Chapter 602: Conversation between husband and wife

In the past, the rubber planting industry has always been in a lukewarm state. Of course, it is more restricted by conditions. In other words, this cash crop is rather finicky and difficult to care for. It is also restricted by geographical location and has high risks.

However, the market demand is huge and has always been in short supply. In Ernst's opinion, even if the planting scale is expanded tenfold, it can still be swallowed up by the market because its performance is too superior and it can replace many materials.

Karina thought Ernst's thinking was very creative and interesting. She said, "Even if it's a tire business, I think it can be very big. After all, this kind of hollow pneumatic tire can be used on many vehicles. Even if all horse-drawn carriages are replaced with hollow pneumatic tires, it will be an astronomical figure."

Ernst held Karina's hand and squeezed it, saying, "Of course. If nothing unexpected happens, many of the mainstream wheels used by vehicles in the future will be replaced with hollow pneumatic tires. They are easy to replace and repair, improve vehicle stability, and enhance vehicle comfort... They have many advantages. In addition, there are so many horse-drawn carriages in Europe. The economic value behind this market alone is an astronomical figure. Although horse-drawn carriages will be replaced by cars in the future, this period may last for at least 30 years."

The time Ernst mentioned is extremely conservative. Even in the 21st century, animal-powered vehicles will not be replaced. The number of cars in many countries is very touching. In some African countries and regions, an 18th-hand car can be used as a taxi.

Of course, Ernst was mainly talking about rural areas. When he was working in Africa, there were still many cars in African cities.

But this is just an appearance, because many people who come to Africa to work are basically in cities, while the urbanization rate in Africa is very low, the vast majority of the population lives in rural areas, and there are even many tribes in a primitive social state.

However, many people in the Far Eastern Empire still have a heavy stereotype about Africa. If we simply use the gross national product as the standard, in fact many African countries are better off than Southeast Asian countries. In addition, South America is actually about the same as Africa, but when the two are compared, it always feels that South America is richer than Africa. This may be the reason why there are giant countries like Brazil in South America. Nigeria, which has a relatively large economy in Africa, has a much smaller territory than Brazil, but its population is actually similar to that of Brazil, both in the early 200 million.

Karina was very happy to hear Ernst's approval of her, so she asked, "So when do you think cars will replace horse-drawn carriages and become a very common sight on the streets?"

Ernst thought about it carefully and decided that it was difficult to predict East Africa, as his own predictions might seem a bit arrogant. He could, however, make some calculations based on his previous life.

"The popularity of cars in Europe and the United States should be faster. I think around the 20s of the next century, cars will be seen in many big cities, especially in several powerful countries," Ernst replied.

But Karina was not completely satisfied with this answer. After all, she was now the Crown Princess of East Africa, so she wanted to hear Ernst's predictions for East Africa.

"Honey, where are we in East Africa?"

Seeing Karina's interest, Ernst said, "An industry should be relatively mature after 30 to 40 years of development. East Africa has seized the opportunity and taken the lead in the automotive industry. Therefore, East Africa should have a good development in the automotive industry in the future, and even surpass some European countries."

"What's the exact time?"

Ernst raised his eyebrows and said speechlessly: "If I knew the exact time, I would not be a human being, but our East African economy is special, and the early development speed of the automobile industry should be very fast."

East Africa has many economic restrictions and lacks flexibility, making it unsuitable for diversified development. However, it has a large number of resources that can be mobilized and strong coordination capabilities, making it very suitable for increasing production. In any case, people in the 19th century did not pay much attention to aesthetics and were more concerned with quality of industrial products. This is a relatively friendly market environment for East Africa.

For companies in East Africa, many products will not be cut corners. This is the characteristic of the public ownership economy. Of course, the world is not black and white, but there is white in black and black in white. So there is definitely some cutting of corners, but most of them are caused by sloppy operations of employees.

"I plan to build several factories along the coast first, specifically for the automotive manufacturing industry. Now the factories in Europe have been prepared and many parts suppliers have been found, so East Africa is still a step behind Germany. However, this is also helpless. After all, our industrial base is much weaker than that of Germany, so we can only take it step by step."

Karina: "Then why not build a factory in Mbeya? I heard you say that Mbeya's industrial base should be the best in East Africa, right?"

Although Karina is the Crown Princess, she is also very familiar with the national conditions of East Africa. Because East Africa does not have as many nobles and relatives as Europe, and there are few banquets and social events, so sometimes Karina will help Ernst deal with some documents.

“That’s true, but the automobile industry is quite broad, and we need to import many parts from Europe, so building a factory on the coast has geographical advantages. As for Mbeya, it can participate, but it will mainly be responsible for the supply of some parts, such as tires. This is the advantage of Mbeya.

As for the development of the inland automobile industry, we need to wait until East Africa has independent design and R&D capabilities before making a decision. We can only accept the technology spillover from the German region to get a share of the automobile industry. It is very difficult for the East African automobile industry to break away from German companies and develop independently, and it will take a lot of detours. "

Without professional talents, there will be no innovation and R&D capabilities. Even if the East African automobile industry is directly copied from the German region, it can only temporarily alleviate the problem and cause huge waste. Therefore, it is better to be in the coastal areas to facilitate technical exchanges and cooperative development between East Africa and the German region, and then develop inland automobile manufacturing when the time is ripe.

"And I have other ideas. You have only seen the sample of the car. In fact, I pay more attention to the two new types of vehicles, tractors and trucks. These two things have an impact on East Africa's industrial and agricultural production that is no less than that of railways. After all, cars are a bit flashy now."

Karina knew about tractors. Steam tractors were a relatively popular new thing in Europe, but they were only popular because no better alternatives appeared. As for trucks, Karina had no idea what they were, so she asked, "What are trucks?"

"You can think of it as an enlarged version of a car, or imagine it as a horse-drawn carriage or ox-drawn cart with a bucket. The horse-drawn carriage for pulling people is very luxurious and has a compartment, while the animal-drawn carriage for pulling goods is not so sophisticated. Trucks have almost the same function, but their power source is somewhat similar to that of cars. As long as they are refueled, they can pull goods, and they have a large load capacity. Although they are not as good as railways, they are more flexible than railways. They do not need rails and can run on flat ground. They also have strong military functions and can be used to transport troops or pull weapons and military supplies. In short, they are very important things."

Karina had a general idea in her mind, but the specific effect would only be known after the finished product came out in the future. Unlike tractors, steam tractors look very similar to later tractors and can be used for intuitive reference.

(End of this chapter)