Ye Chen could not help but praise, “This is a good approach. Not only does it make the matter more reasonable, but it also lets the world recognise that Changying Automobile already possesses influence in the supply chain. With all the world’s top renowned automotive suppliers gathering in Jinling, outsiders will surely be astounded by Changying Automobile’s supply chain integration capabilities.”
Steve Rothschild nodded and said, “That is exactly the idea. At that time, it will certainly let the entire automotive industry’s supply chain see Changying Automobile’s influence on the supply chain side for real! I dare not promise other things, but at least it can make Changying Automobile’s supply chain costs 10% lower than those of other car companies!”
He Yuanjiang sighed, “For a car costing around 200,000 yuan, excluding the battery, the material costs are about 40%, which is 80,000 yuan. If the supply chain can squeeze out another 8,000 yuan in savings, and we pass that on to consumers, the overall vehicle’s cost-performance can be further enhanced.”
Steve Rothschild asked in surprise, “So, Changying Automobile plans to follow the ultimate cost-performance route, like those Chinese new energy vehicles?”
“Yes.” He Yuanjiang said, “A truly national-level product must have high cost-performance, high brand recognition, and high product credibility. This determines that the premium cannot be too high. Young Master Ye himself does not want Changying Automobile to become a high-profit-margin enterprise.”
Steve Rothschild could not help but sigh, “From my perspective, Changying Automobile has such high attention now, and with Tavana Sweet continuously helping to promote it. Once the car is officially launched, it is definitely a great opportunity to reap profits. At the launch event, boast more about the technology, data, and sentiment. Secretly compress material costs to the extreme, and each car should earn several thousand US dollars more. Plus the original profit margin, earning 10,000 US dollars per car would be effortless. In that case, selling hundreds of thousands of vehicles would bring in tens of billions of US dollars in cash, which is very substantial.”
After saying that, he could not resist advising, “The first car launch is a great opportunity to reap profits! Those prospects are growing vigorously out there, and it would be a pity not to capitalise. If not, you could switch to the cost-performance route with the second model. After all, it is tens of billions of US dollars in hand, enough to recoup the most advanced production line.”
Steve Rothschild, influenced by the Rothschild family for so many years, saw only profits and nothing else. The projects he managed always aimed to maximise benefits in every possible way. Whenever sentiment, dreams, and interests conflicted, interests came first. He had assumed Ye Chen wanted to squeeze the supply chain to boost profit margins and recover costs quickly, but unexpectedly, it was to pass that benefit to consumers.
In his view, such behaviour was very foolish and naive. It would be better to seize this good opportunity and earn a substantial amount.
Ye Chen smiled and said at that moment, “Steve, the original intention of the Ye family and An family collaborating on Changying Automobile was not to make money. I am even less interested in that. If I were after money, why bother with the effort of building cars? I have plenty of ways to harvest from top tycoons. Just organise a casual auction, and it would earn more than several years of car manufacturing.”
Steve Rothschild suddenly realised the truth.
He thought to himself, “Yes, how could Ye Chen lack money? If he auctioned off a few Rejuvenation Pills, earning hundreds of billions of US dollars would be child’s play. Someone like my father would not blink at spending over a hundred billion US dollars on a Rejuvenation Pill. Building cars, in what lifetime could you earn hundreds of billions of US dollars?”
Thinking of this, he said with self-deprecation, “Ah, it is still Mr. Ye’s vision that is superior. I still cannot shake off the stench of money all over me. Ashamed, ashamed!”
