Reborn since 1993

Chapter 629 Sir, the world has really changed
Rousseau became completely discouraged when he saw that the police officers who took the lead in confiscating black label lighters were also using black label lighters.

Although I don't want to admit it, this battle has become a mess and there is no way I can fight it anymore.

Smokers in France and old Europe, as well as users who need lighters, all use Black Label lighters which are cheaper than BIC.

Supermarkets, convenience stores, tobacco shops, even lighter dealers, scalpers, and gangs also want to get a piece of the pie. Only the black label supply price can allow everyone in the entire industry chain to get a piece of the pie!

When Black Label Lighters started a price war with BAK at all costs, willing to just make a profit, the BAK Group could no longer fight this war, even in its home base, because the entire middle and lower reaches of the old European lighter industry chain had completely become its opponent!

……

On a tennis court in Paris, an old man in his sixties was waving a tennis ball and practicing with a hot female tennis coach who was wearing a tennis shirt.

Next to the court, Bruno Bick was sitting anxiously, but he didn't dare to disturb the interest of the little old man on the court.

Just looking at the documents handed to him by Antoine, who had just arrived, made Bruno Bick feel extremely depressed.

The Bic lighter market collapsed!

Yesterday, the sales volume of Bic lighters in old Europe had dropped to 110,000 pieces. This sales volume is equivalent to a complete collapse for a lighter brand that is a daily consumable.

And it was a complete collapse. A price war failed to kill Black Label, and Piccolo used a set of Seven Wound Fists, which left him half-paralyzed.

"Antoine, you disappoint me!"

Bruno Bick first glanced at Councillor Lucas on the field, then lowered his voice and spoke angrily to Antoine.

He came to find Lucas, the biggest backer of the BIC Group, who has been entrenched in the French economic sector for decades and has worked in many departments including the French Industrial Property Office and the French Ministry of Economy. He has considerable influence in the French economic sector.

Bruno Bick came to Lucas on the premise that although Bick lighters were at a disadvantage, at least there was still a market for them.

Lucas used his connections and relationships to take sides, just like he did before against those metal lighter manufacturers in the mainland, and let Bic Lighter win the war in the lighter industry!

But now, Piccolo is almost beaten to death, and his market share has been completely lost. What’s the use of Lucas trying to take sides? It’s like two people fighting in a ring, and the one who bribed the referee was beaten to death with one punch. So is the referee supposed to collect the body?

Antoine's face was filled with despair, "Mr. Bick, the cost of producing a lighter is about two dollars!

The latest supply price of black label lighters is US$0.1, which means we lose two dollars for every lighter we produce!

If we want to reduce costs, we must increase production capacity. The more we produce, the more we lose. If we produce one million lighters a day, we will lose at least two million US dollars a day.

And we can’t stop, we must continue to increase production capacity!”

Bic lighters now seem to be stuck in a vicious circle. In order to reduce costs, they can only continuously increase production capacity, but the more they produce, the more they lose, and they cannot stop.

If one million lighters are produced every day, the loss will be two million a day. If Bic wants to compete with Black Label lighters, it will need to produce more than two to three million lighters every day, and then grab the market share by offering lower prices than the opponent.

But the black label has lowered the price to 0.1 US dollars. Could it be that BYD is giving it away for free?

Producing three million lighters every day, with a loss of two dollars on each lighter, that means a loss of nearly two hundred million dollars a month. What else can Antoine do except stop the production line? Even if he put the entire BYD Group into it, it would not be enough to cover the losses.

"Mr. Bick, this war should be over. Sometimes, peace talks are also a decent way to exit.

I think we should find the anti-dumping lawyer team from the mainland that came to Europe last time and reach a settlement. For Bick, this may not be the worst outcome..."

Antoine said to Bruno Pic, in France, there is nothing shameful in surrendering. After all, the Gallic rooster has done this more than once or twice.

What does the famous saying that has spread throughout the world say, "No one can occupy Paris before France raises the white flag. Surrender means half the loss." This saying is engraved in the memory of the Gallic people.

"Shut up!"

Bruno Bick spoke to Antoine viciously, asking him to bow to the Torch Group, but he really couldn't lower his proud head.

Moreover, Bruno Bick knew that if he bowed his head this time, it would not just be a simple matter of admitting defeat. More importantly, Bick would have to give up his dominance in the global lighter industry and disposable lighters. This kneeling would be equivalent to completely destroying the lighter business left by his father.

When Bruno Bick was about to speak, Lucas, who had just finished today's tennis training, kissed the female tennis coach on the cheek and walked off the court. He hurriedly went to meet her.

"Uncle Lucas!"

"Little Piccolo!"

Bruno Piccolo was very familiar with Lucas. When Bruno Piccolo was just starting out, Lucas had just entered the French official career.

In the future, old Piccolo and Lucas supported each other. Old Piccolo spent a lot of money to help Lucas reach his current status. To this day, the Piccolo family is still one of Lucas's largest donors.

Similarly, Lucas also helped the Bic Group to climb to where it is today, especially the large bank loans and interest-free loans, which were all Lucas's work. "It seems that you are in big trouble this time!"

Lucas sat down, took a sip of black tea, and said to Bruno Bick who was forcing a smile.

Knowing that he couldn't hide it from Lucas, Bruno Bick said directly, "Bick lighters have encountered malicious competition. The other party is simply dumping. This is not a fair war!"

"Little Piccolo!"

Lucas looked at the indignant Bruno Bick and shook his head. "What kind of fairness do you want?"

"Do you have evidence to prove that the malicious dumping of Black Label lighters against Bick is directly related to the Continental Torch Group you mentioned?"

Lucas' words made Bruno Bick open his mouth, but he couldn't say anything. He had no evidence at all.

Even in the face of Bruno Bick's accusations, Black Label's parent company, Global Trading Company, expressed its opinions.

It was those people in France who bought the goods from me and sold them to France. I didn't deliver the goods there. Black Label doesn't even have a store in France. The French themselves don't want to use Bic lighters, they want to use Black Label. This is a spontaneous behavior of the French. Can it be blamed on Global Trade?

It is difficult to even involve the Global Trading Company, let alone the Torch Group. It can be easily pushed aside. The right thing to do is to sell goods as much as possible.

"However, Bic lighters have indeed encountered malicious competition..."

Bruno Bick knew that the only person he could rely on now was Lucas, a powerful figure in France.

Looking at little Piccolo and remembering old Piccolo's behavior, Lucas could only shake his head helplessly.

"Little Piccolo, you should have heard a saying, what you can't get on the battlefield, you can get at the negotiation table?"

“The most I can do is ask the French trade department to criticize the Black Label lighter, or I can ask France to lobby the old European Trade Commission to support Bic lighters.

But if we expect the old European Trade Commission to go to war with Hungary and the mainland because of a lighter, that would be difficult!

Besides, can these really change the situation of Bic Lighter?" Lucas asked, staring at the son of an old friend in front of him.

Standing up, he waved to the female coach who was waiting for him in the distance, indicating that she should wait for a moment, and Lucas patted Bruno Bick on the shoulder.

"Little Piccolo, you know I'm on your side and willing to help you out, but there are some things you need to make your own decisions on!"

After that, Lucas walked towards the female tennis coach and prepared for a candlelight dinner.

As for Bruno Beak, Lucas really wanted to help, but given the current situation, how could he help? Beak had already collapsed on his own.

The French themselves abandoned Bick, and Lucas also used his connections to get the French Customs, Police, Anti-Smuggling, Coast Guard and other departments to seize black label lighters through various channels.

However, the French chose to use the black label. Where there is a market, there is demand. Once you are caught up in the French's vast war, no matter how many people you send, it will be useless. This is not something that anyone can turn the tables on.

……

BIC, the world's largest consumer-grade lighter brand, has collapsed!
Even though BYD has not announced its lighter sales figures, its stock price, which has been nearly halved, tells the whole story.

Lighter manufacturers in France, Japan, South Korea, America and other places have all witnessed with their own eyes how, in a very short period of time, Bic lighters were brought to an end by another brand through an extreme price war.

This is also the scenario for the global lighter industry, which has seen the cost of lighters compressed to the extreme!
There are even rumors that a certain lighter giant in mainland China has reduced the cost of producing a lighter to $0.0375, or about RMB 0.3, due to increased production capacity and the advancement of new materials and new technologies. The ultimate industrial Cthulhu has appeared before the world for the first time.

"Call the lawyer sent by the Mainland Lighter Import and Export Association!"

Inside the Bic Group, Bruno Bic spoke to Antoine at the board meeting with an unwilling but helpless tone.

……

In England, Gu Dayang, who has returned to old Europe, is running around old Europe with his men, trying to change the attitudes of the inspection offices and business departments in various parts of Europe towards domestic lighters, and then file an anti-dumping lawsuit.

After a busy day, Gu Dayang came to a Chinese restaurant, ordered a bowl of noodles, and began to wolf it down.

The funding provided by Torch Group was sufficient, but Gu Dayang did not squander it. He did not know whether he could win the anti-dumping lawsuit, and he was unwilling to squander the funds.

The phone rang and Gu Dayang picked it up casually. However, the voice coming from the phone made Gu Dayang, who was eating noodles, almost choke on it.

"Bick Group?"

"What did you say, you want to reconcile?"

(End of this chapter)