Zhongtai's development should be divided into several stages.
The first stage should still be about seriously manufacturing cars.
From Ying Jianren, Tan Jincheng learned about his past experiences hitting a wall when he approached large state-owned enterprises with car production qualifications, feeling that they should follow Chery's path.
And in terms of imitation, they were learning from Geely.
The two private car manufacturers in Zhejiang Province actually took similar paths in their early stages.
It is understandable that almost all domestic car models during this period showed traces of imitation.
The exterior design and development of cars were not as simple as imagined, and to quickly enter the market, one had to copy a bit from here and a bit from there.
However, there were differences in their copying.
Zhongtai chose to copy all the way, leading to a lack of technological accumulation and inability to break through in the later stages, while Geely eventually reached a higher level through continuous merger and acquisition models, integrating innovation.
In the previous life, there was a joke in the automotive industry that called Zhongtai's R&D department the "Zhongtai Measuring Tape Department."
Legend has it that employees of the Measuring Tape Department could design cars resembling brands like Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche simply by using a measuring tape, ridiculing Zhongtai's pixel-level imitation.
Zhongtai in the first period had confidence in car manufacturing, but clearly lacked sufficient backing.
The second stage should be when, after acquiring car qualifications and launching products that were highly popular in the market, their confidence grew stronger.
They began to exert effort, heavily invested in introducing various production lines, and collaborated with international big brands.
Not only did they obtain the first new energy vehicle license in China, but they also introduced Tesla's electric vehicle technology.
Tan Jincheng was unsure if they were the first domestic company to introduce it, but they were certainly among the earliest.
At that time, new forces like Wei Xiaoli hadn't emerged yet.
Zhongtai during this period should still have been ambitious, and its development momentum was indeed good, until the emergence of Baoshitai.
Baoshitai could be said to be a turning point for Zhongtai, because although the car received constant criticism and its quality was highly concerning, it sold extremely well.
At that time, Baoshitai cars were truly ubiquitous on the streets.
Tan Jincheng still remembered that when it was first launched, he couldn't distinguish between Baoshitai and Porsche, and once wondered why suddenly there were so many wealthy people.
It's unknown whether it was Baoshitai's excessive success or the cancellation of new energy vehicle subsidies that led to a decline in Zhongtai's sales, resulting in a "what's the use of trying?" attitude.
Ultimately, after going public through a reverse merger using capital operation methods, the founder's family successfully extricated themselves.
At this point, the dream of car manufacturing was also shattered.
During the morning visit, Tan Jincheng saw the model that was still unnamed.
Without commenting on the quality, in terms of appearance, it wasn't as ugly as Tan Jincheng had imagined; on the contrary, it felt a bit cute.
This type of small SUV is truly a blank slate in the domestic market.
It must be said that Mr. Ying still has good foresight; once launched, as long as the price is right, sales will not be too bad.
The trajectory of history has also proven that this model was relatively successful.
"Would it be convenient to ask about the price of the Zhongtai 001?"
As the afternoon negotiations began, Tan Jincheng inquired about the price of the model internally named "Vehicle 001."
Since everyone had signed non-disclosure agreements, there was no risk of anything being leaked.
"It's divided into different grades. We expect the price to be between 43,800 yuan and 63,800 yuan. What are your thoughts, Mr. Tan?"
Wu Jianzhong responded with a smile.
"No, no, just pure curiosity. I thought this model was quite cute during the morning visit."
As expected, it was a trump card right from the start.
An SUV under 80,000 yuan, truly bold.
Even if it's a small SUV, it's still an SUV.
I remember a phase when Chinese people were quite obsessed with SUV models.
"I wonder what Mr. Tan thinks about this pricing. The lowest price for your company's first launched model was 1,999 yuan, and the market proved your pricing was very accurate."
"It's excellent. I think this pricing will amaze the entire market. Buying an SUV for 40,000 yuan, I believe most people with car-buying needs will be tempted."
It was already 2006.
Although the per capita income had not significantly increased, job opportunities were more abundant, and restrictions on working away from home were fewer.
Ultimately, some people had earned money, and they could afford a car with a minimum price of 40,000 yuan.
Even for the high-end model priced at 60,000 yuan, gritting one's teeth and taking out a loan for a year or two wouldn't be a big problem.
Zhongtai's positioning for this car is similar to Shanchi's, meeting the car-buying needs of lower-income groups, especially urban migrant workers.
Imagine working away from home for a year or two, then driving a small car back to your rural hometown.
This not only solves the headache of buying tickets during the Spring Festival travel rush but also allows you to show off at home.
When work isn't busy, you can even smoothly drive an unlicensed taxi to earn some extra money.
In most rural areas across the country in the early 2000s, there really weren't many families who could afford a small car.
Regardless of whether it was a car worth tens of thousands of yuan, if you drove one back, in the eyes of your fellow villagers and parents, it would absolutely be an amazing achievement.
Such pricing, in itself, is a killer move for the current market gap in small SUVs.
Tan Jincheng naturally couldn't go against his conscience and say they wouldn't sell, as that would seem a bit low.
You can talk nonsense when discussing cooperation, but it can't be absolute nonsense.
"Mr. Tan has successful experience with pricing. With you saying that, I have even more confidence, and also more confidence in our cooperation."
Ying Jianren responded with a smile.
"That's natural, we all came with sincerity."
A leader from Beicang interjected.
"I wonder what kind of cooperation method your side intends?"
Wu Jianzhong asked.
For factory construction cooperation and establishing a branch company, Beicang District would naturally be dominant on the surface.
The "birth permit" (qualification) in Tan Jincheng's hand couldn't secure many shares.
At this point, when talking about formal cooperation, it was temporarily not Tan Jincheng's concern.
"We hope your company can establish a car manufacturing factory in Beicang District and at the same time involve car parts companies from Beicang District in the automotive industry chain, helping Beicang District's car parts companies develop together with your side."
"During the factory construction process, our Beicang District can provide all policy-related assistance, including land resources, cash investment, loans, and car production qualifications. At the same time, certain tax incentives can also be provided."
Full of sincerity, they immediately laid out their needs and the help they could provide, demonstrating such high efficiency in doing business.
Tan Jincheng had experienced this before.
In past negotiations and meetings with Shanchi Technology, these leaders were also like this: everyone would first propose their demands to see if they were consistent in the general direction.
If the general direction was consistent, it was easy to talk.
Any disagreements could be resolved one by one.
It was fine if they couldn't finish in one day; they would continue the next.
Work meals during negotiations were not particular either; bento boxes or KFC were both acceptable.
In this regard, Shanchi Technology prepared KFC the most.
Nothing else, regardless of whether it tasted good or not, it was at least safe.
Few people would get diarrhea from eating KFC, and it could also accommodate some people with food allergies.
To the extent that for a period, these people felt queasy seeing KFC and even teased Tan Jincheng about it.
Of course, this was just how it was during work.
At other times, hospitality for Shanchi Technology would not be lacking.
As for these things, everyone who knows, knows.
This direct approach clearly made Wu Jianzhong and Ying Jianren a bit unaccustomed, especially Ying Jianren, who had repeatedly hit walls recently, was even more greatly shocked.
This is the damn attitude for discussing cooperation! Everyone puts forward their needs first, and then slowly resolves the details.
What's with dragging me along every day, not responding, making me wait and wait?
"No problem. We very much welcome cooperation with your side and are also very grateful for your timely assistance when we encountered difficulties. Establishing a branch factory in Beicang District is not an issue, and using parts produced by Beicang District's component enterprises is also not an issue. As long as they pass inspection, under the same price conditions, we will consistently prioritize using parts produced within Beicang District."
Seeing the other party's attitude so clear, Wu Jianzhong could not be vague either.
First, both sides reached a consensus on the cooperation approach.
This attitude also satisfied Beicang District.
A car has a massive number of components, and merely prioritizing the use of parts produced by car component enterprises within Beicang District under comparable conditions could bring enormous benefits.
The preferential policies given to Zhongtai and the money invested could be earned back through other component manufacturers, and at the same time, more component enterprises could be fostered.
With mature technology and expanded production capacity, after supplying Zhongtai, new domestic and international automotive brand clients can also be developed.
If development proceeds smoothly, both tax revenue and employment can achieve a qualitative leap.
More industries with employment opportunities will attract more migrant populations.
The income generated from daily consumption, along with some people staying to buy homes and settle down, can further drive other industries.
This is the most direct change that a large complete vehicle manufacturer brings to local development.
With the ideas aligned, both parties entered the haggling phase.
The tax incentives offered were not mentioned for the time being, and there was no need to mention them.
Since they were stated, Zhongtai would naturally not miss out on the promised treatment.
"Then let's start with the valuation of the production qualification?"
Ying Jianren interjected, casting a glance at Tan Jincheng.
Don't let Boss Tan's indifferent demeanor fool you; while the focus of the negotiation indeed wasn't directly on him, the car production qualification he held was the key to the entire negotiation.
If he wasn't satisfied with the offer, then there really wouldn't be anything to discuss.
It was then that Ying Jianren understood why Tan Jincheng had been so open that morning, discussing with him in specific numbers how much it cost to acquire the car production qualification.
Holy crap! This kid was waiting for me here.
Setting aside factory investments and such, I bought the car production qualification for 30 million yuan.
You can't just offer 30 million and expect me to transfer it to you, can you?
You'd have to add some to the price, wouldn't you?
Although he was highly probable that the 30 million yuan figure was made up by the overly young and very handsome young man opposite him, there was no way to refute it directly.
After all, with this kind of thing, the official figures are inaccurate.
If he said he spent money privately, there's nothing wrong with that, right?
"As for the valuation of the production qualification, Mr. Ying, you can decide."
Tan Jincheng responded with a smile.
Sly! Ying Jianren muttered to himself.
"I decide? If I say it's free, would you agree?"
This was the same trick as his own: just saying "you decide," but not explicitly agreeing, waiting for the other party to make an offer.
Never mind, this is just a small sum of money.
Let's satisfy him.
Once this is settled, better cooperation can follow.
If they were to lease the production qualification, based on the selling price of the Zhongtai 001, for every car sold, they would have to pay 1% to the leasing company.
This fee, accumulating over years, would be even more exaggerated.
This first car was already being sold at a loss, aimed at entering the market.
The more they sold, the more they lost.
Leasing car production qualifications was originally the last resort.
Ying Jianren and Wu Jianzhong exchanged glances, and Wu Jianzhong nodded.
The two had already discussed it at noon.
If the other party didn't budge, they would have to acquire the production qualification at a base premium of 30 million yuan.
Zhongtai wasn't short of money now; problems that could be solved with money weren't problems at all.
What's more, Geely also spent 24 million yuan to purchase production qualifications back then.
Now, after so many years, although market conditions have changed and production qualifications haven't been constantly rising in price, overall, Boss Tan's asking price isn't particularly outrageous.
In Ying Jianren's opinion, Geely's acquisition price of 24 million yuan back then was expensive.
But there was nothing to be done; he was the first to "eat crab," and at that time, he had no bargaining power.
Being able to buy it at all was already good.
But there was no alternative, because Geely's bid had already set a benchmark for car qualifications.
No matter how low, it couldn't be less than that price, unless there were other conditions.
Tan Jincheng's ability to acquire Anda'er's qualifications at an extremely low price wasn't solely due to luck.
Although it seemed he only spent 5 million yuan in cash, the actual cost was no less than 24 million yuan.
Not to mention donations, as those were voluntary.
The investment in two factories was the key to success.
For local governments, large factories bring far more benefits than cash, especially garment factories.
To some extent, the smoothness of the process was largely related to Jinpeng Trade's garment factory.
This could be considered Zhang Xupeng's assist to Tan Jincheng.
"40 million yuan, what do you think, Mr. Tan?"
Ying Jianren asked, gritting his teeth.
This is cash, damn it! No matter how much this kid bought it for, he was certain that at 40 million yuan, he would definitely make a huge profit, at least double what he paid.
From the information he disclosed, it's only been about two months from the start of the acquisition until today, right?
He earned 20 million in less than two months.
And he couldn't refuse.
Beicang was also a bit surprised.
Although they didn't know Tan Jincheng's specific acquisition price, regardless, the figure of 40 million yuan would definitely allow Tan Jincheng to make a huge profit.
Looking at the young man whose expression remained unchanged, everyone present felt a bit complex.
They were discussing business worth tens of millions, and 40 million yuan was something many wouldn't even dare to dream of, yet he, in his early twenties, could remain as calm as ever.
With just a nod, those 40 million yuan would be his.
Everyone present was experienced, but honestly, in their early twenties, it would have been difficult for them to remain indifferent to 40 million yuan.
"Okay, no problem. Let's go with the 40 million yuan you mentioned, Mr. Ying. However, I have a small request, and I wonder if Mr. Ying can agree."
"Please speak, Mr. Tan."
Although Ying Jianren didn't understand the request, since he had already agreed to the offer, it was fine.
"40 million yuan is not a small sum. Although your company is strong, taking out such a large amount of cash at once should still put some pressure on you. So I was wondering if we could convert these 40 million yuan into shares in the Beicang factory, with the specific shareholding determined by the investment amount."
"Furthermore, since it was agreed to support Beicang's development of the automotive industry chain, it seems a bit disingenuous for me to just take the money and run. Also, I myself want to have some new industries to complement our company's business structure. I wonder if Mr. Ying can agree?"
Ying Jianren was stunned.
It wasn't that he valued equity so much; Tieniu Group was already publicly listed as a whole, so he wouldn't hold onto equity like traditional entrepreneurs.
If it brought benefits, divesting equity was fine.
The problem was that 40 million yuan wouldn't get him many shares at all, not even many shares in a branch company.
If the total investment ceiling were raised, Tan Jincheng's 40 million yuan would be diluted to almost nothing.
Doing this would bring him no benefits at all.
Rather than holding a tiny share, getting the cash directly was clearly a better approach.
With cash, what business couldn't he do?
40 million yuan in cash could leverage a lot.
"Mr. Tan, are you sure? First, 40 million yuan in cash won't get you many shares, so you'll have absolutely no say in the company's operations. Second, you yourself are in a physical business; you must know the investment cycle of such businesses. Converting 40 million yuan into shares, you might end up losing it all."
For a newly established car factory, making a profit within a few years is almost impossible.
There's a very high probability that these 40 million yuan, converted into shares, would simply go down the drain.
What's the purpose of doing this?
It couldn't be genuinely dedicated to helping Beicang District develop its industries, could it?
Or perhaps this is just a chess piece for the local government?
In that case, it might be possible.
Ying Jianren couldn't help but look at the others from Beicang.
Seeing no reaction from them, it was clear this had been communicated in advance.
Tan Jincheng smiled,
"Of course I'm sure. Let me give you a few of my reasons. First, although this license cost a considerable amount, there was indeed an element of luck in acquiring it."
"Secondly, everyone says that the ultimate dream of all entrepreneurs is to build cars, and I'm no different. Since I have this opportunity to experience the charm of car manufacturing, I naturally don't want to miss it. Even if I lose money, I can gain some experience, right?"
"What if one day I have the capability to build cars like Mr. Ying? Perhaps I would also build my own cars. Participating now is an excellent experience accumulation process. Mr. Ying wouldn't mind an extra competitor, would he?"
Ying Jianren couldn't help but smile.
It seemed this young man had no small ambition.
There's no such thing as a monopoly in the automotive industry; whether there's one more or one less competitor isn't something he can decide.
If there wasn't Tan Jincheng, there would be Wang Jincheng or Li Jincheng.
"Although I don't have Mr. Ying's wealth, I can personally afford to lose 40 million yuan, and it won't have any substantial impact on Shanchi Technology. So, I think investing in shares is worth a try."
In acquiring Anda'er's production qualification, Shanchi Technology's actual investment was only 4 million yuan and the construction of a warehousing center; not much was spent on cash flow.
The cycle for small electric scooters is different from cars.
While Shanchi Technology's perfect accounting period might face some pressure to directly come up with 40 million yuan in 2006, with Tan Jincheng's personal investments in other assets and Jinyi Industrial's cash reserves, they wouldn't be unable to sustain it.
What's more, 40 million yuan wasn't even needed.
Taking a sip of water to clear his throat, Tan Jincheng continued,
"On another note, I am also optimistic about your company's car model. I believe it can sell very well. Zhongtai's future goes beyond this; perhaps in a few years, my 40 million yuan could become 400 million, which isn't impossible. I just wonder if Mr. Ying is willing to let me ride along."
"Alright, as expected, you young people are bold. In that case, I accept. I also thank Mr. Tan for alleviating some of our financial pressure. As for the specific shareholding percentage, it will only be determined after I finalize discussions with all of you."
Ying Jianren was also straightforward.
Since Tan Jincheng had thought it through, betting on Zhongtai's future with a single production qualification, if he dared to gamble, what did Ying Jianren have to fear?
On the contrary, Ying Jianren greatly admired Tan Jincheng's courage to take risks and not be shortsighted.
A few percentage points of shares in the branch company, once given, were no big deal and would not affect his control over Zhongtai in the slightest.
"No problem. I won't participate further from now on. I just hope, Mr. Ying, that you won't be too rich and reckless, injecting tens of billions at once and leaving me with nothing."
"Hahaha, Mr. Tan, you're joking. They all say I'm worth tens of billions, but asking me to take out 10 billion is absolutely impossible."
"Alright, then let's settle the production qualification aspect like this for now. Next, let's discuss the investment issues regarding the new factory."
Wu Jianzhong also said with a smile.
First, naturally, three parties, or perhaps four parties (including Yongkang), would establish a new company.
Each party would hold a certain percentage of shares based on the registered capital, and this aspect would be left to professional accountants for calculation.
After listening for a long time, Tan Jincheng chuckled.
So, Ying Jianren completely ignored the Zhongtai valuation issue that he cared about.
Truly a big shot who had already entered the capital market; they wouldn't discuss such things with you when the product hadn't been tested by the market.
Both sides discussed more about the actual capital contribution to the Beicang branch company, which is the amount of registered capital.
With Tan Jincheng's 40 million yuan contribution, the registered capital would not be low.
Zhongtai's side indeed wanted to secure more registered capital, but if the registered capital was too large, they couldn't afford it.
Subsequent vehicle launches into the market would still require huge investments; building factories, purchasing production equipment, and recruiting all needed substantial funds.
To suppress Tan Jincheng's small shareholding, there was no need to corner themselves.
Besides, shareholders also have shareholder obligations.
Finally, after two days of negotiations between both parties, Zhongtai Automobile, the shell company from Beicang District, and Xinchi Intelligent Manufacturing signed the final cooperation agreement.
Zhongtai (Yongkang) Automobile Co., Ltd., Beicang District, and Xinchi Intelligent jointly established Zhongtai (Yongcheng) Joint-stock Co., Ltd. with a registered capital of 400 million yuan.
Zhongtai Group contributed technology, management, and 60 million yuan in cash, holding a 49% stake.
Beicang District invested a total of 300 million yuan in equivalent land plus cash, holding a 41% stake in Zhongtai (Yongcheng).
Xinchi Intelligent, on the other hand, contributed the complete set of car production qualifications valued at 40 million yuan, accounting for a 10% stake in the new company.
Beicang District and Xinchi Intelligent each held one board seat in the new company and would not directly participate in operations.
Operations would be managed by Zhongtai Group, the largest shareholder on paper, and the business strategy would remain consistent with the parent company.
Xinchi Intelligent, which is Tan Jincheng, acquired a 10% stake in the new company without spending a single penny!
This was thanks to Beicang's side; they lowered the registered capital.
Originally, Zhongtai wanted to raise the registered capital to 600 million, which would have left Tan Jincheng with only a single-digit percentage of shares.
(End of chapter)