Start with hooves

Still at Bryan Cranston's house.

There are only three bedrooms in his house, and there are a lot of people in the living room, so it is more comfortable to stay on the outdoor terrace.

After chatting with the firefighter, Suri stood by the fence and looked at the night view of the city in the distance.

I've long been tired of seeing similar scenery in Beverly Hills. It's not much better from another angle, and I have to reach out to swat mosquitoes from time to time.

He was busy recalling the contents of the American TV series "Emergency" in his previous life, when a short middle-aged man approached, stretched out his hand and greeted warmly:

"Hi, I am Jerome Patel. I work at COA Multinational Trading Company as a senior vice president. Our company has recently been selected as the supplier of wheel hubs for S electric vehicles, as well as center console panels and so on. I live nearby and I heard that you were coming, so I thought I should say hello and express my respect to you on behalf of the company. "

If you want to integrate a car, you need to deal with hundreds of suppliers. Some multinational trading companies play the role of middlemen, which can save car manufacturers a lot of trouble.

After hearing this, Su Rui became interested and asked: "That's such a coincidence. Where do the wheels you supply come from?"

"Huaxia, although the processing factory is not well-known in the world, the quality fully meets the demand and the price-performance ratio is very high. If it is European or American products, you can only buy some ugly defective products at the same price, and the products we supply The wheels are very nice.”

Probably because he was worried that Suri was biased against Chinese manufacturing, Jerome Patel specifically explained that this was obviously an unnecessary worry.

As early as the design stage.

Su Rui specifically warned that if you can use parts produced in China, you should try your best to choose local suppliers, and only go to other countries to purchase if it is not possible.

On the one hand, this can reduce costs, and on the other hand, it can also be an opportunity to give back to the folks. When car sales increase, it may provide tens of thousands of jobs.

In fact, many parts of well-known international brands have gradually been produced by factories in the mainland.

After putting a trademark on it, he could suddenly sell it at a high price. Suri didn't want to be taken advantage of and raise the already expensive manufacturing cost of electric cars in vain, so he chose to put aside the brand and focus on quality, and he was particularly strict in this regard. .

According to estimates in an evaluation report, the labor costs of the S electric vehicle Gigafactory in Shanghai are expected to be about 65% lower than those produced in California for the same vehicle.

Putting aside large suppliers and establishing your own supply channels, you can also reduce the procurement cost of parts by 30%. This makes it possible for S electric vehicles to be put into large-scale production. The starting price is expected to be around US$6. .

If sales are higher than expected, manufacturing costs will also decrease, and there may be room for some price reductions.

now.

A stranger named Jerome Patel took out his mobile phone to look through the photo album and showed Suri the wheels supplied to the S electric car, which were divided into "blade", "ten-pointed star" and "radiation". and regular models.

If customers choose to customize, of course they need to dig into their pockets and add money. In fact, the regular double five-spoke wheels are already beautiful.

The design work of S Electric Vehicles' first high-end electric sedan is basically completed, and problems with suppliers and software are currently being resolved. Netizens can often see camouflaged test cars on roads across the United States, trying to eliminate safety hazards. .

It is estimated that it will be officially released in September or October and delivered to the first batch of users before Christmas.

Chatted for a while. Seeing that Suri was easier to talk to than expected, Jerome Patel suddenly asked:
"Your company has placed a total order of 30000 wheel hubs through us this time. The factory is producing them, and every piece of goods must be carefully reviewed."

"As far as I know, Tesla and Fisker, which you acquired, only sold a few hundred vehicles combined. Are you sure the S electric car can really succeed?"

"I mean electric cars are relatively niche, and it's hard to find enough buyers. It seems that only environmentalists will use them. I think your company's hybrid car business is more interesting."

It is estimated that not only Jerome Patel thinks so, but other suppliers of S electric cars will also have doubts and worry that the payment will not be settled in time because the cars cannot be sold.

Hear the words.

Suri was very calm and told:

"Including acquisitions, R&D, factory construction and other expenses, I have spent more than 11 billion US dollars on this company. If I can't see the bright spots, why should I invest in it? The current electric vehicles are indeed unsatisfactory, but technology It has been developing, it will have longer battery life and faster charging speed. I recently plan to launch a home photovoltaic solution that can reduce the charging cost to 0, not to mention the car I designed is very beautiful.”

Just a casual chat.

Just like it is difficult for people to make money beyond their knowledge, Suri never thought about convincing this ordinary person to become his loyal believer.

In his view, the main advantage of electric vehicles is intelligence, including intelligent cockpits and autonomous driving. The advantages of power cannot be ignored, allowing users to spend less money and obtain a more comfortable driving experience.

As for green environmental protection, most consumers do not pay attention to it. They only care about how much money can be saved per kilometer after switching from oil to electricity.

This is a trillion-dollar market.

Rather than caring about whether people will accept electric cars, Suri is only worried about whether taking food from other people's bowls will cause public outrage and besieged.

After Elon Musk sold the company to him, he specialized in the uncompetitive "space cargo" business. He lived a leisurely life, busy divorcing his ex-wife and flirting with sexy models.

The dividends of the changes in the automobile industry have been taken by Su Rui, and the corresponding pressure has also come to him.

This makes it necessary to find some very, very powerful allies to deal with future troubles.

Even institutions such as SoftBank, the Norwegian Sovereign Fund, and Temasek were excluded by him, because although they have money, they cannot reduce the potential risks he may face.

Wall Street oligarchs, top car and oil businessmen, etc. are the ones Suri needs to win over. Only by bringing them together to make money can he have a chance to steadily occupy the new energy vehicle market.

Thinking that the press conference would be held in a few months, Suri felt that she should warm up in advance.

then.

He sent an email to the CEO of S Electric Vehicle and asked him to ship a few prototype cars as soon as possible. He planned to use the premiere of the "Ex" movie and the "Suri Show" program to make a splash for the new car that cost a lot of money to develop. publicity.

In this way, if some consumers are planning to change their cars, they may be willing to wait a little longer and place an order for S electric car products. (End of Chapter)