The infrastructure maniac title is not an exaggeration; even before the four-trillion-yuan stimulus package, the speed was top-notch.
Factory building construction is not as tall as commercial residential buildings, so the speed is much faster.
Since the cooperation was established in March, the Zongtai Beicang factory quickly entered the preparation phase.
Land acquisition, environmental impact assessment approval, bidding, and commencement of construction were not delayed at all.
At this rate, completion within a year is not a problem.
It seems Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory only took 10 months from groundbreaking to official production? If only Shanchi's factory construction could have this efficiency.
"President Tan, you really don't care about Zongtai's construction at all. This is your first time visiting the site,"
Wu Jianzhong teased.
He heard that Tan Jincheng would be staying in Beicang for a few days, so he invited Tan Jincheng to take a look at the Zongtai factory construction site.
"I'm just a small shareholder. I can't help much with Zongtai. It still needs President Wu and President Ying to oversee everything,"
Tan Jincheng said with a smile.
'I haven't even visited my own construction sites many times. How could I have time to see Zongtai's site? Besides, what's there to see at a large construction site? I wouldn't understand it anyway.'
"You can't say that. Without the automobile manufacturing qualifications provided by President Tan, Zongtai wouldn't have launched so quickly. Also, we must thank President Tan for the marketing plan that instantly made Zongtai known to many people."
Wu Jianzhong was quite happy that Tan Jincheng was so modest.
Zongtai was their family's Zongtai.
Although significant benefits were conceded for the Beicang factory, Wu Jianzhong still did not want external interference in the actual operation and management process.
Fortunately, both Beicang and Tan Jincheng have been very proper.
Since doing one marketing campaign for Zongtai last time, Tan Jincheng quickly withdrew and no longer inquired about any of Zongtai's operational issues.
Wu Jianzhong greatly appreciated this point.
In addition, Beicang District was also very cooperative, and there were no obstacles to factory construction.
Both parties had officially passed the initial trust period of their cooperation.
"No, no, President Wu could have handled these things without me; I'm the one who benefited. By the way, how are Zongtai's cars selling now?"
Zongtai launched before May Day Labor Day, and it has been on sale for two and a half months now.
Tan Jincheng had not asked about the actual sales data, so of course, he had to inquire today, given the opportunity.
This question clearly made Wu Jianzhong feel high-spirited:
"They're selling very well. I don't have the July data yet, but we sold a total of 3,000 units in May and June! We've managed to gain a firm foothold."
With an average monthly sales volume of 1,500 units, the total sales revenue has already exceeded 120 million yuan.
Maintaining this momentum, the annual sales revenue could surpass 700 million yuan, and with a bit more effort, it could even reach 1 billion.
For its first car, achieving 1 billion yuan in sales in the first year after launch is more than just possible; no wonder Wu Jianzhong seemed so proud and triumphant.
The principles of automobiles and electric vehicles are actually the same.
The development cost is there; selling one, ten, or 100 units will definitely result in a loss, but the more you sell, once a certain volume is reached, it becomes a massive profit.
"That's truly excellent. Congratulations, President Wu. Keep up the good work, and Zongtai will be able to survive,"
Tan Jincheng sincerely congratulated.
Automobiles also have their peak sales seasons, traditionally "Golden September and Silver October," and the seasons around December and January before and after the New Year.
However, like electric vehicles, since entering the summer, automobiles have also slowly begun to enter their peak sales season.
The Zongtai 2008, a compact SUV, is quite suitable for family travel.
Its price is not high, making it very suitable for a family of three to buy one for a summer road trip.
Wu Jianzhong also said with emotion,
"Yes, if this car succeeds, Zongtai can survive, and the pressure on Little Ying and me will be much less. Does President Tan have any suggestions for subsequent promotion?"
An automobile enterprise is an asset-heavy enterprise.
In fact, it's not easy to gain a foothold in a fiercely competitive environment.
Often, the primary goal of most enterprises is not to make a lot of money, but to survive.
"I haven't paid much attention to promotion recently, I'll know more when I go back and look into it. However, I think Zongtai should follow up on quality and service in the future to soothe the emotions of the first batch of car buyers and avoid widespread negative effects."
Wu Jianzhong was a little embarrassed.
What Tan Jincheng said was already polite; he himself knew perfectly well what the quality of the first batch was like.
This is a nasty habit of domestic enterprises; the first batch of products is usually just prototypes.
This included the first batch of electric vehicles Shanchi released.
They shifted the testing costs to the market, letting consumers pay for it; everyone was like that.
However, Shanchi had an advantage: it was an electric bicycle, priced at less than two thousand yuan.
The first batch was sold in Yu Province and northern Anhui, where information spreads relatively slowly.
Some people who bought it and found the quality poor just cursed a few times and that was it.
Others were able to use it after some tinkering, and that was also fine.
Coupled with Shanchi's subsequent strengthening of quality control management and improved service quality, its reputation was not significantly affected.
Zongtai, after all, is a car.
For cars, ordinary people care a lot.
Although the starting price of just over 40,000 yuan after discounts was very tempting, and indeed some people were tempted, 40,000 yuan was not a small sum in 2006.
For a car involving numerous parts, if subsequent maintenance and other services cannot keep up, then even if the car model is successful, it will quickly be abandoned by the market due to its reputation.
Whether a car model can become popular depends on many factors that companies cannot control, but how long a popular model's lifespan is depends entirely on the company's attitude.
Like Geely's classic Emgrand model, it not only saved Geely but also sold for many years.
"Thank you for the reminder, President Tan. We will follow up on the services in the future,"
Wu Jianzhong said solemnly.
Tan Jincheng meant well and was not mocking Zongtai's poor quality; he understood this very well.
With a good start now, they certainly couldn't mess it up because of quality issues.
Like cultivating Gu, Tan Jincheng hoped that Zongtai would become better and better, able to gain a foothold in the fuel vehicle market, instead of disappearing from the market after a rapid collapse in reputation, as in his past life.
Shanchi did not venture into fuel vehicles simply because it missed the timing, not because it didn't want to.
In fact, fuel vehicles and electric vehicles complement each other, and for a long time, neither can completely replace the other.
Walking on two legs strengthens market competitiveness.
The better Zongtai performs in the fuel vehicle market, the more valuable it will be in the future.
After chatting with Wu Jianzhong for a morning and exchanging insights on corporate management, Tan Jincheng was still able to learn a lot from an experienced state-owned enterprise veteran like Wu Jianzhong.
Logically speaking, the management of state-owned enterprises should be more advanced than most private enterprises.
In his past life, Zongtai developed so quickly, which was inseparable from Ying Jianren's capital operations, but also from Wu Jianzhong's standardized management.
Since today was for visiting construction sites, Tan Jincheng simply continued to explore sites in the afternoon, but in the afternoon, he went to the Shanchi Beicang base construction site.
With Zongtai's engineering construction moving so fast, Shanchi couldn't afford to fall behind.
Otherwise, by next year, if the Zongtai factory is accepted and put into production while the Shanchi factory is not yet completed, it would be a laughingstock.
"I don't understand the specifics of engineering construction, but I hope the site can speed up progress while paying attention to safety and quality. If it can complete acceptance more than a month in advance, the project payment can be discussed."
"President Tan, please rest completely assured. I cannot confirm whether we can complete acceptance ahead of schedule now, but we will definitely not delay your construction period,"
The site manager said confidently.
The construction party responsible for building the Shanchi site was Beicang Urban Construction, a local enterprise.
The manager was well aware of Shanchi's current status in Beicang; calling it their "own son" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
This young boss, despite his age, was good at making things happen and always had a major initiative every now and then.
For Beicang, Shanchi is no longer just a large enterprise that can drive the local economy; it has become Beicang's external calling card, like a women's volleyball home court.
With the development of the internet and Shanchi's marketing, the frequency of Beicang District appearing in the media this year has been the highest in over 20 years since its establishment, and the district government occasionally receives interview invitations from various media, which delights them.
Their attitude towards Shanchi became increasingly friendly.
How could Beicang Urban Construction dare to delay the construction period of such an enterprise?
What's more, there's a lithium battery factory project waiting afterward, which is also a very large project.
"Alright, I won't, as an amateur, instruct an expert on superfluous matters. We are all under the same roof; you're welcome to come to the Export Processing Zone for tea sometime."
"No problem, President Tan. If you have time, come visit more often. I guarantee you'll see the construction site changing every day."
"Haha, thanks a lot then. But still, pay attention to safety. There's nothing else at a construction site; safety is the most important."
Early production is best.
If not, the construction period must be guaranteed.
If the construction period is guaranteed, then it will be put into production after New Year's Day 2007, which will temporarily alleviate Shanchi's production capacity pressure.
Since he didn't come in July, Shanchi's sales for the full month should be confirmed, which is 45,000 units.
Nothing else, that's just how much can be produced, and there's no inventory.
Barring any accidents, Shanchi will maintain this state until September.
To keep some inventory, they'll have to wait until after September.
It's truly outrageous.
Tan Jincheng knew that electric vehicles would enter a state of massive explosion within these few years, but he still underestimated the rapidity of the explosion.
If he had known this, he should have directly launched the project in early 2005.
Also, the steps he took back then could have been bolder.
After June ended, Shanchi's sales for the first half of the year had already reached 215,900 units, completing the annual sales target set in 2005 half a year ahead of schedule.
This speed of explosion was truly unexpected.
The market's big explosion had its trends, but such a strong explosion was also largely due to Shanchi, this butterfly.
As the butterfly itself, being at the center of the vortex, it naturally bore the greatest impact.
These were things Tan Jincheng had not realized, nor had his peers.
(End of chapter)