Spring Hill, Tennessee, USA, Saturn Motors Headquarters, Chairman's Office

"Okay, Jill, you don't have to worry about the little cousin's affairs, the chairman has his own clever calculations, and I called you here today to talk about the next step of Saturn Motors, I want to know, what will be the biggest challenge that Saturn Motors will encounter this year? Is the Honda Accord the only way in the way? If you want to defeat Honda Motor Co., Ltd.'s tech nerds, what kind of plan or solution do you and your people have? Jiang Yelin shifted the topic from his little cousin Yale back to his work at Saturn.

In mid-to-late March, the main focus of the young chairman was obviously on the Saturn automobile, with the rapid increase in scale, the style of the G3 series fund with total assets of more than 3 billion US dollars gradually changed from an aggressive day trader to a real blue-chip auto sector medium and long investment fund, after all, more than 2 billion fund assets were allocated to Saturn auto stocks, and the remaining 1 billion US dollars as liquidity continued to maintain the short-term operation of the G3 series fund in the Wall Street market.

For example, the shares issued by South Korea's Kia Motors in the IPO of the New York Stock Exchange, The price of $5 per share of the new shares was speculated to $7.25 per share after the listing, and the public circulation of only 25 million shares is simply not enough for investors to snap up, Saturn Motors holds 50 million shares of Kia Motors' new shares, if it is cashed out after 3 months, under normal circumstances, the entire book floating profit will exceed 112 million, of course, perhaps after 3 months, the share price of Kia Motors may not only stay at $7.25, after all, the outstanding shares are too small, and the stock price and market value are easy to be pushed up.

"Chairman, Honda Motor is a technology research and development-oriented automobile manufacturing company, this group of island people are full of new technology and high technology, although Japanese cars, German cars and American cars have their own strengths, but when it comes to engine technology and fuel economy, Honda Motor is the first-class manufacturer, our Saturn car can not be compared, when I lead the R & D department, I also want to try to learn from the technical characteristics of Japanese cars, however, I am ashamed that our Saturn car research and development platform comes from General Motors, compared with Honda cars, At most, it is like a cat and a tiger, but it is not a god......"

Jill Lexton is not a person who likes to talk big, in fact, the reason why she volunteered to be in charge of the Saturn Automobile R&D Department is because the original Saturn Automobile R&D Department's progress in new models and technical improvements cannot meet a series of R&D requirements put forward by her as the general manager of the marketing department according to the characteristics of the market and competitors, but after transferring to the R&D department, Jill Lexton spent more than half of her time sorting out internal management and fighting bureaucracy.

The U.S. auto industry is a pillar industry of the country, the social status of blue-collar workers in the United States is quite high, and the influence of trade unions in all aspects of political and economic life in the United States is quite large, so it is impossible to expect American engineers to consciously work overtime and devote themselves to the research and development of new products. There is a clear distinction between public and private, and going to work is going to work, and getting off work is going to work without ambiguity.

"Well, if I understand correctly, the Saturn car, as a low-end entry-level fashion sports car, has become one of the top ten best-selling models in the United States on the basis of its beautiful appearance design and the main trend of young fashion, and in terms of engine and chassis suspension technology, there is a huge gap with our main competitor Honda Accord? Jill, you mean that, right? Jiang Yelin's style is still straightforward, of course, at the moment, his eyes are gentle, and the cigar in his hand has not been lit, just holding it in his hand and sniffing it lightly under his nose.

"This is the case, after all, we are only a sub-brand of General Motors, although we have established our own automotive technology research and development platform, but it is inherited from General Motors' technology platform, not to mention that the top automotive engineers in the United States are in the headquarters research institute of the three major automobile manufacturing companies, we are at best a second-tier research and development department, to be honest, Saturn Motors can achieve 150,000 sales zero inventory and enter the top ten popular brands in the United States, has exceeded our original expectations and goals!"

Jill Lexton's words were very frank, "Chairman, maybe you should also know that Saturn Motors, as the youngest brand of General Motors, cannot be compared with Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac in terms of talent, technology and capital. Buick and Cadillac above. ”

"So, can you poach people? Poaching top talents from the General Motors Research Institute, annual salaries and stock options are negotiable...... There must be a brave man under the reward, right? Jiang Yelin raised his eyebrows, and directly made a move for his CEO, this kind of trick if it is said to dig up technical experts from island countries or South Korea, there may be a bit of a gap between cultural traditions that is difficult to cross, but Saturn is a sub-brand of General Motors, and now although it is spun off and listed, it is still a company controlled by General Motors.

"Chairman, the General Motors Headquarters Research Institute is also divided into several R&D platforms according to sub-brands and models, and has formed their own mountains and spheres of influence over the decades, and the flow of low-end engineers between the project teams is not a problem, and the main engineers are almost the soul of their respective brand technologies. Michigan is the cradle and gathering place of automotive talents, and it is too attractive for people to come to Tennessee to be Spring Hill people......"

The more Jill Lexton spoke, the softer his voice became, obviously the red-haired witch could see that the chairman of the boss chair behind the desk was getting more and more ugly, but he really didn't dare to hide the difficulties, the automobile industry is not Wall Street stock speculation, especially when it comes to technology research and development, high investment may not have high output, cultural traditions and the inheritance of their respective mountain schools will affect the flow and choice of top technical talents, at least for now, Saturn Motors is in a non-mainstream area like Springhills, Tennessee, It's not so easy to just wave the annual salary checkbook, but it can be dug up......

"No, if Saturn Motors wants to become a first-class automobile manufacturing company, it is necessary to master first-class automotive technology and patents, even if we are from the General Motors platform, but the purpose of establishing Saturn Motors is to provide the North American market with a fashionable and economical family car that can be comparable to Japanese cars, and it must be leading in terms of technology, even if there is a gap now, we must make every effort to make up for it and catch up, as the CEO who leads this company, Jill, You have to focus on technology development and the upgrading of new models as the most important things! ”

Jiang Yelin's words were categorical, and Jill Lexton's face was shocked when he heard this, but he quickly straightened up his proud chest and nodded, "No problem, chairman, but this year's budget for new model research and development and technology upgrades is only 50 million US dollars, and the company's main budget is used to increase production capacity and integrate the newly acquired Alabama factory, at present, the number of employees in Saturn No. 1 in Chunshan, Tennessee is 8,000, and the employees at Saturn No. 2 in Alabama, Alabama, are only 4,000. We need to add 2,000 workers to Saturn II to increase the production capacity of Saturn II from 100,000 to the 200,000 originally designed by the Koreans......"

"The budget is not a problem, Jill, you have to understand that in Saturn Motors, as long as the problem can be solved with money, it is not a problem, the Saturn Automobile Research Institute is now just a rural grass team, and it must be willing to invest in order to build a truly first-class R&D center, the board of directors can add a budget of 50 million US dollars to the research department, but I need to see the results, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.'s new fifth-generation Accord is your goal to catch up, as for what method to use, you and your people will find a way, I will give you and the research institute half a year, The facelifted 94 version of the Saturn car in the fourth quarter must roll off the assembly line...... Your current model is finalized in 92, and the model and brand that sit on the credit book and eat the old book have no way out and future! ”

Jiang Yelin's time for Jill Lexton can be described as extremely harsh, in the automobile manufacturing industry, usually a classic model has to be upgraded, at least 3 to 5 years, plus the pre-development time may even be longer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.'s first-generation Accord was put into production in 1979, the second-generation Accord was in 1982, the third-generation Accord was in 1985, the fourth-generation Accord was in 1990, and now the fifth-generation Accord was just launched in early 93, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., which is known for its R&D strength and is a leader in the industry, has maintained an average of once every three years.

But for Saturn Motors, which was born in the General Motors technology research and development platform, the 80s began to plan, the factory was built in 85, and the first generation of Saturn cars was only listed in 91, and now the R&D and upgrading project of the second-generation Saturn cars is only 14 months old, if the second-generation Saturn cars are to be launched in the fourth quarter, the entire research and development time will not even add up to 2 years, which is much more difficult for Jill Lexton and Saturn Cars than doubling production capacity and performance!

"I can't do this, Your Excellency Chairman, even if the technical experts of General Motors' brands are mobilized to tackle key problems together, the second-generation Saturn car can be listed in the third quarter of next year, even if it is a great achievement, and I can also be sure that individual technical indicators can have the opportunity to approach Honda Motor Cole's fifth-generation Accord, but most of the technical indicators are definitely not as good as opponents, such as fuel economy, such as engine noise and torque, this is an objective gap, The main technical indicators of the Saturn generation are not even as good as the fourth-generation Accord of the other party! ”

Jill Lexton felt that the chairman in front of him was a layman's blind command, but Jiang Yelin waved his hand and said, "I believe that things are man-made, don't give me an answer now, we'll talk about this issue in a week!" You can go back! ”