ATPnovel Chapter 67: Benson and Mercedes-Benz
Chapter 67: Benson and Mercedes-Benz
Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Benson and Mercedes-Benz
Translator: 549690339
In order to fully demonstrate the might of the Brunswick-class battleship to Arthur, William II specially ordered the German Navy to sail this massive warship around the Western Baltic Sea twice.
Although the battleship appears massive, it was not unwieldy once it started to move.
The sight of such a heavy beast free-roaming in the sea can’t help but make people admire the change and improvement that technology has brought to mankind.
At the same time, Arthur is even more looking forward to the advent of dreadnoughts. As a new type of main battleship that surpasses battleships in every aspect, dreadnoughts have also made considerable progress in speed. Pre-dreadnought battleships usually cruise at around seventeen to eighteen knots, while dreadnought-class battleships cruise at a terrifying twenty-one knots, not to mention the main battleships that other countries built using dreadnought designs.
After disembarking the warship, Arthur and William II rode in the same car and set off on the return journey to Berlin.
in the car, Arthur remembered that he still had a task to accomplish, that was, to acquire the automobile production technology.
Although at this time, revolutionary breakthroughs had not yet been made in various automobile technologies, resulting in cars only being a luxury for the rich.
But as someone from the future, Arthur deeply understood the potential market and importance of cars in the future, especially how crucial they are for the development and various constructions of a country.
Visibly, the introduction of the Model T car was only a few years away. If he wanted to plot the European car market, he would have to act quickly.
The main issues facing the car industry at this time were stability and price. Current cars are essentially handcrafted. Not only is the production speed extremely slow, but also they often run into various problems. Ordinary people can’t afford them.
However, with the creative assembly line production technology of the Ford Company, not only has the production speed of cars significantly improved, but the production cost has been effectively reduced, allowing cars to enter thousands of households.
At the same time, because car production uses universal parts, the specifications and models of various parts are unified. This not only reduces car fault problems but also significantly reduces the difficulty of repairs.
This is quite a significant problem. The famous car manufacturers in later generations hardly existed in this era.
However, Arthur was familiar with the great name of Carl Fitzgerald Benton, the father of cars.
On January 26,1886, Carl Benton successfully developed the world’s first single-cylinder three-wheeled automobile. This day was also designated as World Car Birthday.
Therefore, Arthur unhesitatingly mentioned Carl Benton’s great name. William II was taken aback for a moment. He didn’t expect that Arthur would have some knowledge about Germany’s car brands.
At present, the Benz Iron Casting and Machinery Factory founded by Carl Benton and his friend, Augustus Ritter, has the largest automobile factory in Germany.
And the Victoria Motorcar invented by Benton brought tremendous honor to his company.
However, in reality, although the car had advanced performance, its seUing price reached a whopping 3875 marks, or about 193 pounds.
You must know that such a high price is a huge sum for ordinary people. Even excellent workers with high income would need to commit at least half a year’s wages to afford it.
This isn’t the end, this cost is only the purchase price of the car. Subsequent maintenance, repair, and fuel costs would cost a significant amount, directly discouraging the vast majority of people with medium and low incomes.
This led to a severe problem. Although Benton’s company has achieved decent results in terms of honor and size.
But as a company boss and shareholder, Benton was unsuccessful. This invention did not bring much income to the company, but instead plunged it into a debt crisis.
After all, whether it was Benton himself or his friend Ritter, they were all ordinary people, who couldn’t bear the company’s vast expenses. Although recently, based on suggestions, Benton developed a cheaper “Bicycle,” which in reality is a cheap car that cut out many features. Because they achieved initial mass production and cut some functions, this so-called “Bicycle” brought some sales volume to Benton and his company, allowing the company to barely hang on.
In other words, the largest car manufacturer in Germany is currently in a severe debt situation.
Having achieved a degree of success in the automobile field and facing serious financial issues. This makes it the most suitable acquisition target for Arthur. If he could acquire Benton’s automobile company and inject a large amount of capital, who could guarantee the Benton company wouldn’t surpass Ford and become the creator of car sales records?