Chapter 21 The Automobile Industry
He is familiar with the Gorky Automobile Factory Serezha, and most government officials now ride in Volga luxury cars, which can be said to be the flagship product of the Gorky Automobile Factory. The fastest update Originally, Gorky Automobile Factory had another more high-end Seagull sedan, which was specially produced for state leaders in the past, and was also used as a national gift to foreign heads of state. But it is a pity that this kind of car was replaced by the Gil car produced by the Likhachev Automobile Factory in Moscow (Stalin Automobile Factory, renamed by Khrushchev, where Mr. Jiang once worked). The Gir 4104 limousine that Seryozha is currently riding in is a product of the Likhachev Automobile Factory, while the Gir car that the state leaders ride is a specially customized bulletproof version.
As for the other product mentioned by Glencore experts, the Lada brand car is a best-selling product produced by another car factory on the Volga River, the Volga Manufacturing Plant. The consumer groups faced by Lada and Volga are also completely different. Lada is a family car for ordinary people, while Volga is an official car.
Seryozha decided to visit the Volga Automobile Factory and the Lada production line before taking office. The Volga Automobile Factory is located in Togliatti, a city on the middle reaches of the Volga River. This car factory is a car factory built in cooperation with the Italian Fiat Group in the 1960s. Back then, it was the members of the Communist Youth League who spent five years building a modern car city on a piece of barren land. Nastya spent two days arranging everything for Seryozha's investigation. Then Seryozha took the subordinates of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and flew to Togliatti on a chartered plane.
The team accompanied by Seryozha included not only the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, but also experts from the Ministry of Automobile Industry, as well as the heads of some foreign trade companies engaged in automobile trade. Because in Sergesha's view, there are not many countries and regions in the world that can serve as the Soviet Union's automobile consumer countries. The Americans are sanctioning the Soviet Union, and the auto industry in Western Europe is even better than that of the Soviet Union. Only Latin America, Africa, and Asia are the markets of Seryozha, so for Seryozha, the high-quality and cheap Lada is more important than the high-end Volga.
Of course, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation's visit to the Volga Automobile Factory is highly valued. The secretary of the party committee of the automobile factory personally went to the airport to meet Sergey's inspection team, and escorted Sergey and them all the way back to the hotel. The party secretary didn't dare to disturb Xie Liaosha's rest too much. After confirming the inspection arrangement with Nastya, the party secretary left first, and it was not until the next morning that a vehicle from the factory was arranged to pick up Xie Liaosha at the hotel. Go to the factory to inspect.
Under the leadership of the secretary of the party committee, the manager and the person in charge of the sales company, Sergei visited the production line of Radaniva. As a mature model that has been born for nearly ten years, Lada Niva has many obvious advantages. First of all, it has excellent off-road performance. Although it is a small car, it has the off-road performance that is not inferior to British Land Rover and German Mercedes-Benz. Moreover, this car is durable and has excellent driving performance. It needs to be overhauled after running ten times the distance from Moscow to Vladivostok. As for the price of this car, most Russian families can actually afford it. In some remote villages, Ladaniva is even used as a tractor.
After visiting the production line,
Seryozha witnessed the outstanding performance of Radaniva at the off-road obstacle course of the Volga Automobile Plant. So Seriosha asked the person in charge of the sales company very curiously: "Since your product is so good, how is the sales situation abroad?"
The person in charge quickly replied: "Our market share in Eastern European socialist countries has always been very high, and the sales are very good!"
Seryozha smiled, shook his head, and then asked: "What about countries other than the socialist camp in Eastern Europe? What's the situation?"
"This? A few years ago, our sales volume in Austria and Spain was ranked among the top ten, but because of sanctions and increased market competition, we had to give up the market in these two countries. But now in some Asian countries, as well as Mongolia , Our products are still the best-selling models on the market!" The sales director replied.
Seryozha nodded, and stopped expressing his opinions and questions to the person in charge. He called the party secretary and manager of the Volga Automobile Factory to his side and asked in a low voice: "Tell me honestly, is there a big gap between our car and similar foreign products?"
"Our main selling point is high quality and low price. Although it is not as fancy as foreign cars, we are equipped with an air-conditioning system that is rare among similar models. If it is not for sanctions, I believe our products can earn more foreign exchange for the country. Income!" said the party secretary of the automobile factory.
"Actually, what I am most concerned about is whether we can open up some new markets for Lada, such as Latin American countries?" Sergey Sha asked.
"Cuba is one of our traditional big customers!" The manager of the car factory replied.
"How's their feedback?" Seryozha asked with concern.
"They like our own air conditioning system the most, because we are the cheapest among all the cars with air conditioning!" The manager replied.
Hearing this, Seryozha is already very satisfied. In Seryozha's heart, although Rada has many benefits, it is not suitable for earning foreign exchange. However, if it is exported to countries with developed agriculture and animal husbandry such as Brazil and Argentina, it is very suitable to import livestock products, coffee, soybeans, and even tobacco and other agricultural and animal husbandry products through barter transactions. After all, these countries are not rich countries, and the foreign exchange in their hands is not rich. If a barter transaction is proposed, the other party should not refuse it.
Thinking of this, Seriosha has already decided on his first trade partner, which is Colombia, the home of the Medellin Group and the Cali Group. Let Colombia become one of the overseas dumping countries of Soviet cars, and then spread to surrounding countries. People in these countries all speak the same Spanish, so it should not cost much to promote. And more importantly, through auto trade, it is more convenient and safe to help your Latin American customers transfer their assets to Europe with looser regulations. . As for the use of these funds, Seriosha felt that maybe it would be a good choice to empty Japan in the near future. (To be continued..)