Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 149: With skills and connections, it’s hard to fail (two-in-one)

For a part, you actively beg others to adopt it, but the situation is completely different when others proactively contact you to install and test it.

Cao Yang wanted to support the development of independent brands, but in a short period of time, independent brands really could not provide enough orders and profits to Nanshan.

Therefore, it became inevitable to take Ji Hua to make recommendations for General Motors, Volkswagen, and Ford.

Even to facilitate subsequent testing, each person checked in two gearboxes when flying.

Then give it directly as a gift to others.

In this way, even if the other party doesn't immediately adopt Nanshan's gearbox, they will still get to know it.

After all, in the information prepared by Cao Yang, the parameters of this gearbox were terrible.

As an old friend who has worked together many times, Cao Yang easily met General Motors' design director Edward and purchasing director Austin.

Since Cao Yang had stated in advance that he would come over to introduce Nanshan's 6AT automatic transmission to them, the design and procurement met together.

Of course, when the company reported, Edward and Austin's subordinates were also present, and there were many people sitting in a large conference room.

"Cao, Nanshan can always bring us surprises. Whether it is the previous nut plate or wheel bolts and bearings, they are all QCD's world-class products."

"But to be honest, the complexity of the gearbox is much higher than these parts."

"You have never made a gearbox before, and now you suddenly enter this field, you must lack relevant experience, right?"

Although everyone has a good relationship, Austin doesn't dare to let water on the gearbox casually.

Each model of General Motors has a corresponding transmission supplier.

Not to mention the various tests that need to be done after the change, the interests behind it need to be carefully considered.

"Austin, you are right. Nanshan did lack experience in this area before, so we chose to cooperate with Professor Ji Hua."

"He has been studying gearboxes for more than ten years before, and combined with Nanshan's excellent experience in specific parts production, the 6AT automatic gearbox we have developed so far has better performance parameters than ZF, Aisin and JATCO in all aspects. Everything is better."

"We can take a look at this first."

This recommendation meeting would not be easy to hold smoothly. Cao Yang had already known this.

If the other party can attend the meeting and discuss it with me seriously, it is considered very sincere.

"Let's first look at the transmission efficiency. The transmission efficiency of Nanshan's 6AT is higher than that of competitors' automatic transmissions, reaching more than 80%. This means that during driving, Nanshan 6AT can reduce energy loss as much as possible, thereby improving efficiency. , reduce fuel consumption and emissions.”

"Looking at fuel consumption, Nanshan 6AT can achieve better fuel economy through intelligent control systems. According to our company's test data, under highway and urban road conditions, the fuel consumption of Nanshan 6AT's mid-level sedan 2.0L engine is respectively 6.5L/100km and 7.5L/100km, more energy-saving than other automatic transmissions.”

“而在大家比较关心的加速性能方面，南山6AT的表现也是非常的好。它能够在短时间内加速至较高速度。根据我们的测试数据，使用南山6AT的中级轿车2.0L发动机，在0-100km/h的加速时间比其他自动变速箱快0.3S以上。”

"And our 6AT has excellent handling and driving comfort, and can automatically adjust gears and power output according to different road conditions and vehicle speeds, making the vehicle drive smoother and smoother."

"Of course, everyone will definitely be worried about the failure rate of this 6AT."

"Judging from the experiments we have done so far, the failure rate of Nanshan 6AT is lower than that of other brands."

"The most critical point is that while the performance exceeds that of ZF and Aisin, the price of Nanshan's 6AT will be more than 20% lower than theirs."

Cao Yang personally turned into a salesman and praised his 6AT as if it were a flower.

Not to mention, judging from everyone's reaction, they were quite interested.

After all, Americans are not modest in their way of doing things.

If your stuff is good and you don't say it, then it's not good.

Now Nanshan is a bit complacent, but everyone feels very accustomed to it.

This is a normal attitude towards promoting your own products.

"Cao, what is the gear transmission ratio of your 6AT?"

Although Edward is not someone who specializes in designing gearboxes, as the design director, he is relatively familiar with the requirements for key components.

"Let our gearbox expert Professor Ji Hua answer this question."

Professional things are done by professional people. This kind of answer is more convincing.

"The gear transmission ratio of Nanshan 6AT can vary depending on the specific car model and engine configuration, so there is no fixed answer."

After listening to Cao Yang's words, Ji Hua was not polite and started to answer questions directly.

"But generally speaking, it has a wider gear ratio range and can provide a variety of gear choices, thereby improving the vehicle's fuel economy and driving performance."

“具体从6AT的结构上来说，南山6AT的齿轮传动比范围通常在2.4-3.7之间，能够实现6个挡位的切换。”

"Within this range, the gear transmission ratio of each gear is different. Among them, the gear transmission ratios of 1st gear and 6th gear are relatively small to improve the vehicle's acceleration performance and fuel economy."

"The gear transmission ratios of 2nd and 3rd gear are relatively large to improve the vehicle's driving performance and handling performance."

“In addition, Nanshan 6AT also uses a technology we call ‘adaptive control’, which can automatically adjust the gear transmission ratio according to the vehicle’s driving status and the driver’s driving habits, thereby improving the vehicle’s fuel economy and driving performance. .”

Ji Hua's convincing and professional answer made Edward very satisfied.

"I would like to add that if you ask around, you will know that an interesting thing happened in China's machine tool industry some time ago."

"Siemens and Fanuc took advantage of their monopoly positions to join forces to raise prices."

"But Nanshan came up with its own CNC system, which solved the urgent needs of many equipment manufacturers and forced Siemens and Fanuc to quickly withdraw their price increase letters."

"This shows that Nanshan has a very profound foundation in CNC systems."

"Now I have applied these experiences to the 6AT TCU, and it has achieved very good results."

"In this regard, whether compared with ZF, Aisin, Gatco, or Schaeffler and Gates, we are very confident."

Cao Yang's introduction aroused the curiosity of many GM attendees.

We are all professionals in the automotive industry and have some understanding of machine tool CNC systems.

Nanshan can actually defeat Siemens and Fanuc in this field, which shows that its level in this area is very high.

This story is more convincing than Cao Yang's waste of time emphasizing a hundred times that his 6AT control system is good.

Just like CATL, it first received a battery order from BMW.

When you later look for other customers to promote, when you mention this situation, others can't help but look at you.

If it were the other way around and you just supplied batteries to Asan’s Tata, then probably no one would take it seriously.

"Cao, I will arrange for someone to test your 6AT immediately. If the performance is really that superior, then we will consider choosing a suitable model to try to install it."

After Cao Yang and Ji Hua answered a bunch of questions, Edward finally expressed his stance.

"Indeed, as long as there is really no problem with Nanshan's 6AT, then General Motors will naturally not reject cheap, high-quality products."

Austin also stood up and expressed his attitude.

So far, he has achieved the purchasing center's price reduction task for 2001.

The CEO also specially praised him.

Cao Yang has a share of credit for this.

Now that the U.S. auto parts antitrust investigation has not been completely completed, Austin will naturally not turn his back on others so casually.

After that, Cao Yang took Ji Hua to Ford Motor Company without stopping.

This time, the same design director Metz and purchasing director Chris led their respective teams in charge of gearboxes to listen to Cao Yang's introduction.

"Cao, the cost pressure Ford is facing this year is very high."

"The cost of the gearbox Aisin supplies us is more expensive than the one sold to Fengti Automobile, which makes us unable to compete with Toyota for the same type of cars."

"As for the 6AT we studied ourselves, all parameters are very good. Currently, Mondeo, Escape, and Explorer all use this transmission."

“This transmission uses special designs, such as lightweight materials and high-strength drive shafts, to improve the reliability and durability of the transmission.”

“But it also led to high costs, which we have never been very satisfied with.”

"I wonder how much the Nanshan 6AT gearbox will cost?"

As the purchasing director, Chris is naturally very concerned about costs.

If Nanshan 6AT has no cost advantage, then there is no need to discuss it in detail.

Even if everyone was still friends before.

"The specific cost of 6AT is closely related to demand, and it also depends on whether Ford has any other special requirements."

"If Rusuo uses Nanshan's standard products, our cost can be more than 8000 yuan."

Since you want to sell to others, in addition to saying that your technology is great, cost is naturally an unavoidable topic.

Otherwise, why would people buy your 6AT?

"Cao, let's do this. We'll keep your two samples first."

"The design center will arrange for personnel from the powertrain department to conduct comprehensive confirmation and testing on it, and then discuss the next step of adoption."

Metz was relatively clear about the 6AT that Ford had researched. When comparing the parameters mentioned by Nanshan, he found that Ford's own products had no advantages!

There is no advantage in technology and no advantage in cost, which is embarrassing.

So he wanted to figure out the situation.

Of course, only he himself knows whether there is any intention of stealing from his master.

"No problem, I will also arrange for designers and sales staff to connect with your company. No matter if you have any questions, you can consult at any time."

Nanshan's legal department is now responsible for the registration of various patents.

So Cao Yang is really not worried about Ford taking Nanshan's 6AT and stealing his skills.

If it were that simple, you could get samples of products from every manufacturer on the market by purchasing a car.

By then, won’t all the techniques be learned?

If that's the case, why will China's automatic transmission industry be completely ineffective by 2023?

……

There is technology and there is relationship.

Cao Yang’s trip to the United States is destined to not be in vain.

As soon as he returned to Yangcheng, he received a contact from Austin.

He asked Nanshan to fly 10 more 6AT samples, and GM was going to select several models for actual vehicle testing.

If the test results are satisfactory, models equipped with Nanshan 6AT will soon be considered.

In 2001, there were no 8AT or 9AT on the market, let alone 10AT.

6AT is definitely the first choice for most mid-to-high-end models.

Now Nanshan has lowered the price of 6AT in one go, and its theoretical performance parameters are better than those of other manufacturers.

If General Motors has its own transmission factory, it is naturally very interested in Nanshan 6AT.

Of course, under normal circumstances, no manufacturer will purchase such an important component as the gearbox from one supplier, unless the manufacturer is its own, such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Japanese and Korean car companies. It is a gearbox produced by its own factory or a holding company.

It would be ideal if Nanshan 6AT could capture [-]-[-]% of General Motors' share.

"No problem. I can arrange for a few technicians to come over and let them cooperate with General Motors to promote various tests."

People are willing to spend a lot of effort to conduct testing, which shows that they are really interested in Nanshan's 6AT.

Otherwise, testing also costs money.

"If that's the case, then it's best."

……

"Mr. Cao, it seems that our gearbox factory is going to speed up. Now all the prototypes are assembled by hand. If General Motors really gives us an order, it will not be completed by relying on manual assembly."

Ji Hua naturally knew the situation at General Motors immediately.

Taking this opportunity, he immediately proposed to speed up the construction of the gearbox factory.

Prior to this, the construction of the gear factory was the highest priority.

Even if Ji Hua was a little anxious, it was hard to say anything.

After all, the gearbox hasn’t received any orders yet.

Even the research and development work cannot be said to be 100% completed.

"Real vehicle testing is time-consuming. They need to simulate various driving situations, such as urban driving, highway driving, rapid acceleration and sudden braking, etc., to test the reliability and stability of the transmission under various driving conditions. .”

"At the same time, performance testing must be done to confirm gear switching speed, fuel economy, torque output and other indicators."

"To be more rigorous, we need to do extreme testing. Our 6AT needs to be tested under extreme temperature, humidity and altitude conditions. It will take at least several months."

"So at the earliest, General Motors won't come to a conclusion until December this year, and if we want to supply parts, it won't be until the first quarter of next year."

"This time is enough for us to speed up the operation of the gearbox factory."

Cao Yang is a boss who understands technology.

When he said this, Ji Hua felt embarrassed to push anything further.

Otherwise, it will look like you are too anxious.

After all, what Cao Yang just said are objective facts.

Even the schedule is determined according to the ideal situation.

"Mr. Cao, there has been some movement from General Motors. Has Ford contacted you?"