Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 269: One picture gives everyone confidence

The world's first car was born on September 1885, 9.

This car was invented by German inventor Karl Benz, the originator of Mercedes-Benz.

This car is actually a three-wheeled car, equipped with a 0.785L, 0.85 horsepower horizontal single-cylinder two-stroke gasoline engine, with a top speed of 10 miles per hour.

Benz's car design was considered very advanced at that time.

It uses lightweight materials such as aluminum, magnesium and steel to minimize the weight of the vehicle.

It is also equipped with advanced equipment such as steering wheel, brakes and exhaust system, making it easier for the driver to control the car.

Even this three-wheeled vehicle already has some features of modern cars, such as spark ignition, steel tube frame, water-cooling cycle, rear-wheel drive, leaf spring suspension, front-wheel steering, etc.

However, the performance of this car is average, imperfect, slow, poor loading capacity, insufficient climbing ability, and high failure rate.

The emergence of automobiles has a history of more than 100 years.

More than 100 years have passed, and automobiles have undergone great changes.

Correspondingly, its development process has been very perfect after more than 100 years of development.

Currently, the mainstream global automakers, whether they are General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, etc., all have their own development processes.

But if you study it carefully, you will find that the ideas and processes used by various car companies to develop a new car are very similar.

Although the new model process of different automobile companies is not exactly the same, it basically includes five stages: market research stage, conceptual design stage, engineering design stage, prototype testing stage and mass production stage.

In the market research stage, the main thing is to determine the positioning of the model.

Is your target model a scooter priced at tens of thousands or a mid-sized car priced at over 10,000? Is the style a household or a sport? Is your target audience an urban white-collar worker or a wealthy and handsome person...

This will all affect the development of models.

At this stage, it is also necessary to study the main competitors with the same positioning.

You need to forecast sales and set profit margin and cost targets.

After all, the development of a model can cost anywhere from several hundred million to several billion.

If the market positioning hadn't been done well, perhaps it would have gone cold by then.

For Xingchen Automobile, although this stage also exists, Cao Yang basically made the decision on it alone.

To say it is scientific, it is definitely unscientific.

But what the boss says is what everyone will do.

Today, Xingchen Automobile has entered the concept car design stage.

The concept is mainly divided into three stages: general layout, modeling design and making clay models.

According to the positioning of the vehicle model, the appearance style of the vehicle is determined.

At this time, the normal situation is that designers from various companies will come on stage.

The designer went from various preliminary sketch designs to the production of small clay models, and finally produced a 1:1 clay model.

In the meantime, the top leaders of the vehicle model team were constantly invited to review.

After passing the review, development will naturally begin step by step.

This stage is when Cao Yang enlarges his moves.

"President Cao, this..."

"Is this really the appearance design for our Star 1?"

Yao Yongxiang can be considered well-informed.

As the vice president in charge of R&D, his main job during this period was actually building a R&D team.

Now Cao Yang suddenly came over and told it that the appearance drawings of the new model had been released, and he directly skipped the stage of making small-scale clay models and started preparing to make 1:1 clay models.

This operation made him feel a little confused.

The most important thing was that the picture in front of him made him a little confused.

Or rather a special surprise.

"How about it?"

"Is this car eye-catching enough?"

Cao Yang had already thought about it, and he wanted to regard the appearance of the future Porsche Panamera as the appearance of Xingchen Motors' first model.

If the classic shape were released in 2005, it would definitely be stunning.

It’s not surprising that he even won some awards.

"The body lines are round and smooth, without any edges and corners, and full of muscle."

"It looks like this car has a normal four-door design, with a large air intake on each side of the front face, and horizontal strips of fog lights running across it, giving it a unique shape."

"The side lines are treated concisely and softly, making it both elegant and dynamic."

"The huge five-spoke wheels are paired with powerful yellow brake calipers, suggesting good sports potential."

“The hatchback shape and flat roofline also create ample headroom.”

“The roof and the rear of the car are connected by a smooth curve, supplemented by a moderately sized rear window, and the rear of the car is minimized with unnecessary unnecessary embellishments.”

"Mr. Cao, does this car look a little bit like a Porsche?"

"The style is quite different from the BMW 7 Series."

Rao Yongxiang is indeed a professional, and he can tell right away that this car looks like a Porsche.

"Smells like a Porsche?"

Cao Yang pretended to be innocent and said: "When you say it, it seems like it is really like this. When I was designing, I looked at the classic appearance styles of many car companies around the world, including Porsche's 911."

"Porsche has a fixed logic for vehicle styling."

“For example, the front fenders on both sides of each model are slightly higher than the hood and connected with smooth curves.”

"The air intakes on the front of the car are concentrated below the center line."

"The side of the car body has a smooth waistline, and the side windows are slightly narrower than the waistline."

"However, Mr. Cao, the appearance you designed has the flavor of a Porsche, which is actually a good thing."

"This is more in line with the positioning of our luxury cars."

"I even think this car is better-looking and cooler than any current Porsche model."

"This high-end and atmospheric coupe style is equipped with our 3.0T twin-turbocharged engine and 8AT automatic transmission. I think the performance in all aspects will not be worse than ordinary sports cars."

"We can even create a version equipped with a 6MT manual transmission to give some consumers who want to experience maneuverability more choices."

At this time, Yao Yongxiang is even more confident about the future of Xingchen Automobile.

In China, whether a car sells well or not, appearance is really important.

Obviously, the appearance in front of you is definitely very attractive.

It can even be said that it beats any model on the market.

Relying on this alone, Rao Yongxiang feels that he can help Xingchen Automobile contribute 1000 sales.

"Since Mr. Rao also thinks this appearance is good, we will quickly arrange for someone to make a 1:1 clay model."

"Then arrange designers as soon as possible to move the project forward."

"It is already September. If our design cannot be completed before January next year, we will not be able to make it into production at the end of next year."

"It would be a pity not to give such a good product to consumers sooner."

Now that he has entered the car manufacturing industry, Cao Yang naturally hopes to launch new models as soon as possible.

He also wanted to verify it and see if his positioning for Xingchen Automobile could be successfully realized.

Even though he already had a lot of ideas in his mind, he was somewhat unsure whether Xingchen Automobile would be recognized for its high-end positioning.

Sometimes, the impact of a brand LOGO is really too great.

If you look at the various models launched by China Automobile, some of them imitate BMW, but what?

Looking at some Volkswagen models, they are obviously developed on similar platforms to Porsche and Audi, but they have different logos and the prices are very different.

Even in the later stages of development, some models of Volkswagen and Audi, except for the appearance and parts visible to the naked eye, have the same chassis and body. They are produced on the same production line and using the same suppliers.

But the price is much different.

The current influence of the Xingchen Automobile brand is obviously very weak.

There is still a lot of work waiting for Cao Yang to do.

"I'll arrange it right away!"

“With such clear appearance drawings, the clay model can be made very quickly!”

Rao Yongxiang is very much looking forward to the big response that such a coupe with stunning appearance and amazing power will bring to everyone when it is launched on the market.

Just for this car, he felt that it was worth it for him to switch jobs to Xingchen Automobile!

……

A clay model is a car body model sculpted with clay in modern body design. Basically every car company that designs a new car has a stage of making a clay model.

Of course, cars are not always designed using clay models.

Early car body models mostly used plaster and wood boards as materials.

It's just that wooden models are characterized by small deformation and are more troublesome to process. Even if they are not easy to be damaged and can be stored for a long time, they do not meet the designer's requirements.

Although gypsum is cheaper, it has lower strength and is not easy to modify repeatedly. There is definitely no way to meet the designer's requirements.

In 1955, the Japanese used industrial sludge for the first time to design and develop car models. They were the last to catch up and pioneered a design method favored by designers of all car companies.

The putty used in body modeling is similar to ordinary plasticine, but the requirements are higher.

The main ingredients of sludge are 62% talc, 30% petroleum jelly, and 8% industrial wax.

Car stylists apply it on the wooden frame and use scrapers, scrapers and other tools to shape it.

Finally, the shape of the car is sculpted according to certain proportions.

Xingchen 1 already has a clear vehicle shape, and the speed of making the clay model must be very fast.

Cao Yang personally led several stylists and spent a week to complete the 1:1 clay model.

"Mr. Cao, this is the coolest 1:1 clay model I have ever seen. But if this clay model is sold in the international market, I am afraid many car companies will be willing to spend tens or even hundreds of millions. Go buy it.”

"As a stylist, I always have all kinds of fantasies."

"But can fantasy be logical? Can it be logical? I've always had questions."

"But the look you designed, Mr. Cao, makes me firmly believe that the more unimaginative the initial fantasy, the more amazing the final result will be."

Zhang Feifan is a stylist hired by Xingchen Motors from the Pan-Asia Design Center.

Although he is not well-known on the world stage, he is considered a relatively powerful presence in Pan-Asia.

He has participated in the exterior design of several models of Modu GM, especially in the production of clay models. He appears to be very professional.

This kind of tool man is exactly what Cao Yang needs very much.

"We are like a layman breaking into the automobile industry. If we don't have some amazing performance, we will be forgotten by everyone and no one will remember Xingchen Automobile."

"So the shape of Xingchen No. [-] must be stunning enough, stylish enough, and eye-catching enough."

"Now it seems that this appearance goal has been basically achieved."

"We will finalize the interior styling as soon as possible, and then we can arrange people to start the engineering design stage."

The first two stages of new model development can be advanced quickly with Cao Yang's "efforts" without worrying about the design effect.

But when it came to the engineering design stage, it was impossible for Cao Yang to handle it all by himself.

At this stage, each designer needs to base on the initial vehicle goals of the vehicle, such as cost, weight, performance goals, safety, acceleration, braking distance and other requirements.

Implement these requirements into every system and every part.

The design leaders in several areas including powertrain, chassis, body, interior, exterior, and electrical appliances need to take their mission goals back and then lead engineers to develop various parts.

After an initial design is made, and after several rounds of design reviews, various simulations are performed on software such as CATIA, the final product can be officially molded to make parts.

It doesn't seem particularly complicated, but the quality of a car is most importantly determined at this stage.

When domestic consumers talk about car design, they often think of the appearance of the car and the design of the clay model.

I can’t say there’s anything wrong with this statement, but it’s definitely very one-sided.

In the design work of a car, the importance of appearance may account for a very large proportion, but this thing is very fantasy, it may be completed quickly, it may be important but not difficult or complicated.

However, the specific design of each system and each component will test the background of the OEM.

Why do the design departments of domestic independent brands in the early stages of development have the title of "tape measure department"?

It’s because people don’t understand design and can only copy others.

Disassemble the parts one by one, then turn the physical objects into drawings, and then use these drawings to guide suppliers to produce parts. The so-called design work is completed.

When designing a car under such circumstances, the designer knows it but does not know why.

All kinds of problems can easily arise.

After all, if you dismantle other people's cars for development, you can make the appearance of the parts.

But you can’t see the specific material requirements, process requirements, and testing requirements of each part.

Parts with the same appearance may use different materials and processes, and the performance of the parts may vary greatly.

In this area of ​​work, Cao Yang can help with key parts, but it is impossible to personally participate in every part.

Otherwise, he would probably be taken away to be sliced ​​and studied.

……

"Mr. Cao, after visiting the clay model of Xingchen 1 today, I feel that the confidence of the new model team has increased immediately."

“A lot of people have a lot more smiles on their faces.”

Cao Yang had a busy day. Taking advantage of his free time to eat, he slumped on the boss's chair and tasted the black tea brought by Mi Ying.

"There is no way. When people look at cars in China, the most important thing they care about is their appearance."

"Only when your appearance is in place will you consider other things."

Cao Yang couldn't help but complain.

It’s not that appearance is not important, but that many Chinese consumers completely ignore performance because of appearance.

This is a bit disappointing.

Although Xingchen Automobile can handle the appearance aspect, he also hopes that everyone will pay attention to its performance.

Don't expect that only your peers will pay attention to your performance, and consumers won't care.

That would be embarrassing.

There is no way to give full play to the advantages of Xingchen Automobile.

"This is normal. If your looks are not good enough, who would consider other things?"

"It's just like men looking at women and women looking at men. It starts with appearance, and then there are other things."

"The so-called love at first sight is actually love at first sight."

"It's the same when buying a car. You fall in love with the car at first sight because of its appearance."

Mi Ying has been with Cao Yang for a long time and has a good understanding of her boss's character.

When there are no outsiders, it doesn't matter if you joke or something.

Besides, she was also keenly aware of some recent changes in her boss, and she also had some other thoughts in her mind.

"You're right. As a new entrant, Xingchen Automobile can't even impress with its appearance, then there's no point in talking about other things."

"We want to make high-end models and gain consumer recognition, so we must be ahead of our competitors in all aspects to have any hope of success."

Cao Yang couldn't help but sigh.

The high-end route is too difficult to walk.

Especially China’s own brands give the impression that they are low-end bargains.

Now you can imagine how difficult it is for Xingchen Auto to do the opposite.

"Mr. Cao, in fact, according to the current preliminary estimate of the Finance Department, the production cost of our Star 1 can actually be controlled within 20."

"If the selling price is set at less than 30 then, there will be no hope at all."

"After all, in this price range, there really is no model that can match ours."

Mi Ying tried to put forward her own suggestions.

She knew that Cao Yang planned to sell Xingchen No. 1 to the level of 50, or even more expensive.

But she felt it seemed a bit expensive.

“It’s actually very embarrassing if it’s less than 30 yuan.”

"A model of this level cannot be considered a luxury car now. The configuration of our Xingchen 1 is so high. If it is sold at this price, it will still rely on stacking configurations to compete with other manufacturers. There is no sense of luxury at all."

In later generations, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi have all launched models with a price tag of less than 30 yuan.

But today's Huaxia, a car worth 30 yuan, is really not a luxury car.

You must know that in the past two years, a mid-size car like the Accord sold for 30 yuan.

Of course, if you look at the problem from another angle, you may think that a 30 car in this era is already very luxurious.

After all, that's the price of a house.

"Mr. Cao, there is obviously an easier path, why did you choose a path full of challenges?"

In Mi Ying's view, if Xingchen Automobile is the same as BYD, it will definitely succeed easily.

It is not impossible to become the domestic car company with the highest sales volume in a few years.

But the road we are taking now is destined to be quite bumpy.

High-end models are very concerned about brand power.

A car badge can cost you hundreds of thousands.

"People have already taken the ordinary road, and it doesn't make much sense if we go on it again."

"So I want to take a different path than everyone else."

"Although this road is difficult, once you get through it, the road ahead will suddenly become clearer and full of room for imagination."

"Our models will give people a high-end impression, but our cost control will be very good."

"Whether we continue to produce high-end models or start to enter mid-range models, we can make waves in the market."

When talking about this, Cao Yang thought of Tesla inexplicably.

This relatively special car company only shines in the new energy era.

But they took the high-end route from the beginning and produced super sports cars.

After establishing the high level of the brand, it slowly produced some models with more affordable prices.

Everyone has seen the final result.

Although Xingchen Automobile cannot completely copy the development path of others, it can obviously learn from some ideas.

If everyone can accept the Xingchen car priced at RMB 60, then when a model priced at RMB 30 is produced in the future, won’t it be sold like crazy?

"Mr. Cao, what you said seems to make sense."

"But this way the pressure you need to bear will be much greater."

"Nowadays, there is a lot of bad talk about our Xingchen Automobile on the Internet, and only a few people are optimistic about it."

"Especially regarding our positioning as a high-end model, many so-called experts and scholars have criticized us."

"Should we ask someone to guide public opinion in this regard?"

One of Mi Ying's daily tasks now is to browse news on various automobile websites, especially news related to Nanshan Group and Xingchen Automobile.

In this way, Cao Yang can be reminded of some things in time, and can also keep up with the development pace of the automobile industry.

Her positioning of herself is obviously not to be a secretary for life.

"No, it's still more than a year before our model goes into production."

“As long as it’s topical to a certain extent, it’s fine.”

"Whether this discussion is good or bad is not that important."

"After all, black and red are also red."

Cao Yang spread his hands, looking indifferent.

For the current Xingchen Automobile, the top priority is to draw the drawings of each part and design the parts.

Everything else can wait later.

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