African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1077 Car Order
In June, the Nanyang Industrial Exposition officially opened, and a large number of people from the Far East entered the exhibition area. Among the many venues, the most attractive one was undoubtedly the East African automobile exhibition area.

The East African automobile exhibition area has a crazy number of eleven automobile brands alone, covering automobile products of all price ranges.

An official from Jinling looked at a black car with great interest and asked East African staff member Ryder, "Can you introduce this car to me?"

Reid: "Sir, you have a good eye. This is our East African Mercedes-Benz car, which costs only 8,000 taels of silver. It is one of the most luxurious cars on the market, handmade, and has very good sales in the European and American markets. The interior configuration is quite luxurious, with a crocodile leather steering wheel and leather sofa seats..."

"It's too expensive! This is simply robbery. Although cars are quite magical means of transportation, but..."

Eight thousand taels of silver is not a small amount of money for anyone, even if this Jinling official is obviously a rich man. You have to know that in his previous life, the top luxury car purchased by the senior official named Yuan to please Cixi only cost ten thousand taels of silver, and the car that the Empress Dowager rode in only cost ten thousand taels of silver. This car actually dared to be priced at eight thousand taels of silver, which was indeed robbery.

Reid explained, "Sir, this Mercedes is a top-of-the-line luxury car, so it's naturally not cheap. It's a symbol of status. People who can own such a luxury car are either rich or noble. And this car is not the most expensive. Do you see the luxury car surrounded by a fence? The one inlaid with gold rims and diamonds is the most expensive."

The official had actually seen the luxury car that was surrounded, but the car looked very expensive. For the current Far Eastern Empire, cars are still a luxury. Although car prices in the international market have dropped due to the price war in East Africa, it is mainly reflected in high-consumption markets such as Europe and the United States.

"That car is the famous Crown brand car. It is completely out of stock. There are no more than 20 of them in the world. Your central government only has one, which was sent as a national gift from East Africa. Only the royal families or top nobles in the world can own Crown cars. Each one is worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver."

Following Reid's introduction, the Jinling official's heart was already filled with huge waves of shock. Although this Jinling official was well-informed, he had never heard of top-level luxury goods such as Crown cars. Although the production of Crown cars is very small, it is still relatively famous in European and American countries.

“Ahem, I wonder if you have cheaper cars here,” said the Jinling official.

He definitely couldn't afford the Crown car, and although he could afford the Mercedes-Benz just now, it didn't feel worth it, so he could only lower his requirements.

"How about this Alto? Alto is a very cost-effective car model. You should know that many official cars in East Africa are Alto. This Alto only costs two thousand taels of silver, which is a high-end model." Reid recommended.

“What is a business car?”

"It means exactly what it says. The regular configuration for our East African government officials when they go out on official business is usually an Alto. It is both respectable and comfortable to drive and ride in," said Reid.

This aroused great interest of the Jinling official. Although it was still a little expensive, it was still well within his acceptable range.

Reid struck while the iron was hot and said, "As everyone knows, we in East Africa are the country with the most powerful automobile industry in the world. Even traditional industrial powers like Britain cannot compare with us. In the world, East African cars are synonymous with high-end. People of your status should also have a car that suits your status."

"What you said makes sense, but it's a pity. Even if I buy this car, I'm afraid it will be difficult to experience it, because how to drive this kind of car? Can you provide corresponding services?"

For the people of the Far East Empire, cars are definitely new things, and the emergence of new things also means trouble, such as how to drive. If it is a horse-drawn carriage, then hiring a coachman will solve the problem, but in the Far East Empire at present, car drivers are rare.

Not to mention the Far East Empire, even in East Africa, the world's largest automobile country, car drivers are relatively scarce. Fortunately, it is not difficult for East Africa to train drivers, so it can barely keep up with automobile production.

Reid said: "We have built several related training schools in your country, but currently they are in cities such as Tianjin, Jiaozhou, Xuzhou, and Shanghai. This is our first time in Jinling, and we have not yet started related services. If you want to hire a driver, we can help you contact the schools in Xuzhou, Jiaozhou, or Xuzhou."

The official from Jinling asked, "How long will it take?"

Reid said: "It won't be too troublesome. After all, communication technology is so advanced now, and these cities are not far from Jinling."

The Jinling official agreed with his thought. Apart from Tianjin, the other cities were not far from Jinling, and even Jiaozhou could be reached quickly by sea.

"Are you sure you have ready personnel?"

Reid said, "There is definitely no problem, because there are not many cars in the Far East Empire at the moment, and many people buy them as toys, and do not need professional drivers, so there is still a sufficient number of personnel."

The Jinling official nodded and said, "If that's the case, then I'll order one!"

Soon, a "luxury car" worth two thousand taels of silver was sold in East Africa at the Nanyang Industrial Exposition. The automobile industry was indeed very profitable, and it was no wonder that it could directly increase the industrial output value of East Africa's Second Five-Year Plan.

In less than three days at the exhibition, all of the more than 30 cars brought from East Africa were sold out, including the Crown, which was bought by a big shot in Hankou.

Before this, the Crown was basically not for sale, but for the Nanyang Industrial Exposition, East Africa specially prepared one, which proved that the Far East Empire was not short of rich people.

In addition to the cars brought by East Africa to the exhibition, East Africa also signed a large number of orders, totaling more than 300 vehicles, which shows the great influence of this Nanyang Industrial Exposition.

This is also normal. You have to know that almost every province in the Far East Empire participated in this Nanyang Industrial Exposition, and which province in the Far East Empire does not have rich people? To be honest, the order of more than 300 cars can be fully absorbed by some of the more developed cities in the Far East Empire. What's more, there are so many cities in the Far East Empire. If the richest person in each region buys a car, it can also make up a market of at least tens of thousands of cars. This shows the potential of the Far East market.

Moreover, as the cost of automobile production in East Africa decreases, car prices will become cheaper and cheaper, and many people will be able to afford them. At least cars are not as luxurious as imagined.

In fact, in East Africa, cars are already a relatively common means of transportation. Although the automobile industry in European countries such as the United States and Germany is now far behind East Africa, with a few more years of development, an annual output of one million vehicles is not a fantasy. At least now the annual automobile production in the United States has reached hundreds of thousands.

(End of this chapter)