Chapter 94 of 100
Chapter 94
10 min read2,577 words
"Need more vehicles?" Li Xueshan casually asked, "How many?"
"Can't say for sure..."
"Can't say for sure? At least give me a rough number, right?"
"If everything goes well, a few thousand vehicles a year should be possible."
"..."
Chen Geng seemed to hear the sound of the military district leader's noble chin hitting the ground, and Li Xueshan's voice trembled: "What's going on? Explain it to me clearly!"
Li Xueshan was anxious; he couldn't help but be. If it was just a few motorcycles, it wouldn't be a problem, but a few thousand motorcycles a year? How many does the Changjiang 750 manufacturer produce annually?
If these words came from someone else, Li Xueshan would have had the guard throw this guy out, but Chen Geng was different. Although young, this guy had already proven his capabilities, and Li Xueshan couldn't afford to take his words lightly.
"It's just an idea right now," Chen Geng said sheepishly.
"Then tell me your idea!" In the face of a few thousand Changjiang 750s a year, even a member of the military district leadership couldn't afford to take it lightly.
Chen Geng had no choice but to explain his idea in detail: "It's like this..."
By the time Chen Geng finished, Li Xueshan's eyes were wide open! After a long pause, he asked hesitantly, "You're sure... it can work?"
"I don't see any problem. There's a market, there's demand, and there's supply. Why shouldn't it work?" Compared to Li Xueshan's hope, which was a fraction of a percent, Chen Geng's confidence was much stronger.
That's true, if there's a market demand and we can meet it, why shouldn't it work? Li Xueshan stroked his chin for a long time before asking a crucial question: "Do you really think you can sell that many in a year?"
"Compared to such a large market, I think this number is quite conservative," Chen Geng paused and added, "Even with the most conservative estimate, I think selling three to four thousand a year is feasible, and making a thousand dollars per vehicle isn't a big problem."
"A thousand dollars per vehicle, three to four thousand vehicles? That's nearly four to five million dollars!" Li Xueshan, who always prided himself on having a big heart, felt his heart couldn't bear the shock: Damn! That's four to five million dollars a year! But immediately, Li Xueshan shook his head vigorously: "No, no, that's not how it works."
"Not how it works? Why not?" Chen Geng looked at Li Xueshan, puzzled: A thousand dollars per vehicle, three to four thousand vehicles, that's three to four million dollars a year in profit. What's wrong with this calculation?
Seeing Chen Geng's confused look, Li Xueshan smiled smugly: You have your moments too, don't you?
"I ask you, how much can one vehicle sell for?"
"The price in Germany... I initially set it at around 5,000 dollars, but the actual price may need to be adjusted based on the situation."
"Scared!" Li Xueshan's smile froze on his face. He was shocked, or rather, terrified. He swallowed hard and asked hoarsely, "How much did you say?"
"About 5,000 dollars per vehicle," Chen Geng said, "What's the problem with that?"
"What's the problem? There's a big problem! How much does a car cost now? You think people will buy a motorcycle for 5,000 dollars?" Li Xueshan felt like he was going crazy: A motorcycle for 5,000 dollars? Are you trying to rob people?
At the current domestic prices, a domestically produced Shanghai brand car costs only a bit over ten thousand yuan, and the recently imported Mercedes (the predecessor of the modern Mercedes E-Class) from Germany costs only about 50,000 yuan. Even in developed countries like Europe, America, and Japan, the market price of a regular family car is around 10,000 dollars. Now, Chen Geng was selling a three-wheeled motorcycle that couldn't protect from the elements and had outdated technology for 5,000 dollars. Li Xueshan thought Chen Geng was dreaming and had gone mad.
So, that's where the problem lies.
After Li Xueshan explained, Chen Geng finally understood, feeling somewhat amused and exasperated: That's not how it works.
"Comrade, the price I set isn't a random guess. I have a basis for it. First, for our target customers, the Changjiang 750 isn't just a simple product. For those who need it, it's a sentiment, a spiritual寄托. Just like many foreign old gun enthusiasts are willing to spend tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on an old gun, you can't simply see it as a vehicle. It carries the owner's emotions, and they might even be unhappy if you sell it too cheaply."
"..."
Is that possible? Are there people who think things are too cheap? Li Xueshan opened his mouth but couldn't find the words. He felt his IQ was not enough to understand this.
Reason told him Chen Geng was wrong, but his intuition told him Chen Geng was right. Chen Geng's next words confirmed his feeling: His IQ was indeed not enough.
"Kinder once told me that a member of the veterans' association his father belonged to once offered 50,000 dollars for a BMW, but the owner wouldn't sell. In the German market, a mechanically sound BMW typically sells for over 30,000 dollars, and a well-preserved one can go for over 40,000 dollars. Our Changjiang 750 is a product, not a collectible, so it can't sell for 50,000 dollars, but Kinder believes 5,000 dollars is a conservative and reasonable price..." Since Kinder wasn't there, Li Xueshan couldn't verify this, so Chen Geng naturally exaggerated.
Not taking advantage of this opportunity would make Chen Geng feel he was letting himself down.
"50,000 dollars..." Li Xueshan's mouth remained open for a long time. He couldn't understand the mentality of someone willing to spend 50,000 dollars on a sidecar motorcycle, but Chen Geng's words increased his confidence. If old foreign collectibles can sell for 50,000 dollars, our new vehicles should be able to sell for 5,000 dollars, right? Even if they're not worth 5,000 dollars, they should be worth at least 4,000 dollars, right?
Moreover, since Kinder himself believes 5,000 dollars is a conservative and reasonable price, perhaps the Changjiang 750 is really worth that much in Germany?
What is a conservative and reasonable price? In Li Xueshan's view, if something can sell for 10 dollars, selling it for 9 dollars is a conservative and reasonable price. Even so, this price still shocked Li Xueshan: "So... can it really sell for 5,000 dollars?"
"Even if it doesn't sell for that much, 4,000 dollars should be no problem," Chen Geng said confidently, but then quickly added a precaution: "However, Comrade, this is still just an idea. To sell three to four thousand vehicles a year, it will take at least two to three years of market cultivation. This can't be rushed, and it also depends on Mr. Kinder. Additionally, you should understand that most of the profit will go to Kinder. After deducting the middleman, we can make about 1,000 dollars per vehicle."
"You don't need to tell me that; I understand," Li Xueshan waved his hand, speaking with authority: "And if we don't make a profit, the other party wouldn't do it. It's hard to find someone who knows the situation of German veterans well. Even if we don't make a profit, we still gain a lot... I just want to know, if a vehicle can really sell for 5,000 dollars, how much of that is ours?"
"At least half!" Chen Geng said firmly, "I'm confident about that."
"So that's 2,500 dollars? If we sell 2,000 vehicles a year, we can make 5 million dollars? If we sell 4,000, that's... Damn, 10 million?!" The number 10 million made Li Xueshan's eyes turn red. He punched his palm, his face flushed with excitement, and shouted, "Let's do it!"
"Comrade," Chen Geng reminded him cautiously, "You need to consider the cost..."
"Of course, we need to consider the cost," Li Xueshan chuckled, "This is in dollars."
Consider the cost? What's that about? Chen Geng was puzzled, but after some thought, he realized: Damn! How could I forget?
Is the country short of money? To be honest, it is!
But it's not short of RMB; it's short of dollars, yen, pounds, and... foreign exchange!
Especially this year, the foreign exchange reserve situation is even more severe. By the end of last year, the country had 8.22 billion dollars in foreign exchange reserves, but by mid-year this year, it had plummeted to less than 4 billion dollars, a drop of over 50%!
We don't need to investigate why the foreign exchange reserves fell so much or where the money went. We just need to know one thing: The significant drop in foreign exchange reserves has alarmed the central leadership. The central government is doing everything possible to increase foreign exchange reserves, both by increasing sources and reducing expenses. One of the measures to reduce expenses is: Any application for foreign exchange exceeding 50,000 dollars must be approved by the central government!
50,000 dollars, and it alarms the central government!
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