Chapter 813 Monopoly
The birth of Royal No. 1 was not just a luxury item, nor was it made by the people below in order to flatter the emperor.
After all, it is his own business, and it is Franz himself who finally pays the bill. Without the permission of the emperor himself, that is to be held accountable.
There's no question that the Austrian Automobile Group went to great lengths to build this ultra-luxury sedan, and it certainly wasn't to show off its wealth.
It is impossible for Franz to go out for a drive in this car, and even information about this car will not be disclosed to the outside world.
This requirement is not only to promote the development of automobile technology, but also to test the domestic industrial strength.
As an emperor who has been bombarded by various information, Franz is very aware that data and reports can be fabricated out of thin air, but the real objects in front of him cannot be faked.
In the world these days, only Austria has a complete automobile industry, and other countries are still following.
Even if the people below want to cheat, there is no room to play.
In the face of the Royal One, Franz also personally inspected the Austrian Automobile Group's largest automobile production base, the Prague Automobile Plant, which can produce 20,000 cars per year at full speed.
This number is not surprising at all in future generations, and any car factory can easily do it.
However, this factory, which can only produce less than 55 cars a day on average, is already the largest car factory in the world, no one.
In fact, it's even more exaggerated than that. This humble annual production capacity of 20,000 cars already accounts for one-third of the entire production capacity of the Austrian auto industry.
The production capacity of the Prague car factory directly exceeds the combined car production capacity of Britain and France, and is comparable to the car production capacity of all countries except Austria.
Well, this is the result of Franz's hang-up. At present, the only company in the world that can industrially produce automobiles is the Austrian Automobile Group.
There's no way, it's already an advantage to start. When everyone didn't pay attention to the auto industry, Franz began to throw money.
Austrian Automobile Group has been immersed in research and development in the laboratory from the beginning, and has not announced any news at all, and none of its peers have responded.
No, to be precise, before the product came out, there were no so-called peers at all.
Before that, everyone went to the research and development of steam cars. And the internal combustion engine cars of the Austrian Automobile Group are completely two species.
The earliest internal combustion engine car in the original time and space was launched in 1888. The founder of Mercedes-Benz, who was the first in history, and who is awesome in later generations, still doesn't know what he is doing.
Oldsmobile, the earliest automobile company in the United States, was established in 1897; Cadillac, the earliest automobile company in Japan, was only registered in 1902.
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After the first product of the Austrian Automobile Group, the "Beetle", went on sale, everyone suddenly discovered that the original car can still be built in this way.
The Austrian Automobile Group, which has no competitors, is naturally a leader in the automotive field.
Undoubtedly, in the context of patent protection not covering the whole world, followers quickly emerged.
I can't come up with my own research and development for a while, but I can't copy it with a template.
Then, most of the first batch of products of the Austrian Automobile Group became parts, which contributed to the development of the world automobile industry.
Essentially, this is just a conceptual breakthrough. As long as the brain hole is opened, industrial powers can build cars.
It's just that the car is not simply assembled, and getting the production technology does not mean that you can create a car of qualified quality.
It also needs the cooperation of related industries. If there is a problem in any link, the final result will be a tragedy.
Followers quickly discovered this, but it was too embarrassing for them to develop technologies in multiple fields at the same time and overcome a series of difficulties.
The huge cost of capital invested in the early stage is not something that ordinary enterprises and individuals can afford.
After all, the auto market is very limited these days, and financial consortia are still not interested in this small profit.
Capital’s favorite thing to do is to go straight up to pick the fruit when the fruit is about to ripen, instead of running to plant fruit trees.
Entity giants are mostly limited by their business concepts, and generally focus on their own fields. Even if they expand, they also enter related industries.
This is the experience and lesson summed up from countless classic cases. The chance of failure is much higher than that of success if you rashly cross the border into an unfamiliar field.
Before the risk can not be estimated, most people will choose to wait and see. Of course, the more important thing is that you have no money in your pocket.
The family car market has just started, and the future is still unclear. There is no guarantee that today's internal combustion engine cars will be yesterday's steam cars.
The auto industry is in the stage of burning money, which is equivalent to just planting a small sapling, and it is still a long way from flowering.
Then, of course, it was handcrafted. The technical difficulty of large-scale industrial production is too high. If you want a cottage, you must also have industrial support, which cannot be accomplished overnight.
In contrast, hand-made is much simpler. If the accuracy of the spare parts is not enough, it is manually polished. If the engine horsepower is not enough, increase the number of cylinders.
Now the main competitor of the Austrian car group in the market is a bunch of workshops.
Because the car has just come out, it is still a high-end luxury, and the price is high, even if it is manual work
The production cost of the workshop is higher, and they can also make a lot of profits.
After smoothing it all out, Franz's brows suddenly wrinkled.
Clearly, many people in the Austrian Auto Group are so fascinated by the current results that they ignore the existence of competitors.
Since the product launch in 1882, the market share of the Austrian Automobile Group has been declining year by year.
The decline of market share is inevitable. Unless the market is completely monopolized, or as competitors continue to join, the market share will definitely decline.
It's just that the Austrian Automobile Group's market share has fallen too fast. In just three years, it has dropped by nearly a quarter.
This is his own industry. If it stops, all the losses will be his own interests, which is absolutely intolerable to Franz.
"Oprea, didn't you plan to build a cheap model to keep your market share?"
Franz is no longer expected to expand market share.
You know, the Austrian Automobile Group occupies 76.4% of the car sales market, how can it increase?
However, as much as possible to maintain market share, or to reduce the speed of market share decline, it can be worked hard.
Oprea hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, the listing of cheap cars will not only reduce our corporate profits, but also damage our car brand value.
At present, the Beetle, Walker, Brady and other models promoted by the Group are all high-end cars.
Although price-cut sales can gain a larger market share in a short period of time, the car has been destined to be a luxury since its birth.
No matter how much we cut the price, it is impossible for ordinary people to afford it. Now that we're trying to make the car a status symbol, it's important to maintain the car's brand value. "
Able to realize the "brand value", Oprea is obviously not an ordinary person.
However, due to the constraints of the times, he still did not expect that cars may enter thousands of households, falling from luxury goods to means of transportation.
Judging from the current global car consumption market with only tens of thousands of vehicles per year, Oprea abandons the development of low-end models and focuses on the operation of high-end brands, which is still in line with reality.
Franz shook his head: "No, the production cost of cars still has a lot of room to fall. It is not impossible for the price to fall to the range acceptable to ordinary people in the future.
In the short term, under the existing technology system, we can all reduce the cost to the acceptable range of the middle class.
If the production capacity continues to expand, the current production cost will continue to decrease.
Maybe the sales of individual cars are down, but the middle class is far more numerous than the rich, and our total profit will only be higher.
Moreover, lowering the selling price of cars can also hit our competitors. Unlike us, the production cost of their small workshop cannot be reduced at all.
As for the question of brand value, it's even simpler. Re-register a company and use the new company's name to change the brand to focus on low-cost cars. "
Now the production cost of cars is generally between 400 and 700 Aegis, and the sales price on the market is basically above 1,000 Aegis.
Such a high gross profit cannot hide the fact that the Austrian Automobile Group is losing money.
The main reason is that the investment in research and development is too high, and the maintenance cost in the later period remains high, which has caused the company to be in a state of loss for many years.
Oprea's focus on corporate profits is actually a last resort. The financial situation of the company is not good, so you can't ask your boss for money every day, right?
If it weren't for Franz's mandatory requirements, it is estimated that Oprea would cut off its research and development funds and devote all its attention to car sales.
After all, in the short term, sales-oriented companies are more profitable than R&D-oriented companies. Only when the company makes money, can everyone get more lucrative returns.
Now in this state of loss, it's good to get some bonuses. Stock options are not yet popular, but profit dividends have appeared.
It's just that a research and development company like the Austrian Automobile Group has been losing money for more than ten years and can't see dividends at all.
However, Oprea still has integrity and has no way to learn from some unscrupulous executives of listed companies.
Otherwise, it is very simple for the Austrian Automobile Group to turn losses into profits by secretly changing the concept. Whether it is compressing R&D investment or slowing down the construction of maintenance points, profits can be achieved.
If it weren't for the drag of these two gold-swallowing beasts, the Austrian Automobile Group would definitely be the most profitable company in this era, or the kind that can rival the country.
Even if each car only earns 100 Aegis, the Austrian Automobile Group has a net income of five or six million Aegis every year.
In fact, there will only be more, and the cars sold cannot all be ordinary models with the lowest profit. That kind of local luxury car with a price of tens of thousands of yuan can easily get several thousands of dollars when you sell one.
Of course, the core competitiveness of the Austrian Automobile Group is actually technology and after-sales service.
Lose money in the short term, but these are the most profitable in the future. Once the channel is laid, there will be no competitors at all for a long time.
This point can be seen in Austria. In the areas covered by the group's service outlets, the only cars that can be sold in the market are "Aoqi" cars.
Other production enterprises, limited by their own strength, simply cannot build so many maintenance outlets.
Once the car breaks down, you can only find a way to repair it yourself, or wait for the skilled workers of the manufacturer to come.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Oprea replied
After a pause, Oprea added: "Your Majesty, in order to increase corporate profits, reverse the current state of losses, and increase corporate competitiveness.
The management plans to cover the gas station when laying the logistics channels, so that our users can refuel on the way. "
If we do this in future generations, before we have time to start, the anti-monopoly law has already come to our door.
The meaning of "convenience to our users" is already very obvious, which is full of exclusivity. Even if other cars arrive at the gas station, they can only watch from one side.
But in the age of big monopolies in the 19th century, it was completely commonplace. Just like now, the maintenance points of the Austrian Automobile Group do not provide services for other brands of cars.
After pondering for a while, Franz shook his head: "The gas station can do it, but it can't be so extreme. This is different from the maintenance point, which is very easy to arouse the disgust of the public.
The voice of anti-monopoly in society is getting louder and louder, and it is only a matter of time before countries introduce anti-monopoly laws. With such obvious flaws left now, it will be easy to be targeted in the future.
You must pay attention to this. Even if it is to increase competitiveness, more covert means can be adopted.
For example: membership card service.
Anyone who buys vehicles under the group can enjoy membership services and get certain discounts at gas stations.
Other customers, wanting to get gas discounts, can make them pay for a membership card out of their own pocket.
You can issue more membership cards, preferably different in each city, and a membership card can only enjoy discounts in one region.
You can find any excuses, as long as it is justified on the surface and everyone can accept it reluctantly. "
The maintenance points of the Austrian Automobile Group do not provide service for other cars, and that is enough reason to shirk.
For example: there is no supporting spare parts, and maintenance cannot be carried out; or the car mechanic has not touched this car and does not know how to do it.
The gas station will not work, anyway, everyone uses those oils, there is no such thing as unusable.
If the service is refused, the owners will surely make trouble. Franz would naturally not do this kind of hatred.
In contrast, membership services are much easier for everyone to accept. As long as there is not much publicity, ordinary people cannot understand the complex relationship between enterprises at all.
Change the vest and let the gas station and the car group out of direct contact. Auto Group can also pay gas stations an annual membership fee, leaving everyone speechless.
In any case, the technology of information networking has not been developed in these years. Membership cards cannot be used across the country, and they can be evaded as unrecognizable. In other words, gas stations in various places are operated independently.
The card cannot be recognized, but the car can. If all car manufacturers can pay their dues, Franz doesn't mind if everyone enjoys a discount.
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