Ziweixing cannot make big money.
Cao Yang knew this well.
Although the prices of 799,900 and 899,900 are not low, the sales volume is limited. If various early development fees and equipment amortization are included, the profit is not particularly high.
So Xingchen No. 2 and Xingchen No. 3 are very important.
In particular, Xingchen 2 is responsible for the important task of helping to amortize R&D costs, factory equipment expenses, etc.
The most important thing is that it is also responsible for increasing sales.
As long as Xingchen 2 is successfully launched on the market and Xingchen Auto's annual sales can reach the level of 100,000 units, there is no need to worry about not making money.
Even at that time, Xingchen Motors' profit from 100,000 vehicles was more than that from other independent brands' 1 million vehicles.
This is entirely possible.
This is evident by looking at how prosperous the lives of later generations of Porsches were.
To a certain extent, Xingchen Motors must first make itself better than Porsche.
"Mr. Cao, so far, the development of Xingchen 2 is quite satisfactory, mainly because there are still some areas that need to be worked on in terms of the four-wheel drive system."
"In addition, as for the chassis, since it is 5.2 meters in length, there is no experience in this area in China. We are still verifying whether the designed parts can meet the technical requirements."
"Other parts are basically being developed as planned."
“Even for the relatively difficult integrated hot stamping door ring, the drawing design and soft mold production have been completed.”
"Prototype production will officially roll off the production line in two months. If there are no problems with the test by then, we can start preparing permanent molds."
"There should be no problem in launching Star 2 in the first half of next year."
Yao Yongxiang must have reported the good news first.
Sure enough, after he said this, he said bravely: "But as for the Star III, because it is a sports car, it also uses a hybrid system unprecedentedly, and some parts such as rearview mirrors and spoilers are made of carbon fiber. .”
"So we still have some challenges to overcome in that regard."
"Of course, there are also some development issues involving the motors used in hybrid systems, and the drawing specifications have not been finalized yet."
"In addition, the number of chips used on Xingchen 3 is larger than that of the previous two models."
"Especially the IGBT and other chips on the power control unit still need to be imported."
"According to the current development progress, it may be difficult for Xingchen 3 to be launched in the second half of next year."
"Of course, we are also doing our best to fully cooperate with various universities."
"For example, for hybrid battery research, we hired a professor from a university to take charge of it."
"We have also recruited dozens of technical personnel from Japan to fill the R&D team. Currently, the number of battery R&D personnel has exceeded 200."
Yao Yongxiang explained while watching Cao Yang's reaction.
What was being reported now was all bad news, and he was worried that Cao Yang would be furious.
"You can coordinate your time with Mi Ying later. I will spend at least one full day every week working with you to tackle technical bottlenecks."
"Xingchen No. 2 will be launched in the first half of next year, and Xingchen No. 3 will be launched in the second half of next year. This time cannot be delayed later."
Then came the financial crisis. At that time, everyone’s attention was no longer on the car models.
So Cao Yang wanted to launch three models before the financial crisis.
Of course, the main problem is the technical bottlenecks mentioned by Yongxiang, which he is confident of solving.
"It would be best if Mr. Cao could participate in the development of parts together."
“Currently, the development team still has a lot of disputes about batteries, motors and electronic controls.”
"Even though Mr. Cao mentioned some related technical directions to everyone before, there are still different voices within the team."
"It's also difficult for me to immediately judge which sound represents the future."
For the research and development of a new technology part, not knowing the right direction is the most confusing thing.
If you are in the wrong direction, no matter how hard you try, it will be useless.
People who engage in R&D know this very well.
But after all, not everyone has Cao Yang's vision and can clearly grasp the future.
"I will take half a day tomorrow morning to take a look at the development of batteries and motors."
"The other parts will be dealt with later depending on the schedule."
Battery and motor issues must be taken seriously.
This is also one of the core competitiveness of Nanshan Group in the future.
Although hybrid batteries are power batteries, they are quite different from those used in pure electric vehicles.
But the battery production process is not essentially different.
The development process is also the same.
It’s just that the formula is different and the testing conditions are different.
Similarly, as one of the three electrical components, the motor is naturally worth the effort.
It is not difficult to achieve results in this area.
In later generations, China had a large number of motor manufacturers in China, and they were all doing quite well.
Cao Yang then went on to learn about the approximate research and development progress in various fields with Rao Yongxiang, and it was time for lunch.
In the afternoon, I naturally listened to the report of the Finance Department step by step to understand Ziweixing's domestic sales, and then went to the site to see the research and development of Nanshan Equipment's laser cutting equipment.
Finally, there is the report on Nanshan Special Steel, which is low-key but very profitable.
"Mr. Cao, although the domestic steel market is still relatively sluggish and the production and sales situation is a bit unbalanced, in the field of high-end special steel, there is always no need to worry about no one buying the product."
"We now plan to expand our production capacity from 300,000 tons to 500,000 tons, so we don't have to worry about overcapacity at all."
"Even if the current factory building does not have limited space for expansion, I think there is no problem in directly launching a 1 million-ton special steel deep processing project."
"For example, the domestic demand for mold steel is growing rapidly. Except for our Nanshan Special Steel, which can produce high-end mold steel, other manufacturers either have poor quality or the cost is too high."
"In addition, the demand for spring steel, bearing steel, gear steel and other products is also increasing."
"So I plan to start the bidding process immediately after passing the company's approval this week, complete the capacity expansion work as quickly as possible, and strive to achieve production expansion early next year."
Xie Lingyun can be said to be in high spirits now.
At the beginning, he was the deputy chief engineer of Shaogang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. Although his rank was not low, he actually had no say in the company.
But now as the general manager of Nanshan Special Steel, except for Cao Yang and Rao Yongxiang who occasionally take care of him, he almost has the final say himself at other times.
Not to mention the employees of Nanshan Special Steel who respect him very much, even the former leaders and colleagues of Shaogang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. now look a little flattered when they see him.
Especially after the news spread that Nanshan Special Steel was going to expand its production area, the director of Shaogang Steel took the initiative to make appointments with him several times.
Without him, the only thing is to consume more crude steel.
Otherwise, the crude steel produced cannot be sold, and Shaogang will be under great pressure.
"Since there is a large demand for special steel in our group and in the market, let's expand production."
Cao Yang had actually seen the specific plan for expanding production areas in an email before.
A major event like this cannot be ended with just such a report.
This is all a blessing from doing a lot of work beforehand.
Cao Yang is naturally very clear about the importance of special steel.
Nanshan Group is developing so fast now, and it needs to consume a lot of special steel.
Although Cao Yang had previously considered the overall overcapacity of steel production, he did not want to compete with domestic manufacturers such as Baosteel to compete for the market.
But now Baosteel cannot meet the demand for high-end special steel. Rather than letting Japanese and European steel mills make money, it is better for Nanshan Special Steel to make money.
"Okay, then I will contact the purchasing department immediately and inform them to start the equipment bidding process."
"Since most of the equipment has been purchased before, the work should be completed relatively quickly this time."
"By the way, Mr. Cao, Nanshan Special Steel received several batches of special guests last month, and even customized a batch of special steel with us. Look at this, we..."
Xie Lingyun naturally knew the identities of those special guests, but before Cao Yang was overseas, he did not dare to report these things casually over the phone.
After all, the other party gave some instructions at the beginning.
Now that Cao Yang has returned to China, Xie Lingyun naturally wants to give a good report.
"As long as there is no problem in confirming the identity, we will try our best to cooperate with them if they have any needs."
Cao Yang gave his answer without much entanglement.
Although it is not the time to enter special fields on a large scale, there is some appropriate intersection, which is not a bad thing.
Whether it's flying in the sky, running on the ground, or swimming in the sea, some special steel is used.
The level of Nanshan Special Steel is among the best in the country.
Except for some special-purpose steels that are not designed, no one dares to say that Nanshan Special Steel is the first among traditional high-end special steels.
Cao Yang chatted with Rao Yongxiang for almost an hour, and finally ended the day's work.
At this time, I had time to stretch myself and prepare to have dinner with Fang Sisi.
Weibo has a headquarters in Yangcheng and Imperial Capital, which is a bit strange in implementing a dual-headquarters model.
Of course, as long as Cao Yang is in Yangcheng, Fang Sisi is also in Yangcheng most of the time.
So to a certain extent, Yangcheng is the real headquarters.
Most of the R&D personnel are also here in Yangcheng.
The Imperial Capital side is mainly composed of public relations and review personnel, as well as some technical support personnel.
Although Weibo was launched less than half a year ago, the trend is already there.
Several other portals have also launched their own Weibo one after another, but the combined number of registered users is not as large as Weibo.
It has to be said that sometimes the first-mover advantage is still very important.
Especially when the first-mover advantage is in Cao Yang's hands, it will be even more difficult for others to catch up.
From the beginning, Cao Yang contacted a group of celebrities through Zhang Songwen to join the platform, and quickly accumulated a group of users.
At the same time, as a large number of people from the automotive industry were mobilized to join Weibo, it also attracted millions of high-quality users in disguise.
Then, Fang Sisi used her special resources to quickly promote many organizations to open official Weibo on Weibo.
This further led to many people within the system starting to register on Weibo, causing the number of users to explode once again.
After these major actions were completed, other companies’ Weibos were launched one after another.
Obviously, this time, the daylilies were cold.
The moat of Weibo has been initially built.
Next, due to various actions of Nanshan Film and Television, people in the entertainment industry became more active in extending an olive branch.
Even if other platforms attract some celebrities, the effect is greatly reduced.
As for people in the automobile industry, they are even less likely to register for several Weibo accounts.
Try to think about it, if there are several software similar to QQ, how many people will log in to several of them at the same time every day?
The winner takes all, and it doesn't take long for the winner to be determined.
"Mr. Fang, you entrepreneurial goddess, have you descended to earth today?"
In the box beside Banjiang River, Cao Yang met Fang Sisi, who had just returned from the imperial capital today.
This little farewell is better than a wedding. If it hadn't been in the box, there would have been a three-hundred-round fight.
"If you don't come back now, the goddess will become an immortal."
Fang Sisi rolled her eyes at Cao Yang who came forward to hug her. She obviously had some objections to Cao Yang's long business trip this time.
Fortunately, both of them have their own careers, and after a while of bickering, everything became the same.
"Now many venture capital institutions want to invest in Weibo. Following the direction discussed with you before, I am initially planning to take out 20% of the shares and introduce two venture capital institutions."
"What do you think should be a better choice?"
Fang Sisi is now focused on Weibo and feels full of accomplishment.
Now I naturally hope that Weibo can reach a higher level and completely gain a firm foothold.
"It's actually very simple. Our Weibo is developing much faster than ordinary Internet startups."
“So there won’t be angel rounds, Series A, Series B, Series C, etc. like other companies.”
"Now that Weibo's development is on the right track, the next step we need to consider is which investment institution can make it easier for us to go public."
Cao Yang pointedly pointed out the fundamental purpose of financing.
With the support of Nanshan Group, there is no problem for Weibo without raising a penny.
Advertising fees have now grown steadily, and there is even hope of making a profit this month.
In this case, the natural way to raise funds is to go public.
Nanshan Group, Cao Yang will definitely not be listed.
Even the various entities under the Nanshan Group have no plans to go public.
But Internet companies like Weibo are different. If you don't go public, you have no way to make money, and there is no way to compete with other listed companies in burning money.
After all, other people's money comes from the financial market, and your money is earned penny by penny.
When using money, your mentality is naturally different.
"Going public?"
Fang Sisi was stunned for a moment.
Weibo will be listed in the future. Fang Sisi has long thought about this goal.
But when she started thinking about going public so early, she really didn't react.
"Yes, the financial market has become hot this year. If you look at Nanshan Investment's returns on the stock market, you will know how hot the financial market is."
"So the best thing for Weibo is to quickly advance the listing process this year and be fully listed before the end of the year."
As soon as Cao Yang said these words, Fang Sisi was stunned again.
Weibo was only established this year, will it go public this year?
Is this too exaggerated?
Although she has spent time abroad, she knows that Nasdaq has much looser requirements for companies to list than A-shares.
But is it too exaggerated to put Weibo on the market within this year?
"It's already the end of April. Is it too late to go public this year?"
This question is definitely not something Fang Sisi would have.
By then, many people inside Weibo will have it.
“As long as the venture capital institutions choose well and the listing sponsors are strong, there will be no problem in listing the company within this year.”
"As the major shareholder, we have no way to conduct stock transactions immediately after listing."
“So even if it goes public at the end of this year, it will have to wait until the end of next year to start trading.”
"Who knows if financial markets can stay that hot?"
Cao Yang had no way to tell Fang Sisi about the financial crisis in 2008.
So either we don’t go public now, or if we want to go public, we do it as soon as possible this year.
Otherwise, when the financial crisis comes, watching the value of the stocks in your hands drop by one zero, your heart will surely bleed.
"If you go by what you said, then Sequoia and IDG are the most suitable. They are both familiar with the Nasdaq situation and are considered landlords."
"We give up 20% of our shares, which is considered as money to buy the road."
Fang Sisi combined Cao Yang's opinions and quickly made his own judgment.
Some money you have to earn for others.
If you go it alone, it won't be that easy to make money on Nasdaq.
Thinking that if the wool comes from the sheep, it will ultimately be the money of American stock investors, Fang Sisi quickly thought about it.
"No problem, just do as you say."
"When signing the agreement, let's talk about our thoughts on going public."
"I believe they are definitely very willing to quickly promote Weibo, a dark horse in the Internet industry this year, to the market."
"It's definitely a win-win."
Cao Yang knows the urinal nature of those financial institutions too well.
As long as you can make a lot of money, anything is possible.
Besides, if you can make a lot of money and still have some gimmicks to do, your motivation will naturally be higher.
"Now their valuation of Weibo is around US$300 million. If they give up 20% of the shares, they can raise US$60 million."
"We can burn all the $60 million before going public and increase user data exponentially."
I don’t know when the financing in China’s Internet industry started to be valued and financed in US dollars.
Fang Sisi couldn't do anything new.
"Yes, on the one hand, we will expand the strength of technical personnel and security reviewers, and on the other hand, we will increase the promotion of new users."
"In addition, the Asian version of Weibo can also be considered for launch next month."
"Even a European or American version could be launched."
"This should also be a good story for listing."
In fact, Cao Yang does not particularly expect Weibo to have particularly good long-term performance in the United States or Europe.
But it has just begun, and competitors have not yet been officially born.
Relying on the first-mover advantage to attract a wave of users, help Weibo go public smoothly, and the stock price rise, there is no problem.
When other competitors grow up, it will be a year or two later.
By then, it was the time of the financial crisis, and I must have cashed out part of it.
Just wait until the bottom hits and repurchase again.
From this coming and going, it is estimated that the money earned by Nanshan Investment is enough to invest in a large number of companies.
"If this is the case, then a large number of technical personnel will be needed, and labor costs will also increase a lot."
Although there is no way to compare the current salary level of programmers with that of more than ten years ago.
But compared to other industries, it is not low.
It's no wonder that Fang Sisi has this concern.
“It doesn’t matter, technicians are an asset too.”
"At that time, even if Weibo does not need so many people, it can be given to Autohome or Nanshan Group."
"We can eat as many animals as programmers out there."
Cao Yang's confident look made Fang Sisi breathe a sigh of relief.
"Weibo can consider going public this year as soon as it is established, so can Autohome also arrange to go public?"
Although Fang Sisi is not responsible for Autohome, it can be regarded as the earliest Internet company invested by Nanshan Group.
And by now, Autohome should be firmly ranked first in the automotive media category and has also achieved profitability.
In this case, it stands to reason that the conditions for listing are fully met.
That's why Fang Sisi mentioned it like this.
"The situation of Autohome is a bit different from that of Weibo."
"Compared with Weibo's platform, Autohome is still relatively niche. The main thing is to do well in China's domestic market."
"China's automobile industry will definitely develop rapidly in the next few years, and the number of Autohome users will continue to increase."
"So it doesn't matter if we consider going public after a few years."
"Anyway, they have now achieved profitability and do not need to rely on listing financing to obtain funds."
Cao Yang didn't want Autohome to have so many external shareholders. This business could develop without the cooperation of other investment institutions.
It’s not like Weibo, it’s more sensitive.
If you Nanshan Group wants to live alone, that will definitely not work.
And it is not good for leaving China.
Going public must be useful to the development of the company.
Obviously, Cao Yang doesn't think there are any benefits to Autohome going public now.
"That's true. The route taken by Autohome is a little different from Weibo."
"And it is estimated that it will be difficult to enter overseas markets."
After listening to Cao Yang's words, Fang Sisi quickly understood.
"Then let Weibo become the first listed company under Nanshan Group."
"When the time comes, we will also use investors' money to burn it and let other competitors completely eat ashes."
(End of chapter)
