"Mr. Dior, this is an invitation letter from General Motors." Secretary Barbara handed an email to President Dior.
Dior was not surprised by General Motors' invitation.
"Barbara, go notify a few vice presidents to come over for a meeting."
"Okay, Mr. Dior."
After a while, three vice presidents came to the president's office.
"General Motors invites us to visit their battery factory in Texas next Monday. What do you think about this matter?" Dior said with his chin in his hands.
The three vice presidents immediately knew that General Motors was planning to win over the Volkswagen Group.
Chief Operating Officer Marcus frowned and said: "The price of their batteries is too high. The price is 300 US dollars per kilogram. It can only be used in mid-to-high-end products, and the profit is not high. We need to consider it carefully."
"And we can't guarantee whether there are any safety hazards in Class 500. If the safety performance is not up to par, it will be a blow to the Volkswagen brand. I agree with Marcus's opinion." Frank, the chief technical executive, echoed.
Another vice president also said that he should consider it carefully.
Doesn't Dior know that the use of universal grade 5oo requires careful consideration? This thing has not passed safety certification. If it is as deceptive as Panasonic batteries, the public will not have the courage to take risks with its own corporate brand.
However, Volkswagen's sales in Dongtang have plummeted since last year. In the first and second quarters of 2o19, Volkswagen only sold 37,000 joint venture vehicles in Dongtang.
In addition, markets around the world are also facing the impact of Dongtang and Gaoli electric vehicles. Although there is no loss, the profit this year will definitely be negative growth, and there may be serious losses next year.
If it can ride on General Motors's coattails and enter the electric vehicle industry, it might be able to reverse the decline of the Volkswagen Group.
"Marcus, Frank, on behalf of the Volkswagen Group, go to Texas to visit and ask General Motors to provide battery samples for us to test." Dior thought for a while and ordered.
"Mr. President, do you want to cooperate with GM?" Marcus asked.
Dior nodded: "Cooperation is necessary. As long as their batteries have no serious safety hazards, we will cooperate with them."
"I understand." Marcus expressed understanding.
After all, they all understand that Dongtang and Gaoli electric vehicles equipped with Thor batteries are now conquering the world and squeezing the market of fuel vehicles.
If the Volkswagen Group wants to survive, entering the electric vehicle industry is an inevitable choice.
If you don't cooperate with General Motors, you can only go to Raytheon Group, which has harsh conditions, or Panasonic Batteries, which has serious safety hazards.
There is no need to consider the Panasonic battery first. Dior and the others will not take risks with the Volkswagen Group brand.
As for Raytheon Group's batteries, their performance and safety are very good. The problem is that the conditions are very harsh and they are also very susceptible to being clamped by the other party.
The emergence of General Motors batteries is a good thing for the Volkswagen Group.
After all, monopoly is a seller's market, and the sellers have the final say on prices and conditions.
Now that there is competition between Class 5oo batteries and Raytheon batteries, buyers like them have more choices, at least they will not be clamped down by Raytheon Group.
…
Hans's Audi company, Milie's Ford Motor Co., Gaul's emblem company, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi from the Kingdom of the Sun also received invitations from General Motors.
The decisions of Hans's Audi company, Mili's Ford Motor Company, and Gaul's Peugeot Company were similar to Volkswagen's. They all decided to cooperate with General Motors to compete with Raytheon Group, Dongtang, and Gaoli Automobile Companies.
However, the four major car companies in Sunland are somewhat hesitant at this time.
Speaking of the four major car companies in the Sunland, we have to mention the Mitsubishi Foundation, Mitsui Foundation, Sumitomo Foundation, and Fuji Foundation (there are also Sanwa Foundation and Kanyin Foundation, but they have no automobile business).
The Mitsubishi Consortium consists of 28 large enterprises and is one of the largest enterprise groups in the Sun Country. Its core enterprises include: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric, Honda Giken, Kirin Beer, Asahi Glass, etc.
The manager's association is called "Jin Yao Hui" (Jin Yao Hui, gathering on the second Friday of every month, and Friday is "Jin Yao Day" in Japanese).
The Mitsui Consortium consists of 25 large companies. Its core companies include Sakura Bank, Mitsui & Co., New Oji Paper, Toshiba, Toyota Motor, Mitsukoshi, Toray, Mitsui Fudosan, etc.
The manager's meeting is called "Futuki Club" ("Futuki Club", it meets on the second Thursday of every month, "Thursday" in Japanese is "Thursday").
The Sumitomo Consortium is composed of 2o large companies. Its core large companies include Sumitomo Bank, Sumitomo Metal, Sumitomo Chemical, Sumitomo Corporation, Panasonic Electric, Taiyo Electric (nec), Sanyo Electric, Asahi Beer, etc.
The manager's association is called "Shirasui-kai" (Shirasui-kai, the "Izumi" character of "Izumi" where the Sumitomo Zaibatsu originated is split into "Shirasui").
Fuji Group, Sun people call Mount Fuji the "Furong Peak", so the Fuji Group is also called the Furong Group, which consists of 29 large companies.
Its core companies include Fuji Bank, Nissan Motor, Taiyo Steel Pipe, Sapporo Beer, Hitachi, Marubeni, Canon, as well as the largest bearing manufacturer "Taiyo Seiko" and the largest agricultural machinery manufacturer "Kubota".
The managers' association is called "Furong Club" (Furong Club, named after "Furong Group").
In other words, Toyota belongs to the Mitsui Consortium, Honda and Mitsubishi belong to the Mitsubishi Consortium, Nissan belongs to the Fuji Consortium, and Panasonic Battery belongs to the Sumitomo Consortium.
The Mitsui Foundation held an interim managers' meeting.
As the core company of the Mitsui Consortium, Toyota Motor has a very strong say in the consortium, so Toyota's president Akio Toyoda sat next to Mitsui & Co's president Hiroo Mitsui.
"Akio, what do you think of General Motors' Class 500 this time?" Mitsui Hiroo took a sip of tea and asked slowly.
"Putting the cart before the horse, they are seeking death." Akio Toyoda sneered.
"Oh? Why do you think so?" Mitsui Hiroo was very surprised.
Akio Toyoda explained in a serious tone: "They thought they had won, but they didn't know that they were being led by the Galaxy Consortium."
"You mean the Galaxy Consortium has batteries with higher energy density?" Mitsui Hiroo asked with a raised eyebrow.
Akio Toyoda nodded:
"The people of Dongtang always like to be cautious when doing things, and I find that every time Thor Battery launches a new battery, it is always better than what is on the market. If it can be said to be a coincidence, then it cannot be a coincidence if it is like this every time."
"They deliberately guide other companies to follow up on research, and then wait until the other party comes out with research, and then immediately launch new products to suppress them. In this way, they continue to weaken their opponents." Ma Kudo, the founder of Sakura Bank, found out about Thor Group.
routine.
"These people from the Eastern Tang Dynasty are too insidious."
"Fortunately we didn't follow up."
"Panasonic batteries are doomed."
Akio Toyoda asked another question: "Do you still remember the airships and launch vehicles of the Galaxy Consortium?"
"Is there something wrong with this airship and launch vehicle?" Mitsui Hiroo asked confused.
"There is a big problem inside. From the information combined from various channels, we can know that the other party's airship uses hydrogen airbags." Akio Toyoda said something unbelievable.