Chapter 1615 More expensive is better
Dong Shan did not attend the industry seminar held in Beijing. It wasn't that he wasn't invited, but rather that he declined, citing "being busy with work."
You're telling me to become a nagging old woman like Xianglin's wife? And then what? Can you stand up for me?
Dong Shan, having spent decades working in government offices, naturally knew that holding this seminar at this time meant that those companies also felt threatened by Li Ye, and that he, Dong Shan, was just a convenient "victim."
Dong Shan knew exactly what those people wanted him to do at the seminar: to have him tearfully accuse Li Ye of unfair competition, and then for everyone to speak up for him under the guise of "fighting for justice," scolding Li Ye for not allowing a price war that would drive Dong Shan to his death.
Using other people's pain to save face, wanting both ways—what a hypocritical act!
Yes, Dong Shan has done this before; it's a very normal and sophisticated workplace survival skill.
Unfortunately, Dong Shan didn't live up to their expectations. Back when MLGB was testing the prototype in Kunming, why didn't you see Li Ye's ruthless ambition and wolfish nature? If you had let Dong Shan win back then, would you still feel threatened by Li Ye now?
Moreover, Dong Shan also knew that although these seminars were supposed to be for everyone to study and discuss and come up with solutions, the results were not actually decided by the participants present.
Yesterday, Dong Shan received a phone call and learned that the higher-ups did not have a strong desire to force Beijing-registered heavy trucks to lower their prices. After much discussion, Li Ye could only offer a promise to "temporarily suspend the price reduction," which would not eliminate any future problems.
If that's the case, it would be better to let Li Ye continue to grow his power and drag everyone down with him!
If the Ming Cult hadn't acted so arrogantly and killed members of the six major sects, would the six major sects have besieged Bright Peak?
Upholding justice? If his own disciple hadn't died, would you have seen him uphold justice?
If the major trucking giants don't feel the pain, will they relentlessly pressure Li Ye to lower prices?
"Ring ring~"
The phone rang suddenly, startling Dong Shan, who was deep in thought.
Ever since the phone calls from those behind him stopped being filled with "warm" greetings and were replaced by cold commands, Dong Shan became increasingly reluctant to answer his phone. He was already on the verge of snapping, but those people continued to press him relentlessly.
"Hey bro, why are you calling me at this hour? Is there a result from the seminar?"
"There is a result, neither good nor bad. Would you like to hear the good news first, or the bad news first?"
"Neither good nor bad? How can there be good? And bad?"
The person on the other end of the phone said jokingly, "Yeah, it's neither good nor bad, it has its pros and cons!"
Dong Shan sighed and said, "Then I'll hear the bad news first!"
"Want to hear the bad news first? Heh, well, let me tell you, Jingnan Group's price reduction promotion will continue until the end of 1994, it will last a whole year."
Dong Shan paused, then said with disbelief, "A year-long promotional discount? Do you think Jilin Motors and Hubei Motors would agree to that? And is Li Ye really that assertive?"
The person on the other end of the phone chuckled and said, "Yes! They're that tough, and they've even made a big fuss about it in the newspapers. And from what I understand, a TV station will be broadcasting their 'keeping their word' story today. The Jingnan Group is trying to become famous nationwide!"
“.”
The person on the other end of the phone gave Dong Shan a detailed account of what happened at the seminar, as well as the underhanded tactics employed by Li Ye and Jingnan Group.
Dong Shan's heart sank.
He knew all too well Li Ye's tricks in "building a reputation".
When Li Ye launched his first light truck, he pioneered the "50,000-kilometer warranty" promise. Even if the user misused the vehicle, as long as it hadn't reached 50,000 kilometers, he would repair or replace it for them.
It is through its rapidly accumulated reputation that Beijing-branded light trucks have become the undisputed king of light trucks in mainland China.
Now that Li Ye has launched a heavy truck, he actually complains that building reputation through warranty and replacement is too slow, and hopes to use this "spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones" approach to make himself known all over the country overnight.
Dong Shan swallowed hard and gave a wry smile. "So, what is this 'good thing' you're talking about?"
The person on the other end of the phone said bluntly, "The good thing is that Li Ye has angered everyone, and it has also reminded us that we shouldn't get entangled with Li Ye over price, but should find another way."
"Take a different approach? What do you mean?"
You'll find out soon enough.
“.”
The call ended, and Dong Shan was completely bewildered.
Finding an alternative path sounds nice, but there aren't that many alternative paths in the world. If there were, they would have been exhausted long ago.
However, two days later, Dong Shan met the people sent by "home": one was a high-achieving student who had returned from studying abroad, and the other was an old government official who had gone into business.
The high-achieving student who had returned from studying abroad was a woman surnamed Gao, and the old official surnamed Mu was there. The two of them came to help Dong Shan plan a marketing strategy.
Dong Shan was hearing the term "marketing strategy" for the first time and didn't understand what it meant, but Ms. Gao was a top student from a certain university in the lighthouse, so it was normal for her to use some terms that were in line with the modern developed world.
"Mr. Dong, your brother has already told us about the difficulties you are facing. This is our marketing plan, and these are the most cutting-edge technical papers related to the automotive industry from overseas."
Dong Shan picked up the technical papers and saw that they were all in English, and he couldn't understand the various technical terms on them.
The marketing plan was also difficult to understand; it was full of fancy words and didn't seem to focus on anything important.
Dong Shantang, the CEO of a company with tens of thousands of employees, naturally wouldn't bother with that. He simply said, "Give me a brief summary of the situation! The current situation is urgent, so keep it short."
Ms. Gao wrinkled her nose slightly, somewhat displeased, but still silently took out two leather wallets and placed them in front of Dong Shan.
"Mr. Dong, what's the difference between these two wallets?"
Dong Shan frowned, feeling a bit disgusted by Ms. Gao's way of telling the story, because she reminded him of superstitious fortune tellers on the street.
But since the other party was sent by his "elder brother," he couldn't act rashly so quickly.
So Dong Shan picked up the two wallets, looked at them, touched them, and said, "The materials and styles are similar, but this wallet is from the well-known overseas brand LV, while this one... I don't recognize."
Ms. Gao probably didn't expect Dong Shan to know about Louis Vuitton, so her eyes changed slightly before she began to say, "Yes, this wallet is LV, priced at $670. This wallet is a counterfeit from Zhejiang Province, priced at 48 RMB."
Dong Shan narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "And then? Get to the point."
Ms. Gao took a deep breath and said, "The key point is that with the same material, as long as the brand positioning is good, the price can be dozens of times higher. This principle also applies to cars."
A Toyota Camry sells for 390,000 RMB in mainland China, but after being branded with a Lexus, it can sell for 600,000 RMB.
“.”
Ms. Gao talked for a long time, but Dong Shan said impatiently, "Ms. Dong, can we get to the point? What should I do to achieve the result my brother wants?"
Ms. Gao's chest began to heave violently, and she fell silent.
At this moment, Old Mu, who was standing next to him, said with a smile, "Actually, it's not that difficult. We can apply the technologies from these cutting-edge technical papers in Southwest Heavy Truck's vehicles."
Then we heavily promoted our trucks, showing that they were not in the same league as Beijing-plated heavy trucks, but were the highest-level heavy trucks in the country.
Dong Shan was stunned.
He was already having a lot of trouble assembling these finished parts from Jicheng Heavy Truck, and now he's being asked to use the world's most cutting-edge technology? If Dong Shan had that ability, would he be so frustrated?
Seeing Dong Shan's bewildered expression, Lao Mu felt that the other party was really clueless.
Left with no other option, he gestured with his hands as he explained to Dong Shan, "We can make a metal shell and attach it to the engine's exhaust pipe. That's the latest technology from Japan or the USSR. If people don't believe us, we'll show them the research papers."
Dong Shan: "."
Ms. Gao, who was standing nearby, also said, "Your car logo also needs to be changed; change it to one like this."
Dong Shan: "."
[Holy crap, you guys are a pair of big liars! And why does that car logo look so familiar? Isn't that the three-pointed star?]
Dong Shan's chest heaved violently, and he finally suppressed his anger and said, "Many of our parts are from Jicheng Heavy Truck. If you insist on saying it's Lighthouse and Japanese technology..."
Old Mu quickly answered, "So, does Jicheng Heavy Truck want us to sell at a higher price than them, or at a lower price?"
“.”
Needless to say, Jicheng Heavy Truck definitely wants Southwest Heavy Truck's cars to sell for more than theirs, so they won't expose Dong Shan.
Ms. Gao proudly stated, "If something is expensive for a reason, then something even more expensive must be better. You get what you pay for; if something is cheap, it can't be good."
“.”
Dong Shan was speechless, speechless to the point of having no words to say.
Old Mu then chuckled and said, "Our target clients are relatively well-established groups or companies. Rather than giving discounts to drivers, it's better to... hehehe~"
"Hehe, hehe, hahahaha~"
Okay! Dong Shan finally understood. Giving kickbacks was perfectly normal.
Even thieves have their code of honor, and so do swindlers.
The scammer doesn't cheat the poor or anyone else.
How righteous!
(End of this chapter)
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