The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 162: Chapter 157: Benz One

February 17th, 1903, on the streets of New York, USA.

This was an otherwise small square with a decent amount of foot traffic, but for some reason, it had temporarily been occupied by many cars of the same model but different colors.

Although this is the busiest city in the United States, Americans had never seen so many cars parked in one place.

For both Americans and Europeans, cars were still a luxury item, a plaything for capitalists and nobility.

“Hey, what’s going on? Where did all these cars come from? I don’t think Boss Dans has the money to buy this many cars!” A curious, young man, who seemed to have just entered society, asked a slightly older boy beside him on the square.

“Frank, I told you to read more. Well, now you see? A car costs at least a thousand US dollars each, and there must be hundreds of them here, parked bumper to bumper in this square! Do you think Boss Dans can afford so many cars?” The youth responded, somewhat irritated, after hearing his friend’s ludicrous question.

They were both workers at a factory under a man named Dans and had just gained a day off for the first time after working for a month straight.

They had planned to visit the familiar square to find the small stand that sold a novelty drink called Cola. The Cola was said to have medicinal effects; perfect for them, feeling exhausted from their continuous work. Drinking a delicious bottle of Cola would allow them to relax.

But who would have thought that when they arrived at the square, not only was the usual Cola stand gone, but the entire square was also occupied by all these cars.

The usually crowded square had been mostly cleared, of course, one could not deny that it was due to people’s fear of accidentally scratching the expensive cars, which forced them to stay far away.

At this time, the selling price of cars was easily a thousand US dollars, and repair costs could also easily reach tens to hundreds of US dollars.

This was an expense that ordinary people could not afford, and if they were not careful and ended up scratching one, several months’ worth of wages might vanish in an instant.

Thus, an odd but unsurprising phenomenon was bom. The typically bustling square was now empty, yet the roads around it were crowded with curious onlookers, each staring at the parked cars inside the square.

To these people, the cars parked in the square were as good as thousands of US dollar checks. If it were not for the long rows of American police officers maintaining order, these cars alone might have been enough to cause a disturbance on the spot.

Just as everyone was whispering and wondering about the situation, a few people finally walked to the center of the square, stood in front of the prepared loudspeakers, and said with a smile: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the launch event of the new Benz Automobile. This sales event is being held simultaneously around the world, with multiple sales locations in the United States, the British Empire, Germany, France, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, Australia, and other countries.”

“Before the official sale begins, please allow me to briefly introduce the background of the Benz Automobile Factory and the development process of the new type of car.”

“The Benz Automobile Factory originated in Germany and is currently the largest car factory in Australia. All the cars you see today were produced in collaboration between the Benz Automobile Factory and American enterprises, the US Benz United Auto Factory. Our factory employs the most advanced production technology, significantly reducing the production cost and time for cars. We also have partnerships with many countries around the world, including the United States, the British Empire, Germany, and Australia. The capital for our car factory in the United States alone was as high as 2.5 million US dollars.”

“Now, please allow me to introduce our new type of car, the Benz One.”

Because it was the first launch, the introduction of the car’s various performance features took quite a lot of time.

In order to gain a foothold in the pure capitalist country like the United States, the speakers were very crafty; they detailed the background of the Benz Automobile Factory, stopping short of just directly claiming that it had triple relations with the British Empire, Germany, and Australia.

More importantly, in order not to be rejected by Americans, the Benz Automobile Factory executed a slick operation: secretly purchasing an American company and then having it form a joint venture with the Benz Automobile Factory, establishing the US Benz United Auto Factory.

Although the US Benz United Auto Factory was nominally jointly operated by an American company and the Australian Benz Automobile Factory, both companies actually belonged to the Australian Royal Financial Group, or Arthur.

Perhaps it was due to the capital and cooperating countries mentioned earlier that shocked the Americans; even though the introduction took more than an hour, relatively few people chose to leave.

This was advantageous for the sale of the cars. Even if few people in the current crowd of onlookers could afford to purchase the cars, the others could still spread the news of today’s event, effectively giving the Benz Automobile Factory free advertising.

The onlookers were abuzz with chatter, but most were in awe of the impressive background of the Benz Automobile Factory and the specifications of the new car. In fact, none of them expressed any interest in buying one.

In fact, this is the current situation in the automobile market. There are excellent cars in the world, but as long as it is related to automobiles, it represents expensiveness and luxury.

Not to mention cars with excellent performance like this, the price is often over a thousand US dollars, which is not affordable for ordinary American civilians.

Even some Americans have started mocking, what if the so-called Benson cars have strong strength?

Without investigating the American market, they blindly produced so many cars that even sales for a year would not sell out.

At that time, these cars would still have to be sold at a low price, or piled up in warehouses waiting to be scrapped.

Filling an entire square would require at least hundreds of cars to be parked. This would cost a lot of money, even if you were a powerful Benson Car Factory, it would hurt!

There are not a few people who have this mentality. After all, cars are the toys of the rich, and in a capitalist country like the United States, the oppression of the rich against the poor is very cruel. This leads to a large number of poor people resenting the rich, that is, the psychology of hating the rich.

Even if the Benson Car Factory is essentially a foreign company, it is still operated by the rich, isn’t it?

As long as they are rich, they are the sinful bourgeoisie. Many Americans want to see these capitalists go down.

However, it is also not the fault of American capitalists, as this phenomenon is quite common worldwide.

The exploitation of capitalists on ordinary civilians has not been ended in later generations.

“Ladies and gentlemen, now it’s the most exciting moment. I’m going to announce the initial price of the new Benz One. How much do you think it will be?” The person responsible for introducing the car data asked with a smile.

Although no one answered, and many even cast disdainful glances at him. After all, who doesn’t know the car prices that are often over a thousand US dollars? Is this something that needs to be asked again?

The man did not get angry, continued to smile and mysteriously announced: “Perhaps this price will surprise you, but this is indeed the selling price after careful consideration. I announce that the global uniform price of Benz One is 150 pounds, which is 750 dollars!”

750 dollars? This price surprised many Americans at the scene, and even found it somewhat unbelievable.

Although the price is still an unattainable luxury for the majority of Americans, compared to other cars on the market costing over a thousand dollars, the Benz One is relatively cheap.

There are also cheap cars in the United States, and even quite a few.

However, these cars are generally the first products of various car workshops, with various problems, large and small. Some are not even roadworthy and are only used for display.

This once again made the people at the scene question the Benz One. The performance on the surface was excellent, even at the top of the current car market. But the price was really cheap. Can such a car really be as excellent as advertised?

Perhaps realizing the disbelief and skepticism in the crowd, the man in charge of the introduction was not upset, and continued to smile and explain: “Please don’t doubt it first, we can guarantee that any car sold has all the functions and data we introduced. If there is any problem with the car purchased, as long as it is verified to be a problem before leaving the factory, we can refund unconditionally and compensate three times. If it is a man-made problem after the sale, we are also willing to provide a low-cost repair opportunity. If the repair cost does not exceed 50 dollars, we can also directly waive the repair fee. Of course, only the first repair is like this, this is also the sincerity of our car factory for all users.”

There are other ways to dispel doubts for these people, and the man continued: “In order to thoroughly reassure all users, as long as you are determined to buy our car and have enough funds, you can experience it first. We provide test­drive cars for you to drive for free for more than ten kilometers. It is also no problem to purchase a car after making sure that all data is accurate.”

Test driving is still a vague concept for these Americans. Cars have become something only the rich can enjoy since their birth, and the rich don’t need test driving to determine car performance.

In addition, the cost of hand-made cars in the past was very expensive, and any problems could cost hundreds of dollars in repairs.

This is also the reason why car factories do not provide test drives. If test driving causes problems with the car, it is something that car factories and people who buy cars cannot bear.

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