March 12, 2006.
When the domestic Internet market was in a commotion due to the rise of Weibo, and several portals began to launch their own Weibo, Cao Yang flew to the United States with Ji Hua, Zeng Tingting, Mi Ying and others.
This business trip is not just for a few days.
Ziweixing will also be launched in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
Cao Yang, the general manager who also serves as the design director, will definitely want to take a look.
So after a long round, the business trip plan was directly scheduled to a month later.
"Chris, long time no see."
Cao Yang first came to Ford Motor to find Chris, the purchasing director.
Although Ford's situation is stronger than that of General Motors, it also lost hundreds of millions of dollars.
It stands to reason that Changan Ford is quite profitable, and its financial business is also very good.
In this case, the entire company suffered a loss. It can only be said that the American market is not strong.
"Cao, you bring me good luck every time I see you. Is there any good news this time?"
Chris looked slightly haggard.
Ford at this time is slightly better than in history. This is all the additional influence brought by Nanshan Group.
But it’s only a little better, and what should be a loss is still a loss.
As the purchasing director, Chris is obviously still under a lot of pressure.
"I heard that Toyota, Honda and Nissan are performing extremely well in the American market and have achieved positive sales growth for several consecutive years."
"They can have such a growth rate, and one of the big reasons is that their engines are more fuel-efficient."
"However, the various performances of the 1.5T turbocharged engine produced by our Nanshan Engine are more fuel-efficient than their products of the same level."
"Chris, if Ford considers directly using Nanshan's 1.5T engine + 6AT combination in some models, it may be able to achieve unexpected results."
"For example, Mondeo, with this combination, its fuel consumption will definitely not be worse than Accord and Camry."
Ford has its own engine factory, so it will naturally not use Nanshan Engine products easily.
Cao Yang also has a very clear understanding of this.
However, after falling into a desperate situation, who knows whether people will make any different choices?
If Nanshan Engine can really supply Ford Motor, the significance would be extraordinary.
This will also be of great benefit to promote Nanshan Engine's further market expansion in China.
"The 2.0L engine and 2.5L V6 engine used by Mondeo are also very classic, but many consumers don't know the difference."
It's not a slap in the face. Cao Yang directly said that Ford's engine was not good. Chris's face must have been ugly.
"Ford's advantage in large-displacement engines is definitely not comparable to that of Japanese car companies."
"But in terms of mid-size cars and economy cars that currently have the largest sales, Japan's 1.5L, 2.0L, 2.4L and even 3.0L and 3.5L engines all have better fuel consumption than American domestic companies."
"This is also an important reason why American consumers choose them."
"Chris, why don't you consider choosing Mondeo as a pilot model and see what the market response will be after it is equipped with Nanshan 1.5T and 2.0T engines?"
"I'm not bragging. The performance parameters of our 1.5T engine exceed that of your 2.0L engine, and are not even much different from your 2.5L engine."
"And the performance of the 2.0T engine is far from comparable to your 2.5L naturally aspirated engine."
"American consumers like powerful vehicles, but they also care about fuel consumption."
"The combination provided by our Nanshan Group can perfectly meet the market demand."
"And this platform is in mass production. We only need to make some simple adjustments to the corresponding mounting bracket light parts on the Mondeo, and it can be directly mass-produced."
"Your company can definitely launch a new power version of the facelifted Mondeo in the second half of this year."
The more Cao Yang talked about it, the more excited he became, as if Mondeo would immediately sell well after using Nanshan's engine.
This made Chris start to feel excited.
Of course, replacing the engine is definitely not something he, the purchasing director, has the final say on.
But as an unconventional cost reduction plan, it can obviously be thrown out in the company.
"Cao, can your 1.5T and 2.0T engines be 20% cheaper than our 2.0L and 2.5L engines?"
"If possible, I will formally propose this plan within the company tomorrow."
Chris looked at Cao Yang with twinkling eyes, wanting to know the answer immediately.
"It depends on how much your engine costs."
"I can't guarantee 20%, but there is definitely an advantage of 10%."
"In fact, if your company can purchase more engine parts from Nanshan Auto Parts, the cost can be reduced by at least 5% even without replacing the engine."
For Ford, the biggest pressure now is high costs and poor sales.
As the purchasing director, it makes the most sense to discuss costs with Chris.
Nanshan Group's key products exported to Ford Motor Company have always been gearboxes and parts such as bearings, gears and bolts used in gearboxes.
Apart from the nut plate and bearings, there are very few other parts.
It’s not that Nanshan Group’s other parts are not competitive, it’s that Ford doesn’t want Nanshan Group’s purchasing share to be as high.
But now Ford has fallen into losses.
Some things can naturally be changed.
What’s wrong with purchasing more parts from Nanshan Group?
As long as the price is advantageous, no one can say anything.
The parts provided by suppliers in the United States are simply too expensive.
Chris is also very aware of this.
"Our 2.0L engine, if it does not include engine accessories such as starter, generator, air conditioning compressor, etc., and is just a bare engine, it will cost about US$3,000."
"If other engine accessories are included, the cost of the entire engine system will be about more than 4,000 US dollars."
"Cao, this is the secret of our Ford Motor Company. You cannot leak it to the outside world."
"If the bare 1.5T engine provided by your group can cost US$2,400, then I am 70% sure to convince the company to launch a 1.5T version on the Mondeo model."
"If your cost can be $2,100, then I have a 90% chance of doing this."
Chris really didn't understand the situation of Nanshan engine before.
Ford's engines have always been relatively good, especially in various large-displacement engines.
Therefore, I have never considered purchasing engines from outside before.
But things have changed now.
"Chris, to be honest, the most important thing for Nanshan Engine is the opportunity to supply Ford Motor Company. Making money or not is not the most important thing."
"So as long as the annual supply of 1.5T engines reaches 100,000 units, I can now agree to a price of US$2,400."
"If Ford buys more than 200,000 1.5T engines, then I will directly adjust the selling price to US$2,100."
Cao Yang quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
The price Chris mentioned is higher than what Nanshan engines sell to domestic OEMs.
Even if it is US$2,100, it is actually higher than in China.
Although various impacts such as import and export duties, freight, and insurance must be taken into account, the calculation is still profitable.
Even this profit is not low.
So without any hesitation, he agreed.
Of course, in order to show his hard-working attitude and express his pressure, he put forward a sales threshold.
Chris didn't have any trouble with this.
A dead camel is bigger than a horse.
Ford sold almost 7 million vehicles last year.
There is no pressure at all to free up 200,000 vehicles.
Anyway, within Ford cars, engines on the same platform as Mondeo can be easily replaced.
"Cao, I heard that Nanshan Group established a car company and launched a coupe, which attracted some attention."
"I heard before that you wanted to use some of Ford's dealer channels to sell this model."
"If I can help you succeed in this project, then can your 1.5T engine be like the 6AT and have in-depth cooperation with our Ford Motor Company?"
Chris has quite an appetite.
The cooperation was immediately advanced to the transfer of engine technology.
Cao Yang had never considered this before.
So he didn't answer immediately, but quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
After Ford possesses the 1.5T engine technology, it will definitely not be sold to outsiders. This is something he is confident about.
In other words, authorizing Ford to use Nanshan's engine's 1.5T or even 2.0T technology will not have much impact on Nanshan's domestic engine sales.
In the international market, except for Ford Motor Co., which has very close cooperation and a relationship of trust between the two parties, other manufacturers will most likely not have such close cooperation with Nanshan Engine.
Even General Motors is struggling.
In this case, it would not be impossible if, like the 6AT, we could sell a certain number of complete engines and a large number of engine parts every year, right?
Anyway, as long as it can make money and enhance the reputation of Nanshan Group, this can be done.
"Chris, regarding this cooperation, I actually have another plan that I want to communicate with you."
Cao Yang did not directly answer Chris's question.
Give him a try first, maybe there will be better conditions by then.
Besides, I still have some cards to play.
How could the negotiation end like this?
"What plan?"
Chris looked at Cao Yang curiously.
"A large part of the reason for Ford's current predicament is the impact of the rapid development of Japanese car companies in the United States."
"The market is relatively fixed. If more of the cake is taken away by others, less will be left for Ford."
"Including General Motors' plight, this is also the reason to a certain extent."
"So if we can find some ways to suppress the brand image of Japanese car companies in the United States, it can affect their sales to a certain extent."
When Cao Yang said this, Chris immediately became interested.
Cao Yang took the initiative to provide some information and suggestions to Ford Motor behind Toyota Motor's "brake door" and "antitrust investigation."
This scene now felt a bit familiar to him.
"Cao, have you caught the Japanese car company again?"
"Tell me quickly, which car company is the problem?"
Chris said impatiently.
"Chris, the information I got may not be 100% accurate, but it is certainly not groundless."
"How to use it depends on Ford Motor Company's methods."
Before officially throwing out his trump card, Cao Yang first cleared away his responsibilities.
Anyway, he always comes up with ideas for this kind of thing behind his back.
It's up to Ford Motor Company to charge into battle.
"You talk about it first, and then I will decide how to handle this matter."
"We have already cooperated with General Motors and DaimlerChrysler Automobiles before. If it is suitable to adopt a similar approach this time, there should be no big problem."
Although Chris is only the person in charge of the purchasing center, he is also very familiar with the sales director.
When it comes to dealing with Japanese car companies, everyone has the same goal.
"According to the information I heard, many parts companies in Japan have data fraud or parts defects."
"For example, some of Kobe Steel's aluminum and copper parts have tampered with quality data in order to pass relevant verifications."
"The Dawn of Brake Discs also has some data falsification issues."
"You can buy a few Mitsubishi cars on the market and test their fuel consumption. There may be fraud."
"In addition, I heard that there have been cases of Toyota or Honda models using Takata airbags on the American market, resulting in the death of the driver in a car accident. I think the reasons for this can be investigated carefully."
"Takata is the largest airbag parts company in Japan and is used by many car companies around the world."
"If we can grasp their problem points, it should still have a certain impact on the reputation of Japanese car companies."
"In addition, I heard that in some Toyota models, the fuel tank cannot supply fuel under certain circumstances, causing the engine to stall. I think you can also arrange for professional technicians to investigate."
"At that time, we can coordinate some media or judicial agencies to participate, which is enough to make Japanese companies such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan drink a pot."
Following Cao Yang's words, Chris felt a little chilly in his heart.
I'd better not offend the Nanshan Group easily in the future. No one knows whether the other party has a whip from me or Ford Motor Company.
If the same method were used to deal with him then, he would probably become a scapegoat.
"Cao, don't worry!"
"I will immediately coordinate resources within the company to advance these clues."
"However, these estimates cannot fundamentally change the market share of Japanese companies. Ford still needs to improve its competitiveness. This is fundamental."
"Do you think we can discuss the engine technology transfer I just mentioned?"
Chris was quite sober.
All kinds of conspiracies and tricks can be used, but in the end you still have to be strong.
(End of chapter)
