1928: The rise of giant merchants

Alfred Sloan is 53 years old. In terms of age, he belongs to the generation of Ye Luo's father. But at this moment, he is excitedly holding Ye Luo's hand and looks as unassuming as his peers.

This was a special era during the Republic of China, when any foreign sailor or soldier would dare to show off and look down on the Chinese!

This is neither Alfred Sloan's pro-China nor Ye Luo's face.

This only shows from the side how difficult the current situation of General Motors is.

After the rise of Ford Motor Company, the once largest automobile company in the United States has gradually declined, but a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. If it declines, it will not be slaughtered by others.

That's what those American businessmen thought.

But reality is often more exciting than fiction. Not only did General Motors lose market share to Ford, but its living space was completely squeezed out.

Since joining General Motors in May 2023, Alfred Sloan has worked hard and worked hard for five years to bring General Motors back to life, but it seems that this breath will no longer last.

The domestic market in the United States could no longer continue, and he could not think of a suitable solution for the time being. Alfred Sloan was determined and went directly to China, hoping to open up a new market in this vast land. .

Unfortunately, the market here is more complicated than he imagined.

There are consumer groups, but they all belong to the aristocratic class and have long been monopolized by large companies such as Ford. The car dealers have close relationships with foreign companies and have connections with consulates and embassies in various places.

He traveled to Peiping, Tianjin and finally came to Shanghai. He was rejected by several consulates one after another. He was disheartened and finally understood that it was impossible to even open a foreign bank here, let alone open up the market!

Just when he was desperate, Sidney Barton, the Consul General of the British Consulate General in Shanghai whom he had contacted some time ago, called and asked him to have dinner.

After some exchanges, Alfred Sloan knew that he had the God of Wealth!

It was the second young master of the Ye family who had just been rejected by him, Ye Luo!

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. At that time, Consul General Barton invited me to have dinner, but he rejected your invitation!"

Alfred Sloan apologized as soon as he sat down, and then began to pour out his bitterness. It was really difficult for him. All the money he had with him was almost used up. He was about to have to return to China in disgrace and find another way out. Ye Luozhen fell from the sky and it was him. The great savior!

"Actually, I admire your management skills. I have benefited a lot from the 'decentralized management under centralized policy control' organizational model you proposed in 1921." Ye Luo said with a smile, the famous President of General Motors. , as long as he has done business in the automobile industry in later generations, no one knows his name.

When he was studying at Harvard University, Ye Luo occasionally visited major automobile companies and knew the details of this big boss.

Why does he dare to do business that no one else dares to do, dare not think about, and don’t think highly of?

First, he is familiar with the historical development timeline, and if he cooperates with the general trend, he will definitely get twice the result with half the effort.

Second, he has traveled to several countries in the past six years and has a deep understanding of many overseas businesses. Even domestic business tycoons are probably not as familiar with this aspect as he is.

Third, after studying abroad for six years, he has a network of connections all over the world, and he can use them all. If one or two emerge at a critical moment, it is enough for him to surpass other Chinese businessmen.

"Ye, I heard that you studied at Harvard University. You are indeed a top student from a top university. Do you know this extremely niche business and management model?" Alfred Sloan immediately slapped the rainbow fart.

Ye Luo smiled lightly, "Good guy, in this era, I have seen too many scenes of Chinese people shamelessly flattering foreigners. I didn't expect that foreigners are also good at flattering horses. He just mentioned a term, and he could praise it all at once." !

"President Sloan is too humble. I believe this management model will become popular among major companies in less than ten years." Ye Luo did not brag. This management model later evolved into the "Business Unit Management" that is still used by later generations. This is where the concept of department functionalization begins.

The two chatted casually for a while. At first, Alfred Sloan only regarded Ye Luo as a rich young man with a ready-made bag of money. He wanted to do business with foreigners just to brag and show off in the circle.

For this kind of person, treat him to a meal, brag a little more, and then get him some foreign horses to ride on, and the money will come.

But after talking for a while, he was surprised to find that this young man really knew General Motors!

If it weren't for the fact that Ye Luo was an authentic Chinese, he would have even thought that Ye Luo had been a senior executive at General Motors.

He even came here to mainly promote the Chevrolet 490 and knew everything about it!

"President Sloan, there shouldn't be any foreign companies willing to sell the Chevrolet 490." Ye Luo laughed loudly, "I guess not only was I unwilling, but I might have laughed at you."

"Yeah, they don't expect this car to be a hot seller in Shanghai." Alfred Sloan drank the coffee on the table with a bitter look on his face.

The Chevrolet 490 is the same type of van as the old Nissan Black Dragon van from Xiangsheng Automobile Co., Ltd. In 1928, it was considered a relatively backward model.

Nowadays, the main consumer group of cars is still the powerful class. They don't have money in their hands. They don't want to waste money to buy a caravan that they won't drive themselves but give it to their children. They also despise it.

"I don't think so." Ye Luo shook his head. Otherwise, how could he say that most businessmen in this era are short-sighted?

Cars are just like the mobile phones that were just born later. In the 1980s and 1990s, mobile phones cost tens of thousands of yuan, and only the nouveau riche could afford them. No one thought that they would become the "old kings and queens in the hall, flying into the homes of ordinary people", and everyone used them. Pager.

But later, within a few years, with the development of technology and the advancement of the times, mobile phones became popular.

Cars are particularly different in Shanghai.

As the largest city in the Far East, even in the war-torn era, the fashion here and the update and iteration speed of products are frighteningly fast. In a month or two, the war between the North and the South will suddenly end.

All waste is waiting for prosperity, and business is on the rise.

The National Government of Jinling issued several decrees in succession. Shanghai Beach is adjacent to Jinling and has become the largest metropolis in the Far East. Countless businessmen will flock here in a few months.

That's a lot of money, and tons of jobs.

"There are big businessmen and small businessmen in Shanghai. But in the current environment, small businessmen cannot survive. They have no food to eat, and the real middle class has not awakened their consumption consciousness." Ye Luo looked at his confused expression and explained, "Chevrolet 490 The first car came out in 1919, and the second model came out in 2021. What President Sloan wants to sell is the classic improved version of the 23 year model."

"That's right!" Alfred Sloan couldn't help but nodded.

In his opinion, the classic improved Chevrolet 490 is better-looking than other common vans today, has better performance, and is not expensive. It is a car that is more friendly to the people.

"I think this car is very suitable for the middle class to buy, and secondly, it is also the first choice for renting a car." Ye Luo carefully studied the number, brand and price of the vehicles rented by the car rental agency during this period.

You won’t know if you don’t check, but you’ll be shocked if you check.

Contrary to what many people think.

The most popular are cheap cars, followed by luxury cars, and mid-range and high-end cars are the least popular.

Why does this happen?

Let’s start with the identity of the car renter.

Customers who rent luxury cars are generally concerned about face, have a strong sense of vanity, and don't have much money in their hands. They may also be frequent customers of lending banks.

The customers who rent cheap cars are what Ye Luo mentioned just now, the middle class who have not awakened their consumption consciousness, and the small businessmen who have not yet poured into Shanghai in large numbers.

Most of their car rental needs are for transportation, or for gatherings with friends, and they use the car for several days, which is much cheaper than taking a taxi.

The gathering places for these people are usually in paid parks run by Chinese, mid-to-high-end teahouses, brothels, scenic spots, etc. Most of these places are concentrated in county towns and not in concessions, so they are rarely seen here.

The tycoons live freely in the concession all year round, and they have never seen the lives of ordinary citizens.

As everyone knows, ordinary people are the majority.

The invisible market is sometimes very hidden. Just like pdd in later generations, a certain treasure has occupied the top e-commerce platform for a long time. pdd was born out of nowhere, focusing on the sinking market. Within a few years, it created a lot of billions Millionaire.

At that time, Moubao had been doing it for almost 10 years, and no one had ever done a PDD during this period.

The hidden market that Ye Luo mentioned was an eye-opener for Alfred Sloan. He was thinking that in the huge market in the United States, although the popularity of cars is higher than here, it is still far from the point where every household has a car.

Can Ye Luo's so-called hidden market be explored in the United States?

"Ye, how many cars do you plan to buy this time? I know it is difficult for Chinese businessmen to sell cars in Shanghai. If you can buy more than 200 cars, I can help you solve some minor problems."

Alfred Sloan asked anxiously.

For this market, he has stocked up a lot of Chevrolet 490s. He plans to sell a batch of them first as an emergency, and he can continue to sell them when the market opens up in the future.

But seeing that none of them could be sold, I felt really anxious!

The Chevrolet 490 is called this because it sells for US$490. According to the current exchange rate of US dollars to silver taels (during the Republic of China, the country was still on the silver standard), and then converted into silver dollars, 1 US dollar is almost equal to 2.4 silver dollars.

The price of a Chevrolet 490 is about 1,176 silver dollars. In the current market where cars are generally sold for 2,000-3,000 yuan, this is indeed a civilian car.

200 vehicles, including other miscellaneous expenses, will cost about 250,000 oceans. Of course, this is the selling price. As the general contractor, Ye Luo will get a discount. As for how much the discount will be for each vehicle, they will have to discuss it later.

"I don't need President Sloan's help when it comes to selling cars." Ye Luo smiled and shook his head.

It's funny. You, a foreigner who can hardly survive in the concession, may not have as much weight as me in the automobile trade association. What can you do to busy yourself?

Ye Luo thought so.

He only wants one thing——

Buy at a low price.

"Then I can lower the price! Ye, if you sell one in Shanghai for US$490, then I will sell it to you for US$400!" Alfred Sloan was really anxious.

He gave a profit of US$90 per car. When the time comes, the car will be shipped from the United States to the Shanghai terminal, and he will be responsible for all expenses.

If all 200 cars are sold, Ye Luo will earn a small fortune of 40,000 yuan in one fell swoop!

This is just the beginning.

Just by buying and selling, I easily made tens of thousands of dollars.

But how could Ye Luo's appetite be so small.

The family spent 5,000 oceans to buy a new car for him, and 50,000 oceans to buy Xiangsheng Automobile Dealership. This profit was not enough to fill his teeth.

"No, 400 US dollars is too expensive." Ye Luo shook his head and refused, "The profit of 90 US dollars per car is not much profit from 200 cars."

"Ye, that's tens of thousands. Many people can't make it even after ten years of hard work." Alfred Sloan looked at him and shook his head, becoming even more anxious, "And this is the beginning of the business. You are so optimistic about the car rental industry, and you also think that many people will buy cars in the future, so when 490 becomes popular, you can continue to buy it."

"290 US dollars." Ye Luo looked into his eyes and suddenly smiled, "I know that it only costs more than 100 US dollars for General Motors to produce a 490, and the large number of 490s accumulated in your warehouse were actually produced several years ago. Even if you sell it at cost price, you still make a profit.”

"Two, two hundred and nine dollars?" Alfred Sloan's face changed instantly, "Are you kidding? This price"

"2000. I will buy 2000 Chevrolet 490s at one time. Even if you sell them to me for $290, you can make a lot of money, right?"

"2,000 cars. Are you crazy, Ye! Are there a total of 2,000 cars in Shanghai now?"

Alfred Sloan had heard from Consul General Patton that Yello was a crazy young man.

But I never thought it would be so crazy!

290 US dollars per car, 2000 cars, converted into silver dollars is almost——

1.4 million oceans!