I am farming in the real world

Chapter 222: A Dinner Party That Could Shake Up the Entire Automotive Industry!

Perhaps because he received affirmation and praise from above, coupled with signing a massive 72.7 billion order, Chen Jue was in high spirits.

So, on the final night, at the celebratory banquet held in a private room at the China World Hotel, he collectively distributed a generous bonus of six months' base salary to all Magic Cube Group staff who had come to the capital for the exhibition.

After briefly saying a few words at the celebratory banquet to liven up the atmosphere, Chen Jue moved on to a high-end private restaurant called Chengfu Banquet.

It was said to be very famous and have a decent level of prestige; an average person would spend over 1,000 yuan to eat there.

Since Chen Jue wasn't very familiar with the capital, he asked Lei Bu, the resident host, to arrange a private room.

Upon arrival, Xiang and his daughter from Qingshan Holdings, the heads of NIO, Xiaopeng, and Li Auto, including Li Yuan, the chief designer of Xiaomi Auto, and Lei Bu were already at the table, engaged in conversation.

Seeing the main figure appear, everyone started to stir things up: "President Chen is late; he must first punish himself with three cups!"

"That's right! Brother Chen Jue clearly invited us, but he's the last to arrive; he must be penalized with drinks," Lei Bu and Xiang Qingshan took the lead in clapping and cheering.

The remaining individuals with slightly lower status naturally echoed their sentiments.

Seeing this, Chen Jue apologized and picked up the sparkling fruit wine on the table, downing three glasses in one go.

He found it surprisingly delicious!

He glanced at the imported Chinese characters on the wine bottle label, discovering it was Dom Pérignon Champagne from France, and made a mental note of the name, planning to try brewing a similar dry wine himself when he returned.

He wondered if MC-produced fruit could also be used to brew such a sweet and refreshing wine.

Of course, the reason Chen Jue put aside his pride to host this gathering of big shots was not only to build relationships with these major clients of Magic Cube Group but also because several aspects of his future business plans required the connections of those present.

"I've already taken the penalty; next, I'll get down to business!"

Chen Jue put down his wine glass and formally took his seat, asking the waiter outside the door to bring in the hot dishes while solemnly inquiring: "Brother Lei, if I remember correctly, you hold some shares in Royole Technology, right?"

Lei Bu nodded upon hearing this: "I do have a little bit; I invested in Royole's angel round. However, this company has now gone bankrupt and is undergoing restructuring, so the shares aren't very useful. Are you interested in flexible screens? The commercialization of flexible screens isn't mature; currently, only Huawei's high-end foldable screens can produce some results, and the input and output are completely disproportionate."

Chen Jue was visibly pleased that Lei Bu seemed to have influence at Royole: "Brother Lei, please help me pass a message to Royole's other investors, saying that Magic Cube Group intends to acquire all of Royole's shares, and we're willing to offer 2 billion."

Lei Bu was slightly taken aback upon hearing this price.

Since its establishment, Royole Technology has raised over 7 billion in funding, with a peak valuation of 43 billion yuan.

However, valuation is, after all, just valuation; there's too much of a bubble component.

Now that Royole has been forcibly declared bankrupt and is undergoing restructuring by the Shenzhen court, someone willing to offer 2 billion to take it all is definitely a savior sent from heaven.

"Alright! I'll create a small group chat when I get back; 2 billion shouldn't be a problem," Lei Bu weighed it and nodded in agreement.

Several people on the side, like Li Bin of NIO Auto, He Peng of Xiaopeng Auto, and Li Xiang of Li Auto, seeing Chen Jue's extravagant spending, took the initiative to toast him.

An investor who doesn't even bat an eye while spending 2 billion to buy a bankrupt company—where can you find such a generous investor?

After all, among the three new car manufacturers present, only Li Auto has currently achieved profitability, holding a cash flow of hundreds of billions and maintaining a healthy debt ratio of around 50%.

The other two, like NIO and Xiaopeng, are losing money on car manufacturing and are burning cash every day.

In particular, Li Bin of NIO is under the greatest pressure!

As of the end of the third quarter of 2024, NIO's debt was as high as 87 billion, and the entire company's net assets were only 16.07 billion.

If they don't achieve profitability or introduce strategic investors before the second quarter of next year, the fate awaiting NIO will likely be like that of Weltmeister, eliminated from the market.

Even the silly netizens in the car community are implying: "NIO has no future!"

So, upon encountering a rising star like Chen Jue, Li Bin's attitude was extremely humble: "President Chen, I toast you! Zotye's ZT700 breaking the Nürburgring lap record has boosted a lot of confidence in our domestic brands!"

Seeing the founder of Bitauto reduced to such a humble and ingratiating posture, Chen Jue revealed a playful smile on his face.

As the first of the 'NIO, Xiaopeng, and Li' trio to enter the domestic automotive market in 2014, NIO can be said to have gotten up early but arrived late.

Not only has it been losing money year after year, but even the direction of the company's operations is still unclear.

Take NIO's earliest 'battery pack leasing + battery swapping' plan and the 'battery swap stations' spread all over the world, for example.

Although the technology is bright enough to be able to disassemble and replace the battery at the bottom of an electric car within minutes.

And even in terms of convenience, it saves more time than going to a gas station to fill up a traditional fuel car.

But so what!

The market simply doesn't recognize NIO's battery swap station project and instead chose public charging piles, which have lower investment costs and better accessibility, as the mainstream.

Except for some small countries in Eastern Europe whose land area is only half the size of a province in China, such as Sweden, Finland, and Norway, where it's convenient to promote NIO's battery swap solution.

No other market with a larger land area has allowed NIO to succeed.

"President Li, do you know why NIO's battery swap stations are failing?" Chen Jue clinked glasses with the other party and poured cold water on him.

Li Bin's originally smiling expression instantly froze!

Although NIO's battery swap solution is destined to fail and is almost a recognized fact in the car community.

But what could be more embarrassing than having someone say it to your face at a dinner party?

However, thinking of NIO's current predicament, Li Bin still suppressed the urge to lash out: "I wonder what insights President Chen has?"

Seeing the other party's unconvinced appearance, Chen Jue probably knew that this person was an entrepreneur with dreams and pursuits.

So, he cut to the chase and awakened the other party: "NIO is clearly positioned as a car company and shouldn't be stealing the job of building gas stations! That's what Sinopec and CNPC should be doing."

As soon as these words came out, the heads of the new car manufacturers present all nodded in agreement.

"President Chen's assessment is spot on!"

"Old Li, that broken battery swap station project of yours should really be stopped."

"Hundreds of billions have been burned, and it's just a bottomless pit."

"It's better to change the business direction as soon as possible and save the main business."

He Peng and Li Xiang both advised.

These people are all entrepreneurs who have been in the same circle for many years; they are competitors and also good friends in private.

Like Li Xiang, who started 'Autohome' in his early years, and Li Bin, who created 'Bitauto,' both of these automotive websites went to the United States for financing and listing.

Including He Peng, who also founded Xiaopeng Motors and received angel investment from Lei Bu.

Everyone is eating from the same pot, so naturally, they don't want their good brothers to fall behind.

It's just that NIO's nearly 90 billion debt hole is something that even investors like Lei Bu and Pony Ma of Tencent, who hold huge amounts of cash, dare not jump in to save.

Seeing everyone advising him, Li Bin also raised his glass and drank it all in one go, with a hint of bitterness on his face.

As the saying goes, it's difficult for a large ship to turn around!

NIO's battery swap stations have already accumulated more than 3,000, and if they are cut off with one stroke, NIO itself will have to die immediately without waiting until next year.

Because NIO's users value the convenience of battery swap stations.

Stopping it at this time means that NIO Auto's 10 years of accumulated reputation with customers will collapse overnight.

In today's extremely competitive automotive market, without equity reputation, what advantages will NIO have when facing other manufacturers?

Just as Li Bin was introspecting and struggling whether to take the advice and cut the battery swap project.

Chen Jue, who was responsible for starting the topic, spoke up to defuse the situation: "Who said to let NIO stop battery swapping? What I mean is that NIO can't do the job of building gas stations for Sinopec! But it can sell the battery swap project to Sinopec as a package, unloading the burden and starting anew."

"It just so happens that we, Magic Cube Group, want to be Sinopec for once."

"So, President Li, are you interested in selling NIO's entire battery swap project to me as a package?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone, including Li Bin, showed a black question mark face, "Huh???".

So, all the foreshadowing before was because you, this old six, wanted to pick NIO's peaches?

This saos operation of suppressing first and then raising has almost moved the boss of NIO to tears!

After listening, Li Bin felt like he had met a savior: "President Chen, do you also think that our NIO's battery swap solution has great potential?"

Chen Jue shook his head: "No! NIO's battery swap solution will definitely not work, but if Magic Cube Group takes over, it will definitely succeed!"

Li Bin's face stiffened: "President Chen is so confident?"

Chen Jue spread his hands: "Of course! The main purpose of my inviting everyone to this dinner party, besides wanting to buy NIO's battery swap project as a package, is also to invite everyone to participate in a larger follow-up project."

Lei Bu and Xiang Qingshan, who had been listening throughout, suddenly perked up.

Because they had contacted Chen Jue several times and knew that this kid was the type who wouldn't give up until he achieved his goal.

Seeing everyone starting to prick up their ears and adopt a formal posture.

Chen Jue waved his hand and asked Tie Yi outside the private room to keep watch.

He himself sat in the host's seat at the dinner and began to ramble: "I plan to invite you all to join the CUBE Power Swap Alliance initiated by our CUBE Group. We, along with NIO, Xiaomi, Li Auto, and Xpeng Motors, six car companies, will initiate an industry proposal to jointly build CUBE power swap stations covering all city grids and highway service areas across the country!"

The ambitious nature of the project stunned everyone at the table.

Lei Jun was the first to express his doubts: "Cover the whole country? How many power swap stations would that require?"

Chen Jue spread out five fingers: "The first phase will deploy 50,000 stations. The second and third phases will maintain this level of increase until the popularity of power swap stations exceeds the 112,000 gas stations currently in the country!"

Upon hearing this staggering number, the chopsticks in Li Bin's hand clattered onto his plate.

Because this number is more than 50 times that of NIO's power swap stations.

If the entire project could be promoted as Chen Jue said, then Li Bin's dream of being able to find a power swap station within a 1-kilometer radius anytime, anywhere when an electric car's battery is running low could be completely realized!

"Three phases, 150,000 power swap stations. I remember the cost of NIO's fourth-generation power swap station is..." Lei Jun pondered.

Li Bin reminded him: "1.5 million per station! Including land lease fees."

"A total investment of 225 billion for three phases. It seems that Brother Jue can handle it himself!" Xiang Qingshan, who was proficient in capital operations, helped calculate the total.

However, the Xiang family father and daughter couldn't figure out what such a standard integration project involving the new energy vehicle industry had to do with their Tsingshan Holding Group.

Could it be to provide stainless steel materials for the power swap stations?

Probably seeing Xiang Qingshan's doubts, Chen Jue laughed and threw out the most tempting trump card of the entire 'CUBE Power Swap Alliance': "Car companies willing to join the CUBE Power Swap Alliance can obtain metal parts related to ferrous alloys in vehicle manufacturing from CUBE Group at a 50% discount of the market price. Car companies that join later will receive discounts that decrease in batches, with a maximum discount of 10%."

"Brother Xiang, we will rely heavily on your Tsingshan Holding Group for the supply of nickel-based alloys in the future!"