mesbooks Chapter 716 Compact Cars vs. Luxury Cars (Seeking a Gift)
Chapter 716 Compact Cars vs. Luxury Cars (Seeking a Gift)
The Nanhua Power Group's booth was one of the most dazzling stars of the entire expo.
On the exhibition stand, several car models were lined up, representing Nanyang's latest achievements in cooperation with the West and independent innovation in the automotive industry.
A well-dressed, articulate Chinese sales manager is speaking into a microphone to a packed audience:
"Please look over here, everyone. This is the 'Jiaolong-100' compact sedan, which we designed and produced in cooperation with Fiat, specifically for the Southeast Asian market."
He pointed to a sleek, rounded, and compact two-door, four-seater sedan.
Two doors, four seats. Rear passengers must enter through the front door first. The advantage is that it is inexpensive and has a compact body length.
"It is equipped with a 1.2-liter four-cylinder water-cooled engine with a maximum power of 38 horsepower. It adopts a robust monocoque body and independent front suspension to ensure agility and comfort when driving on city roads."
It can reach a top speed of 105 kilometers per hour and consumes only about 8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers.
This is a truly economical and practical means of transportation designed for ordinary families.
In 46, such performance figures were quite competitive for an economy car.
“And this one,” the manager said, walking to a larger, more elegant, and streamlined sedan, raising his voice slightly, “is our Nanhua Power Group’s flagship luxury sedan, the ‘Zhuque-1000’.”
The design of this car is clearly ahead of its time, with a low front, a wide chrome grille, a beautiful curved body and tail fin design, which vaguely resembles the style of classic Mercedes-Benz luxury cars in the 1950s and 60s, making it look particularly avant-garde and shocking in the present day.
"It is equipped with a V8 engine manufactured under license by our company, with a displacement of 4.5 liters and an astonishing power of 160 horsepower. The interior features genuine leather upholstery, walnut wood trim, an advanced heating system, and a radio. It is not just a car, but a symbol of status and taste!"
Due to Zhang Chi's aggressive expansion during World War II, Southeast Asia was a truly oil-rich country at that time, and oil prices were consistently low. As a result, Nan Hua Power Group simply and aggressively launched high-horsepower luxury cars.
Faced with such a luxury car with a near-futuristic style, the crowd gasped in amazement, and many local businessmen and Western journalists couldn't help but raise their cameras.
Next to the Suzaku-1000 are two practical models: the Longju series military/civilian off-road motorcycles and a pickup truck called Raptor. The latter, with its rugged and sturdy design and powerful cargo capacity, has attracted the attention of many plantation owners and engineering company representatives.
The sales manager emphasized one detail:
"Please note that all models produced by our Nanhua Power Group, whether they are 'Jiaolong,' 'Zhuque,' 'Raptor,' or 'Longju,' are equipped with our patented three-point seat belt system as standard in the driver's and front passenger's seats."
He gestured for the staff to sit in the pilot's seat of the Suzaku-1000, pulled out a webbing with a metal buckle that ran diagonally from the shoulder to the waist, and demonstrated how to easily fasten it.
"This system can effectively hold occupants in their seats during a collision or sudden braking, significantly reducing injuries caused by being thrown out of the vehicle or colliding with hard objects inside the vehicle. This is our basic commitment to occupant safety."
The concept of seat belts wasn't entirely absent at that time, but most were simple two-point lap belts to secure race car drivers. The appearance of a standard, well-designed three-point seat belt in a mass-produced civilian vehicle was absolutely groundbreaking.
At that moment, a voice rang out from the crowd, clearly provocative, in a heavily accented Onsa language: "Oh? Very interesting. I'm Charlie Foster, a reporter for the BBC."
A middle-aged white man with round-framed glasses and an arrogant expression pushed his way to the front. He pointed to the seatbelt and spoke with a mocking tone:
"Excuse my bluntness, sir, but I've noticed this strange strap on all of your vehicles."
Does this mean that the cars you manufacture in Southeast Asia are so bumpy and unstable that drivers have to strap themselves into their seats like luggage to avoid being thrown off? Or is this some kind of special remedy for the terrible road conditions there?
His words drew snickers from some unsuspecting people around him and successfully attracted more attention, including from other Western journalists who were waiting to see what would happen.
The subtext of these words is obvious: your skills are inadequate, your car is terrible, that's why you need this unnecessary stuff.
The sales manager of Nanhua Power maintained his smile, but his eyes narrowed slightly.
He did not directly refute, but instead politely nodded to Charlie Foster:
"Mr. Foster's question is very representative. In fact, this 'three-point seat belt' system is not because our car is bumpy, but quite the opposite, because we are confident in the vehicle's performance and can go faster. At the same time, our respect for the lives of our occupants requires us to consider more."
He turned and gestured to his assistant.
An assistant immediately pushed out a meticulously crafted demonstration device from behind the booth. The device featured a sliding simulated car seat, in front of which was a mannequin made of transparent material, with a simple mechanical skeleton and internal organ markings.
"Please take a look. This is part of a collision simulation study we conducted in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University," the manager said loudly. "Let's simulate a scenario: a car traveling at 50 kilometers per hour suddenly crashes head-on into an obstacle."
He signaled to his assistant to release the device. The simulator seat lurched forward, and the dummy was flung forward by inertia—
The first scenario is that there is no seatbelt.
The dummy's head and chest slammed violently into the dashboard and windshield in front of it, and the components inside the model representing the skeleton made a teeth-grinding "crack" sound, while the markers representing the internal organs were also severely displaced and deformed.
The onlookers gasped in surprise.
The second option is to use a traditional two-point belt (which only ties around the waist).
The dummy's waist was fixed, but its upper body still violently swung forward and folded, and its head also hit the ground violently, with its neck exhibiting an exaggerated bending angle.
"This could lead to severe whiplash neck injury and head trauma."
"Finally, we used our three-point harness." The dummy was securely fastened to the seat by webbing diagonally across its chest, shoulders, and waist. Although the seat also lunged forward, the dummy's displacement was greatly limited, the impact force on its head and chest was significantly reduced, and its torso maintained a relatively normal posture.
After the demonstration ended, the entire room fell silent.
The sales manager picked up the mannequin, pointed to the buckle where the shoulder straps and belt met, and calmly said:
"The three-point design disperses the impact force to the strongest skeletal parts of the occupant's body during a collision, including the pelvis and chest, while preventing excessive flexion and extension of the neck. According to our simulations and preliminary tests, it can reduce the risk of serious injury by at least 50 percent."
This isn't because the car is bad, but because we believe that even the best car should be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Safety should not depend on luck, but on scientific design.
He glanced at BBC reporter Charlie Foster, whose face had stiffened, and smiled:
“Mr. Foster, you see, this strap isn’t restraining the driver, it’s restraining danger. We Southeast Asians may have started late in some areas, but when it comes to safety concepts that concern human life, we hope to be at the forefront. Isn’t that progress?”
"Well said." Someone in the crowd started cheering, and then enthusiastic applause rang out. Many of the audience members were local Chinese and Asian, and even some Western engineers nodded in agreement.
Charlie Foster's face flushed red and then paled. Amidst the surrounding gazes and applause, he managed to squeeze out a "Interesting..." before awkwardly retreating into the crowd.