King of Industry

  Chapter 275 The big head is behind

  At the headquarters of Volkswagen Latin America, Zhao Guoyang was entangled by Chairman Jeffries for a while, and then proposed to discuss the structure of new models of Songqi Group first.

   Jeffries felt somewhat regretful that he could not directly assign Zhao Guoyang the right to use the patent for "delayed cooling of vehicles".

  But for Zhao Guoyang's proposal, he can almost say that he has absolutely no objection.

  Led by Jeffries and Ayton, Zhao Guoyang, Mao Zhichun and Songqi Group walked into the conference room of the product development department of Volkswagen Latin America.

  After the two parties were divided into guests and hosts, Mao Zhichun explained the main purpose of Songqi Group's visit to Volkswagen Latin America this time.

  When Chairman Mao formally proposed that he would like to ask the Product Development Department of Volkswagen Latin America to help design a new Santana, Zhao Guoyang noticed that Jeffries and Ayton had eye contact.

   Regarding this, Zhao Guoyang secretly felt a little vigilance in his heart.

  As a top expert in the field of machinery in his previous life, he knows the risks when domestic companies cooperate with large foreign companies.

  Due to the corresponding backwardness of the technical level, some domestic enterprises are basically in a weak position when cooperating with large international enterprises.

  Especially in cooperation with giants like Volkswagen, it is easier to be led by the nose.

  Now Chairman Mao didn't hide much, and directly stated his needs. Next, it's easy for others to open their mouths.

  After Mao Zhichun finished talking about the needs of himself and Songqi Group, Jeffries said with a smile on his face: "We are very grateful to Chairman Mao and your company for trusting us in Volkswagen."

   "The Santana model is originally our company's flagship product. It is only natural for you Songqi Group to upgrade and come to us for help."

  After Jeffries finished speaking, Ayton next to him nodded and said: "The chairman is right, the Santana model was first designed by our Latin American company team."

   "Santana has achieved very good sales performance both in the United States and in Latin America. After your company cooperated with our Volkswagen Group, you chose Santana for the first model. It is a very discerning decision."

After listening to Ayton's words, Mao Zhichun was also in a good mood, and repeatedly expressed his opinion: "Yes, Mr. Ayton. Our cooperation between Songqi Group and Volkswagen Group is very successful. The Santana model is also very popular in the Chinese market. Hot."

"However, based on some feedback from the current domestic market, we at the Technical Department of Songqi Group feel that we can make some improvements. We came here to seek your company's cooperation, and we just want to ask you to help design a model that is more suitable for the Chinese market. The new Santana…”

   Speaking of this, Mao Zhichun turned his head and nodded to Chen Bin, indicating that he could mention the request from the technical department.

   Catching Chairman Mao's gaze, Chen Bin quickly stated the requirements formulated by the technical department.

  Chen Bin looked at Ayton and said, "Mr. Ayton, compared with the previous model, the new Santana of our Songqi Group has the most important requirement of rear space."

  Chen Bin talked eloquently: "Due to the continuous improvement of our domestic consumers' requirements for passenger vehicles, the rear space and comfort of old products can no longer keep up with market demand."

  “Although Santana’s performance in the market is still strong. But from the perspective of planning for rainy days, a new model with a longer body and higher comfort is imminent…”

   Ayton seemed to have listened carefully to Chen Bin's narration, nodded and gestured: "Well, we have almost understood the key points of Mr. Chen's speech. Basically, there is no problem in cooperation."

   "In the next few days, we will give a preliminary design plan according to your requirements. As for the specific details, our product developers will discuss with members of your company's technical department to determine."

After Ayton finished speaking, he glanced at Mao Zhichun who was sitting opposite, and said with a smile: "Just one thing, Chairman Mao. I may trouble your colleagues in the technical department of Songqi Group. For a long time to come, we will spend time with you. company."

  Hearing this, Mao Zhichun waved his hands again and again and said: "This is no problem. With such a learning opportunity, we Minister Chen and the comrades in the technical department can only wish for it."

  After Mao Zhichun made his statement, Ayton smiled kindly at Zhao Guoyang.

   Obviously, he thought that Zhao Guoyang was also a member of the technical department of Songqi Group. Successfully inviting Chen Bin and the others is equivalent to inviting Zhao Guoyang.

   Zhao Guoyang smiled and didn't say much.

  In fact, he had already communicated with Chen Bin about the details of the new model requested by Songqi Group, and he also put forward very complete opinions.

  Basically, as long as Chen Bin and the others negotiate according to their own ideas, there will be no problem in cooperating with Volkswagen Latin America.

   As for Zhao Guoyang himself, it is impossible for him to stay in Samba for a long time.

  After Mao Zhichun signed a letter of intent for cooperation with Volkswagen Latin America, he will return to China with Chairman Mao.

   Now that Ayton has not figured out the situation himself, Zhao Guoyang will naturally not explain anything to him.

  After the cooperation intention was probably finalized, Mao Zhichun asked eagerly: "Mr. Ayton, how much is the design cost?"

When Ayton heard this, a relieved smile appeared on his face, and he raised a finger and said, "Chairman Mao, the design fee will not be very high, and it will definitely not exceed one million dollars, so you can rest assured. "

  One million U.S. dollars, although it is already a huge number, but for Mao Zhichun, for Songqi Group, it is a price that is completely acceptable.

   After all, last year alone, Songqi Group earned nearly one billion yuan in huge profits through the Santana model.

   It's worth spending one percent now on designing a new model that will likely continue sales.

  When Mao Zhichun was at ease, Zhao Guoyang next to him didn't think so.

  He knew that with the shrewdness of Jeffries and Ayton, it was impossible to help Songqi Group design this model so easily.

  A design fee of one million dollars is not enough for people of their level to notice.

Sure enough, after Ayton told the design cost, Jeffries next to him pretended to be casual and said to him: "Ayton, since the new model of Songqi Group will lengthen the body, the platform of the original Santana model , surely it can’t be used?”

  Hearing this, Ayton nodded seriously and said: "The chairman is right. After the body is lengthened, the production platform of the old Santana cannot be used, and a production platform must be redesigned..."

  Hearing this, Mao Zhichun was a little stunned. He turned to look at Chen Bin, hoping that he, the technical director, could give him an answer.

  Chen Bin didn't seem to have thought about this issue, and after a long pause, he opened his mouth and said, "Well, chairman, theoretically speaking, if the new Santana is lengthened, the original production platform may not be easy to use..."

  After Chen Bin finished speaking, the four technicians under him nodded their heads in agreement.

   Indeed, for most domestic car companies, a production line can only correspond to one model.

   Now the new model that Songqi Group is cooperating with Volkswagen Latin America, although the name is still Santana, but due to the lengthening of the wheelbase, it can no longer be regarded as the same car.

  Using a brand new production platform is a matter of course.

  When Mao Zhichun inquired about Chen Bin, Jeffries, Ayton and some other high-level executives sitting opposite had some smug smiles on their faces.

  After understanding the situation, Mao Zhichun turned his head to Jeffries and said, "Mr. Jeffries, I just asked our Minister Chen, and the situation should be similar to what you said."

   "I just don't know, can our Songqi Group import this new production line from Volkswagen Latin America? If so, how do you calculate the design cost of this production line?"

  After Mao Zhichun asked the question, Jeffries' face was full of smiles.

  He turned his head and glanced at Ayton, winked at him and said: "Chairman Mao, I think it's better to let professionals answer you for such a professional question."

Mao Zhichun looked at Ayton subconsciously, and heard the head of the product development department speak slowly: "Chairman Mao, the design of the production line is different from the design of the vehicle. It requires a longer design cycle and takes less time. It will take longer, and it will need to be debugged many times before it can be finalized."

   "So usually, the design price of the vehicle production line is much higher than the design of the car itself."

  Ayton gestured casually: "The cost of designing a production line for Volkswagen Latin America is about 10 million U.S. dollars."

   "However, since we are sincerely cooperating with your company, we can reduce the amount of money appropriately. Specifically, let's talk about it after the new model is designed. What do you think?"

  Hearing this, Mao Zhichun's heart bleeds a little.

  Mr. Ayton has made it very clear that the design cost of a production line is 10 million US dollars, which is ten times the price of car design.

  Although this Ayton also said, the price can still be discounted. But Mao Zhichun knew that no matter how much this figure could be reduced, it would not be less than 8 million US dollars.

   This is really a huge sum of money for Songqi Group.

  But Mao Zhichun also knew that the introduction price of an automobile production line platform was indeed expensive.

   It seems that the Santana production line platform currently used by Songqi Group was imported from the Volkswagen headquarters in Germany, and it cost nearly ten million US dollars at that time.

   Just when Mao Zhichun kept rubbing his hands, ready to grit his teeth and agree, Zhao Guoyang on the side suddenly pressed his hand.

  (end of this chapter)