"He acquired another one? Can it be done this way? A direct acquisition?"
Dong Jinggui stared at the newspaper with mixed feelings.
Back then, Yadi had spent a considerable sum and over a year building its motor factory, which was still not fully completed.
Now, in Tan Jincheng's hands, it was acquired so easily through this method.
"Don't even mention it, this method is quite good. Xinri also doesn't have its own motor factory. Acquiring one of our suppliers this way would make parts supply much safer."
Zhang Congxun, also staring at the newspaper, said happily.
Their two companies were just across the road from each other.
The two bosses often met for tea when they had nothing to do, and they were together again today.
Neither Zhang Congxun nor Dong Jinggui had a high level of education.
Their companies hadn't reached the scale of later generations; they were both in their early stages of development.
The traditional entrepreneurial mindset limited their imagination.
However, they understood this model at a glance.
It was simply investing in a supplier's company, taking a controlling stake, to make the supply of parts more secure.
It was like a sheet of window paper; no one had broken through it before, but once broken, it was no longer surprising.
Tan Jincheng inadvertently brought about some butterfly effects in the electric vehicle industry.
From now on, leading companies would frequently use this model for core components.
Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, it was currently unclear.
"Hey, I heard through the grapevine that two engineers from your R&D department were poached by Little Tan. I also heard you were furious?"
Zhang Congxun refilled Dong Jinggui's teacup after putting down the newspaper.
"Where did you hear that rumor? Their contracts expired and they simply didn't renew. As for working for Little Tan, people have their own ambitions."
Dong Jinggui certainly wouldn't admit it.
However, he still somewhat regretted taking Tan Jincheng to visit the R&D department.
"How about we try to poach some people from his side too? Let's start with Bafang Electric, which he just acquired."
Zhang Congxun didn't care whether Dong Jinggui admitted it or not.
Yadi and Shanchi both successively had their own self-produced motors.
Xinri also wanted to embark on this project.
Acquisition was a preliminary plan, but in fact, Zhang Congxun inwardly leaned more towards building his own factory, just like Yadi.
For no other reason than that building one's own factory brought a greater sense of accomplishment, and establishing a factory in a certain place was also a good opportunity to build relationships.
Furthermore, the entire factory would belong to them, unlike Tan Jincheng who only had a 51% stake, which might lead to future conflicts.
If an acquisition were to happen, it must be a full acquisition.
However, Zhang Congxun preferred building a factory.
His company had moved from Dīdu to Su Province and had grown so large that people back in his hometown had started to comment.
Building a factory in his hometown and mending relationships was also very necessary.
His hometown was not like the hometowns of Dong Jinggui and Tan Jincheng; Wencheng was also a developed region.
"I advise you to save your energy. They're not just R&D personnel; all important company employees have signed non-compete agreements,"
Dong Jinggui said, pursing his lips.
"It's just hearsay, why should I admit to hearsay? But it's also the HR department's fault for being careless. Those two engineers indeed had contracts nearing expiration, and they weren't approached for renewal in time."
"Holy crap! That's ruthless? How much would that cost? This kid is certainly willing to spend,"
Zhang Congxun said, dumbfounded.
A non-compete agreement isn't just a piece of paper signed and done.
A carelessly signed non-compete agreement isn't a non-compete agreement and carries no legal responsibility.
Signing one requires offering corresponding compensation.
Then Zhang Congxun, still not giving up, said,
"His newly acquired factory shouldn't have this kind of thing, right?"
"What do you think he was lingering in Gusu for?"
Dong Jinggui chuckled.
"I'll tell you the truth. I have friends over there. Although Bafang Electric has only been established for three years, I hear their strength is quite good, and the motors for Shanchi vehicles are relatively stable. These are all thanks to them. Shortly after their contracts were completed, my friends wanted to poach a few people while their minds were unsettled. Guess what?"
"What happened?"
"The first thing Little Tan did after taking over was provide social security for all employees, plus a 15% salary increase for everyone. Do you still think he would forget these things for his R&D personnel?"
Zhang Congxun was speechless.
After a long while, he said,
"This kid is acting like a true capitalist, winning people over with money right from the start."
"Exactly! He offered 240 million for that company that was only established three years ago. Reportedly, Shanchi's other motor suppliers are practically dying of regret, wondering why it wasn't them!"
Zhang Congxun was speechless again.
This truly was a capitalist.
Shanchi's way of operating seemed very similar to how internet companies used to do things, but where did he get so much money?
"If this continues, the industry reshuffle might come early,"
Zhang Congxun sighed.
Since the beginning of this year, new electric vehicle manufacturers have continuously emerged.
Just two days ago, Laiwu in Lu Province saw another new EV manufacturer established, investing 12 million to build an EV factory with an annual output of 100,000 vehicles.
Furthermore, Yamaha also announced it would produce electric vehicles, and Zongshen's previously secret site selection has also been confirmed.
Manufacturers and individuals, big and small, have flocked to the electric vehicle industry.
While sales are booming, competition is also intensifying.
There's no need to wait until next year; market competition for electric vehicles will definitely become very fierce starting in the second half of this year.
All of this is driven by the industry's own development, but also by the butterfly effect brought about by Tan Jincheng.
In original history, Xinri was the first electric vehicle manufacturer to hire a celebrity endorser, also Brother Long, but that wasn't until December 2006.
It was this move by Xinri that propelled it to the top position in domestic electric vehicle sales.
From then on, the phrase "endorser is the core technology of electric vehicles" became a famous saying in the industry.
Subsequently, major manufacturers followed suit.
The Bidewen electric vehicle mentioned earlier was just a small manufacturer that disappeared after only a few years of prosperity, but its boom years were due to heavily investing money and signing Huazai as an endorser.
Endorsers are still the core technology in the electric vehicle industry in this life, but Tan Jincheng did it a year and a half earlier, and at that time, he invited the most popular Super Girl champion, connecting it with a trending career.
Coupled with the promotion of internet marketing, its influence has already surpassed Xinri's signing of Brother Long in the previous timeline.
Now Tan Jincheng is using capital acquisition to enrich his industrial chain.
Although Zhang Congxun and Dong Jinggui don't know it's a butterfly effect, based on years of business experience, they deeply feel the crisis.
Especially Zhang Congxun, he couldn't understand why Xinri, which had the best situation and most potential last year, dominating the national high-end electric vehicle market, seemed to have its luck stolen when it encountered Shanchi.
It was as if Tan Jincheng could anticipate his every move.
Did he voluntarily tell Tan Jincheng that Xinri's endorser was Brother Long?
That's pure nonsense.
There are plenty of international superstars, why would it specifically be Brother Long?
But Tan Jincheng seemed to genuinely know.
Although he asked for signatures, photos, and showed enthusiasm at the signing ceremony, looking back now, Tan Jincheng didn't seem surprised at all.
This is really strange; could there be an internal spy in the company?
"High-end products certainly need to be made, but the foundation of our domestic brands at their inception must be rooted in the common people, or based on low prices, so that ordinary people can afford them—that is the purpose of establishing our enterprises and producing products."
——
Gusu, Tan Jincheng and Wang Qinghua were also chatting.
Wang Qinghua asked Tan Jincheng about the development trends in the electric vehicle industry.
He had also been watching the news these past few days, and there were significant developments in various places.
Fortunately, Bafang Electric had a place in these news reports, and it finally made an appearance before its peers nationwide.
In terms of evaluation, it was generally good.
The industry defined the strategic cooperation between Bafang Electric and Shanchi Technology as a "strong alliance."
However, as they chatted, the conversation veered slightly, touching upon product localization.
"So, President Tan, when you look at leading companies, are you more optimistic about Yadi's development than about Xinri, the current sales leader?"
"Yes, Xinri's foundation isn't as solid as Yadi's. Furthermore, Yadi places great emphasis on product quality, which is also a goal for our Shanchi to learn from. Products sold to the common people must not only be affordable but also of good quality."
Tan Jincheng never thought that making high-end brands was particularly lofty.
While the industrial chain indeed needed high-end products to enhance brand image and influence, ultimately, what one sells are consumer goods.
Consumer goods should be affordable for the majority of people; that is the best form of localization.
Currently, domestic home appliance companies are doing well.
From being monopolized by foreign brands with prohibitively high prices last century, to achieving technological breakthroughs and localization, home appliances are now affordable for everyone.
This is the greatest significance of localization.
"If we look at it using a relatively simple, though not entirely appropriate, example, President Wang should understand what a good product is,"
Tan Jincheng said with a smile.
"Oh, what kind of example?"
Wang Qinghua asked.
"It's about bride price. President Wang, or your parents' generation, what were the 'three big items' for a bride price? Bicycles, televisions, and so on, right?"
Wang Qinghua nodded:
"Yes, that's right."
"Do you see people still using these now? No. But electric vehicles are currently used as bride price in some regions. Our goal is to take electric vehicles out of the bride price items."
The example of bride price isn't entirely appropriate, but it also reflects, from another perspective, that with the progress of industrialization and localization, and the improvement of people's living standards, the items given as dowry are gradually upgrading.
Products that are replaced become those that ordinary people can easily afford, which is also a form of social progress.
"President Tan, this example is very interesting and vivid. Indeed, only things that are not easily affordable are included in dowry items."
Wang Qinghua stared at Tan Jincheng somewhat impolitely and said.
How did this boss's mind work?
He always seemed to be able to discern changes from small details.
Was his mind really that subtle?
(End of Chapter)