Set sail1992

Chapter 1427 Are you trying to play the game of pretending to build a plank road while secretly attacking Chencang?

After chatting for a while, Director Liu asked Zhang Qihang curiously: "Qihang, I heard that a British car dealer wants to cooperate with you?"

Not many people know about this matter, but Director Liu happens to be one of them.

  Although Huateng Group exports more than 10 vehicles to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South America every year, and export is no longer a big deal, he was still very excited after knowing the news: Huateng Group actually has the opportunity to export cars to developed countries such as Europe?

It is definitely more prestigious to export cars to the UK than to the Middle East.

Upon hearing this, Lao Ma and Lao Tan were also surprised and astonished: "Really? Mr. Zhang, congratulations."

"Hey... We have just started to contact each other, and it is still unclear whether we can make it to Chengdu," Zhang Qihang waved his hands repeatedly and said modestly: "Besides, the other party's strength is average. It is a small and medium-sized car dealer with only 50 stores. I guess they are here to get a bargain."

Director Liu disagreed with Zhang Qihang's words and said, "You can't say that. The other party is not strong, so you have more room for bargaining with them. Besides, after all, these cars are exported to Europe. This is good news. It will also help you export cars to other countries and regions in the world in the future."

Lao Ma and Lao Tan also nodded.

This is the truth. Although the British Empire is in decline now, this is only relatively speaking. For the vast majority of third world countries, the influence of the British Empire has always existed. We can laugh at Britain as "British son", but for the vast majority of third world countries it is the "British Empire", especially in the vast Asian, African and Latin American countries, Britain still carries a strong halo. Do you really think that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are just there to enjoy free meals?

Zhang Qihang did not argue with them, and said with a smile: "If we can take this opportunity to enter the European market, that would be great, but I am preparing for the worst, just in case it doesn't work out. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment."

"That's true," Director Liu nodded with a smile, and encouraged, "But no matter what, you still have to try your best. If this cooperation is finally reached, you will be the first local car brand to export cars to Europe. This is also a milestone for our province's automobile industry... Well, as I said before, if there is anything you need help from me or the province, just ask. Don't be shy."

For the Provincial State-owned Assets Office and even the entire Shandong Province, being able to export cars to the UK is not just a matter of how much money can be earned, but also an achievement that can be boasted about at the year-end summary meeting. Of course, the goal is to promote the implementation of this matter as much as possible.

Zhang Qihang was not stupid, so how could he not understand why Director Liu said that and what he was trying to do? He immediately expressed his attitude: "Don't worry, Director, we will definitely show 100% sincerity in this cooperation with our British friends and do our utmost to promote the achievement of cooperation between the two sides."

Director Liu nodded with satisfaction.

Only Lao Ma and Lao Tan were full of envy: I wish our Heavy Duty Automobile Industry Group’s products could be exported to Europe someday…

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Horne Company acted quickly. Half a month later, Horne Company CEO Richard Horne arrived at Huateng Group with his team. The communication between the two sides was smooth. However, after experiencing the D1 pure electric vehicle, Richard Horne suddenly asked Zhang Qihang: "Mr. Zhang, if we want to customize a car model from your company, I wonder if you can undertake this business?"

"Customized model?"

Zhang Qihang frowned, not quite understanding why this guy said that, but after a pause, he said, "It depends on what kind of car you want to customize. In addition, if the scale of customization is too small, it won't work. You know, custom molds, research and development of special fixtures, and measuring tools all cost money."

"I understand," Richard Horn said, "I want to customize a pure electric car as big as a Smart. This should not be a problem for you, right?"

A pure electric car the size of a Smart?

Why would Horn need such a small pure electric car? Could it be...

Thinking of this, Zhang Qihang suddenly had an idea and asked, "Do you want to do car-sharing?"

  The smile on Richard Horn's face froze suddenly. How did he know?

Seeing Richard Horn's reaction, Zhang Qihang suddenly understood in his mind: Horn's company really wanted to do car time-sharing leasing.

Car time-sharing is actually not a big deal. As early as 1948, car time-sharing appeared in Zurich, Switzerland, but at that time it appeared in the form of a cooperative. When a member of the cooperative finished using the car, he would hand over the car keys to the next user.

But at this time, all the characteristics of car time-sharing rental have been reflected: you can rent a car by the hour, pick it up and use it whenever you want, and the fee will be calculated by the hour.

However, limited by the development of electronic technology, the car-sharing industry has been developing very slowly. It was not until after 2005 that, with the development of smart phones, mobile Internet and 3G technology, car-sharing finally ushered in the spring of development. Last year, Daimler Group established a car-sharing company, CAR 2 GO, and began to try the time-sharing business with the Smart car.

Zhang Qihang had not thought about car-sharing at first, but when Richard Horn mentioned the Smart-sized pure electric car, he immediately thought of a domestic car manufacturer called Zhidou, which had entered the European car-sharing market in the past with its Zhidou D1, a pure electric car about the same size as a Mercedes-Benz Smart.

Looking at Richard Horn's reaction now, Zhang Qihang had an idea in his mind: most likely this guy saw that Daimler Group started car-sharing and thought that this project had great potential. He also thought of the D1 pure electric car of Huateng Group that he saw in China during the Olympics last year, so he wanted to use the introduction of the D1 pure electric car as an excuse to customize a pure electric car about the same size as Smart and enter the field of car-sharing.

Richard Horn was very embarrassed that his secret was exposed. But despite the embarrassment, he still said stubbornly: "Mr. Zhang, why do you say that?"

Zhang Qihang smiled and said, "Didn't Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, set up a time-sharing rental company with Smart as its main model?"