Chapter 3107

The An family instantly became deeply interested in He Yuanjiang's viewpoint.

For the An family, whole-vehicle manufacturing and power batteries were not truly intended to make money; they simply hoped to invest more in manufacturing in China, adding bricks and tiles to the development of China's manufacturing industry.

But He Yuanjiang's viewpoint gave them new expectations for this matter.

If this industry could be built into an industry giant like Tesla, the business opportunities and profits it contains need not be mentioned, and the help and enhancement it could bring to China's manufacturing industry and domestic automobile supply chain would undoubtedly be enormous.

The biggest difference between manufacturing giants and internet giants is that internet giants tend more toward industry monopoly; before a monopoly position is formed, they continuously release benefits and even heavily subsidize the end market, and once they have acquired enough users and made users extremely dependent, they brazenly seize profits.

Several years ago, when they subsidized online ride-hailing, for a ten-kilometer trip, passengers might only need to pay five yuan, while drivers could receive ten yuan; but now, for the same ten-kilometer trip, passengers might need to pay thirty yuan, while drivers can only receive eight yuan.

Moreover, internet companies tend to use the fewest positions to create the greatest output, obtaining maximum profit by squeezing upstream and downstream.

But manufacturing giants are different.

Manufacturing giants feed the entire industrial chain.

A car manufacturing enterprise with ten thousand employees, besides providing ten thousand jobs itself, can also provide large numbers of jobs for upstream steel and aluminum plants, provide large numbers of jobs for the transportation of various materials, and support a large batch of large, medium, and small enterprises that supply it with parts; this driving effect is very strong.

In China and even worldwide, the economic lifeline of many cities may well be a large manufacturing enterprise, just like Toyota City in Japan, where a population of four hundred thousand is almost entirely composed of Toyota employees and their families, and Toyota itself has over three hundred thousand employees worldwide; if the supply chain that depends on it is included, it can drive at least a million jobs.

Such manufacturing giants can provide benefits to millions of people on the industrial chain, rather than desperately squeezing their profits and survival space.

Nowadays, the domestic localization rate of domestic new-energy vehicles has already exceeded ninety percent; if a new-energy vehicle giant could truly be created, all the value it generates will be used to drive the development of domestic related enterprises.

Therefore, He Yuanjiang's suggestion instantly made everyone's eyes light up.

Ye Chen was also very interested in this plan, and he said: "I still have plenty of cash on hand; even taking out several hundred or even several hundred billion US dollars would not be difficult. He Uncle, what do you think would maximize the success rate of this endeavor?"

He Yuanjiang said: "Money doesn't need to be that much; twenty or thirty billion US dollars is already very sufficient. As for success rate, I personally feel we should focus on overtaking on a curve—don't even mention comparing with traditional fuel vehicle companies; even within new energy, those entering now belong to the fifth or even sixth tier, and merely catching up with peers is already a difficult test."

An Fengfeng asked: "Professor He, how exactly do you think one can overtake on a curve? Or, how should one do it to count as overtaking on a curve?"

He Yuanjiang thought for a moment, organized his language, and explained: "My personal understanding of overtaking on a curve is actually not as simple as just a curve; rather, it means taking a shortcut on the entire track, walking a path others haven't walked, even an unimaginable path, to reach the finish line faster."

"Just like domestic new-energy vehicles: previously, our fuel engines always lagged behind Europe, America, Japan, and Korea; no matter how we chased, we always fell short by a bit. But domestic new-energy vehicles directly overturned the table—we can't build an engine that catches up with theirs, right? Then let's not build engine-powered cars at all. Electric motors—you surely aren't that formidable, are you? You've spent decades accumulating expertise in internal combustion engines, while electric motors leave you completely bewildered. I'll take advantage of your lack of attention to electric motors, move in first to accumulate advantages in electric drive, and by the time I get electric drive working, I'll be ahead of you in the new-energy field. Then when you come crying to me, saying you've spent decades mastering internal combustion engines—from L4 to W16 you're proficient in everything—I'll ignore you completely. Why? Because I'm not playing your game anymore."

"This is like martial arts masters in the cold-weapon era who painstakingly practiced swordsmanship for thirty years, thinking they were invincible upon leaving the mountain; I built a firearm in one and a half years, and a single bullet can take your life. Then you say you practiced swordsmanship for thirty years—it's useless, meaningless."

"Of course, the ones who truly overturned the table of global traditional automakers were not domestic new-energy enterprises, but the industry pioneer Tesla. That was his original approach to overtaking on a curve. However, our domestic new-energy vehicles also have original examples of overtaking on a curve: the three big pieces of new energy—refrigerators, color TVs, and big sofas. Tesla isn't pursuing a minimalist wabi-sabi style, is it? Then we'll pursue a luxurious comfort style, and we've also seized a considerable market share."

After a pause, He Yuanjiang continued: "If one now wants to find another overtaking-on-a-curve route, directly overturn their table, speaking frankly, it's difficult, but certainly not impossible. As long as someone finds the right entry point, that person can become the next new emperor in the automotive field."

An Fengfeng also understood that such an entry point must necessarily be extremely hard to find; once found, it could likely move a market worth trillions of dollars, so hoping to get a hint from He Yuanjiang in a short time is probably just daydreaming.

Thus, he asked again: "Then Professor He, if we temporarily cannot find an overtaking-on-a-curve, out-of-the-box winning strategy, what should we do to increase the success rate of this project?"

He Yuanjiang said: "If one wants to further increase the success rate, my personal understanding is that we must penetrate more upstream key links; power batteries are naturally one of them, electric control technology and drive technology also need to be focused on, and besides that, there is a top priority: the development of vehicle-mounted software."

"Penetrating power batteries serves three purposes: technological reserves, cost reduction, and supply assurance; the An family has already made some arrangements in this regard."

"As for penetrating electric control and drive technology, it is to improve the automobile's hardware competitiveness; with the same battery capacity and similar wind resistance and weight, whoever's electric control saves more electricity will have greater range, whoever's drive technology is strongest will have better performance—these are all key points concerning overall driving quality."

"If there is no in-house R&D team or no strategic alliance with relevant enterprises, then one can only forever use standardized solutions provided by third parties; in that case, your car's power parameters will be identical to those of over a dozen models from other brands on the market, and then what leading edge would there be to talk about?"

Saying this, He Yuanjiang added: "As for the vehicle-mounted system, I consider it a top priority. Since I began researching new-energy vehicles, vehicle-mounted software has been a part I highly value. In fact, building new-energy vehicles is like building smartphones—you can't just piece together hardware; you must also ensure hardware compatibility and software-hardware compatibility. Even with the best hardware, once the software lags behind, the car is like a strong-limbed, simple-minded fool."

An Chongqiu then said: "Oh, I... I seem to have always driven fuel cars, with no demands on the vehicle-mounted system; having Bluetooth phone, listening to music, listening to the radio is enough for me—I have no concept of this."

An Fengfeng nodded: "I also don't understand much; I've never been in contact with the new-energy vehicle industry, and I've never even driven a new-energy vehicle."

After speaking, he asked Ye Chen: "Chen'er, do you understand?"

Ye Chen laughed: "Me? I'm not afraid of Second Uncle's teasing if I say it out loud—I truly only started driving every day after Tang Sihai found me; I never bought a car for myself. My only two cars are the two supercars others gave me, and I may have driven them only one or two, two or three times. To this day, I'm still driving the BMW 5 Series I originally bought for my father-in-law."

As he spoke, he suddenly recalled Liu Manqiong's Tesla and said: "I seem to have driven a friend's Tesla on Hong Kong Island, but back then I only drove it for a very short time, and I never researched the vehicle-mounted system or so-called assisted driving."

He Yuanjiang thought for a moment, then laughed: "How exactly should I describe this vehicle-mounted system? You all know Balotelli, the football player who kicks, right?"

Besides the old gentleman, the other several men all nodded in agreement.

Balotelli, who likes to ponder life on the pitch, is familiar to both football-loving and football-indifferent men.

He Yuanjiang continued: "In my view, he belongs to top-tier hardware but third-rate vehicle-mounted software; if we could give him the football intelligence of Messi or Ronaldinho, he would certainly become a superstar, but unfortunately this shortcoming of his can never be made up."

Everyone instantly understood He Yuanjiang's meaning.

Ye Chen then said: "Since software compatibility in the vehicle-mounted system is so important, let's just build a strong software development team—we've already spent big money, so we won't skimp on this small amount."

He Yuanjiang agreed: "Exactly, that's what I mean. Many traditional automakers transitioning to new energy have vehicle-mounted software that can't keep up, so they choose outsourcing, which usually ends up a mess—just like the counterfeit phones of the past, with poor experience. Since you've chosen to directly enter the new-energy track and have extremely ample financial reserves, you must firmly grasp this software aspect."

Saying this, He Yuanjiang added: "By the way, high-precision maps are also very important; vehicle-mounted navigation, assisted driving, and even higher-level autonomous driving all depend on it. Currently, everyone is accessing several common service providers on the market; if there's an opportunity, you can take a stake in one, or simply acquire one."

An Fengfeng nodded: "These are all very valuable suggestions; we will seriously consider them and strive to implement them as soon as possible."

Saying this, An Fengfeng looked toward He Yuanjiang and asked: "Professor He, since you have such in-depth research on new energy, are you interested in joining us to steer this project?"

Without Ye Chen's indication, An Fengfeng had already seen the enormous value in He Yuanjiang.

When he and the An family acquired Henggao, they had already made this decision—after all, it's a project worth several billion US dollars, with a very high professional threshold, so they must dig out a true expert to steer it; otherwise, relying merely on having money and a hot head to undertake such a large project would definitely result in everyone paying tuition fees.

Even if he hadn't met He Yuanjiang today, he would still have arranged for headhunters to search nationwide for a suitable project steward; he just didn't expect that, upon returning to Jin Ling, Ye Chen would send him a top-tier candidate.

At this moment, He Yuanjiang smiled and politely declined: "Don't hide it from you, Mr. An—I'm actually focused on teaching and nurturing people now; besides, I've been detached from practical operations for too long, so I can only talk about theoretical strategies; if you truly let me steer this project, I also lack this capability."

The old gentleman, who had been silent all along, waved his hand and said seriously: "Professor He, don't undersell yourself—I believe you are fully capable of handling this position; the key lies in whether you want to or not."

"If you truly only want to teach and nurture people, then no matter what we say, you won't agree."

"But if you still have a trace of interest and anticipation in your heart for steering such a massive project, then you must seriously consider it."

"We have already invested three billion US dollars in Henggao Automobile; if we include power batteries, we've already invested over ten billion US dollars; but for this matter, we can still invest another three hundred billion US dollars—then this would be a four-hundred-billion-US-dollar undertaking. This scale might be something no new car company in the world possesses; even if it's the world's top dancer, they might not be able to showcase their talent on a four-hundred-billion-US-dollar stage. This opportunity might come only once in a lifetime!"

The old gentleman's words instantly captured He Yuanjiang's soul.

A stage with a four-hundred-billion-US-dollar opening is unprecedented in the history of new-energy vehicles.

Even Lei Mi, who recently sparked nationwide frenzy and claimed overseas investment of only one hundred billion RMB, pales in comparison.

Four hundred billion US dollars is nearly three trillion RMB in scale—this is no longer about building a single car company; it's about directly taking on an entire industrial chain.

For professional managers worldwide, who would dare to dream of such a good opportunity? What kind of opening is this? A dreamlike opening!

On such a stage, realizing one's ambition—what fortune would that be? Once successful, what achievement would that be?

At this moment, He Yuanjiang's heart, which had been as solid as a copper wall and iron wall, began to show cracks.

Seeing him torn rather than immediately refusing, Ye Chen knew he had already been moved somewhat.

So he immediately added fuel to the fire: "Uncle He, didn't you say it was hard to find an opportunity to overtake on a curve? I think I've found one, though I'm not sure if it's reliable."

He Yuanjiang hurriedly asked: "What opportunity?"

The others immediately turned their gaze to Ye Chen, their expressions full of concern.

Ye Chen said: "The Rothschild family is currently building for me in Europe the world's most advanced AI model, the only restriction being that I cannot use it for commercial purposes, but that's fine—I'm confident I can get them to grant me an exclusive commercial license in the automotive field."

Currently, the AI model's main source of revenue is providing AI computing for individuals and enterprises, with thousands of industries able to access and use it, though there has been no practical application in the automotive field yet.

Although Ye Chen doesn't dare to guarantee that Howard will give him full commercial rights to the AI across thousands of fields, securing exclusive usage rights in the automotive field alone is still not difficult.