349: Chapter 347: Concept Car?
Not for Sale?
349: Chapter 347: Concept Car?
Not for Sale?
Unbeknownst to Gao Yang, he had wandered into Mercedes-Benz’s showroom, and the car he was looking at was exactly the same as the six-wheel pickup he had seen recently in South Sudan.
Gao Yang had long planned to buy a car for transportation, but he wanted to buy it himself, not let Morgan pay for it.
However, after discovering that Mercedes pickup, Gao Yang suddenly became interested.
A big-displacement luxury pickup is quite appealing to Americans, and that six-wheeled pickup attracted more people than other cars around it.
Approaching the car, Morgan only glanced at it twice before immediately saying, “Gao, do you like this car?”
Gao Yang didn’t actually want to buy the pickup.
He was purely curious and wanted to know what model it was, so he shook his head and said, “No, I don’t like it.
I just happened to have driven this car recently, so I’m a bit curious, but to be honest, it does look pretty nice when lifted up.”
Just as Gao Yang finished speaking, before Morgan could even respond, a middle-aged man taking photos of the pickup in front of Gao Yang turned around and after looking him up and down, then taking another look at Yelena beside Gao Yang, he chuckled and said, “Buddy, I understand your view, but you’ve got to pick the right moment to brag.
This car hasn’t hit the market yet.
It’s a concept car from Mercedes-Benz, still in the secrecy stage.
Currently, there are only two prototype cars in existence, and even if they go into production, the earliest would be next year, with the annual output not exceeding twenty to thirty units.”
Gao Yang just smiled without arguing; he had accidentally misspoken.
He couldn’t very well say he had killed several Arab tycoons and then hijacked their car for a joyride.
With a light smile, Gao Yang said, “If you know, could you tell me the name of this car?
I mean, what’s the specific model?”
The journalist spread his hands and said, “Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6X6, that’s what this car is called.”
Gao Yang didn’t reply, but Morgan standing beside him asked nonchalantly, “Are you very familiar with this car?”
The middle-aged man shrugged and said, “Of course, I’m a car magazine journalist.
I make my living from this, and of course, I’m familiar with this much-anticipated luxury pickup.
Actually, this car can’t exactly be called a pickup; it’s more like a super-luxury off-road vehicle with an open truck bed.”
Morgan looked genuinely intrigued and said, “Go on.”
The middle-aged man, seemingly pleased to show off, stated with a proud face, “There’s so much to say.
This car has a 5.5-liter V8 twin-turbo engine, a 7-speed automatic transmission with manual mode, and it accelerates from zero to a hundred kilometers per hour in less than six seconds.
It has a ground clearance of 460 millimeters, an approach angle of 52 degrees, a departure angle of 54 degrees, and weighs an astonishing 3.7 tons plus.
This car is a veritable off-road beast.
And as impressive as its size is its price tag, expected to be upwards of five hundred thousand US dollars.”
Upon hearing the price, Gao Yang shook his head; five hundred thousand US dollars converts to over three million in Chinese yuan.
Of course, if it were imported to Huaxia for purchase, the price could very well reach four or five million, which Gao Yang thought was completely unnecessary.
However, Morgan seemed quite satisfied.
He snapped his fingers and said casually to Gao Yang, “This car sounds amazing.
I think it’s very suitable for you.”
Gao Yang shook his head and said, “No, I don’t think so.
This car is completely unnecessary for me.”
Morgan laughed and said, “The gift you gave me is one of a kind, and the gift I give you must also be unique.
Well, a car can’t be one of a kind, so the fewer, the better.
Even after mass production, there are only twenty or thirty units a year.
Such a car is the only one worthy of you.”
Gao Yang was about to refuse when Morgan patted his shoulder, smiled, and said, “No need to say more, this is just a gift in return.”
At this point, the middle-aged man who seemed to be a journalist laughed again and said, “Gentlemen, this car is the highlight of Mercedes-Benz’s year.
How could they possibly sell it?
Perhaps you’re talking about buying it next year?”
With a nearly playful smile, Morgan glanced at the journalist and then motioned to his assistant, who was a few meters behind him, and said in a firm tone, “Bring over the person in charge of this exhibition.”
After issuing his command nonchalantly, Morgan’s personal assistant immediately left, while Morgan himself fondly stroked his chin, eyeing the concept car that was allegedly one of only two in the world.
It wasn’t long before Morgan’s assistant arrived with a middle-aged man in a suit.
After shaking hands with Morgan and before the suited man could even speak, Morgan immediately said, “Hello, I’d like to buy this car.”
The man in the suit smiled apologetically and said, “I’m sorry, sir, but this is our concept car, and it’s not for sale.
If you’re interested in this car, you can place a preorder, and we will deliver it to you as soon as the model goes into production.”
Morgan also smiled and said, “Sorry, sir, I think you’ve misunderstood the situation.
I’m just informing you that I want to buy this car, not asking for your opinion.
I believe you can make a call to someone who has the authority to negotiate, and then give me a price.”
After speaking, Morgan’s personal assistant immediately handed over a business card.
Once the person in charge at the booth caught it, Morgan’s assistant gestured for a phone call and said, “Find a quiet place, call the person in charge and report the name on the card, and remember to return my card to me.”
The person in charge at the booth didn’t even have a chance to introduce himself.
After looking at Morgan again, he hurried away with the card.
It wasn’t even five minutes later when the person from the booth hurried back.
This time, as soon as he saw Morgan, he extended his hand from a great distance, with a broad smile on his face, “Sir, thank you for gracing us with your presence.
Please allow me to introduce myself, my name is Spike, and I’m the organizer of this New York car show.”
Morgan nodded and shook hands with Spike again.
Then, speaking softly, he said, “Mr.
Spike, can I buy this car now?”
Spike nodded repeatedly, his voice full of enthusiasm, “Of course, of course.
The only problem is the car can only be picked up after the show ends.
You see, this is our only prototype car.
If you agree, after the show ends, we’ll deliver the car to the location you specify.”
Morgan turned to Gao Yang and said, “Gao, please make sure to accept my gift.
So, where would you like the car delivered?”
By this point, Gao Yang couldn’t refuse any longer.
After pondering for a moment, he smiled and said, “Send it to my farm.
The car isn’t suited for urban driving, and I don’t want to drive it to my farm; it’s too far.”
Morgan shrugged and suggested, “Perhaps it could be delivered to Portland first, then you could drive from Portland to your farm.
That way, you can enjoy the pleasure of driving without getting too tired.”
Since Arilan Morrison’s studio was in Portland, and one of Gao Yang’s main purposes in coming to America was specifically to pick up a custom-made gun, he was definitely going to Portland, so he happily accepted Morgan’s suggestion, “That would be great, then send it to Portland, even if it means troubling you further.”
Morgan burst into laughter, turned to Spike and asked, “How much?”
Spike looked somewhat troubled as he replied, “Sir, the thing is, this car doesn’t have a final price yet, so we really can’t sell our prototype at a low price.
Our asking price is six hundred thousand US dollars.
However, we will include a gift for you: any model from our company priced below one hundred thousand US dollars can be yours as our gift, and you can drive away with it today.”
Morgan laughed heartily and said to Gao Yang, “Buy one, get one free.
This deal is very cost-effective.
Now you have to see what gift you want.”
Already in possession of a monster-grade off-road vehicle, Gao Yang didn’t fancy getting another off-road vehicle.
He thought a sedan or a sports car would be more appropriate.
Originally, Gao Yang, if considering buying a sedan or sports car, would choose a different brand rather than Mercedes, since it was no longer the era where luxury cars meant only Mercedes or BMW.
However, since it was an included gift, obviously he would not pass up on it.
Gao Yang had no clue which model to choose to keep the price under one hundred thousand US dollars without losing out too much, but he had someone knowledgeable right by his side.
With a smile, Gao Yang looked at the reporter who was standing woodenly, staring at Morgan, and said, “Hey, buddy, you heard our conversation, so could you tell me which sedan or sports car to pick?”
The reporter snapped out of his reverie and quickly said, “A sedan or sports car below one hundred thousand US dollars?
Definitely the high-performance CLS 63 AMG, priced at ninety-five thousand US dollars.
There’s nothing more suitable than that.”
Gao Yang shrugged and replied, “Thank you for the suggestion, I’ll seriously consider it.”
The reporter then said in a daze, “How, how did you do it?
How can you afford this car?”
Gao Yang smiled faintly, not answering the reporter’s question.
Morgan, however, took out a checkbook, wrote a number, and handed it to Spike.
After Spike received the check, he smiled and said, “This G63 AMG 6X6 is now yours.
Someone will help you with the registration procedures shortly.
Now, wouldn’t you like to take a first look at your car?”
The G63 AMG 6X6 was on display but was not fully open to the public; a barrier separated the vehicle from the crowd.
This meant that neither the reporters nor the audience could view the interior of the car or open and close the doors.
Now that the car was his, Gao Yang took Yelena’s hand and said, “Let’s go and check out our car.”
After Spike opened the driver’s side door for Gao Yang, he pointed at the row of instruments on the driver’s side and said, “This car incorporates all of our most advanced off-road technologies.
Allow me to introduce them to you one by one.
Please look at the switch on your top left.
That’s the fuel tank switch; this car has two fuel tanks, and you can switch between them, choosing which one to use.
Additionally, please note…”
Gao Yang cut Spike off, astonished, “Wait, wait, are you saying there are two fuel tanks in this car?” (To be continued.
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