Chapter 1327 It seems that I messed up this time
Xiao Peng was actually a little displeased when he heard Albrecht's words. How could this guy be so arrogant? Didn't he hear what I said? 'I won't bother you, and you don't bother me' is the best way to get along. Why is he asking for help again?
But when he found out what Albrecht asked him to do for a favor, his expression became very strange: "Albrecht, you call this helping?"
Albrecht said, "That's really what we call helping."
Before him stood a lake blue BMW I8 Extreme Meteor Limited Edition plug-in hybrid sports car. Albrecht's assistant had just gone out to bring back one of these.
Well, calling this car a hybrid is a bit of a gimmick, as its battery only guarantees a range of 50 kilometers. So it basically relies on traditional power.
To be honest, the appearance of this car is indeed good-looking, but it really does not deserve the word "super sports car": its power is a three-cylinder 1.5T engine. Germany's Mercedes-Benz and Audi, known as "BBA", both have super sports cars, but BMW does not have a super sports car.
In fact, although almost all supercars are extremely expensive, they basically lose money.
Supercars, like those, have astronomical R&D costs, and production and material processing are a costly endeavor. Take the Lexus LF-A, for example. Project launch in 2000 took a decade, and advancements in body material technology essentially necessitated a complete re-design. The time and resources expended are incalculable. Ultimately, while the LF-A still managed to sell for over 5 million yuan per unit, it still lost money.
Well-known sports car brands like Ferrari actually derive their revenue primarily from F1 and other racing events, as well as advertising. To put it simply: the economic climate for supercars is not favorable, and coupled with low market demand, a car company rushing into developing a supercar would be contrary to market profitability.
Above Audi is the Volkswagen Group; the Mercedes-Benz Group covers all walks of life. Compared with them, BMW is still a little lacking in confidence, so they chose not to develop supercars at all.
Looking at I8 in front of him, Xiao Peng asked Albrecht, "Albrecht, are you planning to ask me to be your spokesperson?"
Albrecht shook his head and said, "No, no, no, I really can't afford this!"
Xiao Peng laughed: "Well, you are right."
Albrecht said, "Actually, we want to jointly launch a car with you under your name. We'll bring forward your idea, and our designers will design it. Finally, after you approve the modifications, we'll release it to the market. Then, you can profit from the sales of this car."
"Me?" Xiao Peng asked in confusion, "Are you sure? I can drive, but you're asking me to give you professional designers some advice? Are you kidding me?"
Albrecht explained, "No, no, no. Our marketing department has conducted a thorough investigation and discovered something: sales of several family mini-car brands, including our own MINI, have plummeted recently. The reason for this is the severe market impact of Daxia's Wuling MINI. Our researchers found that most Wuling MINI customers mentioned you as their reason for purchasing: they knew about this car because you drive it, even the Salvage King approved of it, and it's affordable and all-electric, which is why they bought it. Therefore, our group highly values your marketing capabilities."
Xiao Peng said, "Thank you for thinking so highly of me, but I don't think I can be blamed for the sales issues of your cars. The key reason your vehicles are affected is the price-performance ratio. Do you think I'm right? You will never catch up with Daxia in terms of price-performance ratio. Even if I were to do the promotion, it wouldn't solve the problem."
Albrecht nodded. "You're right! So our current plan is to develop other markets, such as cars like the I8, and capture the €100,000 to €150,000 market."
Xiao Peng shook his head and said, "Albrecht, you should know I went to Germany to race on the track. I like speed. The I8 is very beautiful, but its power is not enough for me. As far as I know, after being tuned by the famous tuner AC Schinitzen, the I8 can only run 8 minutes and 19 seconds on the Nissan Nordschleife. This time is too poor."
Albrecht said, "Xiao, don't worry about that. We at BMW have an 'M-Power' department that specializes in developing high-performance cars. We can have them develop a performance car specifically for the track. It's like a rally car. It looks the same on the outside, but the inside is quite different."
Xiao Peng said helplessly: "Isn't this asking me to lie?"
"How can this be considered cheating?" Albrecht said, "All car companies do this when they participate in racing."
Xiao Peng said, "Let me think about this matter again. What does this car mean?"
Albrecht said, "If I just gave you a car, you'd get bored driving the same car all day, right?"
Xiao Peng smiled and said, "You have a good plan. You want me to be your free advertising?"
"That's normal." Albrecht said, "Xiao, the power of this car is not as bad as you think. Why don't you try it?"
Xiao Peng didn't hesitate: "Okay, then I'll go out for a drive later. If no one takes a picture, don't blame me."
Albrecht laughed and said, "Someone will definitely take a picture of it."
Xiao Peng was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Albrecht, this time I'll act like a fool and know nothing, but there won't be a next time. I don't like people plotting against me!"
Albrecht was stunned. Xiao Peng waved his hand. "You brought reporters with you, right? Just waiting for me to drive out and take pictures. It doesn't matter if they can't interview me because they can interview you. Then you can just tell the reporters that you and I had a long talk all night and finally reached a cooperation agreement. You won't tell them what the cooperation is, or even intentionally or unintentionally reveal the joint car. Whether it's a collaboration between you and me or with BMW, BMW can comfortably gain attention."
Just as Albrecht was about to explain, Xiao Peng opened the car door and lowered the roof, putting it into convertible mode. He put on sunglasses and said to Albrecht, "Albrecht, you are a good businessman, but I am not."
After that, Xiao Peng said to Alfred, "Alfred, please help me send Mr. Heidegger off later."
Albrecht was a little confused after hearing this. He was calling him by his first name just now, but now he was calling him by his last name?
Why did Xiao Peng change his attitude so suddenly?
"Xiao!" Albrecht wanted to explain, but Xiao Peng had already stepped on the accelerator and drove out.
Well, it seems like I messed up this time?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
