Thanks to the good reputation of the imported crown in the 80s, the domestic FAW crown was launched in February with a price of 32-480,000 yuan (including seven configurations), and the sales volume reached 14,000 units in half a year. In particular, it is worth mentioning that this is only a 3.0L engine, followed by FAW Toyota in October to launch a 2.5L model, and the price will be further reduced.

As a luxury model aimed at business and business vehicles, FAW Crown's biggest competitor is the booming Audi A6L. In March this year, FAW Crown sponsored a large amount of money and obtained the exclusive qualification for the two sessions, and the most top-notch elite representatives from all walks of life in China took the lead in experiencing the style of a crown.

At that time, Audi A6 appeared in China, that is, to make a fuss about the use of cars at the two sessions, so that representatives from the political and business circles acted as the first batch of test riders, and achieved very good results, and A6L also became the number one choice for government cars.

This time, the domestic crown was listed, and Zhu Tianfeng, the CEO of FAW, once again concocted the same method, and showed the crown in front of potential consumers for the first time through the two sessions, achieving a good start. In half a year, it approached the annual sales target of 20,000 units conservatively set by the Japanese partner, and the Crown has also become a new choice for official and commercial vehicles in addition to the Audi A6L, which once squeezed the market share of the BMW 5 Series that was launched in advance.

With Audi on the left hand and Crown on the right, FAW was the leader in the field of luxury cars in China for a while.

It can be said that under the leadership of Zhu Tianfeng, FAW has made full use of the advantages of foreign joint ventures and played a very good game.

Today, FAW Toyota once again released a heavyweight product, and the Ruizhi model, which is positioned below the crown and the benchmark Honda Accord, was officially launched.

The V6 engine plus rear-wheel drive is the biggest selling point of Ruizhi, which will bring new growth points to FAW Toyota in the fiercely competitive range of 20-300,000 yuan.

Under the continuous shining of the media spotlight, Zhu Tianfeng and the Japanese representatives opened the red silk cloth covering the Ruizhi car, and the new mid-level car killer officially joined the Chinese market.

"The cooperation between FAW and Toyota can be said to be a match made in heaven, and both sides work together for the same goal. From the corolla to the crown, and then to the current Ruizhi successfully put into production, it fully shows that the cooperation between the two sides is happy. The strong alliance between the two largest automobile companies in China and Japan will naturally bring consumers the most ideal products and super-first-class treatment.

In addition to doing a good job in international cooperation, FAW will develop its own brand in the next step, and we will soon launch its own new car products suitable for national conditions. ”

Zhu Tianfeng said in an interview with reporters with a smile on his face.

His advocacy of doing a good job in international cooperation first and then carrying out independent development has always been criticized by some FAW veterans, but the joint venture has continuously brought profits to FAW and fed the eldest son of the republic, which has 150,000 employees, so that he at least has the confidence to defend himself.

However, under the general direction of advocating the development of its own brand at the national level, FAW has also begun to accelerate the research and development of its own brand.

The technology obtained from Mazda has been smoothly grafted onto FAW's interior, and the model codenamed C301 will take on the historical responsibility of China's own brand to once again impact the mid-level car.

Whether it is Brilliance Sedan or Chery Oriental, neither it can break the law of the 150,000 curse of its own brand sedan, and the mid-level car is a threshold that can be seen but cannot be crossed for domestic cars.

Zhu Tianfeng does not believe in this curse, in his opinion, C301 has enough strength to subvert the perception of domestic consumers.

C301 and Mazda6 share the engine, transmission and even chassis three parts, the two sides also share a production line, Mazda6 is highly sought after by domestic consumers in the 200,000 range, then C301 should have no problem sinking to the 150,000 range.

However, before the C301 is about to land, whether to adopt the red flag or not to go to the market has caused a lot of noise within FAW.

Hongqi is the most high-end brand among China's own brands, and has always been the exclusive car of party and state leaders, and is the representative of high-end luxury cars in China. If it is used in the C301, a mid-level family car, FAW insiders know that it is a shell model of the Mazda6, and many people question whether it can be worthy of the always noble Hongqi brand? Supporters believe that Hongqi is a household name in China, and the use of Hongqi brand on C301 can open up the situation as soon as possible, so that Hongqi will no longer be high, enter the homes of ordinary people, and realize the real sense of Hongqi planted all over China.

The two sides had fierce exchanges of views, and in the end, Zhu Tianfeng alone forced C301 to enable the Pentium brand, so as to stagger the positioning with Hongqi. However, in order to alleviate the internal differences within the enterprise, he proposed that the possibility of merging Pentium into Red Flag in the future would not be ruled out to form a "Red Flag Pentium" model.

The German Volkswagen Group is a high-quality partner of FAW and a model for them to learn. Under the Volkswagen Group, the Volkswagen brand focuses on economical households, while Audi assumes the responsibility of high-end luxury cars. Zhu Tianfeng plans to benchmark against Audi in the red flag, and Besturn imitates Volkswagen, so as to form a clear positioning of FAW's own brand.

When he finished the reporter's interview, he got the news from his subordinates that Chunlan Automobile would be sold to the outside world, especially Zhonghua Group is a potential merger and acquisition.

Now that he attends major occasions, he finds that the China Group is a topic that he can't get around. This private enterprise, which has only been established for 10 years, has rapidly grown into a giant that can compete with the behemoth of FAW.

Ling Yunzhi, who was originally scheduled to be his right-hand man, was angry because he did not agree with FAW's development strategy, and went south to join the Zhonghua Group. Unexpectedly, with the help of Ling Yunzhi, Zhonghua Group seized the opportunity of the development of China's automobile market and became the second largest automobile company in sales after FAW in one fell swoop. Especially since the beginning of this year, Zhonghua Group has taken action again and again, entered the field of commercial vehicles represented by buses and heavy trucks, and marched into the self-reserved land of FAW and Dongfeng, which made Zhu Tianfeng feel a little anxious.

In the field of trucks, light trucks are occupied by the rising star Foton Motor, while medium trucks and heavy trucks (combined for referred to as medium and heavy trucks) are firmly in the hands of FAW and Dongfeng, with a combined share of nearly 70%.

Now Zhonghua Group continues to covet the truck market, which makes Zhu Tianfeng smell danger.

FAW's internal analysis of the truck market concluded that they were still lagging behind the international mainstream in terms of technology, so they organized the development of Project J to strive to build the next generation of Jiefang trucks.

In 2004, China's sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks exceeded 550,000 units, bringing a lot of profits to FAW. It is expected that the truck market is booming, and it will continue to accompany China's economic growth for a long time.

Zhonghua Group won the Hunan Torch assets and obtained the resources of heavy truck manufacturers, Shaanxi Automobile and Hongyan, which has aroused great attention within FAW. At present, Chunlan Automobile, which has made achievements in the field of medium trucks, will be sold, and once it is won by Zhonghua Group, they will immediately have a bargaining chip to compete with FAW in medium and heavy trucks.

Therefore, when he heard that Zhonghua Group was going to snap up Chunlan Automobile, Zhu Tianfeng's first thought was to join the battle and snipe Zhonghua Group out of the medium-sized truck market from the strategic defense.

When FAW was in charge of Zhu Tianfeng, he frequently made large sums of money in capital mergers and acquisitions, and his measures such as controlling Haima and becoming the owner of Tianjin Automobile all illustrated his outstanding strategic vision.

In order to obtain Chunlan Automobile, Zhu Tianfeng even started the acquisition of Chunlan by FAW, and then the joint venture between Chunlan and Hino to restart the failed Chunlan Hino truck project.

In this way, it can not only snipe China Motor, but also hinder the development of GAC by killing two birds with one stone.

In addition to FAW, Toyota also found GAC as a new partner, and was unwilling to put its eggs only in a single basket of FAW. FAW cleared the policy obstacles of Toyota's second joint venture partner, but made a wedding dress for GAC, which left an indelible negative memory in Zhu Tianfeng's heart.

Hino and Chunlan parted ways, and rumors of intending to go south to combine with GAC had long been reported, and Zhu Tianfeng decided to take Chunlan to seek further cooperation with Toyota in order to strategically contain GAC.

It can be said that Zhu Tianfeng's strategic consideration is very wise.

"Send someone to negotiate with Chunlan as soon as possible, and take the initiative to say our plans to restart the Chunlan Hino project in the future. ”

Zhu Tianfeng actively instructed his subordinates, believing that in addition to money, there were other things that interested Chunlan Group and even the local government. If the Chunlan Hino project is re-implemented, he believes that even if the Zhonghua Group pays more money, FAW will still be the ultimate winner.

At the time when FAW was excited about Chunlan, another truck giant, Dongfeng, also monitored the signal to enter the market.

Although it has just undergone a change of leadership and is still facing the important task of the group's upcoming listing in Hong Kong, Dongfeng was able to pull out its hand to stir up the domestic automobile situation after the joint venture with Nissan.

Although Miao Yuwei was transferred to Wujiang City as secretary, Dongfeng's strategic implementation is still following his established trajectory, and the trilogy of joint ventures between the group and Nissan, listing in Hong Kong, and moving headquarters from Dashan to Wujiang City are all progressing in an orderly manner.

Trucks are the backbone of Dongfeng's own brand, and they are also the only domestic masterpieces they can get their hands on.

When it comes to Chung Wah Group's ability to disrupt the situation, it can be said that no one can match. Wherever they enter, there will be a huge impact threat to the original leader.

If Zhonghua Group acquires Chunlan this time, it will pose a major threat to Dongfeng Truck.

Xu Ping, the newly appointed CEO of Dongfeng, began to operate according to his own business philosophy, and also made an active defensive posture, which also showed his interest in Chunlan Automobile.

Chunlan's public sale of the car business was originally just to raise the price, but unexpectedly attracted many domestic peers to compete. In addition to giants such as FAW and Dongfeng, they have also attracted local companies like Foton and JAC to compete, which makes them smile and sell at a good price.

Originally, Chunlan showed signs of relenting at the negotiation table, but now it is silent and intends to further raise the price, which makes the negotiations with the China Group deadlocked.

"Now that the other party is the emperor's daughter, she doesn't worry about marrying, so she can't look down on us. Who made us make a big splash was remembered by our peers. ”

According to the assessment of fixed assets, there is no problem with the value of Chunlan Automobile of 300 million, but 500 million is indeed inflated. Not to mention the workers who have to take over their and take over the after-sales service, the cost of which has not yet been calculated.

Something that was originally worth 1 yuan can be sold for 2 yuan if several people compete for it. ”

Ling Yunzhi, who was in charge of the negotiation, reluctantly reported to Han Hao.

"Have you ever heard of the theory of the 'Thucydides Trap'? The rise of a new power will inevitably challenge the existing dominant power, and conflict between the two sides will be inevitable.

As a new entrant to the market, we have been attacked by the original giants, which shows that we have the ability to make them afraid.

We have developed too fast in recent years, and it is not an accident that we are currently being suppressed by competitors.

In my opinion, Chunlan Automobile is very important, but it is far less important than they imagined. If it doesn't work, we'll redo it ourselves, anyway, we can't be the big culprit. ”

Han Hao thought that apart from himself, there would not be too many forces interested in Chunlan Automobile. Looking at it now, many of them are Xiang Zhuang dancing the sword with the intention of Pei Gong, with the purpose of sniping at the China Group in their hearts.

When FAW threw out the plan to restart the Chunlan Hino project, it did immediately impress the Chunlan Group.

In order to reduce the cost of acquisition, FAW promised that as long as it has control, Chunlan can retain part of its equity and continue to stay in the automotive industry.

Such a commitment immediately allowed FAW to replace Zhonghua Group and become the number one sales target of Chunlan Automobile. Chunlan could not refuse the excellent plan proposed by FAW, and quickly agreed to the other party's request for mergers and acquisitions.

"That's it?"

After receiving the news that Chunlan had terminated the negotiations, Ling Yunzhi still didn't believe it.

It wasn't until he heard the news that Chunlan announced in a high-profile manner that he would carry out in-depth cooperation with FAW on the automobile project, that he understood that he had been robbed of the fruit by FAW this time.

When they learned that FAW intended to acquire Chunlan and then restart the Hino project, thereby interrupting the GAC Hino cooperation that was being negotiated, GAC was very nervous, and they immediately sent people to Toyota's headquarters to negotiate and communicate.

As soon as the GAC people got off the plane, the FAW people also embarked on a journey to Japan, and their purpose was to persuade Toyota to accept their plan and strengthen the cooperation between FAW and Toyota in commercial vehicles, so as to tie the interests of both sides more closely.

In the midst of the changes, the ultimate success or failure of a merger and acquisition activity between Chinese auto companies is in the hands of Toyota, and their tendency to express their stance determines the outcome of the situation, which has to be said to be an embarrassing situation in China's auto industry.