ABT Chapter 164

 Chapter 164: Big Goals

Li Fanyu was angry because of the section in the research report about B-class cars.

B-class cars, commonly known as mid-size cars, refer to vehicles with a wheelbase between 2.6-2.7 meters and a body length between 4.5-4.8 meters. Of course, this is the classification standard in Germany, and there may be some differences in classification standards in other countries, but they are generally similar.

Abroad, B-class cars are often referred to as Large Family Cars, meaning large family-use vehicles. Since it's a family car, it must consider factors such as space, comfort, and fuel consumption to achieve a balance. This requires it to meet the needs of a family while also being economical.

So, the characteristics of B-class cars are spaciousness and low fuel consumption.

In the historical process of automobiles that remained unchanged, B-class cars in the Chinese market have always been the best-selling category. This phenomenon is mainly due to the Chinese people's car usage habits.

For example, if you have a family of three, plus elderly parents, the rear seats of the car cannot be too crowded, otherwise, the elderly may feel uncomfortable when riding, especially if child safety seats are installed. And because cars in this class have sufficient length and width, they can also serve some business needs.

As a result, B-class cars have become a versatile choice. Therefore, they were the backbone of the automobile consumer market in that previous era.

In Li Fanyu's impression, cars in this category generally cost around 140,000 yuan. For example, models like the Honda Accord, Volkswagen Passat, Ford Mondeo, Toyota Camry, Buick Regal, and Nissan Teana, all have standard prices around this range.

However, now, although some of these models are missing, most of the Japanese models are still available. According to the research report Li Fanyu had, almost all foreign brands selling B-class cars in China have standard prices around 160,000 yuan.

You should know that the taxes on vehicles in this era are much lower than before! In other words, these cars are priced more than 30,000 yuan higher on average!

What could have caused this situation? Li Fanyu was very puzzled.

So he read the entire research report again from beginning to end, but found an even more unusual phenomenon.

The report showed that the A-class cars of these foreign brands, which are one level lower than B-class cars, were actually much cheaper than in the previous era!

This was strange because A-class cars have low selling prices, which means that the profit margin for car manufacturers is very limited.

But our ancestors told us that when things go against the norm, there must be something wrong. After piecing together various connections, he became angry.

This was definitely a tacit agreement reached by all foreign brands behind the scenes! It's what they call a price barrier!

This phenomenon is quite complex and involves many aspects. But simply put, it's about using price differences to expand market share and restrict the development of domestic Chinese cars.

Because generally, Chinese companies would logically start from the lower end and gradually accumulate experience and technology to move up to higher levels.

A-class cars are cheap, and with large sales volumes, they are the best stepping stone for car companies.

However, these foreign brands have occupied most of the domestic market share with their extremely low prices for A-class cars, snatching away the development space for domestic cars.

Of course, if they only did this, the ordinary people would benefit. But is it really that simple?

Of course not! How could capitalists engage in unprofitable deals?

After successfully limiting the development of local cars, they could easily fleece from other areas.

For example, with B-class cars, where profit margins are higher.

To give a perhaps not very flattering analogy; a merchant arrives in a village and sees that everyone there grows wheat and grinds it to make a living.

The merchant then tells the villagers, "You grow wheat yourselves and grind it yourselves, which is tiring and expensive. I have flour here, and I can sell it to you cheaply. That way, you don't have to grow wheat anymore, just sell me your land."

So the villagers agree, the merchant sells flour, and the villagers use the money from selling their land to buy it.

Then, the merchant starts to play tricks. He doesn't sell as much flour anymore; he starts selling steamed buns instead!

Although they look nice, the buns are expensive! But by then, the villagers realize that they no longer have their land, and even if they want to grow wheat, they can't. They can only tighten their belts and buy the merchant's steamed buns.

Understanding this, Li Fanyu felt angry.

"No wonder all the independent brands in this era have gone out of business, and the reason lies here!"

With this in mind, Li Fanyu couldn't help but shudder with fear; fortunately, the first car he made was a sports car! If he had clashed with these bastards, X-Power definitely wouldn't have achieved such success, and Zhengxin would have definitely died under their collective harassment and blockade.

His brows furrowed, he sat back in his chair, and began to ponder; given this situation, he definitely couldn't enter the A-class car market and directly confront these bastards.

Zhengxin was still far from forming an industrial scale, unable to gain a cost advantage. What do consumers value most when buying a commuter car? Price! If the cost of making A-class cars cannot be controlled, then it would be a rhythm of death.

So, the B-class car market, with its ample profit margins... is a very good entry point!

Picking up the market research report again, Li Fanyu looked at the list of B-class cars, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Honda, Toyota, Xuefulai, Buck, Oulian... Hmph, tremble and taste the power of this great car!"

...

In the afternoon, all department heads of Zhengxin received a notice for a company meeting. Even Pan Qiang and Sun Guoyi from the branch office, and Professor Anning from the laboratory, came.

The backbone of Zhengxin gathered in the small meeting room. It was the first time such a big scene had happened since the company's reorganization. Anyone with keen eyes could see that the boss was about to make a big move.

A group of people whispered excitedly in the meeting room, unable to contain their excitement, waiting for Li Fanyu to arrive.

After more than ten minutes, Li Fanyu walked in solemnly, holding a memo in his hand.

Everyone was stunned; it was the first time they had seen the boss so serious. Even when the company faced a public relations crisis and someone splashed paint, he greeted people with a smile as if nothing had happened.

So, involuntarily, they sat up straight, waiting for Li Fanyu to start speaking.

Li Fanyu hadn't yet emerged from that sense of indignation; it was a feeling akin to having one's own home covered by a giant glass dome, with a group of bullies standing outside, harvesting crops as if they were their own.

Without breaking this dome and driving away these bullies, he would feel stifled, unable to breathe.

Before this, whether it was founding the company or creating X-Power, it was all driven by his desire to change his fate and pursue his dream of making cars.

But now, he felt that it was necessary and his responsibility to do something at a higher level.

For the country? For the people? He felt he didn't have such lofty ideals.

Perhaps it was still his own standard playing tricks on him; some things could be indifferent, but some things must be adhered to.

That standard, called a bottom line, also called conscience.

Looking at all his staff in the room, he nodded and placed the memo on the table. He then pulled out a stack of materials from inside and handed them to Wang Meimei.

Wang Meimei understood and distributed the materials. Seeing everyone holding a sheet, he finally spoke.

"Today, I've gathered everyone here to outline a development plan for Zhengxin. When I founded Zhengxin, my idea was actually quite simple; I just wanted to make money to buy a house and get married in the future."

At this point, there was laughter in the meeting room.

Li Fanyu also smiled, "I'm telling the truth, that's what I thought at the time. But maybe it was a stroke of luck, or maybe even a blind cat can catch a dead mouse. Zhengxin has weathered many storms to get to where we are today, and we've achieved some scale.

Before, I always thought about making a little money and that would be enough. More money means more trouble. So, to be honest with you, when X-Power's presale was successful and I had over 500 million yuan in savings, I thought about retiring early and living a leisurely life."

Everyone nodded at his words, knowing it was the truth. Just having it sit in the bank, 500 million yuan would earn over 10 million yuan in interest annually. If you didn't squander it, it would be enough to last a lifetime.

"But yesterday, after seeing the market research Huang Qi did, which is the one you all have in your hands, I felt that if it was indeed a stroke of luck for Zhengxin to develop, there should be a reason for it. Take a look at it; suppressing us in the A-class car market, harvesting in the B-class car market, and C-class cars luxury cars, it's simply robbing us blind."

As everyone heard him say this, they quickly looked through the materials Li Fanyu had organized. Of course, some people understood them, while others were still in the dark.

But Anning understood at a glance, she looked up at Li Fanyu. Rarely, she showed a long-lost smile.

She had already roughly guessed what Li Fanyu was going to do.

Li Fanyu looked at Anning, smirked, then turned his gaze to the employees, "Since the establishment of Zhengxin, we haven't set any goals or plans.

But today, I have to draw a big picture for you all. Maybe this picture is too big, too difficult to turn into reality. But as long as everyone works hard towards this goal, I believe it's not an unreachable dream.

But when this goal becomes a reality, it will be of great significance to you, to me, and to the entire automotive industry in our country!"

Everyone's appetite had been whetted, and their emotions stirred by him.

"Li, tell us! As long as we work together, there's nothing we can't achieve!"

"Yes! Li, go ahead!"

Li Fanyu pressed his hands down and stood straight, "In order to give everyone a clear direction, I've broken down this goal into three parts.

The first step, which is what we're about to do, is to establish a new automotive brand. This brand will target the domestic market and launch household automotive products. This will be our short-term focus, and we'll discuss this later.

After the success of this brand, we need to build an industrial scale. Continuously expand to both ends of the market, continuously expand upstream and downstream in the industry, and make achievements in completely autonomous production and manufacturing.

After completing this step, we will challenge the domestic market. By that time, we should have the capital to compete head-on with some old or large-scale multinational car companies in the domestic market!

Let Zhengxin stand at the peak of the domestic automotive market!"

As he finished speaking, Li Fanyu's voice suddenly rose.

The entire meeting room echoed with his bold words, giving people a sense of awe. Accompanied by the echo, a scene seemed to appear before everyone's eyes.

In that scene, the streets were filled with cars produced by Zhengxin, and everyone driving them wore satisfied smiles.

Anning tilted her head slightly, her gaze somewhat distant.

Looking at Li Fanyu, who stood straight like a javelin, her heart accused her, "Isn't this your fantasy about men? Why didn't you seize it!?"