Chapter 3522: No cutting of leeks? !

Ye Chen and He Yuanjiang returned to Jinling together. As soon as they got off the helicopter, they went straight to Tianxiang Mansion to meet Steve Rothschild.

Before Ye Chen arrived, Steve Rothschild had someone list all the companies in the automotive industry in which the Rothschild family had shares and controlling stakes. There were more than 600 companies in total, spread all over the world.

From top well-known car companies to little-known wiring harness manufacturers, the Rothschild family's investment fund managers invested their money everywhere.

As the saying goes, if there are dates, try again. The Rothschild family is just like that. They have a lot of manpower and strong capital. If they see a date forest, their subordinates will go in and try to pick every tree.

When the three met, Steve Rothschild was as low-key as a young college graduate. He kept rubbing his hands nervously in front of Ye Chen. When he handed the thick list to Ye Chen, he said flatteringly as if he was presenting a treasure: "Mr. Ye, the companies listed here are more or less related to the Rothschild family. You can take your time to look at them. If you are interested in any company's products, I will help you contact them as soon as possible!"

Ye Chen took the list and looked at it, then handed it to He Yuanjiang beside him and said with a smile: "Professor He, please take a look. I don't know much about the industry."

"Okay." He Yuanjiang took the list, flipped through it a few times, and looked shocked. When he flipped through it again, his expression was even more surprised.

After he had flipped through all the lists, he said to Ye Chen in surprise, "Master Ye, this list has almost caught all the deadly suppliers on the market. I didn't expect that many Chinese companies also have shares held by the Rothschild family."

Steve Rothschild quickly stated, "We don't have any direct holdings in those Chinese companies. All of our holdings are indirect through venture capital funds, and a small portion is held on behalf of individuals or companies with whom we have good connections."

Ye Chen nodded and asked He Yuanjiang: "Professor He, which ones do you think are more useful to us?"

He Yuanjiang said excitedly, "Master Ye, these are basically all useful. If Mr. Rothschild is convenient, he can help us introduce them. I will visit these key large enterprises and have the team visit other small and medium-sized enterprises as well."

Steve Rothschild was incredibly astute and immediately said, "No problem, that's easy. Professor He, please select the items you'd like to personally display. I'll have someone schedule an appointment with them and have them line up to meet you in Nanjing!"

He Yuanjiang felt a little sorry and tried to ask, "Isn't this inappropriate?"

"There's nothing inappropriate about it." Steve Rothschild said with a smile, "They are all just minions to the Rothschild family. Far from complaining about their visit, they'll be particularly happy. So, Professor He, please tell me your time window. I'll have my assistant notify these companies to come."

After that, he suddenly had an idea and said with a smile: "I think Changying Automobile can hold a global supplier conference!"

"Global Suppliers Conference?" He Yuanjiang asked in surprise. "Mr. Rothschild wants us to use the Global Suppliers Conference as an excuse to openly discuss the matter with them?"

"Right." Steve Rothschild nodded and explained, "It's fine to have them flock to Huaxia, to Jinling, or even to visit Professor He's office directly. But if there are too many people and the noise is too loud, it might attract unnecessary attention and suspicion. But if it's our Changying Automotive Global Supplier Conference, and they're all invited to Jinling to attend, then this makes much more sense."

Ye Chen couldn't help but praise: "This is a good idea. Not only can it make this matter more reasonable, but it can also let the world know that Changying Automobile has already gained influence in the supply chain. All the top and well-known automotive suppliers in the world have gathered in Jinling. People outside will definitely be amazed at Changying Automobile's supply chain integration capabilities."

Steve Rothschild nodded and said, "That's what I mean. By then, the entire automotive industry's supply chain will definitely see Changying Auto's influence on the supply chain! I can't say anything else, but at least Changying Auto's supply chain costs will be 10% lower than other automakers!"

He Yuanjiang lamented, "For a car costing around 200,000 yuan, material costs other than the battery account for about 40%, which translates to 80,000 yuan. If the supply chain can squeeze out another 8,000 yuan of cost and pass that savings on to consumers, the overall cost-effectiveness of the vehicle can be further improved."

Steve Rothschild asked in surprise, "So, Changying Automobile intends to follow the same path as those new energy vehicles from China, pursuing the ultimate cost-effectiveness route?"

"Yes," He Yuanjiang said, "A truly national-grade product must have a high cost-performance ratio, high brand recognition, and high product credibility. This means the premium cannot be too high. Young Master Ye himself does not want Changying Automobile to become a company with high profit margins."

Steve Rothschild couldn't help but sigh, "From my perspective, Changying Automobile is getting so much attention right now, and with Tawanna Sweet helping to promote it, once the car is officially launched, it will definitely be a great opportunity to profit from it. At the press conference, we can brag about the technology, data, and sentiment, and secretly reduce material costs to the extreme. We should be able to make a few thousand dollars more per car. Add to that the original profit margin, and we can easily make $10,000 per car. If we sell hundreds of thousands of cars like this, we'll earn billions of dollars in cash, which is still very considerable."

After saying that, he couldn't help but offer another piece of advice: "The launch of the first car is a great opportunity to reap the profits! Those leeks are thriving in the fields, it would be a shame not to reap them! If things don't work out, you can always go for the cost-effective route with the second car. After all, you've earned billions of dollars with a state-of-the-art production line."

Steve Rothschild has been influenced by the Rothschild family for so many years that he only cares about profits. The projects he runs are generally designed to maximize profits. Once there is a conflict between feelings, dreams and interests, profits must come first. He thought Ye Chen wanted to squeeze the supply chain in order to increase profit margins and recover costs as soon as possible, but he didn't expect that he would give this part of the space to consumers.

In his opinion, this behavior was stupid and naive, and it would be better to seize this good opportunity and make a fortune.

Ye Chen smiled and said, "Steve, the original intention of the Ye and An families to join forces to create Changying Automobile was not to make money, and I am even less motivated by this. If I were motivated by this, why would I bother making cars? I have plenty of ways to harvest the richest people. I can easily hold an auction and make more money than I could make from making cars in a few years."

It was then that Steve Rothschild realized what was happening.

He thought to himself, "Yes, how could Ye Chen be short of money? If he auctioned off a few rejuvenation pills, he could easily make hundreds of billions of dollars. A man like my father would definitely not blink an eye when spending hundreds of billions of dollars on rejuvenation pills. How could he make hundreds of billions of dollars by manufacturing cars?"

Thinking of this, he said with a sense of shame: "Alas, it is Mr. Ye who has such a high standard. I still can't get rid of the stench of money. Shame, shame!"