242: Chapter 242 ESP Pro's First Customer

Meanwhile, Liu Fang was reporting to him in his office.

"Boss, that group is here again, but they still won't accept our proposal."

"As expected." Shen Fei leaned back in his chair, "Then we'll see them in court."

"There's one more thing." Liu Fang's voice held a hint of excitement, "Huachuang has achieved a breakthrough from zero; Wuling Company is preparing to adopt their ESP system."

"Liuzhou Wuling?"

Liu Fang nodded.

Liuzhou Wuling was a local company. Its predecessor was the Liuzhou Power Machinery Factory, which pivoted to microcars in the 80s, opening up the "legendary car" market through practicality, durability, and low prices.

They focused on the Wuling micro-van and Hongguang series, had a well-developed after-sales network, and their main philosophy was to build whatever the people needed.

Furthermore, Wuling had partnered with SAIC-GM last year to establish SAIC-GM-Wuling. If he remembered correctly, they were set to release their first Baojun passenger car this year.

Still keeping prices low, choosing a domestic ESP system to gain an advantage in the same price bracket might truly be an opportunity.

"Having a customer is good. We spent hundreds of millions acquiring and renovating the factory. With these customers, a valuation of 5 billion after a year shouldn't be a problem."

"Boss, are you that confident?"

"It's not that I'm confident," Shen Fei closed the lawsuit papers on his desk. "It's that Bosch will help us. After all, what decent person stabs themselves twice?"

Liu Fang instantly understood what Shen Fei meant. Originally, it was an apology for a settlement, which they could have spun through marketing to make it look like Transsion was bullying others...

But if it went to a lawsuit, there would be no way to spin it.

Of course, Shen Fei was still very curious about how those domestic nephews would try to spin it.

"Court is starting soon. Are you ready?" Shen Fei asked.

"Ready." Liu Fang said confidently. "We will definitely make them see that the courts in China are not something they can manipulate."

After all, Hans Müller had made a special trip there a couple of days ago, which had made them very angry.

Isn't it just about product strength and jobs? They talk as if Huachuang couldn't replace them.

...

Three days later, at the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court.

The case of Bosch cutting off ESP supply to Transsion officially went to trial.

Before the trial, Bosch applied for a closed-door hearing, but Transsion filed an objection. After "careful" consideration, the court chose to hold a public trial.

Consequently, before the trial began, dozens of media outlets had already gathered outside, with all cameras pointed at the entrance.

Transsion's legal team arrived half an hour early. Fang Ping appeared in court on behalf of Bosch. To minimize the impact, they rushed in just five minutes before the trial started.

Fang Ping's complexion was poor. Yesterday, he, Zhou Zhengping, and Muller had discussed for a long time, trying to persuade Muller to accept Transsion's conditions and reach an out-of-court settlement.

And then use marketing tactics to frame this event as a matter of political correctness.

That way, headquarters wouldn't hold them accountable, and Chinese consumers would spontaneously boycott Huachuang's ESP system; even if their prices were cheap, they would boycott their technology at the root.

But Muller refused.

The reason was: The German headquarters would not agree to a public apology. The final plan was to fight, to fight until the very last moment?

At the time, both Fang Ping and Zhou Zhengping could only smile bitterly. Everyone knew this was a battle destined to be lost.

But they had no choice.

The judge struck the gavel, signaling the official start of the trial.

"The case of Transsion Technology versus Bosch China for malicious breach of contract is now in session."

After routine procedures, Lawyer Fang stood up to begin his opening statement.

"We do not acknowledge this breach of contract. We did not refuse to provide products, but merely delayed them for a period of time.

The shortage of ESP systems was due to global capacity constraints, which falls under the category of force majeure.

According to Article 12 of the contract, the force majeure clause, Bosch should not be held liable for breach of contract."

Although there was no chance of winning, he spoke fluently, and it sounded quite logical.

Of course, he also knew that the evidence from the other side would tear these words to shreds.

Transsion's lawyer, Zhou Zhen, stood up.

"Your Honor, we have evidence to prove that Bosch's 'capacity constraints' claim is a false statement."

After being granted permission, the first piece of evidence appeared on the big screen.

It was a screenshot of an internal Bosch email. After certain companies joined forces, the German headquarters ordered the China region to downgrade the priority of Transsion's orders to the lowest level.

A buzz of discussion immediately broke out in the press gallery behind the court. Because it was a courtroom, and attention was paramount, these people were whispering and chattering.

Fang Ping's complexion changed.

This evidence had appeared on the Chinese internet a few years ago, but all information was redacted at the time. Seeing the complete image now had a completely different impact.

"There is a second piece of evidence."

Zhou Zhen continued to present.

The voice of the sales director for Bosch's Southern region came out of the speakers, full of disdain.

"Transsion? A new company, they can only sell a few thousand cars a year, so we block them if we want. Make way for joint-venture cars; that's exactly what the leadership means."

Some people in the public gallery began to frown.

Fang Ping had already lowered his head; he knew this lawsuit was over.

The judge looked toward Bosch, expression serious.

"Bosch side, do you have anything to say regarding these two pieces of evidence?"

Fang Ping stood up and opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

What could he say?

Deny the authenticity of the recording? Given their caution, the recording must have been judicially verified.

Deny the authenticity of the email?

The email server was in Germany; retrieving the raw data was only a matter of time.

In the end, he could only use standard delaying tactics.

"A temporary worker cleared all emails a couple of days ago, and the server is at headquarters... we need time to verify."

Fang Ping stated this excuse very skillfully.

"Such a coincidence?" The judge glanced at him, "Verification? Transsion submitted this three days ago. Three days is not enough for verification?"

At this moment, the judge's bias made Fang Ping feel a wave of disgust. Damned nepotism...

"Third piece of evidence."

Zhou Zhen continued to throw out a series of evidence.

The big screen displayed the supply data Bosch provided to a certain joint-venture automaker, as well as Transsion's orders.

It showed that Transsion's orders were not the so-called few thousand units, but a full 50,000 units, and that was just the initial order.

This volume was no longer that of a small client.

Reporters below quickly took photos of this key evidence.

"Bosch side, while capacity is tight, you can still increase supply to other clients by 30%.

Is this 'tightness' not a bit too selective?"

Someone in the public gallery couldn't help but laugh.

Meanwhile, Fang Ping stood at the defendant's bench, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead.

He had been working for so long, and this was the first time he had been questioned like this in court.

It wasn't because he was unprepared, but because the other side's evidence was too solid—so solid that he had absolutely no room to argue.

Plus, given their connections, the judge had a natural bias...

He really wanted to say right now, why even hold this trial? Just passing the judgment directly would be better.

[Transsion: The necessary procedures must still be followed.]