Chapter 167： Heavy truck is cold

While Edel was worried about Kazan gold, the five-ton heavy truck he asked Volkswagen to develop has been mass-produced in Constanta.

Minoba, general manager of Volkswagen, had actually reported to him, but Edel's preparation plan for Miloc and Carust at the time was left to Minoba to handle by himself. This disappointed Minoba, who hurried over to report the good news. He thought that the crown prince was not satisfied with him and planned to find someone to replace him. It made him worry for several days.

In mid-October of 2013, after half a month of emergency production, the first batch of 1,000 five-ton heavy trucks appeared in front of the world. This batch of five-ton trucks can be said to be a drastic change from the previous 1.5-ton trucks. The one that has changed the most is that the vehicle chassis has been strengthened and optimized.

Among them, clutches, transmissions and drive axles are the most changed. Among them, in order to solve the problem of cars driving on complex roads, the Volkswagen R&D department has also developed a differential. This can solve the unequal distance movement of the coaxial wheels caused by difficult turning and driving on complex roads. At the same time, it also reduces the friction between the tire and the ground and extends the life of the tire.

Now all types of new cars manufactured by Volkswagen are equipped with this component invented by the technology research and development department. It can be said to be a small step forward for the auto industry. I believe other auto companies will soon learn from the public's methods.

In the original time and space, this differential was invented by Louis Renault in 1937, and now it has been advanced by Volkswagen for more than 20 years. This can prove that many technologies will not stick to the rules in the development of automobiles triggered in advance. Only then did it appear.

Of course, Volkswagen’s newly launched five-ton Dongfeng truck is not as popular as the previous 1.5-ton truck. These 1,000 new heavy trucks were sold out only 11 days after they were put on the market, which disappointed the executives of Volkswagen who were waiting for the news.

In fact, this situation is caused by the fact that the price of this heavy truck is 550 pounds per car, which is much more expensive than the 145 pounds of the 1.5-ton Dongfeng truck that is still popular today. Even if the cargo volume is more than 3 times, it is still too expensive for many transport owners. On the other hand, the current situation of European roads is not very good, only a small part of the road can run cars, not to mention the five-ton heavy truck that is fully loaded and heavier. Moreover, most goods can now be transported by 1.5-ton trucks. Except for the need to transport large items, it is a bit premature to make 5-ton trucks appear.

However, despite the neglect among the people, the military of various countries is very interested in this car.

Among them, the German Chief of General Staff, General Moch, said to people around him after seeing this heavy truck. "This is a vehicle specially prepared for military transportation. We should purchase this type of car for all Romanian repayments. This can improve the logistics level of our military."

In fact, he did the same. After observing this new Dongfeng truck with a load of five tons, he found the Ministry of War that had problems with equipment and its purchase, and asked to buy this car to enhance the logistics and transportation level of the German army.

Since 1866, there has been a group of old Prussian conservatives who have managed technical and logistical affairs in the Ministry of War. Research on the future role of military aircraft, the full use of automobiles and their conversion into armored vehicles, or the use of machine guns or small artillery on vehicles as offensive weapons or reconnaissance vehicles, have either been delayed, or It was not on the agenda at all. They seem to be saying that the Prussian infantry was not equipped with tethered balloons and machine guns in 1870. Didn't they win?

However, under the circumstances that Little Mochi insisted and even threatened to go directly to Kaiser Wilhelm II over them, in the end, both sides decided to purchase 600 of this new heavy truck to form a transport group to see the effect.

Xiao Moqi was quite dissatisfied with this, thinking that these old antiques of the War Department should be removed from their posts. These people have long been behind the times and still hold the experience of the Franco-Prussian War.

Compared with what happened to Germany, the French army, the main opponent of its army, is not much better. Its commander-in-chief, General Xiafei, prefers 1.5-ton Dongfeng trucks, which, in his words, helps the French army recruit drivers from the country. Disregarding the fact that the driving operation of a 5-ton heavy truck and a 1.5-ton truck is not much different, the French army intends to purchase 350 of these heavy trucks to implement its military transportation system.

As for Russia, due to the complex road conditions of its Eastern European roads, its 1.5-ton trucks are not too many now, and most road transportation is still based on power storage, so they only plan to buy 100 vehicles to test the effect.

The British side is quite generous, but the reason for the purchase is a bit weird. They plan to form a division-level rapid mobile force to deal with possible wars in Europe. Originally intended to use 1.5-ton trucks as their means of transportation, but after seeing the new five-ton heavy trucks, they planned to purchase 800 of these trucks so that all soldiers and equipment can be taken away by four wheels. I just don’t know how much a division can play in Europe?

Austro-Hungary and Italy also purchased a small amount due to military funding to try out the results In other small countries, you can buy dozens of vehicles and I bought a little more than ten. Finally, after these orders are aggregated, there are still three or four thousand orders. , So that the executives of Volkswagen also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. They have already invested nearly £1 million in this new car, and it would be a joke if they can't make it back.

As for the United States, which is currently the largest consumer of cars, Volkswagen has no other ideas at all. As soon as there was an agreement with Ford before, it is still profitable for both parties to comply with it, so both parties agree with the current situation. Moreover, Volkswagen does not make less money from Model T cars than Ford, because in Europe, Model T cars sold by Volkswagen are five dollars more expensive than the United States. Therefore, in order to prevent the breakdown of the relationship between the two parties, this model does not seem to be a success. The new models can only abandon the US market.

Even so, Minoba, general manager of Volkswagen, felt it necessary to report the situation to the crown prince. Not to find a reason, just to let His Royal Highness know that the new car Volkswagen he requested has already been made, and the market response is not good. I hope that His Highness can give less guidance on the development of Volkswagen.

However, his painstaking efforts were not accepted by Edel. When he met with him, the crown prince recognized their work and thought that this was the car he needed. Minoba hinted that he wanted to slow down the requirement to build a new five-ton heavy truck production line, but the crown prince rejected it and asked him to build it in accordance with the two scheduled production lines, because there will be orders at that time.

In this regard, Minoba can only follow orders, but I don't know where the new orders will be made by Volkswagen after these orders are completed. In this regard, he intends to let the existing five-ton heavy truck production line be produced at the usual speed. As for the orders, wait until the order, anyway, Volkswagen is very experienced with too many orders.