Chapter 459 We found a traitor!

Compared to Li Liangyi who was in a good mood, Qing Jingbin, who had just arrived in Jinling, was not so relaxed.

As the sales director of NSK Group's China office, 1997 was a very critical year for him.

Although Japanese bearings entered the Chinese market very early, to some extent, they were still held back by Japanese car companies that were a step slower than the Germans.

From the late 80s to the early 1997s, Volkswagen produced several classic models in China for local production. However, almost ten years later, in , Toyota and Honda were still hesitating about what form and attitude they would take to conduct a joint venture. .

This led to the fact that the entire Chinese automobile market in the 1990s could be said to revolve around two models.

Santana and Jetta.

They all use SKF bearings.

Although bearings are known as the joints of industry, and any equipment with rotating parts will inevitably use this seemingly inconspicuous component, there is no doubt that automotive bearings occupy an absolute share in terms of sales and profits. Advantage.

The success of German cars in China has directly allowed SKF to account for 60% of China's imported bearing sales. However, although Japanese companies such as NSK and NTN account for a higher proportion in the industrial field, they still cannot reverse their overall dominance. Unfavorable situation.

Under this circumstance, NSK has begun to consider officially upgrading the Huaxia office to the Huaxia region and building a bearing factory in Luzhou and Suzhou respectively.

And if Qing Jingbin can produce strong enough performance in the past two years, then there is a high probability that he can go one step further and sit in the highest position left to the Chinese people at NSK, that is, the deputy minister of the Huaxia Region.

Therefore, he could not help but ignore this matter.

Investigating the situation of Jinling Iveco is not difficult for Qing Jingbin.

It is true that bearing manufacturers are suppliers to Party B compared to OEMs, but in daily contact and communication, they are often much stronger than Party A as they hold key technologies.

What's more, NSK is still a foreign company, and it is absolutely superior to others.

It is normal to develop some eyeliner relationships within the OEM or dealer network.

Therefore, Qing Jingbin spent almost no effort and got some information from a Jinling Iveco worker over a McDonald's meal.

"You said that starting from November this year, the newly produced Iveco will be replaced with a batch of domestically produced parts?"

When he first heard the news, the former's first reaction was ridiculous.

Before he came to Jinling, he had thought that some of his peers might have deliberately lowered prices to compete and steal business. However, he considered the suspects from NTN to FAG to SKF, but he never thought that Jinling Iveco would be so bold. Use domestic bearings.

"Yes, I heard it from my second uncle two days ago. He works as an inspector in the technical research and development department of our factory. He said that each car can make thousands of dollars more in profit."

The young man who was found lowered his head and took a bite of the burger.

The treatment given by Jinling Iveco is good, but for him, the opportunity to eat this kind of foreign fast food is still rare.

"You don't want word-of-mouth? Are you using fake and shoddy parts to replace imported goods, or key parts like wheel bearings? Customers will find problems after driving hundreds of kilometers, and my reputation will be ruined by then!"

Of course, Qing Jingbin could not be stupid enough to reveal his identity publicly when he was developing an informant. Therefore, he had always used "a car dealer who wanted to get some inside information" as a cover for his activities.

It is reasonable to show such anxiety at this moment.

"I don't know the specifics, but I haven't heard that the marketing department is going to change the after-sales standards. I think there won't be any big problems. Most customers don't care which supplier the parts come from. "

The young man opposite shrugged:

"Actually, I know that many drivers will directly replace auxiliary parts when repairing their cars. So why are the Japanese bearings from Enesk so expensive? Replacing four bearings at a time can save dozens of dollars. It doesn't matter. I heard that the quality is different from the original ones.”

"Nonsense, the kind of sub-factory parts you are talking about are..."

Qing Jingbin swallowed his words halfway.

Of course he knew that what the other party said was completely true, because the so-called "sub-factory parts" that are only twenty or thirty yuan cheaper than the official ones sold by NSK, but have exactly the same quality, were obtained privately by Shunsuke Haneda from Japan through special channels. selling.

Including Qing Jingbin himself participated in it.

It is naturally impossible to say such a thing.

But they do this in a measured way. The quantity of goods they put on the market each time is not large. Jinling Motors cannot rely on these three melons to build cars.

So there must be another supplier.

Thinking of this, Qing Jingbin leaned his head slightly and asked in a low voice:

"That new bearing you mentioned, can you make a sample for me to see?"

"You want me to steal something?"

One sentence scared the burger out of the hands of the young man opposite:

"That's illegal, I won't do it..."

Although stealing trade secrets is actually a crime, in this day and age, it is obviously impossible for an ordinary worker to understand the concept of the crime of infringing trade secrets, and this crime is rarely enforced in practice.

However, stealing and committing a crime is the simplest cognition.

"Okay, indeed, I was the one who was abrupt..."

After weighing it up, Qing Jingbin decided to adopt a gentle approach rather than a coercive approach:

"You don't need to actually take out the sample. As long as you can find out where your factory purchases the new bearings from, I can give you 100 yuan as a reward."

"This……"

Obviously, 100 yuan is definitely attractive in this era.

However, the young man opposite was obviously not completely brainless. After hesitating for a moment, he asked doubtfully:

"What are you interested in doing?"

"I……"

Qing Jingbin was asked for a moment.

Fortunately, his mind was spinning very fast and he came up with a reasonable explanation in an instant:

"I sell cars. If your factory needs to replace parts, then the so-called original parts I use when repairing people's cars must also be replaced. I have to be prepared in advance..."

There can be a lot of money difference between getting the same parts directly from the supplier or going through the car manufacturer.

Theoretically, the OEM will sign a contract with its supplier, requiring the latter not to go beyond its own supply to dealers or repair shops. However, this kind of contract has almost no actual restrictions, as long as the parts supplier does not play too hard. If you go too far, no one will usually pursue it.

"Okay, I'll check with you in the next two days, and you wait for my call."

The young man finished the last bite of his burger, wiped his hands and left McDonald's.

It should be said that the efficiency of this informant is very impressive.

It was only the next day that Qing Jingbin received news from the other party.

Bearing parts come from Northeast Special Steel Group.

In fact, Qing Jingbin was able to learn all this so easily mainly because this matter was not considered a highly confidential matter within Jinling Iveco——

No matter how tight it is now, when the new car comes out in November, if someone is willing to check the supplier changes, or simply dismantle a car, everything will be known.

……

The next day, NSK Bearing China Office in Shanghai.

"Northeast Special Steel..."

Shunsuke Haneda muttered the name.

He had no impression of the name at all.

NSK's main rivals in the past were several big brands from Europe. In Haneda's perception, China's local brand bearings could not pose any threat to itself.

Qing Jingbin took this opportunity and quickly introduced:

"Northeast Special Steel is a new company formed by the merger of three special steel companies at the end of last year. I think it is impossible for them to produce products comparable to our NSK in just over half a year by themselves."

"You are right, Qingjun..."

"If this is the case, there is only one possibility..."

Haneda, who was behind the desk, touched his chin lightly as he spoke:

"We have a traitor in our midst!"

"what?"

Qing Jingbin was about to get up and deny it, but then he realized that the "we" Shunsuke Haneda mentioned was not him and himself, but other Japanese companies in China.

When Japanese companies go overseas, although there are constant overt and covert conflicts on the surface, there is actually an industrial alliance.

For example, in the field of machine tools, the bearings exported by NSK to Chinese companies cannot threaten the models sold in China by brands such as Okuma, Makino, and Mitsubishi.

Correspondingly, in the field of bearings, the raw materials exported by Datong Steel cannot threaten the models sold by brands such as NSK and NTN in China.

In Haneda Shunsuke's view, the only way a Chinese company can produce products with similar performance to Japanese bearings is if someone breaks this rule and sells parts that exceed the limit to Tohoku Special Steel.

Considering that NSK itself uses a large number of Chunakajima products, and the latter has recently actively invested and built factories in China...

Then the answer seems self-evident.

"Qingjun, thank you for the information you got from Jinling. I will inform the country and let the higher authorities negotiate with Chunzhong Island."

Haneda Shunsuke raised his head and showed a satisfied smile:

"In addition, if this matter can be properly resolved, then I will recommend you to the headquarters for the position of deputy minister of the Huaxia Region..."

When Qing Jingbin heard this, he half-bent down excitedly and bowed:

"Thank you, Minister Haneda!"