Chapter 160 Give me this Maybach half a centimeter of gold
After buying the special plane, Gu Kun was chosen to be in Stuttgart for his last stop in Europe.
In fact, Gu Kun didn't want to go to this stop, because at that time, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Porsche, several German car companies had relevant senior managers running the business, and when they found Gu Kun's people, they were willing to fight with each other.
The reason why they attach so much importance is obviously that these entrepreneurs with a keen sense of smell have noticed that Gu Kun is about to make waves in the global luxury industry, and they will also go crazy to gain fame and momentum. The name Gu Kun itself will have huge advertising value in the future.
These car companies come to him, of course, not just to sell him a few cars, but to get a free top-traffic celebrity to endorse their brand.
Compared with yachts and special planes, Gu Kun has no immediate needs when it comes to buying cars. He still drives the extended-length executive Lincoln he drove a few years ago, and he also plays with sports cars from Porsche and Ferrari.
Who said that the Germans a few years ago were so unsatisfactory? After all, there were only two rubbish brands, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. There was too little top-end luxury cars and their recognition was too low.
Gu Kun didn't want to use the bulldog brands like Rolls-Royce and Bentley, so he had to hold his nose and endure the nausea and drive the executive version of Lincoln for a few years.
This time, while Gu Kun was hosting Robin Southwell in Hamburg, there were actually several German car companies that had sent him invitations. Not only Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, but also BMW in Munich. Gu Kun originally refused both of them.
received.
However, when rejecting the Mercedes-Benz, Gu Kun casually complained about it, which caused the rest of the matter.
"Don't show me a shabby brand like Mercedes-Benz that you can buy for less than 100,000 euros! Unless you revive Maybach for me sooner, I need one that is on the same level as Rolls-Royce and Bentley, under 1 million euros.
A luxury car that you can’t even look at!”
At that time, Gu Kun was just saying this in anger, casually. As for BMW, he didn't even bother to say it in anger, as he didn't want to waste his time.
Who would have thought that such an angry remark would lead to a very formal explanation from the other party.
Mercedes-Benz sent a high-level vice president of sales named Helmut von List to call Gu Kun and said that if he was willing to wait a year or two, he would notify him as soon as possible.
he.
Because Mercedes-Benz is currently considering whether to revive Maybach, a sub-brand that has been dormant for more than half a century, and is in the process of hesitation.
The other party is also trying to catch up with Gu Kun. In fact, at last year's Tokyo Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz had already displayed a Maybach concept car and made many attempts to catch up with Rolls-Royce, but it has not been finalized yet.
This news really surprised Gu Kun, who immediately expressed interest: "You already showed the Maybach at the concept car show last year?"
Gu Kun knew history. He vaguely remembered that the Maybach brand officially came back to the world in about 2002. It was near the end of the year, and the real large-scale mass production was basically in the spring of 2003. (So-called.
The scale of the car was only a few thousand units a year at first, and later it increased to five figures. For this level of luxury cars, all sub-models combined could sell a few thousand units a year globally, which is not bad.)
However, he really didn't notice that as early as 1998, Mercedes-Benz people began to test the waters for Maybach's comeback and build a concept car.
But it’s normal if you think about it. It’s not surprising that concept cars used exclusively for auto show show-offs come out three or even five years earlier than the mass-produced models.
Gu Kun immediately said: "Then can you sell me that concept prototype car?"
Von List was very embarrassed: "I'm so sorry, that happened at last year's auto show. The prototype car had already been given to Prince Abel of Monaco by our President Schrempp. There was another backup car at that time, too.
Taken away by King Hussein of Jordan two months ago——
The safety performance of our prototype car is also very strong. King Hussein was assassinated more than 150 times in his life. He felt that he was very needed. If he rode in it and survived, he could still advertise for us. Please understand that I did not
It’s not that the Jordanian royal family is so noble.”
Although the prototype concept car is built for exhibitions, it cannot be thrown away and wasted, so it is sent to the royal families of various countries as a soft advertisement, which is a common tactic used by almost all major top car companies.
When Mercedes-Benz's own brand and even its sub-brands make high-quality customized cars, the selling point of safety is also very outstanding (of course there are many cheap mass-produced cars with poor quality). Starting from the 770k used by the head of state half a century ago,
They are all famous bulletproof vehicles that have withstood many attacks.
As for Jordan, it can only be regarded as a poor country in the Middle East. In fact, there is not much money. It is estimated that the parent company of Mercedes-Benz gave this car to the Jordanians because Jordan is the only monarchy in the Middle East that is at war with the Jin people.
Because the other two war-torn countries, Syria and Egypt, do not have kings, their heads of state do not need exaggerated protection.
Although countries like Gougou are rich, Gougou never fights with others and does not appear on the front line. They always give money to other young men in the Middle East to ask them to fight. Mercedes-Benz has the latest Maybach bulletproof car to give away.
If you give it to King Hussein, I believe that the big dog will help him sign a check to pay for it. The big dog is used to doing that kind of thing.
After all, Jordanian dignitaries are also helping other Middle Eastern countries to bear the hatred of being assassinated.
The prototype car was no longer available, and Gu Kun was helpless.
Besides, even if Grand Duke Zhu Youdong of Lan Fang comes forward in person, his status in the world is not as good as that of King Hussein and Prince Abel. Being jealous is just self-humiliation.
Gu Kun thought about it for a moment, then settled for the next best thing: "So, what are your company's thoughts on resurrecting the Maybach sub-brand now? What step has it taken? Are you fully committed to launching it?"
Gu Kun didn't have high expectations for this question. He knew that historically it would have to wait until 2002, but he was just looking forward to the possibility that the butterfly effect would accelerate the progress of the world's luxury industry.
Given Von List's status, he couldn't answer this question directly, so he told him to wait for the news and find an opportunity to ask the boss for instructions and estimate the quotations of various possible solutions.
If you really plan to resume production and just miss the last step, early prototype customized cars are also very expensive. According to industry regulations, some limited editions even have to amortize part of the research and development costs, which is outrageous.
For example, the two cars that Prince Abel and King Hussein took away would cost at least tens of millions of euros if they were actually auctioned and negotiated. Buying one of the most high-end Maybach mass-produced models alone might cost two to three million euros.
That's it. That's because the cost of the early research and development demonstration and line adjustment design of those cars was spread over hundreds or even thousands of cars.
For a prototype car, the amortization of 10 million euros in R&D expenses is considered very small.
Feng Liszt must do his homework well and analyze all feasibility before reporting to Gu Kun in exchange for Gu Kun's half-sale and half-free endorsement.
Gu Kun couldn't wait any longer, so he had to ask the other party to contact him by fax and email at that time.
"Then you can discuss it slowly. I'm going back to Lanzhou to celebrate the New Year. If you have the results, you can send them to me remotely, or we can have a conference call."
After saying these words, Gu Kun boarded the plane from Stuttgart and returned to Lanfang to celebrate the New Year.
After returning to Lanfang, he took a few days of rest, got over the jet lag, and re-adapted to the climate and soil. On the morning of New Year’s Eve, Feng List emailed all the latest possible plans and quotation models to Gu Kun, and
Make an international long distance call to him personally.
"Mr. Gu, you have indeed rushed to a better and more sensitive time point. Even without your promotion, we will start the actual adjustment of the Maybach double line by the end of next year at the latest, and the related new design finalization progress - this is
It’s a trade secret, but I’ll tell you, as long as you don’t leak it—the original plan is to be completed around the first half of next year.
If the market demand feedback is relatively strong, these can be accelerated. For us, the risk design investment is only about tens of millions of euros. If we can get a certain deposit order, or there are customers willing to amortize the customized models at a high price, we
The final customized design will be available as early as next year at the earliest, and a new prototype will be available in the first half of the year."
If Mercedes-Benz wants to launch a new brand, it is certainly impossible for Gu Kun to pay for the main research and development expenses. However, if it spends a few percentage points and tens of millions of euros in sponsorship to give the other party the confidence to accelerate the project, it is not impossible.
It’s a bit similar to the crowdfunding R&D gameplay in later generations. Early crowdfunding users spend a little more than normal buyers and can get a lot of customized services.
Gu Kun chatted with the other party for a while. What the other party meant was that he needed to sponsor 30 million euros to ensure that he could get the only customized version of Maybach before its official resumption.
Same thing.
As for the car cost, of course it has to be calculated separately. The 30 million is just the design fee, but the car cost is definitely cheaper than the design fee.
Gu Kun thought for a while: "Then I can promote it through various channels in the future, saying that I am 'This Maybach is the only one in the world, and it cost 30 million euros to design'? If I are allowed to promote it to the outside world, this money will cost me
You can consider it.”
The car is not the key, the key is the showmanship and gimmicks.
Von List replied matter-of-factly: "That's natural. You spent money. How can I not show off that you spent money?"
Gu Kun: "Well, let's do this. I'll add tens of millions of euros. Not only will you customize the design for me to ensure it is unique in the world, but you will also have to process the car body materials exclusively for me. I'm not afraid of spending money.
The current international gold price seems to be 16 US dollars per gram, and one kilogram is 16,000 US dollars, or 14,000 euros. Let's get... three tons of gold, which is almost more than 40 million. You claim to the outside world that you spent 5 tons of gold.
, the gold cost is 70 to 80 million. Then replace the car body shell with gold.
Of course, the load-bearing structure and the bulletproof structure still need to be made of whatever materials are needed. The titanium alloy should be titanium alloy, and it can be coated with a layer of gold. Finally, the advertised price of my car is more than 100 million euros.
."
If the car is too bad and not gimmicky enough, then use gold to get it together. This is the fastest, simplest and crudest way.
Von List was shocked: "This... aren't you afraid of vulgarity?"
Gu Kun: "In the Internet age, people's concepts of honor and disgrace will change. Don't be afraid of vulgarity."
When Apple's King Kong came out, it was vulgar, but Internet culture has turned vulgarity into something that is not something to be ashamed of but something to be proud of. This is unstoppable.
Gu Kun was trained in the dopamine laboratory of later generations. He understands the bad nature of human nature very well.
A bunch of physically honest guys.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Sensoichi were really born in the wrong era. In modern times, no one would say that Hideyoshi building a golden teahouse is vulgar. Compared with the ancients, the aesthetics of contemporary literati and artists have long been broken, or even though
Ya but there was no chance to speak out.
Feng Liszt could only be dumbfounded and temporarily agree to Gu Kun, trying to stabilize him with hypocrisy and coercion. At the same time, he couldn't help but make rigorous calculations in the German style.
"The density of gold is 19.3 grams. A piece of 3 tons of gold is only 15 centimeters thick with an area of 1 square meter. Maybach's latest customized model is at least 7 meters long, with a circumference of at least 5 meters on three sides enclosed by width and height. The chassis does not need to be wrapped.
golden.
In this way, the total surface area of the front, rear, left and right is about 35 square meters... excluding the window glass, there is still a surface area of 30 square meters. In other words, the thickness of the gold coating should be 15 centimeters divided by 30, which is about 5 millimeters thick. It is not difficult in terms of technology.
, the vehicle weight is 3 tons, just replace it with a slightly larger engine.”
In Von List's mind, he had imagined a Maybach with five sides except the chassis covered with half a centimeter of gold. If 18k gold was used for surface hardness, it could be covered to a thickness of 7 millimeters.