Chapter 96

Lin Qiangsheng shouted loudly under the Eiffel Tower, which drew the attention of the French police. Before he was caught, Lin Qiangsheng quickly ran away.

He took a taxi back to the hotel, where Lin Xiangrong and Deputy Team Leader Song Hui were anxiously pacing around the room.

Seeing Lin Qiangsheng come in, Lin Xiangrong immediately asked, "Where have you been? We couldn't find you at a critical moment! Never mind, take a look at this quickly!"

Confused, Lin Qiangsheng took the document his father handed over. It was written in English.

It read that the French Peugeot company wanted to import 20 Jetta cars produced by their factory!

Lin Qiangsheng asked his father in disbelief, "Where did this come from? It's from the Peugeot car company, sent to us."

Lin Xiangrong and Deputy Team Leader Song Hui looked at each other. Lin Xiangrong asked, "What does it say?"

Song Hui took the packaging of a courier and handed it to Lin Qiangsheng, saying, "A foreigner delivered this. It's such a big envelope!"

Lin Qiangsheng took it, looked at it, and said, "The letter says that the French Peugeot car company wants to purchase 20 compact cars from our factory!"

"Really?!" Lin Xiangrong and Song Hui were surprised, and Lin Xiangrong asked in shock.

Song Hui suddenly understood, overjoyed, and exclaimed, "Great! This must be the first batch of cars exported by our new China! 20 cars! I must report this to the provincial government immediately!"

Lin Xiangrong's face also lit up with joy, and he laughed, "I never thought our car factory would have a day when we export cars! Ha ha... I must tell the factory to pick 20 of the best quality cars!"

In an instant, both of them rushed out. Lin Qiangsheng sat on the bed, his expression uncertain, muttering to himself, "Why? Why 20 cars?!"

This huge and shocking news was delivered directly to their hotel, bypassing the embassy. Peugeot also stated that after receiving a confirmation from the Chinese side, they would send someone to negotiate the purchase.

Just two days ago, during their talks, the French had romantically said that Peugeot did not need low-end cars and could not let Peugeot cars become low-priced cars.

They were not interested in the market analysis of Chinese cars provided by Lin Qiangsheng, and even looked down on it. The French stubbornly believed that all Chinese should ride bicycles.

After leaving the materials, Lin Qiangsheng's team left like defeated roosters. During the talks over the past two days, they even deliberately avoided the Gallic rooster!

Today, Peugeot sent a courier saying they wanted to buy 20 cars. Why?!

The French couldn't be planning to dissect the Jetta, study it, register the exterior patent, change the interior, and then launch their own "Jetta" car, claiming it as their own research and development, could they?!

After all, Peugeot did not yet have a mainstream compact three-box car. Their cars were either too avant-garde and expensive or had serious quality issues!

Lin Qiangsheng scratched his head and said, "Damn! They are indeed sly!"

Registering the exterior patent was no longer timely, and Lin Qiangsheng didn't have the blueprints with him!

Should he bring the blueprints with the exported cars?

Lin Qiangsheng considered this, scratching his head. This was indeed a troublesome matter! He had actually forgotten about it!

Volkswagen would launch the first-generation Jetta this year! Although his Jetta was already the second generation, it still had the shadow of the first-generation Golf! It was essentially a Golf with an added trunk.

He was alone and had limited funds. Could he register the patent? Would Volkswagen sue him for plagiarism?

Lin Qiangsheng shivered, thinking that the second-generation Jetta had already made significant improvements compared to the second-generation Golf and the first-generation Jetta. He also thought about how many American and Japanese cars at the time were boxy, like the Honda Ballade and the sixth-generation Toyota Crown. He sighed in relief. At least he had company! Everyone copied each other!

The news spread back to China, and the car factory was in chaos. The retired Secretary Zheng also came from home, along with Secretary Chang Yuanting. They personally selected 20 of the best-conditioned compact cars.

The provincial government was also shocked. This was the first time cars were exported by the new China! Although it was only 20 cars, 20 cars were still an export!

This was a significant achievement in provincial industrial construction, a testament to the leadership of the provincial party committee and government, their commitment to being pragmatic, and the hard work and unity of all comrades!

We have always imported cars from others. When have our cars ever been exported? With the first batch of 20 cars, there will be a second batch of 30, 40, 100 cars!

The provincial government took this very seriously. They sent people to contact the car factory, notified the provincial foreign trade bureau, and reported to the central government.

While China was in a frenzy, in a large office at the headquarters of Peugeot in France, two people were having a conversation. On the table were several photos. Peugeot's Executive Vice President Bregly was examining the photos of the car.

Sitting in front of him was Leon from Peugeot's Business Intelligence Department. He told Bregly, "According to our intelligence, Volkswagen will launch a new car this summer called the Jetta. The Jetta was designed to meet the high demand for three-box family cars in the North American market. The Germans created a compact three-box family car based on the Golf and named it Jetta, inspired by the jet stream in the Pacific."

Bregly put down the photo and said, "It looks quite appealing! The Germans have another good weapon!"

Leon shrugged and nodded, saying, "It seems so!"

Bregly picked up another photo, which was the side view of the second-generation Jetta produced by Lin Qiangsheng's factory.

He looked at it and asked, "What's with the Chinese car? I see a strong German influence here! Look at the sharp lines and the straight edges! Oh! It reminds me of a clumsy, rustic German face!"

Leon laughed and said, "It's very interesting! According to our intelligence, this Chinese car factory started producing cars last year. However, the cars they produced at the time were not like this; this is already the second generation!"

Bregly, interested, said, "Started producing cars last year? And already the second generation? How did they do it? What did your investigation reveal?"

Leon took a magnified photo from the file and handed it to Bregly, saying with a strange expression, "Take a look, Bregly! I guarantee it's very, very interesting. There must be a big discovery here!"

Bregly took the photo and quickly said in surprise, "How can they be the same?" He quickly picked up the first photo to compare.

After a careful look, he continued, "Oh, no! They're not the same! The Chinese car has round headlights, while the German one has square headlights! The Chinese car's paint quality and technology are very low, and the body looks rough, as if it was handcrafted! The entire car is poorly made!"

"Oh! My God! The Chinese are actually using pre-World War II car manufacturing methods to produce cars!"

Leon laughed, "It might be even earlier!" "Isn't it interesting? These Chinese cars are handcrafted and mass-produced! And..."

Bregly, impatient, said, "And what?"

Leon shook his head and said, "And the cars they produced last year are exactly the same as the Jetta that the Germans launched this year! Except for the headlights, paint, and workmanship! Maybe even the materials and power system."

Bregly, with his arms crossed and a frown, said, "I can't understand it. Did the Germans go crazy? They actually copied the body design of the Chinese car?!"

Leon chuckled, "That's what I find interesting! Isn't it?"

Bregly looked at Leon and said, "So, you sent them an intention to purchase the cars?"

Leon nodded and smiled, "Yes! Our intelligence department found something interesting, so we wanted to figure it out!"

Bregly waved his hand and said, "Go and investigate! Find out what's going on. I'm starting to get interested in this too!"