Leaving the vehicle test site, Li Lu came to the Institute of Materials.

All of the R&D projects of the Red Star Plant are housed in this small three-storey western-style building, around which several new flat-roofed two-story buildings with concrete structures have been built to accommodate additional personnel and research equipment.

The R&D project team of the 19-seater medium-sized bus is on the right side of the third floor of the main building, and Ma Jintao personally leads the project team to conduct research day and night.

Developing a minibus based on the Toyota Hiace is a challenging task, and it is not as simple as a facelift.

For engineers like Ma Jintao, the most advantageous thing is that they have the second-generation Kosda as a reference object for research and development.

The Red Star Plant imported the second-generation Kosda through Mitsui Corporation, and after the "Red Star Improvement", it was named Red Star Kosda for sale.

The reason why it is necessary to carry out research and development based on Hiace rather than based on Kosda is that Li Lu takes into account two factors, first, the R&D team can accumulate experience in light buses, and second, there must be some independent things, and blindly "red star improvement" is not a long-term solution.

After listening to Ma Jintao's report, Li Lu was speechless all of a sudden.

Ma Jintao said helplessly, "We have done a lot of analysis, and the results show that it is difficult to meet your requirements for stretching and expanding based on sea lions." You can only do nineteen at most, but you want nineteen to thirty. The time you asked for was tight, so I had to adjust the basics and develop mainly with reference to Kosda's chassis. ”

Li Lu could only nod helplessly, "Well, our foundation is too thin, and your decision is more in line with the actual situation." ”

"The standard of 19 to 30 seats is already the category of medium-sized buses, and no matter how stretched the chassis of the Hiace, it is difficult to meet the requirements. It is more appropriate to refer to the chassis of Kosda. We have the power unit provided by MTU Power, which solves the problem of the chassis and solves the main technical obstacles. Ma Jintao said.

How important the chassis is, Li Lu is clear.

Even if it is developed according to his requirements, the car can be built, but whether it is good or not is mainly a matter of durability.

Therefore, after thinking about it, Li Ruth admitted that Ma Jintao's plan was the best choice. What does it matter if you use Kosda's chassis as a reference, the off-road vehicles of Little Japan all started with the imitation of Willis.

Ma Jintao took out the overall design drawings and spread them out, pointing to the drawings and introduced, "This is the design sketch, the 32-seater passenger car, the power unit uses a 200-horsepower diesel engine provided by MTU Power Company, and the gearbox is also a matching model provided by them." ”

Li Lu nodded slightly, "In this way, the biggest technical obstacle at present is the chassis system. ”

"Well, there are thirteen more seats than Kosda, the body is going to be elongated, the width is a little longer, and the corresponding chassis is going to be redesigned." Ma Jintao said, "I plan to invite an expert in this field to come over, a very experienced automotive chassis engineer." This one requires your nod. ”

Li Lu jumped his brows in surprise, "Changchun factory? ”

Nodding, Ma Jintao said, "When I was in the Kazakh military industry, I was a classmate. After graduating, he went to the Changchun plant, and I went to the Donghai Iron and Steel Plant Research Institute. ”

"Great, what's their name?" Li Lu asked.

Ma Jintao smiled, "Bi Xiaolong, his father Bi Sheng is the chief designer of my country's first truck. ”

"Great!" Li Lu was even more excited, "Ma Gong, what conditions does he have?" How much research funding is required per year? ”

This was discussed by Li Lu and Ma Jintao early in the morning, and if it exceeded one million yuan, Li Lu made a decision that Ma Jintao himself had the right to decide if it was less than one million yuan. Therefore, if the annual research funding exceeds one million Chinese coins, Ma Jintao must report to Li Lu, and Li Lu will make the decision.

Ma Jintao's power is very large, which reflects Li Lu's trust in him. To tap talents, treatment is one thing, and sufficient research funding is the killer feature. At present, many research institutions in China are in a state of no rice to cook, and it is very good for a research institute with hundreds of people to have a fund of two or three million a year.

With the same level status as Ma Jintao, there is not much research funding of 10,000 yuan a year.

Therefore, this is a very fatal attraction for many researchers.

Li Lu wants to quickly expand his technical strength, and there is no better way than to throw money. In the past year or so, Li Lu's biggest expense has been the funding of the Materials Research Institute. Millions of dollars are constantly being invested, literally regardless of the cost.

He bought land in the provincial capital, and he couldn't spend 10 million on death, but he had already spent nearly 20 million on the funds he invested in the Materials Research Institute, including imported research equipment. The monthly dividends of Fenyuan Company are basically used for this.

Li Lu tried to find a way to borrow heavily to expand the scale of business, and he would not touch a penny of the Materials Research Institute. First of all, it is his fundamental principle to ensure the research funding of the Materials Research Institute.

"100,000 a month, 1.2 million a year." Ma Jintao said, "He asked for an independent research team, because of love, 1.2 million yuan is the team's annual research expenses." ”

Li Lu asked repeatedly, "Is he responsible for forming the team?" How many researchers can he bring with him? ”

Ma Jintao said with a smile, "The Changchun factory will not release people, and if he comes, he will have to give up his job there." His former students, as well as some old colleagues in other factories, said that they could be contacted, and of course they needed to send someone from the Red Star Factory for an interview. How many can be negotiated is counted as few. ”

Without much hesitation, Li Ludao, "No problem, I will ask Liu Guisong to be responsible for this matter." I agreed to all the conditions he proposed, set up a chassis technology research department, temporarily placed in the research institute, and his research funds can be independently calculated. ”

"There's nothing he's not happy about." Ma Jintao breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile.

Li Lu said, "Mr. Bi Xiaolong's treatment standard, with reference to your standard, is lowered by half a grade, how about it?" ”

Ma Jintao waved his hand and said, "Xiao Li, you don't have to worry too much. What should I do, the factory has factory rules, I don't care about these here, I think too much. ”

He knew that Li Lu was worried that he had ideas.

Li Lu said with a little embarrassment, "Ma Gong, you are the director of the research institute and the chief engineer of our factory, both the technical manager and the management. ”

"According to what I mean, the highest standard of treatment is the most in line with the situation." Ma Jintao said, "Although Bi Xiaolong is a few years younger than me, his achievements are definitely not below me. ”

Li Lu said dryly, "Do what you want." ”

Pointing to the sketch of the overall design drawing, Li Lu asked, "Ma Gong, how long will it take for this prototype car to come out?" ”

Ma Jintao said helplessly, "I'm afraid it will take two or three months." You have to wait for the sample car to come out as a condition of bidding, I'm afraid it's too late. But to be able to complete the basic design before that. ”

"It's okay to be able to complete the basic design." Li Lu nodded slightly, "It's that I'm thinking too simply." ”

Ma Jintao said with a smile, "After the feasibility study is completed, it will take a lot of time to get the basic design out, not to mention that our technical foundation is still very weak." Try to hurry. ”

Li Ludao, "Steady and steady, it's not okay to be in a hurry." The accumulation of technology has its characteristics, blindly catching up with time, and going back to make up for classes, which also does not save much time. ”

"Yes, we are now divided into three shifts and work continuously. Able to catch up on some progress. Ma Jintao said.

Li Lu nodded slowly.