[The previous chapter has been sealed and should be released in a few days. 】
"Localization is indeed a big issue. I am very willing to localize production. However, in the automobile industry, most parts are actually produced by suppliers. Although our automobile factory will have certain rights to manage them, we want to They all come to build factories in China, which is very difficult. It is basically impossible for most of them to come here." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.
Why do domestic companies want foreign car companies to come to domestic production? In addition to wanting to learn automotive production technology, another reason is that when the economy develops, the domestic demand for cars will become larger and larger, and the flow of people will also increase. High, efficiency and other factors are also required.
But large-scale imports are too expensive, because importing a car simply costs one car’s worth of foreign exchange. And if the car is produced domestically, at least in terms of labor, there is no need to pay foreign exchange, but the light This is not enough. The cost of labor in automobile factories is not high in the cost of the entire vehicle. The highest cost is in various parts.
If various parts and components can be produced by ourselves, it can save a lot of foreign exchange and at the same time strengthen the capabilities of the domestic automobile industry.
However, the automobile industry is a very large industrial chain, involving almost all technologies except biology. A normal automobile industry has at least hundreds of first-tier suppliers (manufacturers that directly supply automobile manufacturers). , and these hundreds of first-level suppliers may correspond to thousands of second-level suppliers (supplying supplies to the first-level), and there are also third-level and fourth-level suppliers, and most of them provide the most basic raw materials. For example, high-performance steel, plastic granular raw materials, etc. The entire industry chain is so big that even Volkswagen, not to mention AMC, cannot move these factories here, and even some of them cannot do it, because except for a few of these parts companies, most of them Part of it depends on several automobile companies for survival. If you move to China, you can only serve one automobile company. Taking into account factors such as language barriers and poor technical foundation in the mainland, it is not easy to solve.
"Mr. Chen, according to the wishes of the domestic central government, in the early stage, the joint venture factory can produce in the CKD method, but within 3-5 years it must gradually localize, at least half the level, and the foreign exchange balance must also be taken into consideration. Problems, if these cannot be solved, or at least we have to have a solution now, otherwise, it will be difficult for this cooperation project to be approved by the central government." Rao Bing said with some embarrassment.
In fact, these problems are also the reasons why Volkswagen's negotiations are in a desperate situation. There are also great opinions within Volkswagen. After all, this kind of thing never happens when investing in other countries. The prerequisite for companies like Volkswagen to invest in a place is that these places basically already have supporting industries. At most, they need to improve a small part of the supporting industry, or a small part of the supporting facilities must be imported.
Although there is a corresponding automobile industry chain in China, after inspection, it completely does not meet the requirements of Volkswagen, which means there is no such thing. In this case, Volkswagen has very different opinions on whether to build a factory, and now it requires In the next few years, it will be too difficult for Volkswagen to build related automobile industry chains in China and ensure foreign exchange balance. Not to mention Volkswagen, not even any automobile factory can build an industrial chain in a place where there is nothing. This is completely inconsistent with the basic principle of clear division of labor in modern industry.
"No car factory can do a good job in localization in the mainland, not even GM Toyota. To achieve this requirement, we can only rely on domestic manufacturers. Only if they work hard and obtain the recognition and quality review of the car factory, can we To establish a local industrial chain, otherwise, it will only require the full support of a country, such as the support provided by the United States to Japan back then." Chen Zhiwen said straightforwardly.
He is determined to invest in the domestic automobile industry. He is not clear about the detailed issues raised in China, but he still knows about the principle issues, such as localization and foreign exchange balance, and he has already prepared the relevant issues. ideas.
When Midea started to enter the white goods industry, it was not able to build an industrial chain on its own even if it was not short of money. Instead, it relied on many small factories in Hong Kong. When it purchased the picture tube factory from Sony, many of its components were also in Hong Kong. For purchases, the core still needs to rely on the Japanese market, which is inevitable in a market economy.
The automobile industry is a hundred times more complex than home appliances. Even if the gods come, it will be impossible to form an industrial chain. The only way is for local enterprises to strive for success and become part of the industrial chain.
"But this may involve a lot of AMC's technology and requires AMC's support." Rao Bing said.
"It's impossible. We can't teach you step by step. No factory has that much energy." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said, "However, we can provide the drawings and technical requirements, and then the domestic manufacturers will develop them, and the research and development will be successfully passed by us." With approval, this component can be localized.”
A car has 10,000 to 20,000 parts, and the car factory only puts forward the requirements. Overseas, it relies on the capabilities of countless manufacturers to complete the production of parts. In fact, the technical understanding of many parts requires the engineers of the car factory. Can't beat the suppliers.
"If we do it this way, I'm worried it will take a long time. The technical standards here in China are much different from those overseas, and the production equipment, testing equipment and even quality control experience are far inferior. I'm worried it will affect our localization progress. "Rao Bing said that the most important thing in China is foreign exchange. In previous negotiations with Volkswagen, Volkswagen was unwilling to produce parts locally. They preferred to adopt the CKD method for a long time, which is to import parts from abroad and then assemble them domestically. In this way, there will be less trouble, and at the same time, Volkswagen can still make a fortune overseas, but the domestic side will naturally not agree. This operation will not achieve a foreign exchange balance, and the domestic automobile industry will not be developed.
"With quality control experience or development experience, I can arrange for people from the United States to come to China for unified training, or arrange for some Chinese quality engineers to provide on-site guidance. However, the number of personnel may be limited." Chen Zhiwen paused and said, "As for the various equipment, Yes, it is estimated that it cannot be manufactured domestically. If it needs to be imported, I can arrange for my Hong Kong company to participate in joint ventures and directly invest in some potential parts companies. With foreign exchange, I can also purchase overseas equipment. In this way, I will kill two birds with one stone."
"In this case, it is indeed possible. It is a solution." Rao Bing nodded and said. In fact, all problems are money issues. The negotiations with the public are also because the public is worried about not making money. The domestic thinking is also Similarly, I am worried that the already scarce foreign exchange will suffer serious losses after cooperation, but Chen Zhiwen is so easy to talk to and can solve it with money, so many problems will be solved naturally.
"However, there are many suppliers, and we still need to carefully examine which ones we cooperate with." Chen Zhiwen continued.
"Of course." Rao Bing nodded and said.
"As for the issue of foreign exchange balance, I don't have any solution at the moment." Chen Zhiwen paused and said: "AMC's main market is the United States. The United States already has overcapacity. It is unlikely that cars will be exported from the mainland to China in a short time. In the United States, I am already thinking of ways to open up the Southeast Asian market, but it will still take a long time.
So my proposal is that within ten years, I will not convert the RMB earned by the AMC joint venture factory into foreign exchange. As for ten years later, there may be other ways to form a foreign exchange balance. At that time, we will discuss this matter. how? "
Volkswagen's method to solve the foreign exchange balance is very simple. Build an engine production plant in Shanghai, with a production capacity three times the domestic demand, and re-export to earn foreign exchange. AMC obviously does not have this ability, but the fundamental reason for maintaining the foreign exchange balance is to worry about foreign investment in the country. If you make money and then have to exchange it and leave, resulting in foreign exchange losses, as long as you promise not to exchange the exchange for a certain period of time, it will be no problem. As for 10 years later, the mainland government will not be short of foreign exchange, and it will naturally be able to exchange the money by then. , besides, the domestic automobile market will just start to explode in 10 years. At that time, it is estimated that the little money earned domestically will not be enough to expand production, and there is no need to consider the issue of exchange at all, because funds may need to be mobilized from overseas. .
"No exchange? This is indeed a method." Rao Bing was stunned for a moment. He was the first foreign investor to make such a request, but he could make such a decision because he was very optimistic about the future of the domestic economy.
"In this case, the issues of localization and foreign exchange balance are basically solved. In the future, we only need to put these issues in the contract." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. Normal companies will definitely care about every penny. Profits, but Chen Zhiwen doesn't care at the moment. Even if he doesn't make money in the past ten years, as long as he establishes the brand in China in these ten years, improves quality and opens channels, then he can just make money from there.
"Indeed, Mr. Chen is really efficient in his work." Rao Bing nodded. Today's success was beyond his expectation.
"Any questions?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.
"There is indeed one more thing. We hope that after the joint venture in the future, the two parties can jointly develop new models, such as models suitable for domestic needs." Rao Bing continued, in fact, there are many issues in cooperation between the two parties, but the ones raised here today, They are all issues of principle. If the boss Chen Zhiwen solves these controversial issues of principle, other issues can be resolved by just spending some time communicating with the AMC team. At most, the length of time will be different.
"Joint research and development is possible, but the ownership needs to belong entirely to AMC." Chen Zhiwen said.
"Why is this? We are doing research and development together, shouldn't it belong to the joint venture?" Rao Bing said.
"Because you currently do not have the ability to normally cooperate with AMC in research and development, and the essence of this joint research and development, I don't think Director Rao needs me to be so clear about it, right?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
No matter what model is developed, AMC's team actually conducts research and development based on the domestic situation. As for the domestic side, it is completely based on learning experience. In this case, it is good to be able to carry forward the learning. Sharing the final results, then It's unfair.
In cooperation with the mainland, Chen Zhiwen's principle is to achieve mutual benefit or common development. Both parties are based on the most basic business rules. In the case of mutual benefit, it can bring employment, foreign exchange and development opportunities for a certain industry to the country. Instead of taking the initiative to make profits yourself.
Although even if you give up profits, you won't have much loss for yourself, but if you always give up profits during the cooperation between the two parties, then either the other party will feel stupid and will only make more progress in the future, or they will feel that they have other purposes. It is better to follow the rules. This is also the basis for long-term cooperation. In the long run, this can better ensure the interests of both parties. For things like this joint research and development, if AMC cooperates with the mainland to develop it, the domestic side will not have to pay much. The results obtained may not necessarily be a good thing for future technological progress in the mainland. For example, with the exception of Changan, the domestic car brands that we have cooperated with in later generations have not grown much in the past few decades.
"But if we do joint research and development, wouldn't our people also be involved? Even if we can't get a general patent, we should at least have a partial patent, right?" Rao Bing thought for a while and said, Chen Zhiwen said it makes sense. The mainland side has absolutely no experience or ability to develop cars that meet Western technology. It is indeed unfair to share the final results equally, but on its own side, it has to fight for more rights for itself no matter what.
"If this is the case, what is the distribution ratio? How can this be determined? You and I will probably discuss this for a long time. I don't think it is necessary at all." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said: "I intend to arrange for AMC to develop the next This model is suitable for the mainland. It will meet the current domestic situation in terms of price, technology, and quality. Both the R&D direction and the R&D personnel are mine. Therefore, AMC should naturally have all the rights to this new model. However, the mainland For the people involved on one side, I can cooperate by entrusting them individually. Your people can also participate in part of the research and development, and at the same time, they can also get a certain amount of additional foreign exchange, which will be paid separately by the American AMC. This can be said to be a two-fold deal.
Besides, the new model belongs to AMC, but it still needs to be produced in a joint venture with China. The mainland will still have 51% of the equity. In this regard, China can still share half of the profits. "
"Then will this new model also be a Jeep model?" Rao Bing asked.
"No, we will know what it is specifically after our joint venture." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. Although he thought that if the secret was revealed, it was unlikely that the secret would be leaked. Even if the secret was leaked, other car manufacturers might not be interested in this market, but Chen Zhiwen I still feel that there is no need to tell the mainland the details now. At least until the joint venture project is negotiated, we can then discuss the development of new models in detail.
"Well, the development of new models is indeed relatively far away. If we can reach an agreement on the localization of parts and foreign exchange balance in the future, then this cooperation can be officially signed soon." Rao Bing thought for a while, said.
Negotiating cooperation with Chinese people is really much more convenient than negotiating with overseas white people, especially if the other party is the boss and can basically make decisions and does not care about short-term foreign exchange gains. This basically avoids the most difficult aspect of reaching an agreement at present. problem.
"Okay, AMC in the United States will send someone here soon. I also hope to reach cooperation in the shortest possible time." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said with a smile.
(End of chapter)
