Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled-Chapter 870 - 659: Pragmatic Approach to Car Manufacturing

After Chen Pingsheng made the call to Old Wang, the result was still a refusal.

Old Wang was still pushing towards the final stretch of going public, and he clearly understood that the Wang family had offended someone influential.

This led to a series of twists and turns. Business matters are hard to describe—when things are going well, everything seems to flow smoothly.

But when things aren’t going well, there will always be a crowd ready to kick you while you’re down.

If he were in such a situation, Chen would surely go overseas at the first opportunity.

All the money abroad isn’t just sitting there for nothing; it’s not only about making money; it’s also an exit strategy.

Of course, the Wang family’s predicament was primarily due to their heavy debt burden at home. novelbuddy.cσ๓

They used to rely on bank loans to continuously expand outward, but once loans go sideways, it’s enough to take half your life away.

In the domestic real estate industry, apart from state-owned enterprises, the most respectable private individuals probably boil down to just two.

One was Xiangjiang Li, who decisively sold off assets in 2015, and the other was Pan Shiyi, who also sold domestic assets in 2015.

These two were the most decisive, and their timing to leave was impeccable; the ones who came after just weren’t as sharp.

As for Chen Pingsheng himself, he sold off most of his family’s properties between 2016 and 2017.

The remaining ones were commercial properties generating rental income for his family.

He made a lot of money investing in real estate mainly because he moved early. Even if he had been late by two or three years, it wouldn’t have been a matter of making money.

It’d have been about having assets with price tags but no buyers.

"Secretary Tang, what do you think I should invest this ten billion in?"

Tang Jing was stunned. This was way beyond her ability to answer—you’d be lucky if she could handle a one-billion-dollar target.

"Boss, I think you’re still most likely to invest in the AI sector, right?"

"You’re correct; I do plan to increase my investments in the AI sector."

Chen Pingsheng opened his computer for a look. NVIDIA’s valuation was still hovering around $300 billion with little movement.

As for Tesla, its market cap had dropped to over $600 billion.

For now, he couldn’t seem to find a suitable investment path. If he further increased his holdings in NVIDIA, it’d probably be overkill.

If the stock rises, that’s fine; but if not, he’d face serious losses.

Currently, his personal ownership of NVIDIA amounts to 5% of the shares.

After much hesitation, he decided to invest another $3 billion, roughly increasing his holdings by 1%.

Additionally, he invested another 70 billion RMB in Google, which translates to 1% of its shares.

Investing in these large-cap stocks comes with the biggest advantage of stability—long-term appreciation and short-term steadiness.

What he wants now is long-term appreciation; Google’s market cap has soared past $1 trillion.

For 70 billion, you can barely secure about 1% ownership.

If this were in the domestic stock market, it would easily push several stocks up to fivefold surges.

If he played the role of the market maker, he’d certainly profit, though retreating from the market would be ethically troubling.

It would require a large number of retail investors to foot the bill. Simply put, if he made money this way domestically, there’d be tens of thousands or even millions of households paying the price.

Many domestic market makers operate this way—treating retail investors as "chives" to be harvested.

Chen Pingsheng wouldn’t stoop to such practices; he doesn’t need to.

Thus, his large-scale funds simply won’t touch the domestic market.

He only plays small in the domestic stock market.

The remaining billions in funds didn’t seem to have much use either.

He planned to use the money to build another Tengying villa community with over 200 villas—not nearly enough for Tengying Group’s executives to share.

Life goes on, and by mid-August, news of Tengde Era’s official IPO caused waves within the domestic market.

You have to understand, when he first acquired this factory, it was worth less than $100 billion.

Seven years later, the factory’s market value has soared to $300 billion, making it yet another legend in the era of new energy investments.

Especially considering that Tengfei New Energy has maintained a policy of not exaggerating its publicity over these years, relying instead on facts and letting customer word-of-mouth grow organically.

There’s a saying about this: It’s not that they’ve done particularly well, but rather that their competitors collectively self-destructed.

Through practical actions, they continuously showcased their brilliant decisions.

From the initial government support for the domestic new energy industry, policies and subsidies were abundant.

Some audacious players moved funds from one pocket to another, essentially using empty vehicles to swindle government subsidies.

Even more outrageous ones made a car entirely in PowerPoint presentations—praised to the skies online but ended up being a joke offline.

Some instances are downright absurd: at a product launch, the car’s founder didn’t even know how to open the door.

It’s truly an intergalactic-level joke.

Then there were those executives who kept boasting online about being superior to Tesla.

With Tesla’s $4 trillion market cap standing firmly in place, if that’s not proof enough, worldwide sales and customer choices should speak volumes.

Inflated publicity and empty rhetoric only drove the grounded and diligent Tengfei New Energy to absolute success.

The most beloved department by users remains the one managed by Chen Pingsheng himself—the logistics team.

How would one describe his logistics team?

They never shy away from problems; users can freely lodge complaints online as long as it’s not orchestrated by competitors.

If users couldn’t freely post their grievances online, while it might reduce negative buzz, it would also make high-awareness potential customers feel disconnected and skeptical.

For genuine customer concerns, they resolve the issues promptly.

Of course, after so many years, there have been mishaps.

No automaker can guarantee their cars never encounter traffic accidents.

There was once a case where a customer, using Tengfei’s smart driving system, ended up hitting someone.

Although the situation was partially caused by the other party—recklessly darting out on a motorcycle—the company still compensated over 5 million RMB.

The user was given a replacement car, and the family of the deceased received 5 million in cash.

When a life is involved, Tengfei New Energy’s minimum compensation standard starts at 3 million.

If the victim was a family breadwinner, the compensation typically starts at 5 million—enough to ensure the family’s future stability.

The company’s openness in resolving issues may have sparked debates online about the safety of smart driving technology.

But this approach is far better than those car manufacturers who rush to remove their logos as soon as accidents occur.

Their conscientious car-building efforts and steadfast protection of customer rights naturally cultivated strong word-of-mouth over time.

There isn’t much business strategy to speak of here.

Chen Pingsheng has never believed himself to be particularly smart. On the contrary, the automotive industry has more than its fair share of supposed "brilliant minds."

Many enjoy mocking their users’ intelligence.

Take, for example, some automakers’ ridiculous marketing tests that seem geared to prove that a tricycle can outclass a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

All it amounts to is leveraging minor, self-congratulatory cleverness.

For example, the tricycle claims, "Are you sure you only have three wheels?"

The Rolls-Royce replies, "No."

Well then, I’ve won.

Such tests not only fail to generate good enterprise credibility but also insult the intelligence of users.

To some degree, the age of short videos has brought consumers’ awareness to unprecedented levels.

This is nowhere near the 1990s when you could trick users with a couple of catchy slogans.

Even when Mr. Ma declared that the "996" work schedule was a blessing, he got lambasted into oblivion.

Nearly falling off his pedestal as a result.

People aren’t gullible anymore. If "996" truly were a blessing, why hasn’t it taken off abroad?

Try implementing "996" overseas—labor unions would step in and teach them a hard lesson.

Before the short video era, such statements wouldn’t cause any trouble, but after? It only incites widespread resentment.

Times have changed; young people in this era are no longer so easily fooled.

Look at all those who refuse to marry or have kids anymore.

Let alone responding well to pretentious marketing tactics.

Tengfei New Energy has swapped out several marketing department general managers over the years.

Some boasted that they could sell straw at the price of gold.

Others boldly proclaimed they could elevate Tengfei’s brand to luxury tier within a year.

When you ask them how they plan to achieve this, they spend an hour lecturing you on brand positioning and marketing campaigns—but never mention vehicle quality.

Such individuals excel at marketing and manipulating customer perceptions through advertising.

Even if you manufacture mediocre cars, they’ll hype them as "historical breakthroughs."

Unable to find suitable general managers for the marketing team, Chen decided to personally oversee Tengfei New Energy’s external communications.

This resulted in years of steadfast commitment to low-profile, practical car manufacturing.

No exaggerations, no false advertising.

This approach is tied directly to his immense personal wealth. Frankly speaking, he’s worth trillions now—building cars is just another endeavor; there’s absolutely no need to rely on marketing gimmicks to push sales.

What would he gain from it?

If buyers end up secretly criticizing him after their purchase, he feels it simply wouldn’t be worth it.

All he wants is to build good cars honestly. The quality is there—if you like them, buy one; if not, feel free to look elsewhere. He refuses to use deceptive marketing to provoke impulsive purchases.

Cars are essentials for most families, serving as life’s transportation tools for years. They’re no laughing matter.

And there’s absolutely no room for dishonesty in this business.