Video Editor

Chapter 2622 New Car Launch

After Kunyu Shipping placed its order for 1.26 million tons, the effect was even more dramatic than Suning had anticipated.

This is not the first time Tianchao Group has dealt with state-owned enterprises, but in the past, when Mingju Real Estate acquired land and Tianchao Automobile built factories, the interaction with government departments was more at the level of approval and policy.

Shipbuilding today is different. Shipbuilding is a real industrial order. Fifteen ships, from steel plate cutting to main engine installation to launching and sea trials, can drive a very long industrial chain.

Steel mills have orders for steel plates, main engine manufacturers have orders for diesel engines, marine electronic equipment manufacturers have orders for navigation and communication equipment, and even chemical plants that make marine paint can get a share of the profits.

Moreover, Suning clearly stated in black and white in the contract that "all products are made in China," which means that this order was entirely invested in the domestic industrial system, and not a single penny was spent outside of China.

The relevant authorities behind several large shipyards in China quickly took notice of this matter.

An order for civilian ships exceeding one million tons is a substantial sum in any country, not to mention that this order comes with a clear expectation of future developments…

If China wants to export its automobiles, Kunyu Shipping's fleet won't just buy these fifteen ships; there will be a second and third phase.

Which department wouldn't want such a golden goose that can lay eggs continuously?

Therefore, the government's attitude changed very quickly.

First, people from the industry association took the initiative to contact Tianchao Group, saying they wanted to organize a symposium on the coordinated development of private manufacturing and state-owned equipment manufacturing, and invited Suning to give a keynote speech.

Then, several government departments in the cities where the shipyards are located sent invitations to Suning to inspect the local supporting industrial parks.

Each invitation was more polite than the last, making Suning feel their sincere sincerity.

When Xiao Zhao handed the invitation to Su Ning, he couldn't help but exclaim, "President Su, the leaders of the relevant departments are so sincere!"

Su Ning glanced at it, then put the invitation aside. "They're just being polite, don't take it seriously."

"..."

Then, news came from Pudong, Shanghai.

Deputy Director Han personally called Suning, "President Su, I have good news for you. The Pudong Super Factory project has been approved."

Suning originally thought that this land would take several more months to process, because he knew how difficult it was to get land approved in Pudong.

When General Motors entered Jinqiao, it took quite a while from negotiation to acquiring the land.

Moreover, it was a project by a major international corporation, which Shanghai had been striving to secure with all its resources at the time.

Although Chinese automakers are doing well now, they are still relatively small players compared to General Motors.

"Director Han, isn't the regulatory adjustment process still incomplete?"

Deputy Director Han chuckled on the phone, "President Su, your order for fifteen ships has caused quite a stir among the leaders of several departments. Several shipyards here have accepted your orders, and some people in the city are saying that it's unreasonable for shipyards to build ships for Tianchao Group while Tianchao Group's production base is located elsewhere. The regulatory adjustment process will be handled as a special case, and it was approved directly at the mayor's office meeting. When is it convenient for you to send someone over to handle the follow-up procedures?"

Su Ning said, "Director Han, thank you. I will arrange for the team to fly to Shanghai in the next couple of days."

Deputy Director Han said, "No need to thank me. President Su, to be honest, the fact that this project was approved so quickly is not because of my efforts alone. It was your own strength that propelled this matter. When the shipyard submitted the order to the city, the city leaders asked, 'Tianchao Group has invested so heavily in our shipyard, is it reasonable for us not to give them land for their car factory?' After that question, the process was completed."

After hanging up the phone, Su Ning asked Zhuang Zhuang to call the people from Tianchao Auto's investment department and legal department to his office.

Once everyone had arrived, Suning announced several things on the spot: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Pudong Super Factory project has officially started. The Investment Department will organize an advance team to go to Shanghai within two days to coordinate land procedures and planning schemes. The Legal Department will simultaneously follow up on the contract terms, and the land transfer contract, supporting infrastructure agreement, and tax incentive agreement will all be drafted in accordance with the conditions promised by the Management Committee during the last negotiation."

The head of the investment department asked, "Mr. Su, how should the factory design standards be determined?"

Suning said, "We'll take the Shunyi Super Factory as a reference, but upgrade it a level further. The automation rate of the four major workshops—stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly—must be comprehensively improved, and robots should be installed on all the parts that can be used. The Shanghai factory's production capacity is planned as a passenger vehicle export base, with products shipped directly from Shanghai Port to Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Therefore, the logistics channel from the end of the final assembly line to the port must be planned in advance, and the internal roads of the factory area must be able to directly transport container trucks."

"Will the Shanghai factory still produce the existing Qinglong sedan, Zhuque urban SUV, and Baihu off-road vehicle?"

"We will consider launching the Xuanwu MPV multi-purpose vehicle, the Qilin sports car, and the Pixiu pickup truck to further enrich our vehicle strategy."

"clear."

……

The Shanghai team started working overtime that day to prepare materials and book flights.

Zhuangzhuang wrote down the key milestones of the Pudong project in her notebook...

Departure time of the advance team, contact person for land procedures, deadline for reviewing contract terms, and bidding time for factory design.

……

The process is also progressing simultaneously in Qingdao.

The prototypes of Baize Bus and Chongming Bird Truck completed all road test projects in Northwest and Southwest China, with each vehicle accumulating tens of thousands of kilometers. They were tested in various extreme road conditions and severe weather, including the Gobi Desert, mountain roads, high altitudes, and high humidity.

The data accumulated during the road test filled several hard drives. The R&D team spent nearly two weeks summarizing and analyzing the data and submitted a final test report that was as thick as a brick.

Suning read through the report from beginning to end, signed the last page, and approved the two commercial vehicles to enter the mass production preparation stage.

He closed the report and handed it to the head of R&D, saying, "The road test data is very solid. Tell Qingdao that we can start advertising the model now, and we'll start production as soon as the equipment production line is installed."

"Understood! Also, I heard that Toyota is in talks with SAIC about a joint venture project for the Coaster?"

"No problem! Our Tianchao Automobile's Bai Ze Bus will get there first."

"President Su, I'm a little worried. After all, the mid-sized Bai Ze bus is the counterpart to the Coaster. Will it provoke a retaliation from Toyota?"

"Don't worry! What I want is to follow Toyota's path and then leave Toyota with nowhere to go."

"..."

……

Soon, the production specifications for the Baize bus were officially released. The bus is just over seven meters long, two and a half meters wide, and two and a half meters high—the dimensions are just right…

It's smaller than a city bus, but twice the size of a minivan.

Seating layouts range from ten to twenty-three seats, and the models are divided into three versions based on configuration: premium, luxury, and special executive edition.

The powertrain features a self-developed 4.0-liter V6 naturally aspirated engine from China Automotive, with a maximum power of 151 kilowatts and a maximum torque of 344 Nm, paired with a five-speed manual transmission, and a combined fuel consumption of 15 to 18 liters per 100 kilometers.

This fuel consumption figure would be considered high for a sedan, but for a seven-meter-long medium-sized bus, it's quite impressive.

The press conference was held in a conference hall of a hotel in Beijing. A white Bai Ze bus was parked on the stage, its paint reflecting the light.

The audience was filled with reporters, dealer representatives, and purchasing managers from several major commercial vehicle clients.

Sun, the marketing manager, stood on the stage and used a projector to display the parameters and configurations one by one.

During the Q&A session, a reporter raised his hand and stood up, asking directly about the price: "Manager Sun, the configuration of the Bai Ze sounds quite high-end, with a V6 engine, a high-strength steel body, and so much safety equipment... How do you set the price?"

Manager Sun quoted the price range: "218,400 to 358,900."

When the price was announced, the representatives of the commercial vehicle dealers present exchanged glances.

Someone quietly did some calculations below, quickly scribbling numbers in a notebook.

Imported buses of the same size and configuration cost more than double. For example, a Toyota Coaster of the same class starts at four or five hundred thousand yuan for its base model.

There are some cheap domestic buses, you can get one for a few hundred thousand yuan, but they are all outdated chassis with a metal shell, engines from decades ago, and seats as hard as wooden benches. Their power and comfort are not in the same league as Bai Ze's.

Bai Ze's technology and pricing essentially fill the gap between domestic low-end cars and imported high-end cars...

It's more expensive than domestic cars, but the price is justified; it's cheaper than imported cars, but the quality isn't compromised.

At this moment, everyone in the industry felt a strong sense of urgency; it was clear that they were targeting the Toyota Coaster.

After the press conference, Manager Sun was surrounded by a group of distributors.

A dealer from Jiangsu squeezed to the front, handed over his business card, and got straight to the point: "Manager Sun, I run a tour bus business. I've looked at the specs of this Bai Ze; it has a V6 engine, a seven-meter body, and twenty-three seats, which is exactly what I'm looking for. When can you deliver the vehicles? I'll order ten to start, and if they perform well, I'll add more later."

Manager Sun took the business card and glanced at it. "The mass production schedule has been set. The first batch of cars will roll off the production line next month. Leave your detailed address, and I'll have someone send you the contract."

"So fast?"

"Our Chinese automobile industry has strong technological reserves, and speed is our advantage."

"..."

In fact, Bai Ze's core selling points are three: reliability, comfort, and safety.

Its reliability comes from the battle-tested V6 naturally aspirated engine and the simple five-speed manual transmission. The structure is mature, the parts are cheap, and if it breaks down, you can find any repair shop to fix it, unlike imported cars that have to wait for parts for weeks.

The comfort comes from the wider body and redesigned interior. The seat spacing is several centimeters wider than that of other buses in the same class, so you can stretch your legs and not feel back pain on long journeys.

In terms of safety, the Baize bus was specially reinforced for government and enterprise scenarios. The body structure used high-strength steel, and the safety equipment was the most complete among domestic buses at the time.

The market positioning is very clear—business reception, government travel, tourist charter buses, and employee shuttle buses—it wants to cover all four market segments.

……

Chongming Bird trucks are available in two models.

In the second half of the press conference, two side silhouettes of the Chongming Bird were projected onto the screen, one showing a long and sleek front, and the other a compact and low-slung body.

Manager Sun pointed to the first picture and said, "The Chongming Bird Model 1 is a long-haul flagship, specifically designed for long-distance, high-efficiency logistics transportation. The most striking feature is its front design... The front is longer than other trucks, with a larger angle, and the entire upper part of the cab extends forward with extremely smooth lines. This design isn't just for aesthetics; it's for aerodynamics. Combined with a newly designed electronic rearview mirror system, the overall drag coefficient is significantly lower than that of traditional cab-over trucks, resulting in considerable fuel savings during high-speed cruising."

Hearing this, the owner of a logistics company in the audience whispered to the person next to him, "Saving fuel means saving money. For long-haul trucks, if they use less fuel per 100 kilometers, it adds up to tens of thousands of yuan a year."

Manager Sun continued to the page on power specifications: "The powertrain offers two versions: diesel and natural gas. The top-of-the-line diesel version is equipped with a 17.3-liter inline six-cylinder diesel engine, with a maximum horsepower of 780."

When this number was announced, a line of comparative data was displayed on the projection screen, listing the horsepower figures of all domestically produced and imported heavy-duty trucks currently on the market in China.

The second-ranked vehicle is a flagship model from an imported brand, with 650 horsepower.

The 780-horsepower Chongming Bird Type 1 stood alone at the very top of that column of numbers, towering far above the others.

A murmur arose from the audience, and several reporters quickly jotted down notes in their notebooks.

“The Chongming Bird Type II.” Manager Sun switched to the second picture. “It has a more flexible positioning, and is called an all-rounder. The cab frame has been redesigned, and the internal living space is larger than the Type I, but the overall height of the cab has been reduced. This design is particularly practical for urban delivery and municipal operations... Many underpasses and height restriction bars in old urban areas are right between 2.8 and 3 meters high, which ordinary trucks cannot enter, but our Type II can.”

He turned to the next page, pointed to a close-up photo of the entry step, and said, "The entry step for the low-entry model is only one step, so you can get on the bus with just a lift of your leg. For sanitation workers and delivery drivers who have to get on and off dozens of times a day, one less step means less physical strain. The chassis is equipped with full air suspension and rear axle adaptive steering, so comfort is not compromised even when fully loaded. The turning radius is also smaller than that of similarly sized vehicles when making U-turns on narrow city roads. Anyone who has driven a large truck knows that a smaller turning radius means you have to make fewer turns on narrow roads, saving time and fuel."

Finally, Manager Sun turned to the page on safety features, his tone becoming more serious: "Safety is a common selling point of both Chongmingbird models. Both the Baize bus and the Chongmingbird truck meet the highest current safety rating standards for commercial vehicles and comply with stringent urban safety standards. These standards not only protect the driver but also require vehicles to have sufficient protective measures for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists—for example, the height and rigidity of the bumpers have been specially designed to minimize injury to pedestrians in low-speed collisions."

As soon as Manager Sun stepped off the stage after the press conference, he was surrounded by representatives of several major clients.

A logistics company owner in overalls squeezed through the crowd, grabbed Manager Sun's sleeve, and said, "Manager Sun, I run the Northwest route, hauling ore all year round. The higher the horsepower, the better. Give me a price quote for that 780-horsepower Chongming Bird Model I, and I'll report it to the finance department when I get back."

Manager Sun said with a smile, "The price list will be sent to everyone shortly. Take a look at the configuration first, and we can discuss any customizations you may need."

A middle-aged man in a suit handed over his business card. "Manager Sun, I work in cold chain logistics. I'm particularly interested in the Type II's low-entry design and full-vehicle air suspension. Could you make a dedicated chassis for a refrigerated van?"

Manager Sun carefully put away his business card. "Special vehicle chassis are what we're working on next. Cold chain logistics, sanitation, fire protection, and emergency rescue are all in our R&D plans. I'll let you know as soon as there's any progress."

"That's great! I'll wait for your good news."

...(End of this chapter)