Chapter 75: Su Xin's Ambition

On the afternoon of the very day the press conference concluded, the global automotive industry showed signs of being shaken.

Some well-informed major investors had already begun offloading their stocks.

Under the bewildered gazes of many uninformed retail investors, the stock prices of quite a few traditional car manufacturers had already shown a clear downward trend.

Sakura Country was filled with wailing from top to bottom.

The media was also full of voices predicting their decline.

There were also countries such as Kimchi, Beer Country, Romantic Country, Yingjiang Country, and so on.

These few countries are all developed nations and were also the hegemons of the traditional internal combustion engine vehicle era; the cars they produced have occupied the vast majority of the global automotive industry for the past hundred-plus years.

For these countries, the automotive industry is also a pillar industry; although the automotive industry's share of GDP is not as high as it is in Sakura Country, it still holds an extremely important position.

And now.

Following the release of the Solid-state Battery Technology, apart from Sakura Country being the most nervous, the senior management of the automotive industries in these few countries also became nervous one after another after receiving the relevant intelligence.

Executives from top global car manufacturers like Volkswagen, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and others held emergency meetings overnight to discuss response strategies.

Su Xin's one press conference stirred up quite a significant storm on a global scale.

Perhaps most ordinary people have not yet noticed, but for practitioners in the automotive industry, they could already feel the oppressive atmosphere of a coming storm.

By the next day.

Even some smaller power battery manufacturers with less access to information had learned the news about the solid-state battery through various channels.

Besides traditional internal combustion engine car manufacturers and the upstream and downstream supply chains, those most panicked in the face of the Thor Battery were these power battery manufacturers.

Even the senior management of top power battery manufacturers like Hengde Era and Gaoke were filled with gloom.

And just at this moment.

A call from Tianqi Technology came through.

……

Hengde Era president's office.

Ceng Daqun sat in the boss's chair, his hands clasped at his chin, his brow tightly furrowed.

Because of the solid-state battery matter, he hadn't slept well all night; finally, unable to calm his mind, he arrived at the company shortly after six in the morning to seriously think about how to deal with the terrifying storm about to arrive, as well as Hengde Era's strategic adjustment plan.

But after thinking for a long time, he couldn't think of any good response method.

The technology was too far behind.

The price difference was also negligible.

They simply had no competitiveness at all.

Let alone whether they could catch up in the future, even whether they could survive under the strike of Tianqi Energy was a question mark.

At this time—

"Ring-ring! Ring-ring!"

When Ceng Daqun came back to his senses, he discovered it was the internal phone on the desk ringing, and only then did he notice that the sky outside was already bright.

He casually pressed the answer button, and the secretary's voice immediately came through: "President Ceng, President Liu from Tianqi Technology is on the line."

Ceng Daqun's spirit was instantly jolted.

The two words "Tianqi," from yesterday to today, had cycled through his mind tens of thousands of times, to the point that as soon as he heard these two words, he became completely clear-headed, and he hurriedly said:

"Put it through for me!"

He picked up the receiver, and the secretary happened to transfer Liu Qingli's call in.

"Hello, is this President Ceng? I am the CEO of Tianqi Technology, Liu Qingli."

"Hello, I am Ceng Daqun."

"President Ceng, I won't beat around the bush; you should have watched yesterday's press conference, right?"

"The great name of the Thor Battery has already spread far and wide; as an industry insider, I am of course paying attention," Ceng Daqun said calmly.

"Then I'll be blunt: the Thor Battery has already successfully begun mass production, but after all, the output is limited. Facing such a large automotive market at home and abroad, a single factory is certainly not enough for supply, so we would like to acquire some of the factories under Hengde Era. I wonder what President Ceng thinks?"

Ceng Daqun frowned, subconsciously wanting to refuse, but he stopped himself.

If it were a day ago, given Hengde Era's operating condition, let alone selling factories, they would instead want to continuously expand production capacity to meet the increasing demand for orders.

But now.

With the release of the Solid-state Battery Technology, he could almost see the bleakness of the future.

However.

Even if he knew that future business would decline sharply, he was unwilling to be acquired while someone took advantage of his misfortune.

Furthermore, if the factories were sold to Tianqi Technology, the other party's production capacity would increase, and they would seize Hengde Era's market share at an even faster speed.

This kind of behavior is equivalent to aiding the enemy.

Therefore, after thinking for a moment, Ceng Daqun still shook his head: "Sorry, Hengde Era has no intention of selling factories."

Liu Qingli smiled:

"President Ceng, let's speak plainly; you should know what the current situation is. The sudden emergence of the Thor Battery will inevitably cause all other power batteries to lose their market, and coupled with the fact that your prices have no advantage, to put it bluntly, as Tianqi Energy's production capacity continues to expand, other manufacturers will inevitably go bankrupt one by one."

"Even if Tianqi Energy hasn't had time to expand yet, it is almost impossible for other manufacturers to receive new orders."

"After all, everyone knows that the better Thor Battery is about to hit the market; how could customers buy backward products? And without customers buying, how could car manufacturers continue to place orders? Even their existing orders might be canceled one after another."

"President Ceng, internal combustion engine vehicles are being phased out, and Liquid Lithium Battery are also being phased out. No matter how you struggle, it's useless; if the technology can't keep up, there is only a dead end."

"Hengde Era is currently the power battery enterprise with the highest market share, but your business is not just power batteries; there are also Fuel Cell, Supercapacitor, mineral investments, etc. Selling the power battery factories is equivalent to cutting off the rotting flesh about to decay on your body; although the process is very painful, it can protect the other industries."

"This is the best means of self-rescue."

"Otherwise, once the power battery project completely collapses, the rot is very likely to spread to other parts, affecting the entire group."

"President Ceng, we are willing to acquire them at the current market price; this is our greatest sincerity."

Hearing this, Ceng Daqun couldn't help but fall silent.

During the video conference with several senior executives yesterday, everyone had actually already mentally prepared themselves for this.

It is impossible to catch up in power battery technology, and overtaking on a bend is not realistic; after all, they have already invested too much into this and simply have no opportunity to start over from scratch.

From here on out, the power battery factories under the name of Hengde Era have almost no path left but to wait for death.

They truly could not think of a solution.

The acquisition at the original price now proposed by Liu Qingli can be said to be the best choice for Hengde Era.

After a moment of silence, Ceng Daqun finally spoke with difficulty: "I understand what President Liu means, but I cannot make this decision alone; I need to discuss it with the other senior executives."

Liu Qingli smiled and said: "Very well."

"By the way, there is one more thing I need to remind President Ceng of: the boss told me that our next goal is to acquire at most 30 power battery factories, and we will settle the intentions within one month."

"I will be negotiating with multiple power battery manufacturers simultaneously during these days; if the acquisition target is reached by then, we will not continue to acquire more, so I hope President Ceng can provide an answer as soon as possible."