After finishing the advertising placement for "Transformers", Cao Yang and his team immediately flew back to Detroit.
There has been progress in cooperation with Ford Motor Company on its engine project.
"Cao, you also know that our Ford Motor Company has its own engine factory."
"If we purchase a certain number of engines directly from Nanshan Engine, it means that the corresponding factory will produce a certain amount less engines."
"The workers will never agree. These workers all belong to the UAW (United Auto Workers) and are very difficult to deal with."
"So we can only agree to purchase more engine parts from Nanshan Group and assemble them into engines at Ford's own engine factory."
Chris didn't beat around the bush and told Cao Yang his conclusion directly.
“Is the UAW so influential?”
"We just hope that Ford will purchase a certain number of engines from Nanshan Group."
Although Cao Yang could also understand what Chris said, he still understood, and he must fight for his own interests.
“Last year, the wages paid to employees at America’s three largest auto companies were 2.5 times the average wage of workers in other industries.”
"Most of it has been taken away by retired workers, resulting in one car company's current workers having to support the wages, benefits and pensions of three retired workers."
"Each Ford auto worker costs about $70 an hour to work."
"These are all the results of the UAW. If we don't want to face workers' strikes, we shouldn't challenge the UAW."
Chris was quite sincere this time.
He had told Cao Yang before that if the engine cost could be reduced, he could consider using Nanshan Group's engines.
But now the situation has changed, and he is somewhat embarrassed.
Of course, just a little bit.
"Of course, although there is no way to purchase the engine directly from Nanshan Group, there is no problem with the 8AT."
"Jaguar, Land Rover and Lincoln will all have at least one model launched next year equipped with Nanshan 8AT."
"Then for the 1.5T and 2.0T turbocharged engines produced by Ford, each of them will have at least US$800 in parts purchased from Nanshan Group."
"And other Ford's own engines will also consider using some Nanshan Group parts."
Chris saw Cao Yang frowning and immediately told him the other conditions.
This can be regarded as a certain degree of sincerity.
"Chris, I understand Ford's difficulties, but exporting engines has a different symbolic meaning for Nanshan Group."
"If Ford can ensure that it purchases 10,000 complete engines directly from Nanshan Group every year, then I can agree to all other conditions."
Cao Yang did not push the envelope, but made a symbolic request of 10,000 units.
For Ford, purchasing hundreds of thousands of engines from Nanshan every year will have a huge impact.
But if it is only 10,000 units, the impact on the engine factory will be negligible.
So he hesitated for a moment and said, "I personally agree, but it still needs to be discussed within the company."
In the next few days, Cao Yang spent time communicating with Ford about this matter, and finally the two parties signed an agreement.
Of course, Ford asked for a low profile and no publicity.
Cao Yang naturally understood the other party's difficulties.
After the matter on Ford's side came to a conclusion, there was also new news on General Motors' side.
It was as if Cao Yang's good luck had all come together.
"Austin, are you saying that General Motors wants to cooperate with Nanshan Group on the 1.0T turbocharged engine?"
Cao Yang was a little surprised. He didn't expect General Motors to choose 1.0T.
Normally, 1.5T and 2.0T are better choices.
"Yes, we are planning to use this engine on Chevrolet. If you agree to transfer technology, we can purchase no less than 500,000 1.0T engines from Nanshan Group in the first three years."
"In the future, we will also purchase a certain amount of engine parts from Nanshan Group appropriately."
Obviously, GM's plan is not exactly the same as Ford's.
But no matter which company it is, they don’t want to pay directly for technology.
Fortunately, GM's sincerity is quite sufficient.
500,000 engines are enough for Nanshan Group to make a lot of money.
"Austin, are Cadillac ready to use our 8AT?"
Cao Yang did not directly answer Austin's words, but changed the topic.
But everyone is smart, so Austin naturally understands what Cao Yang means.
"As long as there are no problems with the 8AT test, Cadillac will gradually promote the use of 8AT gearboxes next year."
"Except for a few entry-level models that use 6AT, all other models will use 8AT in the future."
So far, only the 8AT model of Nanshan transmission has been mass-produced in the world.
And it has been installed in actual vehicles on Ziweixing.
Therefore, General Motors will definitely give priority to Nanshan transmission products at the beginning.
However, there is also a hidden message in Austin's words, that is, Cadillac will fully promote 8AT, but it did not say that it will all use 8AT with Nanshan transmission.
But Cao Yang didn't bother with this.
After all, it is unrealistic to expect General Motors to only purchase 8AT from Nanshan Transmission.
They themselves also have gearbox R&D and production capabilities.
"Austin, in addition to the 1.0T, our other Nanshan engine products are also good."
Anyway, we have already opened the door for cooperation, so the more projects we can cooperate with, the better.
However, this time General Motors is more determined and only wants 1.0T.
After chatting with Austin for a while without any results, Cao Yang didn't say anything more.
After all, he could steal the Hornet's advertising placement from General Motors.
Now GM might not mind that much.
If "Transformers" becomes popular in the future, it's hard to say.
Of course, as a local giant in the United States, they do not only have "Transformers" as their only choice.
If you want to embed car advertising, it can be said that there are many opportunities.
After leaving GM, Cao Yang and his team were ready to fly to Europe.
However, Zeng Tingting mentioned it to Cao Yang and said, "Mr. Cao, Ford started to fall into a loss situation last year, and the situation in the first quarter of this year is not ideal either."
"Didn't someone inside think that the Star 2 is a bit like a Land Rover Range Rover?"
"Should we ask Ford to see if they are interested in selling Land Rover?"
Xingchen Auto's positioning is to take a high-end route, and its sales volume will certainly not be particularly exaggerated in a short period of time.
So Zeng Tingting has always wanted to buy a car brand.
A car like Land Rover is a good target.
"Ford Motors Europe barely made a profit last year, and they probably won't be willing to sell."
"It's not impossible to mention it to them. When we really want to sell it in the future, they should think of us."
Cao Yang is very interested in Jaguar Land Rover.
But it won't happen until 2008.
It’s not a bad thing to get in touch now.
However, after his request reached Ford, CEO Jacques Nasser was a little moved.
"Chris, tell that Chinese guy that if they are willing to pay $3 billion, we can sell him Land Rover."
At this time, Ford Motors was obviously not at the end of its rope.
The original purchase of Land Rover from BMW cost more than 2 billion US dollars.
Now I actually want to make some money.
However, Cao Yang would definitely not buy it at this price.
In the end, neither party particularly cared.
After all, one does not sincerely want to sell, and the other does not sincerely want to buy.
Everyone is just testing each other.
…
Weibo has been developing in China for almost two months and has completely consolidated its advantages.
For websites with social attributes like this, a user will often only stay active on one platform for a long time.
In this case, first-mover advantage is crucial.
When the news spread that Nanshan Film and Television invested US$3.5 million in the "Transformers" crew, it immediately made the headlines on Weibo.
Popular celebrities have contacted Nanshan Film and Television for several days in a row, saying that they are willing to cooperate with them.
Because in the eyes of many people, Nanshan Film and Television has invested so much money and will definitely be able to get some roles.
Many people even shared information about Changing Hearts on Weibo, which attracted many celebrities to repost it.
It can be said that for a week in a row, there are at least one or two articles related to this topic among the popular news on Weibo.
"Mr. Zhang, I think the time is almost here."
"It can be announced that Nanshan Film and Television invested US$3.5 million to acquire the role of Bumblebee, the Autobot."
"Ziweixing from Star Automobile will appear in "Transformers" as Bumblebee's Autobot."
As the CEO of Weibo, Fang Sisi naturally knows when to release news to achieve the best results.
If the real news is released from the beginning, it may be on the hot search, but the popularity is probably just that.
The hype has been going on for a week now, which has mobilized the enthusiasm of many celebrities.
Fans of celebrities from all walks of life are discussing on Weibo which role their star is more suitable for.
So I tell you at this time that the role was snatched away by Ziweixing of Xingchen Automobile. Everyone's reaction will definitely be wonderful.
"Mr. Fang, I have already produced the content."
"I will arrange for someone to post it on the official Weibo later."
"We have also prepared the copywriting for the next few days."
"We have even prepared several pictures of Ziweixing after its transformation."
"It should be able to make headlines for several days in a row."
Zhang Songwen is as reliable as ever in his work.
When Cao Yang told him that Ziweixing was implanted in "Transformers", he had already started thinking about publicity.
Now that he has worked with Weibo to hype up the topic, he knows what to do.
What's more, Nanshan Film and Television's official Weibo officially released the information that Xingchen Motors Ziweixing had won the role of "Transformers".
At the same time, they also stated that they will continue to cooperate with various film and television companies and crews at home and abroad in the future to invest in more movies and TV series.
Just ten minutes after it was posted on Weibo, it became a hot search topic.
#Shock! A group of celebrities can't even grab a car#
#南山影视 squandered 28 million, just to buy a role#
#子微星 begins to go international and enters Hollywood#
#28 million is wasted, Nanshan Film and Television is so generous#
#星星车有什么意思, spending 28 million yuan on advertising#
Among the top ten popular news on Weibo, one-third are topics related to Nanshan Film and Television or Ziweixing.
It became popular that day.
"Old Zeng, Xingchen Automobile really spares no effort to improve its brand power."
"It seems that when we launch new models, we must also make our brand power as high as possible."
"Even if there is no way to compare with Toyota and Honda, at least it cannot be much worse than Korean car companies such as Hyundai and Kia."
Zhang Jiaqi is now very concerned about the development of Yangcheng Automobile Group's own brand models.
No matter how well a joint venture develops, it is just a tool for making money.
But independent brands are different.
That's a political achievement.
"Mr. Zhang, our new cars use a large number of parts from Nanshan Group. I think we can do something about it."
"Even cars like Xingchen Motors, which cost RMB 800,000 to 900,000 yuan, use parts from Nanshan engines and Nanshan gearboxes, and we are also using each other's parts."
"This also means that there is no problem with the quality of our new cars."
"Using the reputation of Xingchen Motors or other automobile giants such as Ford and General Motors to promote our new models may have unexpected effects."
Zeng Guangda's thinking is also very open.
From this simple news, he found some content that was beneficial to Yangcheng Automobile Group.
"This is a good idea. Xingchen Motors will continue to improve its brand power by taking advantage of Porsche's popularity."
"At that time, we can also take advantage of the popularity of Xingchen Motors and other car companies to improve our brand power."
It can be said that Zhang Jiaqi is becoming more and more confident in Yangcheng Motor's independent brand.
However, if Cao Yang heard these words, he would probably be depressed.
Fortunately, the other party has now arrived in Germany, and obviously does not know some things in the country.
"Mr. Cao, we are currently cooperating with dealers across Europe and have not yet opened our own 4S store."
"However, judging from the current feedback from dealers, there are still some people here who are interested in Ziweixing."
"I think it is necessary to speed up the progress of the F1 and WRC events mentioned earlier."
"Relatively speaking, Europe has a very high level of attention to the models that have won the championship."
“Consumers here still care very much about the performance of the car when buying a car.”
Zeng Tingting was also very busy during this period.
Don’t think that going on a business trip abroad with your boss is like a vacation.
In fact, it is much more tiring than working in the company.
She had to discuss Cao Yang's daily schedule with Mi Ying in advance.
And some of the work of the sales department cannot be completely left alone.
She is also responsible for much of the preparation and liaison work for Ziweixing's overseas listing with local offices or dealers.
As a result, she has gained two pounds during this time.
(End of chapter)
