KEO.PLUS

As long as he could gain Arthur’s strong support, this new type of car with a reduced price would definitely enter the global market, rather than being like the previous cars invented by Benz, which were unsalable due to various shortcomings and had a reputation without any practical benefits.

“Mr. Benz, how is our car production? What are your plans for the pricing and release date of the car?” Arthur asked.

Although it was several years earlier than in the original history, Arthur believed that Benz’s new type of car would not lose too much to the Model T and might even slightly surpass it.

If the Model T could create a sales record of 15 million units, what kind of historical record would the new type of car create?

“Your Highness, based on our current scale of 300 formal workers and more than 1,000 indigenous workers, our daily output can reach up to 100 units.” Benz answered: “But this is based on ensuring that our steel and various hardware supplies are in place.”

Although the assembly line production method significantly reduced the time needed to produce a car.

This allowed the Benz Car Factory to speed up its production from only a few dozen cars per week to several dozen a day, or even hundreds of cars a day.

However, the assembly line production method could not keep going infinitely fast. In addition to the workers’ proficiency in this method, the number of employees and the supply of various materials and hardware were also factors in restraining the speed of car production.

“A daily output of 100 cars?” Arthur pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, “We can’t just blindly pursue the speed of car production. At least after opening up the American and European markets, we can pursue a faster production speed. Before that, it is already quite good to maintain the current scale of car production, but we must also be prepared to expand the scale of production at any time.”

Benz nodded in agreement, as he had the same idea in his mind.

Although Benz, Disel, and Arthur were all confident that the new type of car could become the pioneer of expanding the car market and create new world records.

But until that day came, it was just a guess. Even if there was a great possibility, they had to be prepared for failure.

“Your Highness, there is another issue we have to consider: the cost of transporting cars from Australia to the United States and Europe, as well as the tariffs of various countries. This will be a considerable expenditure and will greatly increase our car production costs. In some areas, our car production cost may be leveled with those hand-made cars, which will significantly reduce our price advantage.” Benz furrowed his brow, expressing his concern about another issue.

Transportation in this era had to rely on transport ships, which would be a significant expense and take a lot of time.

Moreover, major industrial countries would modify and increase tariffs to strengthen their advantages in domestic markets.

Considering transportation costs and tariffs, Australia’s proud car production costs may fluctuate and even rise to the same level as hand-made cars in areas with higher tariffs.

“This is indeed an issue, Mr. Benz.” Arthur nodded, furrowing his brow in thought.

In fact, most of the sales volume of the Model T in the original history was in the United States. The sales volume in other regions, even in Europe, was scarce, not least because of the higher tariffs.

There is only one way to solve the problem of tariffs and transportation costs: establish car factories in Europe and the United States, and even join forces with Europe and the United States to develop these car factories together.

Although some of the profits will be shared, it will also make the car factory’s position more unshakable. After all, a strong dragon does not overwhelm the local snake, let alone a weaker dragon like Australia?

“In this case, select some cars with better performance, transport them separately to the United Kingdom and Germany, and strive for their support to set up new car factories in the United Kingdom and Germany.” After a long deliberation, Arthur finally said, “Cooperate with local forces in the United Kingdom and Germany, especially the nobility and official authorities, to establish joint car factories. The royal financial group will handle this matter. You only need to authorize the relevant technology. Of course, the inventors and owners of the technology are still yours, and the new car factory only has production authorization.”

Cooperating with local forces in the United Kingdom and Germany to establish joint car factories is a good choice.

Firstly, the United Kingdom and Germany are currently the first and second major powers in the world, and their car factories do not have to worry about competing with other car factories or even other countries.

Secondly, in terms of industrial strength and technological strength, the British Empire and the German Empire are also the top in Europe, and the production speed is definitely able to keep up with the market expansion of cars.

Moreover, Arthur comes from the British Royal Family and has gained a lot of goodwill from the British people. He also has a good relationship with Emperor William II of Germany, and Australia has a cooperative relationship with Germany.

Whether in terms of personal relations or national interests, the United Kingdom and Germany are the preferred partners and can certainly protect the huge interests of the automobile.

The only problem is that Arthur may lose some of his interests, but the car market is vast, even exceeding one billion pounds.

Such a huge market is certainly not something Arthur alone could swallow, and Australia’s size and capacity cannot do so either.

After authorizing the United Kingdom and Germany to create joint car factories for production and sales, the car factories will be divided between the British Empire, the German Empire, and Australia.

As for how the British Empire and the German Empire will compete, Arthur does not care. As long as Australia’s interests are assured, everything else is a minor issue.

Letting the British Empire and the German Empire make more money is no harm. After all, Australia will be able to make a fortune from arms sales during the outbreak of future wars, not to mention the other interests involved in the wars.

The United States also has a huge car market, but Arthur does not agree with wooing American forces.

First of all, the United States is a purely capitalist society, where the power of capital is supreme.

As long as Australia invests a substantial amount of capital and conducts certain operations, it is not impossible to compete with American car companies.

In addition, no matter how prominent the status of the British Empire and the German Empire is now, Arthur is very clear in his heart that the United States is the country with the greatest threat.

The United States, with its unique geographical location and abundant resources, rose rapidly during the two world wars.

The way the United States rose to power was through selling armaments, making huge profits in the early stages of the wars and even putting most European countries into debt.

Then, the United States took advantage of its strengths to attract a large number of immigrants and refugees from Europe.

These people included a large number of European scientists and talents who were the crystallization of the European Industrial Revolution and technological development, but eventually they worked for the United States.