they are not for sale at all... they are all purchased by the government. In addition to supplying the royal family, a few other vehicles are rationed according to political status.

Tangshan Machinery Company has the conditions to open the purchase rights of the previous generation four-cylinder engine to some third-party manufacturers.

Therefore, there are a large number of agricultural companies in many overseas territories such as the Americas, as well as in Northeast China, Siberia, Eastern Europe and other regions.

The current population of the Americas is only 30 to 40 million, and the number of wealthy people among them is actually not that large. If you really want to buy luxury cars, you probably won't be able to sell many of them that year.

However, there are few rich people, but there are many middle-income people. Therefore, if the price of the car is cheaper, it will still be very expensive even compared to the income of ordinary people, but Song Erniu is expected to have a lot of sales.

Even if it is supplied, it is strictly limited to use!

For example, engines purchased by national defense automobile manufacturers can only be used in the field of military automobiles and are not allowed to be sold in the civilian market.

But the gearbox... The gearbox for engineering equipment is easy to talk about, but the gearboxes used in cars and small trucks have some restrictions. Their most advanced gearboxes are not sold, and they can only sell gearboxes with poorer performance. ...But even if the performance is poor, it still has a gearbox with two forward gears and a reverse gear. Its performance is similar to the top gearboxes of Tangshan Machinery Company and Liaodong Machinery Company, and the price is even cheaper.

Therefore, we came up with such an agricultural company policy, which allowed the establishment of agricultural companies in some border provinces and overseas directly governed territorial provinces, and leased wasteland from the government for development.

Their main purpose of selling these core components is to allow third-party manufacturers to promote the low-end and mid-range markets with little profit, while at the same time attacking several other automobile manufacturers.

Why?

However, this situation is only limited to specific border provinces and overseas provinces. It is not allowed in East Asia, especially in the traditional Guannei region. In the eighteen provinces in Guannei and other regions, very strict land equalization is still implemented. The policy ensures that all farmers have their own land and imitates land annexation.

Similarly, Jinling Carriage Company approached Hekou Machinery Company and asked for their top-notch gearbox, and Hekou Machinery Company immediately provided it.

Because there are a large number of farmers in the Americas.

At the same time, many places have also gradually relaxed or even abolished related policies after opening up land rental policies for agricultural companies in the early stage. For example, the three northeastern provinces of Liaodong Province, Liaobei Province, and Heishui Province also fully liberalized agricultural companies in the early days.

In principle, applications for leasing land above 3,000 acres will no longer be approved, and approved contracts will be taken back after expiration.

But three thousand acres of land... If it is managed well, it can actually make a lot of money.

Based on the local natural conditions in the Americas, coupled with the food output and selling price at that time, basically a peasant family can support their family by cultivating three to four hundred acres of land... This support for the family does not refer to having enough to eat, but to The money earned from selling harvested agricultural and livestock products is enough to buy industrial goods and send children to school.

As for eating... given the local per capita grain production, you can't finish it no matter how much you eat.

So in the Great Chu Empire, when we say that the peasant families in the Americas are poor... it doesn't mean that they don't have enough to eat. In fact, everyone is eating well, but they don't have much money... because the local people Food, including meat, cannot be sold for much.

However, even if the cash earned is less, if people use mechanized farming, they can cultivate thousands of acres, which adds up to a lot.

Therefore, some peasant families with thousands of acres of land are living a pretty good life, and these people have relatively strong purchasing power. Agricultural equipment worth hundreds of Chu Yuan is what they purchased the most.

As for Song Erniu, he wanted to sell the car to them too!

But even so, you can’t buy a car that’s too expensive!

A car costing four to five hundred yuan will definitely not be sold...the price will have to be lowered even further.

At the same time, a pure car is probably not very suitable. After all, the buying group is middle-class farmers, so it is best to use it as a production tool!

And the off-road performance is good...Farmers live in the countryside, so if the off-road performance is not good, no one can use it.

Finally, Song Erniu looked at a small truck launched by Tangshan Machinery Company... After pondering for a long time, he said to the engineer who came with him: "What if we increase the number of front seats from a single row to a double row?" row, and then shorten the carriage at the back. Is there any technical difficulty in doing so?"

When the accompanying engineer heard what Song Erniu said, he didn't need to consider anything at all, and said directly: "This is not a big technical problem... It's just that this way, there will be less goods!"

Song Erniu said: "It doesn't matter... we are not building trucks."

"Let's go and talk to them about the engine. Their two-cylinder engine is pretty good. Let's see if we can negotiate a lower price!"

As a person who doesn't understand technology but can create huge assets, Song Erniu still has a good understanding of the market.

During the years of working on soft canvas, he also tried to summarize some of his successful experiences, and finally believed that it is not important what the product looks like, but that the important thing is to sell it to the right customers.

There are no unsuitable products, only unsuitable customers!

This is true in the textile industry, and he firmly believes that it is also true in the automotive industry... In his opinion, current cars and trucks are not suitable for the local market in America.

Today's cars are generally too expensive, and can only be used as a means of transportation for people to travel... The price/performance ratio is too low, and they are only suitable for a very small number of wealthy people.

As for trucks, as a pure production tool, the cost performance is too low. It is better to use a horse-drawn carriage than to use this thing.

However, if the two are combined and a car can be used as a daily travel tool for the middle and upper class, and can also haul goods, this will be more suitable for a large number of farmers in the Americas.

Of course, the premise is that the price must be reduced, and the reliability, maintainability, and controllability must be strong. For this reason, even poor performance is fine.

After all, it is impossible for a farmer to hire a driver, let alone maintain a maintenance team. He drives it all by himself and fixes any minor problems by himself.

He could tolerate the car having low power and little cargo...but he couldn't tolerate the car being parked in the wilderness, let alone having to hire a dedicated driver to drive it.

Song Erniu followed this idea to develop cars.

This is why during the inspection, we did not look at the four-cylinder engines of Tangshan Machinery Company, but specifically the two-cylinder engines.

Because four-cylinder engines, even the previous generation four-cylinder engines are still too expensive. One engine costs more than 200 Chu Yuan... The car Song Erniu is planning to build is only expected to sell for about 200 Chu Yuan. .

If the price exceeds this price, it will be very embarrassing: those who can afford it will look down on it, and those who can afford it can’t afford it!

-

After leaving Tangshan, Song Erniu took a train to Liaodong, and went to Hekou Machinery Company and Liaodong Machinery Company successively.

After an inspection, Song Erniu finally finalized his own plan to assemble cars.

Ever since, they started waving checks and poaching people. However, considering that most high-tech talents are unwilling to work in overseas territories such as the Americas... places in the Americas are considered by many natives to be rural areas, not good places.

This is not a prejudice, but a fact... The medical, education and infrastructure are far inferior to those in East Asia, let alone the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, the Bohai Rim and other eastern regions.

So many elite people are unwilling to go.

So Song Erniu simply set up the car's R&D center in Songjiang... It would be much easier to recruit high-end talents by setting up a R&D center in such a big city.

However, the production base still has to be placed in the Americas... On the one hand, it is due to transportation costs, and on the other hand, he has greater influence in the Americas. Berta City in the East American Province heard that he was going to build cars, and he had already given up. Bianpi Dian sent people over to negotiate. It was trivial to provide free land to build a factory. They also provided low-interest loans, helped recruit workers, and gave tax incentives.

Especially the tax benefits are very attractive.

After all, in the Chu Empire, taxes are really heavy... The risk of tax evasion is also very high, and you might end up having your family confiscated and your family exterminated.

Therefore, if there are tax incentives, they are still very popular among enterprises... Of course, not all enterprises can get such incentives. They must have great prospects, provide a large number of jobs and tax revenue, and drive upstream and downstream industrial chains. Only companies can receive this treatment.

The automobile industry is naturally a well-deserved high-tech industry in the local area, so it can obtain preferential tax policies.

In addition, Berta City is also rich in coal and iron resources. There is also a very good local steel factory and supporting machinery manufacturers that can provide steel and other materials for car manufacturing, as well as some supporting parts.

Finally... The Chu Empire is said to be one global empire, but the government offices in various places definitely prefer the companies in their own territories... This is most obvious in the textile industry.

And Song Erniu is a textile tycoon, and he knows this very well!

Unless there are no competitors, once a foreign enterprise faces local competition, it is inevitable that the local government will sidestep it.

If Song's Clothing Company wants to develop business in East Asia, it will have to set up factories in multiple places in East Asia, otherwise it will not be so smooth.

The same is true for the automobile business... Since the Americas are to be the core market, then factories must be established there. Otherwise, when there are other local automobile manufacturers in the Americas in the future, the local government will definitely be biased when the two sides compete. shelf.

Although local protectionism is clearly prohibited by the government and guarded against everywhere, it still exists and is still deeply rooted...

This is true for the textile industry, and the same is true for the automotive industry!

Look at Liaodong Province... No matter whether it is the government or local provincial government-owned enterprises, they never buy agricultural equipment and engineering equipment from Tangshan Machinery Company, let alone cars and trucks.

They only purchase products from Liaodong Machinery Company and Hekou Machinery Company.

Similarly, Hebei Province only uses products from Tangshan Machinery Company.

As for other provinces, most of them will choose to support third-party manufacturers in their own territory. This also forced Tangshan Machinery Company to build its second large-scale factory in Songjiang Prefecture instead of Hebei... because they did not build a factory in Songjiang. , to create jobs and tax revenue for the local area, you can't expect to really seize the market of Songjiang, or even Jiangnan, the largest economy.

This is the same as Song Erniu going to Berta City in East America to build a car factory... No, Song Erniu is still staying in his hometown. As the local Berta factory begins construction, North America and East America , Mexico and three North American provinces successively greeted him: Regardless of whether we are building cars or trucks, as long as it is not an obvious scam, the three of us will purchase at least 500 vehicles together.

North America is such a large region, with so many government agencies, it can always absorb these 500 cars or trucks...

The only requirement is that the car must use a large number of locally produced parts and components from the three American provinces...and the proportion must not be less than 30%!

In other words, of the one hundred Chu Yuan purchase cost for parts, you must purchase at least thirty Chu Yuan from the three provinces of North America... Of course, you can also produce them yourself in the three provinces of North America.

This condition may seem like nothing, but it is actually quite difficult.

Because the engine and gearbox account for at least half of the purchase cost of vehicle parts...and not much is left.

As for engines and gearboxes, there is no way to produce them locally in the Americas. They can only purchase them from the three major manufacturers, and the three major manufacturers are not interested in setting up production lines in rural areas of America for the time being... just to supply Song Erniu.

This means that in addition to core components, a large number of other components, including car bodies, must be produced or purchased locally in the Americas to achieve this goal.

It is unrealistic to build it yourself... Even the three major car manufacturers have to find a bunch of cooperative suppliers. For example, they all purchase their tires... The competition in the domestic tire industry is also very fierce (carriages also use tires), ten Several major tire manufacturers have been fighting fiercely for more than 20 years.

If a car manufacturer wants to get involved in the tire industry, unless you directly acquire a tire manufacturer, don't expect to rush in!

Song Erniu didn't think about making all the parts himself. The car assembly factory he built was actually just making a shell and painting it, and getting some spare parts with little technical content.

As for the rest, it all depends on purchasing!

But when it comes to finding suppliers, there are no mature automotive industry suppliers in the Americas. They have to either cultivate them from scratch, or go to the local suppliers to bring in suppliers from the automotive industry chain to open branch factories!

No matter which path it takes, it’s difficult!

(End of this chapter)