SFS Chapter 139 Low-price strategy, unleashing the Beetle
Chapter 139 Low-price strategy, unleashing the Beetle
Dison is gone.
Such an important matter cannot be decided by him alone.
In addition to discussing with family members, it is also necessary to convene a shareholders' meeting to obtain the consent of all shareholders.
After all, the Dodge family couldn't possibly pay for that 26% share award themselves.
However, he was confident that he could persuade everyone.
With sales skyrocketing, Dodge Brothers' stock price will certainly rise accordingly.
It would be difficult for Dodge Brothers to quadruple its stock price solely based on sales of low-priced cars.
However, once the myth of the Ford Model T is shattered, the resulting impact will definitely attract Ford's investors to Dodge.
With trading booming, stock prices will naturally surge.
By then, the stock price will be much more than just quadrupled!
The interests on the other side are much greater, and everyone can calculate that clearly.
So a week later, Lin Yi and Tony received his invitation and came to Detroit again.
The meeting was held to discuss the details with various shareholders.
It took three whole days to finally reach this betting agreement.
Lin Yi, the co-president, has officially taken office.
"Low price, the market only loves low price, and Ford's Model T has proven this."
In the conference room, besides the Dodge Brothers' management team, there was also their technical team.
The visiting team brought by Lin Yi also joined the meeting.
He's both a shareholder and co-president.
Over the next period of time, his team will delve into various aspects of production management at Dodge Brothers Motor Company for in-depth learning.
"However, for our low-priced products, we need to accurately identify the market pain points of the Model T, then correct them, thereby surpassing it."
As soon as Lin Yi finished speaking, the chief engineer of the Dodge Brothers frowned: "Mr. President, the biggest problem with the Model T is its simplicity."
"But changing the rudimentary style means increased costs."
"This is completely contrary to your low-price strategy."
He spread his hands, looking completely bewildered.
Upon hearing this, the rest of the technical team nodded in agreement.
Lin Yi glanced at him and smiled, "So, to keep the total cost from increasing, we need to save costs from other areas."
"For example, the size of the car."
As he spoke, Lin Yi laughed: "Gentlemen, haven't you noticed that all the cars have completely ignored the needs of those beautiful ladies?"
"Whether it's Ford's Model T or other luxury cars, all of them are designed with men in mind."
"Therefore, this is a blank market, a very large blank market."
"These beautiful ladies don't need a huge car body or a powerful engine."
"All they need is a nice car."
After Lin Yi's words, the entire room fell silent, and almost everyone looked thoughtful.
Lin Yi glanced around and then continued, "To meet such needs, the biggest costs of the entire vehicle, the engine and the body, can be reduced to a minimum, giving us an advantage over the Model T."
"As for cost control in other areas, it is not difficult as long as we are willing to find solutions."
"For example, we are an assembly line. Apart from manufacturing the core components ourselves, most of the other parts are purchased."
"And for all the items purchased, only two key factors determine the price."
"Material costs, and labor costs."
"With low material costs, it's unlikely that we can find a way to reduce them, so we can only start with labor costs."
"Gentlemen, don't continue to focus your procurement efforts on the United States, where labor costs are high. China is a much better option."
“We can provide the design, and even the specialized equipment, so they can manufacture the parts we need according to our orders.”
"This will greatly reduce our cost expenditures and further give us an advantage over the Model T."
It's like killing two birds with one stone: you get rich while bringing foreign exchange to domestic industries. What a great thing!
Moreover, this can be considered as cultivating supporting industries in advance.
Once their own car factory goes into production, it will save them a lot of trouble.
This was the first time Lin Yi had clearly articulated his market strategy.
After hearing this, Dison and several members of the management team whispered among themselves.
Several people nodded from time to time, clearly approving of Lin Yi's strategy.
The chief engineer, who had come with the intention of causing trouble, couldn't think of a rebuttal for the time being.
He is the chief engineer, and his understanding of costs far surpasses that of management like Dison.
Lin Yi's approach can indeed achieve better cost control than the Model T.
But he couldn't just give up like that.
This is not only about the honor of a chief engineer, but also about his value.
A chief engineer whose product design skills can be replaced by the boss is of no value.
After a moment's thought, the chief engineer spoke before Dison could: "Mr. President, I admit that your view of the market is very accurate."
"But I'm sorry, I must correct you on one point. The Model T has the most rational component layout, and its size has reached the limit of a car."
"Therefore, it is impossible for our product to be smaller than the Model T."
"Furthermore, I would like to remind Mr. President that any car must conform to certain size proportions, otherwise it will definitely look ugly."
"It's so ugly that even beautiful ladies would vomit at the sight of it."
"I'm sorry, please forgive my frankness."
Hearing these words, Dison Dodge, who had already raised his hands to applaud Lin Yi, slowly lowered them again.
"Are you saying this kind of car is ugly?"
As he spoke, Lin Yi picked up a rendering of a Beetle from a stack of documents in front of him.
This was drawn by his team based on the sketches he provided.
He confirmed that the Volkswagen Beetle does not currently exist in this timeline.
Ask yourself, aren't American women crazy to use such a powerful move?
"Four-cylinder engine, front-wheel drive, no damn rear driveshaft."
"That's all I can tell you. As for how to do it... Mr. Engineer, I've paid your salary; it's your job."
"Please work with your team to complete this task carefully."
Chief Engineer: "..."
Ignoring the dumbfounded chief engineer, Lin Yi handed the renderings in his hand to Dison, who was staring wide-eyed.
He glanced at everyone's faces and asked with a smile, "Does anyone still have questions? I will tell you the answers."
No one asked a question.
The shareholders had already eagerly surrounded Dison, their eyes burning with excitement as they stared at the Beetle rendering he was holding.
As for the engineering team, apart from the chief engineer who had been reprimanded, the others whispered among themselves, having a quiet discussion.
Front-wheel drive, that's also a new thing...