Kyushu Auto, it’s another new day.
Early in the morning, the aroma of food wafted through the Jiuzhou Auto Canteen.
While Xu Yifan was still having breakfast, a beautiful girl in professional attire found this place based on the location mentioned on the phone.
Lin Wanxia: "Mr. Xu, I have an appointment for you!"
After finishing the bun in his hand, Xu Yifan asked curiously: "Well, who is it, looking for it in such a hurry so early in the morning?"
Nowadays, the several presidents of the Jiuzhou Automobile Factory are handling all matters very well. If ordinary people come here, they will not find them.
If Lin Wanxia can find him in a hurry, the identity of the other party must be extraordinary.
Lin Wanxia replied: "The other party is Matthias Miller, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, and he would like to arrange a meeting with you in two days at the Jiuzhou Automobile Plant."
Xu Yifan thought thoughtfully: "No wonder, it's the Volkswagen Group. This is a big guy, and it's also the CEO who is responsible for the global business of this car company."
Volkswagen, the name of the automobile group, can be said to be well-known in China.
Its brands include Skoda, Bentley, Audi, Porsche, Seat, MAN, Bugatti, Volkswagen, Lamborghini, and motorcycle brand Ducati.
Since the 1990s, China has introduced cars from this car company. Santana, Audi, Jetta and other models have become synonymous with good cars in many people's minds. The price of the car is 100,000, and the VW logo is worth 20,000. kind!
It can be said to be the big brother among joint venture brands in the current domestic market.
Xu Yifan asked again: "So, what is the purpose of the other party's coming?"
Based on the information communicated before, Lin Wanxia replied: "I want to reach some technical cooperation with Kyushu Automobile. Well, and if possible, the other party wants to acquire Kyushu Automobile!"
Xu Yifan smiled: "Acquisition?! Haha, it's impossible to sell Kyushu Auto, but it might be good to meet."
Although it is said that peers are enemies, if Kyushu Automobile wants to sell good products, it is impossible not to have intersection with such a large car company.
Lin Wanxia nodded seriously: "Okay, I will send a message back to the other party later. If the time is arranged, Mr. Xu, can you think of nine o'clock in the morning?"
Xu Yifan, "As long as the itinerary is during working hours, we can discuss it with the other party. By the way, have you had breakfast?"
Lin Wanxia shook her head: "Not yet."
Xu Yifan said: "Don't worry, you can eat first."
"Okay!" After replying, the little secretary rushed to get lunch.
"After buying it and doing some research, it turned out that Volkswagen was the first one to come here. Is it because they are not optimistic about the future of electric vehicles, or do they think they can reverse engineer similar technology?"
After eating the last bean paste bun in his breakfast, Xu Yifan put the used plates in the same place and went to work in the materials laboratory.
Time quickly came to two days later.
Early in the morning, several Audi cars drove into the Jiuzhou Automobile Factory.
After riding in the car for several hours, Matthias Miller got off the car and saw the Jiuzhou Automobile Factory.
How to put it, it was different from the large international company he imagined, and more like a small workshop-style car company built in a backward country.
On this road in front of the Jiuzhou Automobile Factory, there is a constant flow of people and cars. Jiuzhou Automobile employees are either riding Jiuyuan electric vehicles or driving Jiuzhou low-speed cars, heading towards the factory with enthusiasm.
Looking into the distance, there is a factory building to the east and a factory building to the west dotted nearby.
And further away, there are construction sites everywhere, and trucks transporting construction materials can be seen driving towards the open space in the distance.
However, there are two unique buildings in the distance, which are slightly more eye-catching. The comprehensive automobile research and development center and the materials laboratory building were built at a large cost, and they look much taller.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Matthias Miller, who is in his sixties, couldn't help but sigh.
"After riding for several hours, this company is actually in such a remote location."
"This is the production site of Kyushu Suzaku, Kyushu Dongting and Kyushu Taishan."
"It is completely unexpected that such excellent automobile manufacturing technology was born in this remote small Chinese city."
Krager Hueuf, the president of Volkswagen China, who was traveling with him, said: “This factory has been under construction in the past two years, and the factory has been continuously expanded.
The roads were filled with potholes caused by the large trucks being transported! "
There is no way to compare it with Volkswagen's headquarters or even Volkswagen's many production bases in China.
With the rapid development of Jiuzhou Automobile, it is naturally impossible to cover everything and pay more attention to practicality.
Especially the first few factories did not hire designers. They simply built the factory buildings and it was usable, not to mention pursuing coordination and beauty.
The roads in the industrial park were originally very well built. There were six two-way lanes outside the factory building, all of which were asphalt roads.
But it cannot withstand the development of Jiuzhou Automobile in the past two years, transporting construction materials, transporting electric vehicles, automobile production materials, steel and so on.
Large trucks, trailers, and dirt trucks are pressing down every day, damaging even good roads.
Recently, Xu Yifan has been thinking about when to discuss with the officials again and let Jiangzhou City officials pay for the construction of this road.
As a business card of Jiangzhou City today, is the current road environment of Jiuzhou Automobile Factory realistic? !
In addition to the environment, Matthias Miller was a little concerned about the employees of Jiuzhou Automobile who were full of enthusiasm for their work. They kept smiling on their faces, chatting with their peers and colleagues, and left for work happily.
"This company seems to have good welfare benefits. It's not like I have never been to Huaxia before, but I rarely see such a scene on the faces of employees of those companies, and they are more numb.
Including employees of our car companies, this rarely happens. . . . . "
However, the environment and the lives of employees are not important. What is really important is the technology of this car company.
After a brief look, Matthias Miller and the others entered the Jiuzhou Automobile Factory.
After reporting his and others' identities to the company's young security guard, a receptionist picked up Matthias Miller.
A Jiuzhou employee asked: "Mr. Mathias, have you had your meal? It's still early for your scheduled meeting with Mr. Xu at 9 a.m. If you haven't had a meal, you can go to our employee canteen to have a meal. .”
A fellow traveler, Krager Hugh, who can also speak Chinese, laughed and said: "Oh, then it's better to be respectful than to obey. It just so happens that we haven't had our meal yet!"
Led by Jiuzhou employees, the group quickly arrived at the nearest No. 1 canteen.
The food in the canteen is delicious.
The dining style similar to a buffet and the good dining environment are somewhat familiar to these Volkswagen executives who are used to seeing large manufacturers.
There is a place dedicated to cooking noodles and dumplings. All kinds of noodles and dumplings, plus vegetables, chopped green onions, and lard, are delicious and delicious.
There are hard-boiled eggs, tea eggs, salted duck eggs, poached eggs, fried eggs and other eggs on the plate.
Porridge, millet porridge, preserved egg and lean meat porridge, steamed buns, steamed buns, pickles.
In addition to Chinese meals, a variety of breads, bacon, sandwiches, salads, toast, etc. are also available.
Together with the employees in the factory, Matthias Miller and his team had a simple buffet.
After everyone came out of the cafeteria, their views on Jiuzhou Automobile Factory changed greatly.
"The food in this factory is really good, and it seems that all the employees eat together and are not treated differently?"
“It’s actually better than the breakfast at our headquarters!”
"In terms of ingredients, it may be a little worse than our canteen, but the gap between the chefs is even greater. I love Chinese food!"
The food at Jiuzhou Automobile Factory is delicious. This was the first impression of Matthias Miller and others after arriving at Jiuzhou Automobile Factory.
After eating, the group continued their business.
The time soon came to nine o'clock in the morning.
Xu Yifan arrived at a small conference room on time.
After waiting for a while, Matthias Miller and others stood up, stretched out their hands and shook hands with the visitor in a friendly manner.
After shaking hands slightly with the 60-year-old CEO of Volkswagen, Xu Yifan smiled and said: "Hello, I am Xu Yifan, the chairman of Jiuzhou Automobile Factory."
As soon as he opened his mouth, it was Beier's authentic German!
The photographic memory skill of the system cheat is also very powerful when it comes to language learning. It takes almost a week to completely memorize a language that has never been exposed to.
You just need to practice your pronunciation a little more and you can communicate with people easily.
Xu Yifan had already taken the time to learn all the languages of various countries.
Genius characters must be created early. Kyushu Motors will definitely become more and more exaggerated in the future and come up with many technological products.
As a legend who brought Kyushu Motors to glory, it is only normal for him to be a super academic.
The two parties shook hands, and Matthias Miller said: "I am Matthias Miller, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, and this is Krager Huuf, the president of Volkswagen China.
This is my assistant Marcel Diehl.
This is Alexander Dawson, a director of our company. "
Matthias Miller introduced the main personnel of Volkswagen who came this time.
After the introduction, Matthias Miller couldn't help but said in surprise: "Mr. Xu, you can actually speak German, and you are so young!"
Although the age gap between the two parties is relatively large, on an occasion like today, age is not considered, only the identity of each representative.
Although the other party is the CEO of the Volkswagen Group, Xu Yifan's status can be treated as an equal. Even as the chairman of Jiuzhou Automobile and the sole owner of the company, he is even higher than the other party!
"In terms of language, I still have some talent. As for age, we have a saying in China that youth is not as important as ambition."
After a brief chat and getting to know each other, both parties took their seats in the small conference room.
Xu Yifan asked curiously: "I don't know the main purpose of Volkswagen's visit this time."
Matthias Miller said seriously: "We want to acquire Jiuzhou Automobile Company. We understood it before we came here. The ownership of Jiuzhou Automobile is in the hands of Mr. Xu Yifan alone. Why don't you set a price for Mr. Xu? If it’s suitable, Volkswagen will give you a price that satisfies you!”
Xu Yifan shook his head: "Mr. Mathias, I'm sorry, I don't sell Kyushu Auto!"
Matthias Miller curiously asked: "Is it a matter of price? Why don't you offer a price? As long as it's not too exaggerated, I believe our Volkswagen Group has the strength to afford it."
"It's not about price." Xu Yifan waved his hand.
Matthias Miller didn't take Xu Yifan's refusal seriously. In his opinion, most things in the world can be solved with money, and nothing is sold just to get a high price.
Isn’t the purpose of starting a company just to make money?
Seeing that he could not get the young Mr. Xu to speak first, Matthias Miller could only test out a price: "How about 10 billion?"
Seeing Xu Yifan frowning and about to refuse again, Matthias Miller immediately continued: "Dollar dollars!"
According to today's exchange rate, it is equivalent to more than 70 billion yuan!
This price is actually quite a lot, even a bit exaggerated. After accepting it, you can directly join the list of richest people in China!
For the public, it will not suffer. Battery technology, motor technology, new types of steel, and the current low-speed electric vehicle business of Jiuzhou Motors and Jiuyuan electric vehicle business can still make some money.
If you were an ordinary entrepreneur, you might not be able to help but agree to such a huge astronomical sum.
With this money, you don’t have to do anything in your life, and you can almost never spend it all.
Even Xu Yifan, who was short of money now, felt moved for a moment.
It's a pity that the company is only interesting in his own hands, and Xu Yifan doesn't want to work for others.
"This is not a matter of money." Xu Yifan still shook his head.
Matthias Müller: "Double it!"
This century-old car company has fully demonstrated what it means to be wealthy!
However, this price is also the highest price that the public can give, and any higher price is inappropriate.
Even if you invest in the future, there is a limit. The technology of Jiuzhou Automobile Factory has great potential, but after analysis, it will not exceed US$20 billion.
In this regard, Xu Yifan said seriously: "Jiuzhou Auto will not be sold now and will not be sold in the future. If your company has the idea of acquisition, I think there is no need for us to continue talking."
"This is such a pity. After seeing the car-making technology of Jiuzhou Automobile Factory, our company's engineers admired it very much and wanted to acquire it."
Matthias Miller did not hide his thoughts, and this was the purpose known to both parties.
The primary purpose cannot be achieved, and it does not appear that the reason is not enough money being given.
But Matthias Miller continued to work hard: "There is no idea of selling, so does Kyushu Automobile have any plans to go public? Volkswagen can help in this regard. Also, does Kyushu Automobile need investment?"
Xu Yifan shook his head helplessly: "Jiuzhou Auto has no plans to go public for the time being, and it does not require capital investment."
There is no free lunch in the world. To get help or investment, you have to give shares.
This is something Xu Yifan cannot accept. Even for loans, he will not choose to take out large loans because he is afraid that someone will do something behind his back.
The company would rather develop slowly and miss some opportunities. It can take its own time and do whatever it wants. It doesn’t want to be controlled by others, and it doesn’t want to hear the directors beeping around and having someone tell them what to do.
The failure to achieve two goals in a row made Mathias Miller, who was accustomed to seeing various scenes, feel a little frustrated. These two tricks had been tried and tested in the past when facing various large and small start-up companies.
After a pause, he continued: "It's such a shame. I don't know about technology licensing. Can we talk about it?"
Xu Yifan: "The technology will not be licensed..."
Seeing that the other party was almost shutting down due to his series of rejections, Xu Yifan quickly said: "However, maybe we can talk about cooperation in other places."
Matthias Miller was slightly curious: "Oh, I wonder what we can cooperate with?"
Xu Yifan said: "I want to form a joint venture with Volkswagen!"
Regarding this matter, Matthias Miller couldn't help but become interested.
Xu Yifan continued: “But it’s not for Kyushu Automobile’s products to be sold in the Chinese market.
But in the German market, or the international market where Volkswagen can sell its products.
The two parties established a joint venture to allow several Kyushu cars to be sold in those places. "
Relying on Jiuzhou Automobile itself, it is difficult to establish a complete sales channel in a short period of time in this large global market.
After such a long time, Jiuzhou Automobile has opened up sales in a total of seven countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Santania, Morocco, Syria, South Africa, and Kazakhstan.
Almost all are relatively poor and backward countries.
And except for wealthy countries, Jiuzhou Auto's sales are not good in those places, and it has not invested much money in establishing sales channels.
If Volkswagen, a long-established car company, can cooperate and let Kyushu Motor change the Volkswagen logo and sell it, it will be better than Kyushu Motor opening up sales channels on its own.
And compared to Jiuzhou Auto itself, the influence of Volkswagen is not comparable to that of today's Jiuzhou Auto.
When many consumers buy a car, they also pay attention to the car brand. A resounding brand will give consumers more trust than an unfamiliar brand.
Perhaps what may happen by then is that the quality of Kyushu Motor's junk electric cars is not good, and the brand is not bright. If you buy it, you will easily be laughed at for buying a domestic no-name brand.
And Volkswagen's electric cars are high-end and the light of technology!
This idea is a bit like a joint venture formed by foreign car companies that want to enter Daxia for sales.
It's just that the purpose of the previous domestic joint venture was to sell automobile products in China.
This time Xu Yifan's goal is to sell Kyushu cars in the international market.
The automobile industry, especially those in developed countries, protects local brands and will not easily allow other automobile brands to enter and sell products.
Even if the technology is obviously better, foreign brands will not be easily allowed to enter in order to protect employment and allow the economy to circulate domestically.
"Both parties will form a joint venture to sell products through public channels. Mr. Xu, you have great ideas."
Matthias Miller felt a little interested in Xu Yifan's idea.
“This cooperation plan is a bit interesting, in terms of product technology, Suzaku motor, third-generation lithium iron phosphate battery, and that special steel.
If these technologies can be made public to our joint venture, I can go back and lobby the company's top management to establish a joint venture with Jiuzhou Automobile Factory. "
Xu Yifan shook his head firmly: "The technology will not be made public, but I can provide the Suzaku motor produced by our company, the batteries produced by our Hengxin Battery Factory, and the controller, which is the powertrain of the electric vehicle."
“If your company is not interested in the joint venture plan, Jiuzhou Automobile can also be an upstream parts supplier.
I can sell you an electric vehicle powertrain such as the Suzaku motor and battery controller, and even the chassis, exterior design, etc. can be licensed.
However, I will not give out the technology, or Volkswagen has the ability to develop similar products through our products. "
Whether it's a joint venture or supply, as long as you can make money!
After a pause, Xu Yifan continued: "Well, other car companies may come to contact us in the future, and they can provide two cooperation options, joint sales, or supply of electric vehicle power systems."
Matthias Miller: "Today's electric cars do not have the possibility of mass sales and popularization. They have certain advantages in performance. At most, they are only toys for a small number of consumers."
But then he asked: "What's the price of an electric vehicle power system?"
Xu Yifan smiled and said: "A set of ordinary Suzaku motors and third-generation lithium iron phosphate batteries, plus a control system, our wholesale price is RMB 280,000."
Krager Huff complained from the side: "It's a money grab!"
Xu Yifan shook his head: "Our international automobile products have sold for one million yuan. If you sell the same power system for five to six million yuan, there will be a huge profit margin."
Xu Yifan continued: "Well, if we add another 100,000 yuan, we can sell Jiuzhou electric vehicles made of ordinary materials and put on your company's logo."
In fact, compared to joint ventures, Xu Yifan wants to sell power systems. As long as the price is affordable, it is still very good.
And if it only produces motors, controllers, and lithium iron phosphate batteries, Jiuzhou Automobile's production capacity can be increased quickly. It can sell in large quantities and make money more easily than selling cars.
Especially for high-strength steel, Jiuzhou Automobile's current output is still very small.
Matthias Miller shook his head: "It's already 380,000 yuan. If you add 100,000 yuan to it, you can buy a car sold in China!"
Xu Yifan: "That's okay, how about buying dismantled parts and selling them, or directly importing our cars to sell?"
Matthias Miller smiled helplessly and said: "The price is too expensive. The current market is not mature, and it is impossible for electric vehicles to have large sales."
Xu Yifan: "In the past two years, various countries have promoted environmental protection. As long as the general direction remains unchanged, the future belongs to new energy, and electric vehicles may be the closest. This year, electric vehicles have appeared in the Chinese market and the US market."
. . . . . .
A meeting lasted for several hours.
In the end, there was no specific result. Volkswagen did not achieve their original goal, and the two cooperation plans of Kyushu Automobile were not achieved.
This is also a very normal thing. Cooperation between large companies is not as straightforward as ordinary people buying and selling things, and involves a lot of interests.
Even sometimes, officials will step aside.
And even if Matthias Miller himself wants to cooperate, he cannot make the decision on many things. He needs to report to the board of directors and convene a meeting of directors to make decisions.
However, the seeds have been planted, and it depends on when they will take root and sprout.
Especially if new energy electric vehicles turn around in China or the international market, they will come again.
(End of chapter)
