Li Mingde was furious when he was leaving the Aviation Factory. Hou Haitao also tried to help persuade and calm him down. But after he boarded the car, his facial expression changed back to normal. He asked excitedly: “Manager Feng, how was it? Is the contract signed? Show it to me now.”
Feng Yu threw the contract at Li Mingde. He was still sore from the cursing and swearing from Li Mingde earlier!
Li Mingde smiled: “Manager Feng, you are the one who asked me to act. How was my acting?”
“Very good. Especially the part where you point at me and start scolding me. It was spectacular. I thought you are scolding me for real!” Feng Yu rolled his eyes. Li Mingde must be waiting for this chance to scold me!
“Aiya…… It is all an act. I’m sorry. Let me see the contract. Let’s look at the contract first.” Li Mingde does not know how to continue with the conversation, so he chose to keep quiet.
Li Mingde flipped the contract, and the total number of vehicles was…… 3,000!!!
Li Mingde’s eyes opened wide. This was a huge order! He had discussed with Feng Yu and thought that the most the military would order was 1,000 vehicles! This was perfect! 3,000 cars!
Hmmm… For every 10 vehicles purchased, 1 Olympic model, Prestige edition will be given to them for free. Every 100 vehicles purchase, the Machinery Company give them one Songjiang Olympic Luxury edition vehicle + 2 Songjiang 125 cc motorcycles + 3 Songjiang 100 cc motorcycles. Although the profits from this deal was not a lot, it was better than none.
Li Mingde made a mental calculation. The profits were about 6,000 to 7,000 RMB per vehicle. 3,000 vehicles mean the gains will be almost 20 million!
“That’s great. Manager Feng, with this order, it will help with our marketing. Huh? Wait a minute. This is the military’s order, and we are not allowed to publicize this?” Li Mingde asked.
“Who says we cannot publicize this? Contact Longjiang newspaper, the evening newspapers and also our dealers in the other provinces immediately. We will publish an article on the papers about this deal. Not only we shall talk about this deal, but we must also show that we are not making money from this deal. We are doing this to contribute to the nation. Most importantly, get a few soldiers in full uniform to stand beside our camouflage paint Off-Roads. Take a series of pictures and publish it on the papers!”
Cannot publicize? If I cannot publicize this deal, why would I lower the rates for them? Earning only 6,000 to 7,000 RMB from a 200,000 RMB vehicle. The profits were not even 5%!
“What did you say? It is an offense to impersonate soldiers!” Li Mingde was shocked. Had Manager Feng gone crazy? This will offend the military.
“They had agreed. Get those that just retired from the army. They do not need to put on their ranks and medals. It would be better if we are able to get newly retired soldiers from the army, navy and air force. If they agree to be our models, I can give them a motorcycle each!” Feng Yu said. What’s there to be afraid of? Who wants to impersonate soldiers? Why can’t retired soldiers take pictures in their old uniforms?
The following two days, pictures of all sort of soldiers in their uniforms appeared in every newspaper in every province. If it was not February now, people might have thought it was nearing to People’s Liberation Army Day!
Other than the pictures on the newspaper, there were similar articles across all papers. Our army had purchased XX number of Songjiang Off-Roads vehicles. Our military had increased their combat power. The articles did not mention the exact figures for the number of vehicles bought and also how much stronger the military became. But coupled with the pictures, the readers all believed what was stated in the articles.
Many people also took note of the majestic looking Songjiang Off-Road vehicles in the pictures. No matter whether if they could afford this vehicle, all of them remembered this brand.
Those distributors in the different provinces also used this military’s order to speak to their local government.
In this era, the road conditions were not as good as the future years. Many of the roads leading to the counties were not cemented.
Those distributors took the opportunity to promote Songjiang Off-Roads vehicles. The body was high and have a powerful engine. The suspensions were also very good, and the interior was very spacious.
In the end, Songjiang Off-Roads were selling better than Songjiang Olympic models.
……
At the office of First Automobile Works Director, the head of departments had gathered together. The office was filled with smoke.
“Think of a solution and come up with a plan. If this carries on, our Audi 100 sales will not reach our target. Look at how Songjiang Motors sells their vehicles. Who was the one who said that we can ignore Songjiang Motors and they are not a threat to us?” Director Zhao knocked on the table and asked.
No one dares to say a word. Director Zhao had also agreed to that statement previous. Now, he turns around and starts to blame others.
“Songjiang Motors is only a stone throw away from us in Bing City. Yesterday, the counties around Jilin City had ordered Songjiang Motors. Don’t all of you feel embarrassed?”
Director Zhao was furious. His First Automobile Works had not started to suppress Songjiang Motors, but Songjiang Motors had already climbed onto their head. This was a disgrace!
“Director Zhao, we had looked into Songjiang Motors cars. Their performance is better than our vehicles. However, they had put in protection measures in their engines. We are not confident that we could dismantle the engine without damaging the core components.” One of the leaders said softly.
“Think of a way. What are the engineers and mechanics doing? How can we lose to a factory that makes tractors?” Director Zhao became more furious.
“Ok. Director Zhao, I will lead them to look into Songjiang Motors’ technologies.” That leader said and left the room. The rest of the leaders were cursing him in their hearts. You left the room, and we still have to bear the brunt of Director Zhao.
……
The director of Beijing Benz Automotive Co. was also furious. Songjiang Motors was detestable! They had snatched the military orders from them! If the army had used the same amount to purchase their Jeeps J2020, it would be almost a 10,000 vehicles order! That means they would exceed 100,000 vehicles sales this year!
“Sales department and technology department. Go back and reflect on yourselves! Find out where is the difference between our vehicles and theirs! Why they are able to snatch away the order from us?”
10,000 vehicles were a significant impact on them. The profit was at least tens of millions. They could do a lot with this amount!
Not only Songjiang Motors had snatched the military orders from Beijing Benz Automotive. Even their retail shops were affected. Many of their customers had said that their Jeeps were not as powerful as Songjiang Off-Roads after they test drive their Jeeps. This further lowers their sales.
What nonsense are they talking about? Our J2020 is only selling for how much and how much is Songjiang Off-Road selling for?
……
At Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, the director was also frustrated. They had confidently bought the Santana’s production line and thought that they could occupy the mid-low range automobile market segment. They wanted to be China’s top automobile manufacturer.
But the Songjiang Motors, who they looked down upon, suddenly entered this market segment. Not only they developed a better car than them, but the retail prices were almost the same as them. Also, Songjiang Motors was able to sell their vehicles all over China within a short time.
Their Santana sales had dropped drastically. Although they have an established brand, a long history, and acceptable sales figures, Songjiang Motors under the tagline of “Developed and made in China” will overtake them sooner or later!
All the major automobile manufacturers in China felt threaten by Songjiang Motors! But the Chief Architect had praised this company, and they can’t suppress this company openly.
You claim to have advanced technologies? We shall compete with technologies. I do not believe that after building cars for so many years, our techs will lose to a tractor factory.
All the state-owned enterprises started to develop newer technologies and Feng Yu returned back to Beijing.
