This year's Spring Festival holiday will probably last until the end of February, so after the time entered March, Uber, which had been planning for a long time, took action.
They announced three major pieces of news in a row.
First, Liu Zhen was appointed as the head of Uber's regional strategy. This woman was not well-known before and her resume does not need to be detailed. She is a typical "global elite".
She is the first executive appointed by Uber in this region except Kalanick, who was previously directly responsible. This shows that Uber attaches great importance to this market, but her position is not that of president.
The most concerning thing about Ms. Liu Zhen is her personal identity, because she is the niece of the famous patriotic industrialist Liu Taishan and the cousin of Liu Qing, the current president of Dou Kuaidu.
By the way, after the merger of Dudu and Kuaidu, in order to show equal treatment, the company was called Dudu Kuaidu in public, and Liu Qing was promoted from coo to president at the annual meeting before the Spring Festival.
The second point is that Kalanick himself announced that he is ready to invest at least US$1 billion, and Uber vows to become the number one in the regional taxi market.
Both Lin Yi and Cheng Wei had expected this before, but now it's just the boots falling, so it's not surprising.
The third thing is more special. In order to compete with local companies and benefit consumers, Uber announced that it will reduce the unit price per kilometer by 30% from now on.
This incident itself is not unusual. No matter what form it takes, the essence is that the company pays to subsidize users for large-scale product promotion.
Passengers who have experienced the subsidy war have also shown a calmness that has seen the world. They will only happily tell each other that "someone has started throwing away money again, and the good opportunity of free taxis is coming back."
Not to mention how much users like it, but!
Although Uber itself does not have a taxi business, when Lin Yi and others communicated about the private car business, the regulatory authorities required that the mileage unit price be 30% higher than that of taxis, so as to maintain misaligned competition.
In other words, Uber has stepped on the line.
"If they do this, Uber will soon be interviewed by the regulatory authorities and ordered to cancel this measure, right?"
When Wanli Travel was studying Uber’s deployment, someone put forward such an expectation.
Of course, Lin Yi would not agree with this fantasy: "Don't be too optimistic. Although Kalanick is against regulatory agencies around the world and is a notorious outlaw, he will not make hasty decisions."
"Uber's GR team is also very experienced. As we say, expect the enemy to be lenient. Don't expect the superiors to help us withstand the thunder, so we must be prepared to confront Uber head-on."
There is actually not much basis for this judgment, because the previous policy requirements were very clear. Liu Jianni asked:
"Are you sure you won't step over the line by doing this?"
"I'm not sure, but we can figure it out."
Others knew to some extent that Lin Yi had some magic, and now they heard him giving orders:
"First of all, we need to unify our thinking and be prepared to fight a tough battle with Uber. In this case, if the higher-ups call a halt, it will be in vain at best. But if we are not prepared, we will be caught off guard."
"With the previous point in mind, let's next clarify the product positioning that is comparable to Uber."
"We used to use high-end products, that is, private car business, to compete with Uber, but now the price range is no longer suitable."
"I also don't agree with Uber's approach of reducing the price of private cars, because this will impact the original business of taxis. You probably don't want to experience being blocked by hundreds of taxis anymore, right?"
"And it is very important to ensure differentiated services, so that customers with the ability to pay must feel that we are providing great value for money."
"So, we need a new business, which I call economical travel options, to directly compete with Uber after the price reduction. Its price range should be lower than the standard of taxis. Let's call it Express."
"Accordingly, its requirements for vehicle models and service standards can wait, but the safety standards I have always emphasized must be adhered to."
"As for the idea of a low-cost private car business, my senior sister should have already prepared it before and gave it directly to Wang Kai."
"If Uber does not encounter policy obstacles, then we need to follow up immediately. I hope to see the technical department push it online before the end of the month, okay?"
Everyone naturally responded in unison. After the meeting, most of the employees left quickly and hurriedly walked around, but Liu Jianni still sat in her seat and did not move.
"What's with you?"
"Come to my place for a while and have a chat."
Wanli Travel's current office area is much larger than at the beginning, with several floors up and down. As CFO, Liu Jianni is naturally entitled to an exclusive office, and its area is second only to Lin Yi and Li Moyan.
When she got there, Liu Jiani didn't rush to speak. Instead, she took out a coffee machine, ground beans on site, made a cup of pure hand-brewed coffee, and pushed it in front of Lin Yi.
"Do you remember the first time you went to my old employer to find me? I asked my secretary to give you a cup of instant coffee, but you didn't like it."
Of course Liu Jianni didn't want to settle old scores. Lin smiled when she heard this, then picked up the cup of hot coffee and took a sip.
Everyone, please go and try it soon.]
"It seems I don't know how to appreciate it."
Liu Jianni also laughed, and the two of them used past events to set the scene before getting down to the topic: "Lin Yi, do you really plan to follow up on Uber's launch of this so-called express bus business when the policy is unclear?"
Lin Yi put down his coffee: "Jenny, I understand your concerns, but the current situation no longer allows us to look forward and hesitate."
"That's what I'm worried about."
Liu Jiani said frankly, "Lin Yi, I know that after Dudu merged with Kudu, and now Uber has said that it will spend another 1 billion US dollars, you are under a lot of pressure."
"Everyone in the company has felt it, so you see that the atmosphere in the office has become very tense recently. I know you may be deliberately training the team."
"But we can't mess up our position, and we can't take policy risks casually. If something goes wrong, we won't even have a chance to save it."
"You are very familiar with Wang Xing. You should know that Fanfou was prosperous back then. Why did he disappear overnight?"
Of course Lin Yi understands this truth. After what happened in Dudu and Kuaidu, he has no intention of relying on the experience of his previous life to act recklessly.
"Jenny, I have made these requests to be prepared. If there is any inappropriate signal in the process, I will wait and see and will not force the horse."
"My attitude is still cautious, but your reminder is also timely. I think we should create a quarantine for Wanli Travel App."
"Do you remember that we actually have another app on hand, which is the Dahuangfeng taxi app? I just used it this time."
After Wanli Travel acquired Dahuangfeng Taxi, it only retained the Dahuangfeng Taxi brand in Shanghai. In fact, the backend was all connected and it was just a shell.
"We can use Dahuangfeng Taxi to promote this express business. If it is really removed or banned, at least Wanli Travel will be preserved as the main entrance."