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Chapter 2621 Without madness, there is no life.

Thanks to the combined efforts of engineers and numerous skilled workers, the production capacity of Tianchao Automobile's Shunyi plant has now stabilized.

Suning received an annual production capacity assessment report from the production department.

The report states in black and white that the Shunyi Super Factory currently has an annual production capacity of 400,000 vehicles.

The figure of 400,000 vehicles would have been astonishing to anyone who saw it in the Chinese auto market in 1997.

What is this concept?

At that time, the joint venture brands with the best domestic sales had production bases across the country that combined were only about this size.

One Chinese car factory is equivalent to the combined output of several other factories.

This number hasn't been released yet, otherwise it would definitely cause a huge uproar.

Suning immediately called the head of the production department, "Director Lei, are there any errors in the data?"

"President Su, the data has been verified and there is absolutely no error in the calculation."

"Then let the human resources department increase recruitment efforts in high schools across the country, providing training while putting workers on the job, and absolutely prevent any shortage of workers."

"Understood! Because of our good relationship with Dalian, Dalian has sent us a lot of skilled workers, so there is no shortage of skilled workers at this stage."

"Yes, we also need to consider the skilled workers at the Qingdao factory."

"Yes, Mr. Su."

After hanging up the phone, Su Ning began to think again.

Now that production capacity has reached this level, the domestic market alone cannot absorb it all.

Suning is well aware of this.

Although the domestic passenger car market has been growing, Chinese people in 1997 had limited budgets for buying cars.

A Santana costs over 100,000 yuan, and a Jetta costs over 100,000 yuan. Only a minority of families can afford to buy a car with that much money.

Coupled with the pressure from joint venture brands in the high-end market, the market share that Chinese automakers can ultimately obtain in China is limited.

Moreover, Suning cannot compete indefinitely with state-owned and joint-venture car companies for market share in China; that would be too unseemly and could easily attract unnecessary trouble.

If a private enterprise like yours has taken away the market share of several long-established state-owned enterprises, how can the relevant government departments behind them sit idly by?

Therefore, expanding into overseas markets is not an optional extra, but an inevitable question that the Chinese automotive industry must answer today.

By the time state-owned and joint-venture automakers start targeting them, it will be too late to come up with countermeasures.

Therefore, Suning chose several emerging market regions as its breakthrough point overseas...

Southeast Asia, Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and South America.

These places share common characteristics: car consumption is just beginning, there are no strong local car brands, people are price-sensitive but not so concerned about brand history, and the road conditions are complex, so the requirements for vehicle durability are far higher than the pursuit of brand premium.

In Southeast Asia, the rainy season can turn dirt roads into mud pits; in the Gobi Desert of Africa, there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometers; in the Middle East, the surface temperature of the desert is high enough to fry an egg in summer; and in South America, the mountain roads are winding and steep.

These places don't care how old your brand is; they only care if you can withstand the test of time.

These characteristics are highly compatible with the product positioning of Tianchao Auto.

As for the European and American markets, Suning is not considering them for the time being.

The reason is simple: the entry standards in the European and American markets are extremely strict at this time. Emissions, safety, and after-sales service systems are all hard barriers. Chinese automakers do not yet have enough technical reserves and market teams to meet these barriers.

Forcing your way in will only result in one thing—getting humiliated and wasting money.

These arrogant "European princes" and "American bullies" are no saints; any policy they propose can make them feel like they're in heaven.

……

Suning has brought in a batch of AI robots from its space world that specialize in marketing and sales. They look exactly like ordinary people, are fluent in the local language, and understand the local business culture and negotiation habits.

Those who go to the Middle East can speak Arabic, those who go to South America can speak Spanish and Portuguese, and those who go to Southeast Asia can freely switch between the local dialect and English.

Assistant Xiao Zhao is in charge of the administrative coordination for these AI robots, and she always finds it strange when arranging passports, visas, and air tickets...

These people seem to never need to adjust to the time difference; once they arrive in a new place, they can go out to work the very next day.

Moreover, every few days they would send back a batch of solid market research reports and dealer intention agreements.

Once, while organizing reports sent back from overseas, Xiao Zhao kept looking at a photo of a distributor's contract sent from Saudi Arabia.

In the photo, a local dealer wearing a white robe is signing a contract, with a sales representative from Tianchao Auto standing next to him. Behind them, in the showroom, is a white Tiger SUV, its white body dazzlingly white in the desert sun.

Xiao Zhao handed the photos to Zhuang Zhuang next to him, "Zhuang Zhuang, look, our people have only been in Saudi Arabia for a week and they've already secured the distributorship. It takes me at least half a month to negotiate a contract back home. What kind of efficiency do these people have?"

Zhuangzhuang took the photo, looked at it, smiled, and said, "The people that President Su chooses are naturally all top sales talents."

"..."

……

With the on-site promotion of the AI ​​sales team, Tianchao Auto's dealer network in several overseas markets has been gradually expanded, and trial sales vehicles have begun to be loaded and shipped.

But a new problem soon arose: there were no boats.

At that time, China's international shipping capacity was already very tight, and there were very few roll-on/roll-off ships that could transport cars.

After all, the domestic market at that time was dominated by joint ventures and lacked demand for exporting cars, making exporting cars abroad a pipe dream.

Occasionally you can charter a ship, but the schedule is unpredictable, the cabin space is insufficient, and the freight costs are outrageously expensive.

Suning specifically asked the finance department to do a calculation, while the people from Siyi Foreign Trade summarized the ship charter fees and put them on his desk in a table.

Suning took the calculator and pressed the buttons on the table. After finishing, he put the calculator on the table. "Based on the overseas sales forecast of Chinese automobiles for the next three years, the money spent on chartering ships will be enough to buy several new ships. Moreover, by controlling the transportation process, the delivery cycle and freight costs can be controlled, and export tax rebates are also easier to process."

"President Su, what do you mean?"

"Mr. Fan, I plan to set up a shipping company, mainly to serve ourselves, but also to explore other markets."

"Shipping companies are very expensive."

"No problem! The output ratio is still very good."

Suning decided to handle its own shipping business.

Later experience has taught Suning that shipping is a truly highly profitable industry in the era of globalized trade, a fact universally acknowledged.

The lifeline of global trade is in the hands of shipping companies; the profit from a single voyage can equal the annual revenue of a medium-sized enterprise.

Moreover, China is about to successfully join the WTO, and the foreign trade industry is about to enter a period of rapid growth. The volume of import and export goods will increase exponentially, and the shipping industry will definitely be rolling in money.

If we don't join now, and wait until the WTO is implemented before buying ships, the price and shipyard availability will be different.

Suning called Xiao Zhao over and said, "Xiao Zhao, notify the legal department to register a wholly-owned shipping subsidiary called 'Kunyu Shipping'."

Xiao Zhao wrote the name down in his notebook and asked, "President Su, what are the two characters for 'Kunyu'?" "Kun in Qiankun, Yu in Yutu." Su Ning wrote the two characters on a piece of paper for him to see. "'Kunyu' comes from ancient Chinese geographical texts and means 'earth,' which pairs perfectly with 'Celestial Empire'... The Celestial Empire manufactures cars, the four barbarians handle import and export, and Kunyu transports cars. Go tell the legal department to clearly state the business scope: international shipping, international freight forwarding, and ship management."

"Understood! Now our Tianchao Group will have five subsidiaries."

……

After the company was registered, Suning had its staff contact several large shipyards in China and placed orders for three types of ships in one go.

Suning held an internal meeting, summoning the head of Siyi Foreign Trade, the investment department staff, and the financial director.

A table was projected in the conference room, listing the basic parameters and quantities of the three types of ships.

Suning pointed to the table and said, "Type 1: three 20,000-ton roll-on/roll-off ships, the main force for automobile exports. I have already reviewed the parameters—200 meters in total length, 36.5 meters in width, and a full load displacement of 21,000 tons. It has fourteen cargo decks with a total deck area of ​​71,400 square meters."

The investment department staff looked down at the calculator for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Mr. Su, what does 71,400 square meters mean?"

Suning said, "The area of ​​a standard football field is 7,140 square meters, which is equivalent to eleven football fields. A ship is equivalent to eleven football fields laid out on one ship. It can transport 8,500 cars at a time."

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

The CFO gasped softly beside him, "Eight thousand five hundred vehicles? How much do we export in a month now?"

Su Ning said, "The fact that there are fewer ships now doesn't mean there will be fewer in the future. Moreover, five of these fourteen decks are liftable decks. Once raised, the clearance of the lower decks can accommodate heavy trucks and large buses. Baize buses and Chongming Bird trucks can drive directly into the ship's hold and be driven off at overseas ports for delivery. No disassembly or containerization is required."

"..." The executives present were speechless, suddenly realizing that their boss was crazy.

"Type two: six 100,000-ton oil tankers; Type three: six 100,000-ton container ships." Su Ning moved the laser pointer to the bottom of the table. "Oil tankers are used to transport crude oil and chemical raw materials imported from overseas. For bulk raw materials needed for car manufacturing, such as steel, plastic particles, and rubber, oil tankers are the most economical option. Container ships transport spare parts and complete vehicle kits, forming a transportation matrix with roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) ships. In the future, if Chinese automakers want to build CKD assembly plants overseas, the export of kits will rely on container ships."

"Mr. Su, how do we solve the funding problem? The Qingdao commercial vehicle base is already facing a funding gap."

"Keep lending! We, the Celestial Empire, love a thrill."

"..."

……

When the order was placed with the shipyard, several large shipyards in China were in an uproar.

In 1997, although China's shipbuilding industry had already achieved a certain level of international competitiveness, opportunities to receive such a large-scale order at once were rare.

Three 20,000-ton roll-on/roll-off ships, six 100,000-ton oil tankers, and six 100,000-ton container ships, totaling 1.26 million deadweight tons.

This number ranks among the top shipbuilding orders nationwide that year, and all of them came from a single private enterprise, without any government backing or state-owned capital involvement.

This order immediately caused a huge sensation around the world, and even shipyards in Japan and South Korea flocked to it.

Moreover, Japanese and South Korean shipyards all quoted Kunyu Shipping the lowest prices, and they tried their best to meet any requests Kunyu Shipping might have.

However, Suning explicitly included a mandatory requirement in the contract: all ships, from steel plates to main engines to navigation equipment, must be made in China.

The engine uses domestically produced main engines, the deck machinery uses domestically produced components, and even the ship's communication and navigation equipment must be products from domestic marine electronics factories.

This requirement was somewhat demanding in the shipbuilding market at the time.

In pursuit of reliability, many ship owners tend to buy imported core equipment, such as German MAN or Finnish Wärtsilä main engines, and navigation radars that are not made by Japanese Furuno.

A common saying among domestic shipowners when ordering ships is, "The main engine must be imported; I don't trust domestically produced ones."

But Suning wouldn't budge. He was very blunt during negotiations with the shipyard representatives: "When Tianchao Group goes abroad, it represents Chinese industry. Our own ships fly the Chinese flag and must be made in China from top to bottom. It is true that there is still a gap between domestic and international advanced main engines, but this gap cannot be narrowed by constantly buying imported equipment. If you don't give domestic equipment the opportunity to be put on board, it will never catch up."

"President Su, rest assured! We will definitely not let your company down."

When the Japanese and South Korean shipyards learned of this, they secretly cursed Suning for being out of his mind.

However, Tianchao Group and Suning were too lazy to bother with these wolves, nor did they need to consider their relationship with them.

……

Several domestic shipyards worked overtime overnight to develop plans in order to secure orders.

Dalian Shipyard, Jiangnan Shipyard, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, and Guangzhou Shipyard International all sent technical teams to Beijing to report.

Each shipyard wanted to acquire as many ships as possible. Some presented their best design proposals, some promised to deliver the ships ahead of schedule within the contract period, and some offered the biggest discounts on their quotes.

Suning specially instructed his assistant, Xiao Zhao, to arrange a series of briefings, which ran from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., visiting one shipyard after another.

Each shipyard's technical team brought thick design plans and quotations, explaining the dry dock schedule, steel procurement channels, main engine supplier list, and delivery schedule item by item.

Suning sat across the conference table, listening and asking questions, all of which were very professional and detailed.

"Which steel mill did you use for the ship plates?"

What is the domestic production rate of the mainframe components?

"Which company manufactures the hydraulic system for the mobile deck?"

What is the maximum load-bearing capacity of the stern ramp of a roll-on/roll-off ship?

Xiao Zhao was taking notes next to him, and his fingers ached from writing.

During lunch, Xiao Zhao rubbed his wrist and said to Zhuang Zhuang, "President Su is determined to get to the bottom of these shipyards today."

Zhuangzhuang placed the boxed lunch on his table, saying, "Eat quickly, there are three more restaurants this afternoon."

"Wow! Our CEO Su is really crazy."

"Hmph! I've heard a saying: 'One cannot live without being obsessed.'"

"..."

Ultimately, this massive order of 126 million tons was split among several shipyards.

Ro-Ro ships were allocated to shipyards with experience in building them, while tankers and container ships were allocated based on the shipyards' dry dock schedules and construction capabilities.

Each family gets a few ships, so no one can say it's not enough.

Seeing how sensible Tianchao Group was, the relevant departments suddenly stopped expressing any dissent.

After all, Tianchao Group has the strength, knows when to advance and retreat, and understands the principle of keeping the profits within the company. As a result, many bigwigs have taken notice of this company.

On the day the contract was signed, after Suning signed it, the director of Jiangnan Shipyard shook Suning's hands with both of his, saying, "President Su, our factory workers don't have to worry about the Spring Festival this year."

Su Ning said, "Director Chu, if this ship is completed, we won't have to worry about the Spring Festival next year. Kunyu Shipping will have new orders in the future."

"Oh? It seems Mr. Su really has ambitions for the shipping industry?"

"Of course! A new era is about to begin, and the Tianchao Group absolutely cannot lag behind."

"..."

...(End of this chapter)