Chapter 287 Auto Expo

While Carlo was inspecting the drought situation, automobile companies were also urgently expanding their workforce in preparation for the Auto Expo.

The Spanish Automobile Exhibition was scheduled to take place three months later, in early December 3.

Before that, the car company needs to produce at least 1000 cars as reserves and deliver them when there are orders.

Without the use of assembly line production technology, it would be impossible to produce 1000 cars in just three months.

But with the help of assembly line production, it is not impossible for automobile companies to give it a try.

At the same time, major newspapers are also vigorously promoting news about the auto show.

Thanks to the popularity brought by Madrid, a city that never sleeps, and the Tram Expo, when Spain announced that it would hold an auto show at the end of the year, it immediately attracted the attention of many foreign investors.

The automobile industry, like the electric power industry, is an industry that many countries are exploring but have not achieved much success.

Spain has already established itself as a powerhouse in the electrical industry through the Madrid City That Never Sleeps and the Tram Expo. If the automobile industry makes further progress, doesn’t it mean that the European powers are lagging behind Spain in these two major industrial fields?

No matter what other countries think, Spain is preparing for its own auto show in an orderly manner.

Nothing major happened during this period, except that the assassinated US President Garfield died from his injuries due to quack medical treatment, and the Vice President Chester Allen Arthur took over the presidency.

As time came to December 1881, the Spanish Automobile Exhibition held in Madrid also started smoothly.

The exhibition was held in a large open space on the outskirts of Madrid, which, after simple decoration, could accommodate tens of thousands of participants.

Of course, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the exhibition, not too many visitors will be allowed in during the exhibition.

Apart from the more famous newspapers and media from various countries, only some distinguished guests who are invited and a small number of people who obtain entry qualifications by purchasing tickets can enter.

In the center of the exhibition area, there are five cars of different colors parked. It is worth mentioning that there are quite conspicuous and unique car logos on the front and back of the cars.

The logo comes from the company that manufactured the car, the Spanish Royal Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company. At Carlo’s suggestion, the Mercedes-Benz logo adopted the famous three-pointed star of later generations, but the meaning at that time was completely different from that of later generations.

The three-pointed star of later generations of Mercedes-Benz cars represented the development of mechanization in the ocean, sky and land, while the three-pointed star logo of Mercedes-Benz at this time represented the company’s philosophy, quality, integrity and service.

Carlo still has high expectations for Mercedes-Benz. In the future, Mercedes-Benz will also create more sub-brands and strive to cover all types of cars.

At the auto show, the cameras of major newspapers hardly stopped. The flash lights flashed, and the smoke gathered together and could not be dispersed in a short time.

This also proves how new the cars shown by Spain are to others. Other European countries have also produced prototypes of cars, but the difference between those prototypes and the finished cars launched by Spain is huge.

But this was not the climax of the exhibition. A straight road of more than one kilometer was temporarily built at the exhibition site, which was also used to show the speed of the car.

When two Mercedes-Benz cars drove side by side in the distance, passing by at a speed of nearly 36 kilometers per hour like the wind, the media present were excited.

They couldn’t believe that this thing they had never seen before could be as fast as a train.

More importantly, this type of transportation does not require roads such as rails at all, it can travel on relatively flat roads.

Seeing the surprised looks on the faces of the onlookers, Benz and several technical experts got out of the car with a smile and began to introduce Mercedes-Benz’s cars to the crowd.

When the crowd heard that such a car could run at a speed of over 36 kilometers per hour, they were excited.

The spotlights were shining more continuously. Some newspapers were already thinking about the headlines and content of tomorrow’s news, while others were raising their own questions.

“Mr. Benz, as far as I know, some companies in the German Empire are also conducting research on engines. The engines they developed cannot maintain long-term operation, let alone provide such a large horsepower to allow the entire mechanical equipment to maintain a speed of 36 kilometers per hour.

Are you sure the data you introduced is correct? If what you said is correct, this thing in front of you is enough to replace the role of horse-drawn carriages. It will be another means of transportation that will change human history after the train. “A German reporter stood up and asked his question.

Germany, as one of the five major powers and a superpower, was surpassed by Spain in the electric power industry and automobile industry successively, which made the German reporter a little unbelievable.

Research into engines and cars is also underway in Germany, but progress has been minimal so far.

If what Benz said is true, then Spain’s automobile industry is no longer ahead of Germany, but is directly crushing Germany, and a huge gap has already formed.

“Language can be deceiving, but experimental results cannot.” Benz said with a smile: “We have sufficient experimental data on various data of this car. If you are interested, you can also get a copy to watch.

Of course, we have also prepared a simple experiment for your reference. We have full confidence in this epoch-making car.

You are right, this is indeed a means of transportation that can completely replace horse-drawn carriages. Ladies and gentlemen, a new era of transportation is coming.

By taking this car, we can cut our travel time by at least half. This will change our lives to a great extent, which is one of the purposes of Mercedes-Benz. “

After hearing that there were experimental materials and related experiments to watch, most of the onlookers believed the data Benz said.

After all, there is no need for Benz to lie. Although exaggerated data can indeed cause a lot of heat, when such cars are sold, the buyers will find that the cars in their hands are not as good as Benz said, then the so-called Mercedes-Benz company’s reputation will collapse instantly.

The car test will start soon. In order to let the onlookers experience the speed and stability of the car, if you are interested, you can apply to ride in the car to experience it yourself.

Of course, there are not many such places. Apart from reporters from famous newspapers, only a small number of distinguished guests can enjoy such an experience.

As for most ordinary people, they are only qualified to watch.

Most people are looking forward to riding on such a big machine in person.

Fortunately, the exhibition venue is wide enough, so even if several cars are driving together, it doesn’t seem too crowded.

In order to directly demonstrate the speed of the car, all cars participating in the test were driven at maximum speed.

When these reporters got in the car and felt the speed of 36 kilometers per hour, their expressions were quite surprised.

Although today’s cars are not as comfortable to ride in as later cars, in terms of speed alone, they are far superior to the horse-drawn carriages that people usually ride in.

Even the trams that have only become popular in Europe in recent years are far slower than horse-drawn carriages.

Take Spain as an example. The speed of trams in Spain generally does not exceed 20 kilometers per hour. This is also to ensure the safety of driving on urban roads.

Except for trains running at full speed which can exceed 36 kilometers per hour, all other means of transportation cannot reach the speed of 36 kilometers per hour.

This is also the reason why the reporters were surprised. In terms of speed alone, this so-called car has surpassed most means of transportation.

Because there were so many people who wanted to experience the cars, the cars participating in the test were basically not turned off. Except for picking up and dropping off passengers, they were almost always driving at full speed.

Thanks to the stability of the engine, the car did not have any problems during the long driving and only stopped when all the fuel was used up.

Before stopping, of course, Benz detailed the energy these engines use and how far each car can travel on a full tank of gas.

Under the watchful eyes of the reporters, after refueling the cars, they started up again soon. This also made the reporters begin to believe what Benz said, that the cars in front of them were indeed epoch-making means of transportation, and their functions were indeed better than horse-drawn carriages.

Putting aside other things, just the idea of ​​traveling continuously for hundreds of kilometers is impossible for a horse-drawn carriage to do.

Horses are animals after all, and they always need to eat, drink, defecate and urinate. Cars are different. The fuel they carry is what they need to eat, and the exhaust pipe will excrete the exhaust gas produced by combustion while running, so there is no extra time wasted.

“Mr. Benz, has your company considered selling such car technology?” When a large group of reporters were queuing up to experience the car, foreign capital had already found Benz and wanted to buy Mercedes-Benz’s car technology.

The automobile technology currently on display at the exhibition is far beyond the reach of automobile companies in other countries.

Just like the previous electricity and electric car technologies, these foreign investors have started to consider acquisitions. If they can acquire Mercedes-Benz’s automotive technology through acquisitions, they can also sell such cars to their own countries and make a lot of money.

“I’m sorry, we are not considering selling car-related technology at the moment.” Benz shook his head and said apologetically.

Before the man could answer, Benz continued, “But in the future we will consider setting up branches in more countries and are willing to cooperate with more foreign capital.”

Although Carlo’s goal is to sell Mercedes-Benz cars all over the world, such a goal cannot be achieved by the headquarters of a Mercedes-Benz car company alone.

The European market alone requires the joint efforts of several automobile companies, not to mention the American market. It is impossible to control too much market size without building several branches.

If you want to establish branches in other countries, you will inevitably have to cooperate with the capital of these countries.

It is impossible for Spanish capital to control most of the automobile market alone. This will arouse the vigilance of other countries and make many foreign capitals hostile.

Only by cooperating with local capital can we gain acceptance from local capital and at the same time use the influence of local capital to make the expansion of automobile companies faster.

Anyway, Royal Benz will hold a considerable portion of the shares of the branch factories, and the head office will also have a share of the money earned by these branches.

The head office making money is equivalent to Carlo making money. Although half or even more of the branch’s earnings will be divided up by the local nobles, considering the benefits that cooperating with them brings to the branch, the divided profits can almost be compensated.

When the person who asked the question heard Benz say that he would not sell the car technology for the time being, he was obviously disappointed.

But when Benz mentioned that he would set up branches in various European countries and was willing to cooperate with other foreign capital, the man’s face was smiling again.

The conversation between the two was heard by more people, and a lot of capital was interested in such cooperation.

For capital, whoever can make money for them is their friend. At present, the role played by cars is higher than that of horse-drawn carriages, which also means that the car market has huge business opportunities.

Capital has a keen sense of smell, and they naturally noticed this business opportunity. Although it is not certain that cooperation with Mercedes-Benz will make money, the chances of making money from such cooperation are definitely great.

These investors are naturally willing to take a gamble, even if it is just based on the current performance of the car, they have to invest some money to participate.

Of course, they also don’t mind buying a few cars to get a feel for them before committing to Royal Mercedes.

Looking at the long queue of people waiting to experience the car, some people directly expressed to Benz their desire to buy the car.

Royal Mercedes-Benz was well prepared and produced 1000 cars in advance for those who wanted to buy cars.

During the three months of preparation for the auto show, Royal Benz Automobile Company completed the establishment of an assembly line and successfully produced 1000 cars in three months.

In addition to increasing production speed, another benefit of the assembly line is that it effectively reduces the cost of automobiles.

Benz had previously reported to Carlo that the cost of each Mercedes-Benz car was as high as 1.26 pesetas, which was obviously an extremely high number.

After mass production of cars using assembly line methods, although not many cars have been produced, according to statistics from the automobile company, the average cost of the 1000 cars produced has been reduced to about 1.2 pesetas. The cost reduction per car is quite obvious.

It was for this reason that, after discussing with Carlo, Benz decided to set the price of each Mercedes-Benz car at 1.5 pesetas, ensuring a profit of more than 3000 pesetas for each car.

The price of 1.5 pesetas was relatively expensive, but for most capitalists and aristocrats, it was just a small amount of money.

The gap between the rich and the poor exists in any era. What may be an astronomical expense for the lower class may be just a breakfast for the upper class.

Although the price of a Mercedes-Benz car is not that exaggerated, 1.5 pesetas is indeed not a big expense for most aristocrats and capitalists.

Of course, there are certainly many ordinary people who are interested in cars but are ultimately discouraged by the prices.

Horse-drawn carriages are currently the mainstream means of transportation. Although they are expensive, many ordinary people can afford them.

After all, to put it bluntly, a carriage consists of just one or several horses and a wooden carriage. The cost is there, so how expensive can it be?
Cars are different. Whether it’s the engine or other parts, they are all new.

New things also mean higher costs, which means the price of the car is destined to be a rather exaggerated number.

The price of a carriage ranged from a few hundred to thousands of pesetas, and a Mercedes-Benz car was enough to buy at least 15 ordinary carriages.

Although the high price of 1.5 pesetas discouraged a considerable number of ordinary people, many capitalists and aristocrats still placed orders.

The prefix of Mercedes-Benz includes the word “Royal”, and this auto expo is also hosted by the royal family.

Although the royal family did not come forward, the Spanish nobles all understood that Carlo was the largest shareholder behind Mercedes-Benz.

Whether they are really interested in cars or just want to show off, Spanish nobles need to buy a few cars.

It is precisely because of the support of the nobles and the fact that many capitalists are interested in the car in front of them.

As a result, on the day of the auto show alone, more than a hundred people signed orders to purchase cars from Mercedes-Benz.

Most people buy a car, and they are just interested and want to experience such a car.

Some people did see the corresponding business opportunities and bought several cars in succession, apparently intending to set up a car company.

Of course, the automobile companies here do not refer to automobile factories, but to those companies that use cars to transport passengers or goods.

From the grand scene of the car experience team on the day of the exhibition, it can be seen that many people are interested in this new means of transportation.

Although a car is expensive, the price of taking one for a short distance is not too expensive.

Whether you really need to ride in a car or want to experience a new and novel means of transportation, you can still make money by setting up a car company now.

Hundreds of cars were sold on the day of the exhibition, which was definitely good news for Benz and the car company.

Although 100 cars may not seem like a lot, considering that each car has a net profit of 3000 pesetas, the profit from these 100 cars is as high as 30 pesetas.

If sales continue at this rate, Carlo will be able to fully recover the cost of his investment in the automotive industry in just a few days.

5000 words two-in-one chapter, please support!



(End of this chapter)