Chapter 79: Tianqi Energy's Frequent Big Moves

The next morning.

Dozens of media outlets, large and small, arrived at the hotel once again to attend the Tianqi Energy press conference.

Previously, Tianqi Energy had little name recognition, so Su Xin had released the Thor Battery under the name of Tianqi Technology.

But now, with the release of the Thor Battery, the four characters "Tianqi Energy" had entered the sights of all industry peers, while its popularity within the country had also exploded.

Therefore, ever since Tianqi Energy announced yesterday afternoon that it would hold a press conference, many people had begun to pay attention to the movements of Tianqi Energy.

Especially the major companies in the industry.

From upstream raw material suppliers to other power battery manufacturers, and then to all large downstream car companies, everyone was closely monitoring this press conference through various channels.

Around 9:50 AM.

Ding Kuiyong walked onto the stage together with representatives from major power battery manufacturers and took their respective seats.

Countless spotlights began to flash, and all cameras were aimed at Ding Kuiyong in the center.

10:00 AM sharp.

Ding Kuiyong put down the documents in his hand, looked up at the media and cameras in front of him, and smiled:

"Hello everyone, I am the newly appointed president of Tianqi Energy Co., Ltd., and my name is Ding Kuiyong."

"Due to President Su's busy schedule, he does not have the time to attend in person, so I will be hosting this press conference. If there is any lack of hospitality, I ask our media friends to please forgive me!"

"Alright, without further ado, let me get straight to the point."

"I believe everyone knows that President Su held a press conference a few days ago to release the world's first solid-state battery product—the Thor Battery."

"Once released, this product immediately received great praise from many industry insiders and netizens. Many people want to see products equipped with solid-state batteries hit the market as soon as possible to enjoy the various benefits brought by this new technology."

"Therefore, after seeing the earnest expectations of netizens, President Su decided to invest heavily in acquiring battery factories to increase production capacity, so as to promote the popularization of the Thor Battery and let all customers enjoy the convenience brought by the latest technology as soon as possible!"

"Today's press conference is to formally announce to all sectors of society that Tianqi Energy will reach acquisition agreements with multiple power battery manufacturers to fully acquire the power battery factories under their names, including CATL, Gotion High-Tech, Sunwoda, Farasis Energy..."

Ding Kuiyong read out more than a dozen names in one breath, which immediately caused most of the media on the scene to gasp.

Even if they were not industry insiders, they had some understanding of some of the top companies in the new energy industry. For example, the names Ding Kuiyong had just read out were basically the top-ranked power battery manufacturers in the country, and among them were even industry giants like Hengde Era.

And now, these top power battery manufacturers were actually selling their battery factories to Tianqi Energy. What did this represent?

It represented that everyone had surrendered!

At the very least, in the competition for power batteries, the major manufacturers had effectively announced their surrender.

One must know that it had only been a week since the Thor Battery press conference, and the actual mass-produced products had not even hit the market yet, yet Hengde Era, as the main competitor, had already thrown away its armor and weapons. One could see how exaggerated the deterrent power of the Thor Battery was!

While everyone was shocked, Ding Kuiyong continued:

"Once the entire acquisition plan is completed, Tianqi Energy's annual production capacity will increase to 600GWh, which is double the total installed capacity of power batteries in Long Country last year, and 90% higher than the projected total installed capacity for this year. It will be fully capable of satisfying the entire vast new energy vehicle market of Long Country."

"In other words, once Tianqi Energy completes its capacity expansion, everyone will have the opportunity to enjoy the new technology of solid-state batteries at the first opportunity."

"We even have a great deal of surplus capacity to use for entering overseas markets, making the name of the Thor Battery resound throughout the world!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room was in an uproar!

The people present were not stupid, and they immediately grasped Ding Kuiyong's underlying meaning—

Tianqi Energy would soon complete its capacity expansion. By then, the Thor Battery would monopolize the national power battery market at the first opportunity and wantonly conquer territory on a global scale.

No one expected that Tianqi Energy would take such big steps and lay out its plans so quickly. In just one week, it had played one big move after another, as if it were eager to reach the sky in one step and immediately monopolize the global market.

Before the press conference was even over, someone couldn't wait to stand up and ask:

"President Ding, Tianqi Energy is acquiring so many battery factories at once; does it have that much capital? Or did President Su accept financing?"

As soon as this was said, many people stopped discussing and paid close attention to Ding Kuiyong's reaction.

Everyone knew how great the market prospects for the Thor Battery were. As long as one wasn't stupid, no one would choose to accept external financing and dilute their own shares.

Everyone had thought this way before, so they all felt that Tianqi Energy would likely expand slowly and gradually occupy more and more of the market.

But now, hearing the acquisition and expansion plan mentioned by Ding Kuiyong, they immediately thought—Tianqi Energy simply did not have that much capital to expand at this stage, and even if it took out bank loans, it would be impossible to borrow enough capital to acquire so many factories.

The greatest possibility was that it had accepted investment and equity participation from some major capital.

Ding Kuiyong shook his head and said:

"It is not convenient for me to disclose too many details. I can only tell everyone that Tianqi Energy has not accepted any external investment, and it will not accept any external capital equity participation in the future."

Subsequently, Ding Kuiyong briefly answered a few questions from the media, and then, under the witness of many media outlets, held the signing ceremony for the letters of intent.

The content of this press conference spread throughout Long Country in a very short time, and it also immediately alarmed major traditional car companies around the world.

If the release of the Thor Battery a few days ago made many traditional car companies feel that the future was pitch black and that fuel vehicles were about to face a dead end.

Then this press conference made everyone realize—the dead end had already arrived!

The senior management of the three major car companies in Sakura Country gathered urgently to discuss response strategies again.

But this time, no matter how they discussed it, they found that there was only one way out—

Immediately abandon traditional fuel vehicles. No matter what the cost, no matter how much profit they had to give up, they had to turn around completely and embrace new energy vehicles.

In the face of the explosive increase in production capacity that Tianqi Energy was about to achieve, all the plans they had discussed before would fall through; they simply did not have the time to slowly adjust their strategies.

Otherwise.

Once other car companies reached cooperation with Tianqi Energy and galloped rapidly on the new energy track, while they lagged behind because of slowly adjusting their strategies, they would inevitably fall further and further behind in the future competition for new energy vehicles.

Therefore, they had to make a prompt decision and completely change their strategy to have a chance at survival.

Thinking of this, the few reached a consensus on the next strategy very quickly—

"Immediately announce that all models will have comprehensive price cuts, and try to sell off the inventory of fuel vehicles before the brand-new new energy vehicles hit the market."

"All research related to fuel vehicles must stop!"

"All fuel vehicle production lines must be shut down!"

"Immediately contact all suppliers related to fuel vehicles and demand the unconditional cancellation of all purchase contracts. If they refuse, we will announce a breach of contract! We will refuse to pay for the goods!"

"Immediately contact Tianqi Energy to discuss the ordering of Thor Batteries!"

"Notify the design department immediately, and hurry to design several brand-new vehicle models equipped with Solid-state Battery. Once the purchase contract for Thor Battery is finalized, release them at the first opportunity to stabilize market confidence."

"Even if we must fully enter the new energy era, we will absolutely not fall behind anyone!"