The duck egg in Los Angeles was still under construction, so Tesla's design center had to rent space temporarily.
Although the automotive group was just starting out, they had no shortage of designers. The reason was simple: someone had sketched out the concept drawings but needed designers to refine them.
Otherwise, do you really think a simple sketch could build a car?
William White was known for being good to his subordinates, and that was common knowledge. So, when the boss had some bizarre requests, his team had no choice but to endure.
Looking at the concept drawings in hand, the group of designers realized that their boss absolutely disliked American style. All the proposals they submitted that were approved had a European flair.
To be honest, William White was all over the place. Forget about branding; even specific models usually shared a lineage. His erratic method of choosing models wasn't really dependable.
Suppose this car sold well; where would the updates come from?
There was no distinctive front end, no iconic rear, and that was just the exterior choices.
These designers believed the design of the center console would be just as chaotic.
Now they wanted to ask, after investing so much money, didn't he fear losing it all?
William White was, of course, worried. He regretted his reckless behavior; it was becoming apparent that there were some consequences to his actions.
However, he wouldn't get too hung up on it. He was confident about the design of the exterior and the center console. Simply put, if he didn't worry about things being too outrageous, what did it matter to let a few models go under the knife?
Now, all he needed to do was extend what was on the designers' concept boards. If he messed that up, it would be a waste of decades of experience.
The factory site had already been chosen, and with no models finalized, the workload was evident. Faced with a crazed boss, this group of people could only go a little mad.
Right now, every car company in the world was waiting to see a train wreck. They were sure William White would take a big fall. When the time came, who would snatch up the profits?
The factory in Montreal looked promising. As for Bentley and Aston Martin, they shouldn't even bother thinking about that. The so-called new factories were more like pieces of fine art. To be honest, they wouldn't dare hope for them.
Whether he succeeded or failed, William White was sure to leave a bold mark in the auto industry -- that was without a doubt.
In fact, Rolls-Royce not only wanted to stake a claim in Bentley, they were considering a full takeover. Once the concept images of Bentley's new factory were released, they had chosen to keep quiet.
They discovered that it wasn't that Bentley didn't want to negotiate; in fact, in the near future, they were the ones who might be getting taken over.
As long as Bentley solved the production capacity issue, they would quickly close the gap. In the near future, it might not be so clear-cut who was stronger, Bentley or Rolls-Royce.
As for that flashy Aston Martin, it was just a concept car, yet it had over a hundred orders. Due to delivery timelines, they had even shut down the ordering platform.
As a British, how could one not understand what that meant? Would Tesla crash?
Ha, maybe not! Just look at the engine and chassis plants they acquired; each one was incredibly strong in technical capability. After getting investment from William White, they couldn't possibly be worse than their European counterparts.
The last issue was simply cost control. What was going on with American factories, the Europeans surely understood. Their workers made noise too, just not as outrageous.
...
"George, I can't hang with you today. If I've got time, I might need your help instead."
"Sure, I'm curious if you can work some magic."
"Of course! Can't you see it's written all over my face? Well, not two words, just one."
"Gee, this little car is kind of cute."
"Yep! This is the Tesla A100, a cheap city car, comparable to a Toyota Corolla. The one without a tail is a hatchback, primarily for the European market."
"It looks decent enough; but boy, doesn't this cost seem a bit high?"
"Ha! It's not possible. Competing with Japan might be tough, but we'll crush the Big Three American automakers. You know, George, when our factory kicks off, there might not be any bank loans involved, and I don't need to keep a bunch of slackers around to complicate things for me."
"Fine, I admit that's your advantage, but don't forget, their subsidies aren't small potatoes."
"Ha! As if I didn't know. In fact, a lot of that cash went straight into NBC's account." Bush Jr. was grimacing, knowing that those car manufacturers, no matter how cocky they got, still had to line up to give money to William White.
A burden-free car group wouldn't necessarily lose out to General Motors when it came to cost control. Your debt ratio was already over 50%, and you still dared to show off? Talk about clueless.
"I've never seen you this busy. William, are you sure it's necessary to be so deep into it?"
William White turned and looked seriously at this unconvinced guy. "George, you know, I've realized that the road I was on before was all wrong. I shouldn't have been chasing after that money."
"Pfft! Sorry, let me go fetch you some coffee." Suzuki, who was busy, couldn't stand his nonsense anymore and quickly excused herself.
"Hmph! If this word got out, a whole bunch of folks would probably want to jump off a building."
"Alright, alright! Let me rephrase that. Finance can be a means, but it's definitely not an end goal. What I'm doing now is shifting virtual wealth into tangible wealth. Otherwise, why do you think I'm controlling the credit ratio?"
"Gee, I thought you weren't high on the U.S. economy. Wall Street has been spreading rumors about the richest guy's Waterloo."
"Alright, fine, I concede. If I had waited a bit longer to sell off, I could have made even more, but I'm already in the black, and the returns are pretty satisfying. Why shouldn't I know when to quit while I'm ahead? Is that last penny so easy to earn?"
Bush Jr. thought William White was being naive. The U.S. economy had its own rules. This bounce back in stock prices was still far from reaching the target price.
Fine, that thought wasn't entirely wrong; the U.S. was on the brink of a massive bull market. This bull market would last longer than any in history.
However, there was a big earthquake coming this year, and if they didn't snatch up the volatile chips, the consortium wouldn't go crazy. They wouldn't let anyone else carry them along for the ride. If the last silver futures had been under the consortium's thumb, William White would already be bankrupt.
*****
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