Countercurrent 1982

Chapter 1637 Disappointment

Duan Yun only gave them two months of research and development time this time, and asked them to come up with samples of the GPS positioning system in early October, and also put forward certain requirements for performance.

In fact, the research and development cycle of this kind of product is relatively long. Even a large multinational company needs at least half a year to a year. The main reason why Duan Yun proposed a two-month time requirement is the Soviet Union. Experts have research and development experience in this area and also master some core principles of this technology, so two months is more than enough time.

In addition, making a product sample and mass production are completely different things. After the sample is made, repeated tests must be carried out, and it must be installed on a car to test its reliability, and the cost should be reduced as much as possible. 2 to 3 months, that is to say, it takes 4 to 5 months for the entire product from research and development to the final product.

Thanks to the help of Soviet microelectronics experts, otherwise, with Tianyin Group's current research and development strength alone, it would take at least a year or so to complete the product finalization, which is still conservative.

After the meeting, all the scientific researchers assigned to the research and development tasks immediately put into work, and the car GPS system project of Tianyin Group was officially launched.

Three days later, Duan Yun finally ushered in the arrival of the Volvo enterprise delegation to China.

At the gate of the airport, Duan Yun and several executives of Tianyin Group immediately greeted Volvo President Johnson leading more than 10 people from his group.

"Mr. Johnson, welcome to Shenzhen." Duan Yun stepped forward and shook Johnson's hand.

"Hello, Mr. Duan." Johnson was also smiling at this time.

During a visit to Shenyang a few days ago, Johnson and his party received a very high standard of reception. Not only was Zhao Xiyou, the director of Shenyang Jinbei Automobile Factory, and all other key management members personally greeted them, even the mayor of SY City and members of the municipal party committee leadership team also welcomed them. They all accompanied Johnson and others to visit the Jinbei Automobile Factory. This kind of treatment was never seen in SY City before.

It can be seen from this that the leaders of the SY Municipal Party Committee attach great importance to the Volvo delegation's visit to China. Nowadays, all parts of the country are actively attracting investment. After the strategic value, the SY Municipal Party Committee also held a special internal meeting to temporarily report on all the work at hand, and accompanied Johnson and the others throughout the tour.

However, for this trip to Shenyang, Johnson was a little disappointed in his heart. There were many senior Volvo technicians with him this time. The evaluation of this company is not high, and they think that their technical level is still at the level of Volvo 60s, or even inferior. Although Johnson and others have been mentally prepared before coming to China, Jinbei Automobile Factory is seriously behind Technology and equipment, still let them feel a little disappointed.

Johnson's original plan was to provide Jinbei Automobile Factory with some technical support and patent use rights, and at most some advanced production equipment, so that the company can quickly produce automobile products, thereby opening up sales in the Chinese automobile market.

But now it seems that in order for Jinbei Automobile Factory to produce Volvo's previous generation of luxury cars, it needs to completely renovate the factory, introduce new equipment and production lines, and train a large number of high-quality and skilled workers , and to finish all this, it will take 2-3 years at the most conservative level, and by that time, the demand for automobiles in the Chinese market has already changed, and Volvo’s investment in China will face many unknown variables. Johnson as president must be taken into account.

But China's huge market is still full of temptations for Johnson. Although the visit to the Jinbei Automobile Factory made him feel a little disappointed, he still has to complete this visit to China and come to Shenzhen to discuss with Duan Yun before deciding on the investment.

After Duan Yun shook hands with these Volvo executives one by one, the group got in the car and left the airport, heading for the headquarters of Tianyin Group.

On the way, these Volvo executives who came to China were surprised to find that the prosperity of Shenzhen was far beyond their imagination.

Compared with BJ Shanghai, Shenzhen is not well-known internationally. After all, it was just a small fishing village in the south more than 10 years ago. However, after decades of development, Shenzhen has gradually become one of the most developed cities in China. one.

Looking at the high-rise buildings on the street outside the window, Johnson and others were surprised by the high degree of modernization of the city, because compared with Sweden, even the capital Stockholm does not have so many modern high-rise buildings. On the contrary, Stockholm’s Many buildings are relatively old, some even have a history of hundreds of years.

The hardware facilities of a city cannot objectively reflect the wealth and development of a city, but at least compared to Shenyang, Shenzhen is certainly much richer and more advanced. Even the pedestrians passing by on the street are all well-dressed. The suits and leather shoes, and the beautiful and fashionable women made Johnson and others immediately change some of their stereotypes about China.

After entering the headquarter of Tianyin Group, the huge scale and garden-like factory area is also impressive. Even compared with the Volvo factory in Gothenburg, the size and environment of the factory area are not inferior at all.

"Mr. Duan, is this your most advanced factory?" Johnson couldn't help asking after visiting the No. 1 workshop of the electronics factory with Duan Yun and seeing the high degree of automation inside.

"This is just an ordinary workshop where we produce voice repeaters. At present, our Tianyin Group has a number of factories such as video recorders, game consoles, and chip manufacturers. The products are sold well at home and abroad." Duan Yun said lightly.

"Since you have so many industries, why did you suddenly choose to get involved in the automobile industry? You have to know that the automobile industry is a very risky industry with complicated technology and huge investment, and it may not be able to obtain ideal market returns..." Johnson asked suspiciously.

When he was in Sweden before, Johnson knew that Duan Yun’s enterprise in China was very large. Although he only visited one workshop in Shenzhen this time, he was also surprised by the high degree of automation inside and wondered why Duan Yun Now that Yun is so rich, he wants to venture into the auto industry.

"We are a technology company with our own development philosophy. Just like your Volvo Group, in addition to producing cars, it also produces products such as aircraft engines, especially aircraft engines. The technical difficulty and capital investment are also quite huge. That being the case, why did you enter this industry in the first place?" Duan Yun asked rhetorically.

(End of this chapter)