Tech Giants: Starting from Bankrupt Companies

60: Chapter 60: A Marriage Between Giants, A Lightning-Fast Strategic PlanGeely Deep Co-Creation Signing Ceremony (June 2nd)

At 8 AM the day after the press conference, three black Geely sedans drove into the Spark Technology industrial park.

Li Fu was the first to step out. The sixty-year-old automotive legend was wearing a dark gray Zhongshan suit and looked energetic. He didn’t bring a large delegation, only Vice President of Technology Wang Chuanjun, Design Director Chen Zheng, and a young legal manager.

”CEO Su, sorry for the intrusion.” When Li Fu met Su Chen in the conference room, his handshake was firm. ”I didn’t sleep well last night; my mind was full of the data CEO Zhang presented on stage. Geely cannot miss this era.”

Su Chen invited everyone to be seated: ”Chairman Li, you’re too kind. Geely is the pride of Huaxia’s automotive industry; it’s our honor to cooperate.”

”No, now Spark Technology is giving us an opportunity.” Li Fu waved his hand, signaling Wang Chuanjun to turn on the projector. ”We held a board meeting overnight. Geely wants to build high-end electric vehicles, not just rebadged models, but truly high-end cars built from scratch.”

The design blueprint for the ”Vast Architecture” appeared on the projector—a flat battery chassis, front and rear dual-motor layout, with a wheelbase exceeding 3.2 meters.

”We want to build a million-level Huaxia luxury electric sedan,” Li Fu’s eyes burned with fervor. ”To compete with the Mercedes-Benz EQS and BMW i7. But architecture alone isn’t enough; we need the most cutting-edge ’heart’ and ’nerves’.”

Wang Chuanjun took over, speaking quickly due to his technical background: ”CEO Su, we have thoroughly studied the Qingtian 2 Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor and Control System data. 96.7% motor efficiency, ASIL-C level electronic control, and whole-vehicle collaborative algorithms—this precisely solves our most vexing problem: how to make a three-ton large vehicle have both ferocious acceleration and delicate smoothness.”

He brought up several technical pain points: ”In traditional solutions, high-power motors experience a sharp drop in efficiency at low loads, leading to reduced urban range. Your wide-range high-efficiency zone perfectly matches the multi-scenario needs of luxury cars. More importantly...”

Wang Chuanjun enlarged the architecture diagram of the electronic control system: ”The openness of your underlying interfaces allows us to directly integrate Geely’s self-developed ’Heaven and Earth Integrated’ intelligent chassis system. We’ve calculated that if Spark Technology’s electronic control can real-time acquire data from binocular cameras, lidar, and road preview systems, adjusting torque distribution 0.5 seconds in advance could improve cornering stability by 40%.”

Su Chen exchanged glances with Zhang Zhen beside him. Zhang Zhen nodded and said, ”Mr. Wang hit the nail on the head. The Qingtian 2 Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor and Control System’s design philosophy is inherently a ’programmable power hub.’ We can customize a dedicated communication protocol stack for the Vast platform, opening 12 key data interfaces and 3 control interfaces. Even...”

He looked at Li Fu: ”If Geely is willing, we can jointly develop the instruction set for the next-generation control chip, allowing the hardware to evolve in the direction we jointly define.”

The conference room was silent for a few seconds.

Li Fu took a deep breath: ”This is what I want—not a transaction, but symbiosis.” He leaned forward, ”CEO Su, I propose a plan: Geely will provide the ’Vast’ complete vehicle platform, full-stack intelligent cockpit technology, and autonomous driving perception system; Spark Technology will provide the complete three-electric system, customized underlying electronic control development, and joint chip definition. We’ll establish a joint project team and start working today. The first car will use a ’Spark-Geely Joint R&D’ dual badge. Profit sharing will be calculated based on actual contribution, with you taking the larger share.”

The openness of this proposal exceeded Su Chen’s expectations. He pondered for a moment: ”Chairman Li, will a dual-badge model affect Geely’s brand?”

”Affect?” Li Fu laughed. ”Who doesn’t know that Spark Technology’s technology is a golden signboard now? I can’t wait to directly paste ’Equipped with Spark Qingtian 2 Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor and Control System’ on the car’s rear! What we want is to build the best electric car in the world; face is not important.”

He paused, his tone deepening: ”CEO Su, I’ve been building cars for thirty years. I’ve watched foreign brands take away most of the profits from the Huaxia market, and I’ve watched them use technology to stifle us. Now, finally, there’s an opportunity to build cars that the world will respect, using our own Huaxia technology—this kind of opportunity might only come once in a lifetime.”

Su Chen stood up and extended his hand: ”Then it’s settled. The joint project team will be formed this afternoon. The first car will debut by the end of the year and go into mass production next year.”

”Good!” Li Fu firmly shook Su Chen’s hand. ”Let’s call it ’Vast S1,’ with S standing for Starfire.”

At 2 PM that day, the signing ceremony was held in the Spark Technology Headquarters lobby. There were no elaborate procedures, only two thick technical agreements and a joint statement. Li Fu only said one sentence to the media: ”Only by walking with the strongest can one become strong.”

The Germans arrived faster than expected.

At 4 PM on June 3rd, a Gulfstream G650 landed at Shenzhen Baoan Airport. Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group Asia, arrived with an eight-person core team and went directly to Spark Technology Headquarters.

In the conference room, the fifty-year-old German executive spoke fluent Chinese: ”Mr. Su, Mr. Zhang, time is precious, so let’s get straight to the point.”

He had his assistant distribute a German/Chinese bilingual proposal: ”After a 36-hour emergency meeting, the Volkswagen Group board of directors made a strategic decision: we must establish a deeply binding relationship with Spark Power. This is the specific joint venture plan.”

Su Chen opened the proposal and saw a staggering figure on the first page: 10 billion Euros.

”Volkswagen will invest 10 billion Euros to build a new three-electric super factory next to the main plant in Wolfsburg,” Blume’s speech was steady, but every word seemed precisely calculated. ”Land, factory buildings, equipment, and the first batch of 2,000 employees will all be handled by Volkswagen. The factory will adopt Spark Technology’s CTP technology, electronic control standards, and production line design.”

He pointed to the equity structure: ”Volkswagen will hold 49%, and Spark Technology will hold 51%. But management rights will be fully handed over to Spark Technology—we will only dispatch financial and supervisory teams.”

Zhang Zhen couldn’t help but ask, ”Mr. Blume, Volkswagen is investing so much for only 49% equity and limited management rights. What are your demands?”

”We want a time window and a technological moat,” Blume was surprisingly candid. ”Mr. Su, Mr. Zhang, we are all engineers; there’s no need to beat around the bush. Volkswagen’s MEB platform was advanced in 2015, but now, battery energy density lags yours by 15%, electronic control efficiency lags by 2 percentage points, and most importantly—costs are 25% higher.”

He brought up internal calculation data: ”If we continue to use the existing supply chain, Volkswagen’s next-generation electric vehicles will have a gross profit margin below 15%, which cannot support the group’s transformation investment. However, if we fully switch to the Spark Technology solution, vehicles of the same class can restore gross profit margins to over 22%.”

Blume looked at Su Chen, his eyes sharp: ”But that’s not all. What we truly want to buy is the right to technological leadership for the next three years. The joint venture agreement needs to clearly state: Spark Technology’s three-electric system iterations and upgrades over the next three years will grant the joint venture company priority usage rights and exclusive European production rights.”

Su Chen nodded slightly. This was the core—Volkswagen wanted to use 10 billion Euros to secure Spark Technology’s technological output for the next three years.

”Then what does Spark Technology need to contribute?” Su Chen asked.

”Three things,” Blume held up three fingers. ”First, Spark Technology will invest 1 billion Euros to establish a European R&D center in Stuttgart, dispatching a team of no less than 200 engineers, including at least 30 core experts. Second, battery packs and motors produced by the joint venture factory will be allowed to use the ’Spark-Volkswagen’ joint logo. Third...”

He paused: ”We hope Spark Technology can prioritize supplying the raw materials needed by the joint venture factory—especially your new silicon-carbon composite technology for anode materials. We understand this can improve battery low-temperature performance by 30%.”

The conference room fell silent. Volkswagen’s depth of research was astonishing; they had clearly uncovered most of Spark Technology’s technical cards.

Zhang Zhen whispered to Su Chen, ”They’re asking for our lifeblood technology.”

Su Chen was silent for a moment, then asked, ”What if I say no?”

Blume smiled: ”Mr. Su, then we would have no choice but to go to CATL and LG Chem, using larger orders to force them to accelerate R&D. But that would waste at least two years, and those two years would be enough for Tesla and you to open up an even larger gap. For Volkswagen, time cost is more valuable than money.”

He leaned forward, his tone sincere: ”Mr. Su, this is not a threat, it’s reality. Volkswagen sells 10 million cars annually, and electrification transformation requires at least 3 million sets of three-electric systems per year. Only Spark Technology can meet this scale in the short term. And what we bring is not just 10 billion Euros, but also the entry ticket to the entire European market, experience in adapting to EU regulations, and... the opportunity for Huaxia’s technical standards to become world standards.”

This last sentence struck Su Chen’s deepest goal.

That night, Spark Technology’s senior management held an overnight meeting. At 3 AM, Su Chen made the decision: ”We can cooperate, but there must be a bottom line. First, the technical parameters of silicon-carbon anode materials can be shared, but the core preparation process will not be transferred. Second, Spark Technology will have absolute controlling interest in the European R&D center. Third, products from the joint venture factory can be sold independently by Spark Technology in the Asian market, and Volkswagen shall not restrict it.”

On the morning of June 4th, negotiations continued. The German team had no objections to the first two points but remained deadlocked on the third for six hours. Finally, after Blume consulted with Volkswagen’s German headquarters, a compromise was reached: Spark Technology would have independent sales in the Asian market, but Volkswagen would have priority procurement rights and an 8% discount on procurement prices.

At 10 AM on June 5th, at the Shenzhen Municipal Government Conference Center. Witnessed by the mayor and representatives from the German Consulate General in China, Su Chen and Oliver Blume signed the joint venture agreement.

Flashlights from the media area lit up continuously. Blume said in his speech: ”Today, it is not German technology entering Huaxia, but Chinese technology exporting to Germany. This is an unprecedented change in the global automotive industry in a century. Volkswagen chooses to embrace change because I believe Spark Technology represents the future.”

The moment the pen was put down, Su Chen knew that a technological highway leading to the heart of Europe had been opened, and thus the joint venture factory [Spark-Volkswagen] was established.