NOVEL WEB Chapter 613: Later Stages
The group plans to hold a mega-scale team-building event in June.
This news spread quickly throughout the company, especially since the boss personally set aside 800 million for this activity.
What does this mean?
The entire Golden Mountain headquarters currently has 56,000 employees online.
Dividing 800 million among them, this means each person can receive a travel fund of 15,000.
If you add the company's contribution, each person's travel fund totals approximately 20,000.
Spending 20,000 over three days—of course, it will be an enjoyable trip.
Previously, many employees were worried about the company facing operational difficulties and were even prepared to crowdfund to get through the crisis. Yet, unexpectedly, not only did the boss not need their money, he also directly set aside 800 million to let them enjoy a three-day trip.
This has undoubtedly made the company the leader in extravagant team-building budgets among large corporations in 2020.
The group's planning department has also divided the event into multiple travel options.
These options include resort stays, sea tours, and more.
Employees can choose the destinations they prefer.
The travel funds are being burned freely here, but Chen Pingsheng didn't bother with these details.
After allocating 20 billion to Tengfei New Energy, Tengde Era is planning to use 8 billion to build a new super battery factory in Guangdong.
Meanwhile, Tengfei New Energy is planning further expansion of its research institute.
Three additional cities will be selected to construct new tech industrial parks.
From 2016 to 2019, it was merely the initial phase of the new energy sector.
Everyone survived by relying on financing, subsidies, and loans.
From 2020 to 2024, it's clearly the mid-phase of the new energy vehicle industry.
The overall market share is growing steadily; only those who thrive in this phase will truly secure a foothold in the future new energy vehicle market.
Tengfei New Energy not only wants to succeed in this phase but aims to become the unequivocal leader in China during this period.
With the most comprehensive industrial chain advantages, it aims to secure an unparalleled position in future competition.
As of now, Tengfei is the only company in the country covering the entire industrial chain of new energy vehicles.
This includes core technologies in battery research and production, AI-assisted driving, electric motors, and electronic controls.
Additionally, traditional segments like chassis tuning, engine R&D, and transmission development are within its domain.
It can be said that every aspect is under development, and some areas have been researched for five years already.
Another 20 billion yuan allocated this year aims to solidify the core advantages of Tengfei New Energy fully.
Next year, he plans to allocate an additional 40-50 billion.
Tesla's market valuation of over 500 billion US Dollars has completely stimulated him.
There's no doubt that he still lags behind Tesla—a fact known to the entire company.
However, the gap is indeed narrowing with time, which is also undeniable.
It's estimated that within three years, this gap might shrink significantly, possibly to the point of being almost negligible.
That's not far-fetched to believe, especially since he owns a 100% stake in Tengfei New Energy.
Others only hold dividend shares, so once the company goes public, it's unimaginable how much his net worth will soar.
When Chen Pingsheng held a meeting at Tengfei New Energy, he even proposed for the first time an overseas strategy.
The general idea is to build factories abroad to sell Tengfei New Energy's cars overseas. Building super factories abroad is an inevitable choice.
Relying solely on the domestic market cannot justify his years of investment.
It would fail to achieve globalization and significantly weaken the company's future valuation.
According to his plan, before Tengfei New Energy goes public, at least two super factories must be established in foreign countries.
This is to fully achieve globalization.
The leadership at Tengfei New Energy, whether it's Yan Donghui, Zhang Qiming, or Xu Dong, is now full of confidence. From site acquisition to investment and construction, building a super factory typically takes one to two years.
If they invest this year, global expansion will likely be completed by the end of 2022.
This timeline is very suitable; it allows domestic research institutes two more years to catch up while putting pressure on everyone else.
When expanding abroad, there won't be the same government subsidies as in the domestic market. At that time, the competition will be on a level playing field with other brands.
Everyone will start from the same starting line. Only vehicles that sell well under these conditions can truly symbolize globalization.
The domestic market's success largely comes from policy protections rather than intrinsic superiority.
Take, for example, fuel vehicles being subject to purchase taxes, while new energy vehicles are exempted.
Just this one policy alone makes many people choose new energy vehicles when buying a car.
Not to mention the numerous other subsidies provided, indicating the government sacrifices at least hundreds of billions in tax revenue annually to support new energy development.
Under these circumstances, beating so-called joint-venture cars doesn't reflect the true strength of new energy vehicles—it simply reveals the policies favoring them.
Abroad, however, is a different story.
It will require genuine participation in the global market, competing neck-to-neck with century-old automakers.
Absent patriotic sentiments, achieving comparable sales to Tesla—let alone surpassing Toyota and Honda—would be the real measure of excellence.
Chen Pingsheng has always held such ambitions, which is why he never engages in domestic self-promotion or boasts intentionally about his achievements.
He understands that the current state of things is far from enough.
Originally, he had planned to delay global expansion by another two years. However, Tesla's skyrocketing stock price prompted him to advance this agenda.
Moreover, the most critical aspect is that breakthroughs in solid-state battery technology have already been achieved.
Mass production is expected within three to five years, along with complete commercialization of the technology.
This provides him with the confidence and justification to expand into overseas super factories.
Crucially, Tesla's explosive growth has given him the financial means to achieve his goals.
Before Tesla entered the domestic market, it was struggling and on the verge of collapse.
Only after the Magic City super factory was completed did Tesla truly take off.
This demonstrates how brutal the overseas electric vehicle market can be.
By affirming the overseas expansion strategy, he's created enormous pressure for everyone.
Tengfei New Energy achieving dominance in the domestic market is merely a matter of time.
In the overseas market, however, success will come only through head-to-head battles.
Chen Pingsheng assigned Zhang Qiming to negotiate the overseas factory initiative. As a former senior VP of BMW, he is the most suitable person for the task. The first super factory's location will undoubtedly be in a developed country.
North America is undoubtedly the most suitable choice.
Once agreements are finalized, he plans to invest between 15 billion and 20 billion there.
The biggest difference between overseas factories and domestic ones lies in labor costs and workplace culture.
Overseas labor is expensive, and overtime is uncommon.
If you ask workers to do overtime, unions will immediately show up to negotiate with you.
Many domestic bosses, upon venturing abroad, still attempt to employ domestic tactics.
As a result, they end up incurring penalties that leave them questioning their life choices.
The greatest competitive advantage of domestic industrial chains has always been low labor costs.
How low?
For the same working hours, domestic employees earn merely half of what their overseas counterparts do.
During the early stages, this model worked perfectly fine—after all, many people needed jobs, and any opportunity was precious.
Now, things are different. To compete globally, relying solely on low labor costs as an advantage will invite widespread rejection.
The reason is simple: A domestic worker earning 6,000 RMB for a 12-hour workday cannot compete with a foreign worker earning over 10,000 RMB for an eight-hour workday.
In terms of costs, the gap is immense and insurmountable.
When cost disparities are this pronounced, anti-dumping measures come into play.
What does this mean?
It means barring your low-cost products from entering their markets by implementing policies to protect local companies.
The same logic applies to car manufacturing: once you go overseas, you must abide by their rules of the game.