"This ......"

As if it was some direct surprise to John, Daimler and Maybach both paused for a moment and fell silent for a while.

After a moment, Daimler finally shook his head and said, "Mr. Huntelaar, we have discussed this issue together before, and to be honest, Mr. Maybach and I are both opposed. ”

"Oh? Why? ”

John's eyes flashed, and he asked lightly.

"Because we don't think the demand for the aurora is as great as Mr. Benz thinks!"

At this time, Maybach interjected and said calmly: "Although it seems that all of Europe wants to buy our Aurora now, if you calculate it carefully, an Aurora costs five thousand marks, how many people can really afford it?" If, as Mr. Benz had planned, the production capacity had been expanded to 3,000 units a year, would it have been sold without production as it is now? ”

"Three thousand?"

Hearing this number, John's pupils shrank, and he immediately turned his head to look at Carl Benz.

Bentz's face turned red suddenly, but after a moment he still insisted: "Mr. Huntelaar, I believe that even if 3,000 Auroras are produced every year, at least at a slightly lower price, they will definitely be sold!" ”

"The problem is, sales are only one aspect of the problem!"

After taking a deep breath, Maybach continued: "If we scale up production, it means that we have to invest a lot of money in expanding the plant and recruiting and training new workers; And in order to sell these cars, our products will be available outside of major cities such as London, Paris, Berlin, etc., so recruiting and training new maintenance personnel will be an expense. ”

"Yes, that's good!"

Hearing this, John immediately nodded.

Although the technology of Aurora is relatively mature, in the final analysis, it is a new thing that has just been born. A high failure rate is unavoidable. Therefore, in the future, GM's reputation will be guaranteed, and John reminded Benz at the beginning that cars are only sold in a few large cities, and repair services are only available in these large cities. If the user drives the car out of the corresponding city, then the lack of repair service is not GM's problem......

After receiving John's affirmation, Maybach perked up and continued: "What's more critical. If we had to do this, it would be difficult for us to ensure that we had enough money to invest in R&D, and our technology would stagnate...... Mr. Huntelaar, you may not know very well in North America, but in the first half of this year a new car company has appeared in Italy and the first car has been produced! ”

"Oh?"

After hearing the news, John's brows suddenly furrowed.

However, Karl Benz waved his hand and said disdainfully: "Mr. Maybach, you won't say that they are GM's competitors again, will you?" Gee. We've all seen that company's products, and it's technically impossible to compare with ours, and in many places we still use our patents......"

"With a little bit of thought, patents can be bypassed."

Maybach's brow also furrowed, and he replied very unhappily.

In these years, the patent law of any country is not very sound, especially when there is fierce competition among countries and even the possibility of war, the effect of patent law is even worse. In many cases, some countries will even encourage their nationals to infringe on the patents of the enemy country. Just make a few articles on the surface. The United States, for example, is the most famous copycat country of this era. I don't know how much the industry that is developing now is stealing European technology.

Of course, John was very clear about this.

It's just that because Aurora's technology is more than ten years ahead after all, especially the production of engines is quite difficult, so the real competitors will not appear so early for a while. But what John could expect was that as GM's reputation grew, the driving effect would gradually unfold. The germination of the automobile industry will inevitably accelerate further in various technological powers, and by that time......

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bentz."

Not wanting to waste more time on this issue, John shook his head very dryly and said, "I cannot agree with your plan, but agree with Mr. Maybach and Mr. Daimler." ”

These words are very firm. Full of unmistakable flavor.

"What?"

After hearing this result, Karl Benz's face suddenly darkened.

After a slight pause, John continued: "And as Mr. Maybach said, I propose to further increase the investment in our R&D department to ensure that at least a quarter of the annual net profit is invested in it!" In addition, I personally suggest that the company can start researching high-capacity manned cars, as well as cars that can pull goods, and you can refer to the tricycle I invented......"

As he spoke, John observed Carl Benz out of the corner of his eye.

The face of the inventor of the automobile was full of an expression called unwillingness, and at the same time, his eyes flashed rapidly, which also showed that his mental activities must be very complex at this time.

"Ugh."

After seeing all this, John sighed softly, and knew that after he returned to New York this time, he had to put the time for the construction of a new car factory on the agenda......

……

Because of an argument, John spent three days in Karlsruhe.

In three days, as the largest shareholder of General Motors, he suppressed Carl Benz's imminent mind and firmly supported the development ideas of Maybach and Daimler: strive to develop new technologies, develop new products, and maintain market demand for Aurora with existing production.

John knew that the decision was the right one.

No matter how great and urgent the demand for aurora in the market is, John knows it's all false. When the selling price of Aurora has not been reduced to a certain level, and the key is that the income of the ordinary middle class has not reached a certain level, it is absolutely undesirable to blindly increase production capacity. Five thousand marks, equivalent to the income of an average German for two or three years, and also an income without eating or drinking, how many people can afford such luxuries? Don't look at the orders now that the order is at the end of the year, but John and Daimler are on the same page, this figure is just enough to supply the needs of the European market, and occasionally some surplus can be driven away by the rich in North America, but if this number is doubled......

Maybe you can sell it all in the first year or two, but it definitely won't last until the third year.

And you must know that the so-called production capacity in these years is not the production line of later generations, but means a factory, a piece of equipment and a large number of skilled workers, huge investment and low productivity. Knowing that it was a thankless task, how could John be willing to do it?

In these years, technology accumulation is king.

With sufficient technical accumulation, John can quickly expand the automobile company as long as he provides sufficient funds at the right time. And in his mind, there is a big killer in this regard, even if other companies have very good products at that time, after all, they will only follow behind and eat ashes......

……

Three days later, John set off from Karlsruhe.

A hundred years later, Karlsruhe is located in the southwestern part of Germany, right in a depression on the Franco-German border. Of course, in this era, thanks to the victory in the Franco-Prussian War, Karlsruhe had become the interior of the German Empire.

Berlin, the capital of Germany, is northeast of Karlsruhe.

If you draw a line on the map, there is about 600 kilometers from Karlsruh to Berlin, but in this straight line, in the south-central part of Germany, just over 100 kilometers from Karlsruhe, there is a small city of Würzburg.

Johan's second stop in Germany was chosen here.

A stay in Würzburg is certainly not a whim or a sightseeing trip, and although it is small and populous, Würzburg is home to one of Bavaria's oldest universities, the University of Würzburg. At this university, there was one of John's most important goals in Europe.

He's going to find someone here, someone who can change the course of medical history......

……

In fact, if you think about it seriously, the cost of the car was set too low at the beginning.

Technology that is ahead of its time requires higher craftsmanship and, of course, higher costs, which is a bit inappropriate for me to compare with the historical Carl Benz. But that's all it can be, everyone understands. (To be continued......)