Fu Guangzheng knew Feng Yu was not participating in the negotiation and decided not to join. Kirilenko also did not join and sent his men instead. His men are better in negotiations compared to him.
When the negotiation started, Feng Yu went to R&D to look at the specs of the low-cost car.
A prototype that looks like Suzuki Alto is parked in the R&D center. It is not ugly, but Feng Yu prefers Chery QQ or Fiat Panda’s designs. With this design, no wonder the top management is not confident in a small car.
“What is this car’s CC?” Feng Yu opened the door and sat in the driver’s seat. It’s not too cramped, and people below 1.8m can still drive it, and those around 1.7m will be comfortable in it.
“1L, and uses a 3-cylinder engine. It is similar to our Motorized tricycle’s engine and uses some technologies from our tractors. The power is on the low side and has a high requirement on the roads.” The Chief Engineer explained.
A 1L motorcycle or even a 300CC motorcycle can move on all sorts of road surfaces. But when converted to a car, it is not enough.
The Chief Engineer added that this car’s performance is lower than Bing City’s Aviation Factory’s minivans and Daihatsu’s Charade.
Of course, the production cost of this car is also lower.
“What is the top speed of this car?” Feng Yu asked. This is an essential factor.
“125mph, but we don’t suggest driving more than 80mph. The body is too light, and the handling will be poor if it goes too fast. This car is suitable only to be driven in the cities as the roads in the cities are quite short.”
Feng Yu nodded, and this is similar to what he imagines. He can even push the car himself. This car is too light.
Although the petrol price now is still low, fuel consumption is still an essential factor. The ones buying this car are also not government leaders, and they cannot claim petrol expenses. The capacity is small and is fuel-efficient, can be a selling point for this car.
The car is only fitted with a radio and does not have a CD or DVD player, but it should be enough.
“Old Ma, who designed this air conditioner? Why is the cold air removed?” Feng Yu frowned and asked.
“We had wanted to take away the air conditioner to lower the cost. But we think that it will be too cold during winters to drive with windows down. So, we added a heater. If the weather is too hot, the driver can wind down the windows.”
“No. This is the basic feature and needs it. How much can the cost increase if we added cold air?” Only with air conditioning, people will think of it as a car. This is a must for all vehicles.
“The production cost will increase by 1,000 RMB. Since you think we must add in this feature, we will alter the designs later.” The Chief Engineer replied.
Feng Yu looked at the car’s interior, and all the windows are not automatic. It must be winded manually, but Feng Yu does not mind. Winding down the windows is not something troublesome.
This car is manual transmission and has five gears.
The car seat is regular and not comfortable. The material looks cheap, but Feng Yu does not have anything to say about this. No one will think of using real leather seats for these small cars.
As for air-bags, it is not necessary, as no one will drive more than 40 mph in the cities. Most accidents in the cities are just side-to-side collisions.
No matter what, this car is still safer than motorcycles, and this must be mentioned in their marketing.
Feng Yu adjust the seat, and felt it’s still acceptable, despite inclining the seat to the back will block the back seat.
Feng Yu alighted and opened up the boot. The boot is small and cannot even fit a piece of small luggage.
Another reason for buying a car is to carry things. This boot is so small that it can only be used to carry groceries from the market.
“This boot must be bigger. Tell Liu Michael to redesign it, and the rear passenger seat must be removable. If it cannot be done, convert it into a two-seater.”
“Two-seater? Will people want to buy a two-seater car? All cars have two rows of seats, and our Oriental Deer have three rows.” The Chief Engineer felt Feng Yu’s idea would not work, but he doesn’t know how to tell him.
“Most of the time, how many people is in your car?” Feng Yu asked.
“Most of the time, I am driving alone or with my wife. My son is studying in another province.”
“That’s right. A single row seat is enough for you. Furthermore, this car is designed for young adults in the cities. They are mostly working away from their families. Also, a two-seater will allow them to bring their girlfriends around and not worry about anyone else disturbing them.”
Most sports cars are two-seaters too. Who cares about others when you can bring a girl out for a spin?
The main reason is this car is too small and light. If the car’s height had to be increased for a bigger boot, it would be ugly. The balance will be off and will be dangerous during corners.
“This… I will speak to the designers and see what they say.” The Chief Engineer agreed unwillingly. He still does not like this idea.
“Is this a four-wheel-drive or a two-wheel drive?”
“It is a front two-wheel drive. The performance is not bad, except the pick-up is slightly slower. But this car is not suitable for high speed anyway.”
“We have the turbo technology, right? Why is it not used on this car? If you add in turbo, will it increase the power and fuel efficiency?”
“Use that technology on this low-cost car? We can do that, but the cost will increase.”
The Chief Engineer is feeling frustrated. You are the one who wants us to build a low-cost car, and we tried to lower the cost to our best ability. Why are you adding more things to it?
“Can the manual transmission change to an automatic transmission? Will it be cheaper?” Feng Yu remembers that automatic transmission had been developed last year.
“But automatic transmission car’s handling is not as good as a manual transmission.”
“I said this car is for transportation. Why do you need good handling? It is also easier to drive with automatic transmission, and female drivers will like it! Also, don’t you think that automatic transmission will make the car look stylish?”
In Feng Yu’s previous life, many women’s first cars are small cars with automatic transmission. Since Songjiang Motors have the automatic transmission technologies, why don’t they use it?
The Chief Engineer thought for a while. That’s right. Most people that buy cars do not know a lot about cars and will think Automatic transmission is more advanced. If we introduce an Automatic transmission car, it will be more popular! Which domestic brand of cars has Automatic transmission now? The automobile manufacturers in China do not have this technology and is only available in imported vehicles!
“Manager Feng, since Automatic transmission is better, why are we not using on our high-end cars?” The Chief Engineers asked.
“Huh? Use on our high-end cars? Feng Yu rubbed his chin. This is a good idea.
Translator’s notes.
Suzuki Alto
