Empire Rising: Spain

Among the participating projects for the Technology Award, one project caught Carlo’s attention, and that was the automobile project developed by Benz and others.

Speaking of which, it had been several years since Carlo last personally visited the automobile factory to check on the development of cars.

It’s not that Carlo didn’t value the development of automobiles; it’s mainly because of the technological limitations of this era, which led to significant instability in automobile engines at present.

The last time Carlo visited the automobile factory, Benz explicitly told Carlo that the existing cars had to be serviced after about 200 kilometers of driving, otherwise unpredictable problems could occur. The least of which would be engine damage, and at worst, the entire car could be written off.

Although car speeds had increased to over 30 kilometers per hour, the drawback of only being able to drive 200 kilometers continuously greatly limited the commercialization of automobiles.

More importantly, the automobile industry at that time was not mature. With the automobile factory producing only a few hundred cars a year, comprehensive commercialization was simply not feasible.

It had been several years since Carlo’s last visit to the automobile factory. He finally remembered the cars developed by Benz and decided to personally visit the factory to see how far the development of automobiles had progressed.

Logically speaking, the hallmark of rapid development in the automobile industry is the birth of the T-model car. However, T-model car technology had appeared as early as the end of the 19th century, and countries had relatively stable automobile technologies and corresponding engineering.

What limited the development of the automobile market was not technology, but the scale of each country’s automobile industry and the speed of car construction.

Before the advent of Ford Company’s assembly line production, car production in every country was done entirely by hand. This not only severely depended on the experience of the automotive workers but also drastically reduced the production speed of vehicles.

Before the birth of the T-model car, the largest car factories produced no more than a few hundred cars a year.

Most car factories had an annual production of less than two digits. Some car factories, even if able to produce cars, would go bankrupt because they couldn’t sell them.

Because automobiles were handcrafted, car prices at that time were very expensive. Even nobles and capitalists could not necessarily afford to buy the expensive cars, which limited the scale of the automobile market. The annual car production across Europe, including the United States, was less than ten thousand.

The emergence of the T-model car greatly improved the production speed of vehicles, which is also the reason for the expansion of the automobile scale.

Carlo had high expectations for Benz’s automobile factory, hoping they could develop more stable cars, and then rapidly expand the automobile market by relying on the method of assembly line production.

At this time, although the automobile industries in various countries were not mature, Spain had already taken the lead in the automobile field.

As long as Spain’s automobiles could capture half of the global automobile market before countries mastered mature automobile industries, and with subsequent good operations, the sales of cars would bring enormous income to Spain.

Although the ownership of the automobile company’s shares belonged to Carlo, the annual taxes could also provide a substantial income for the Spanish Government.

The T-model car was born in 1908. Before that, the world’s total number of automobiles was only a few tens of thousands. After the T-model car came into being, in just 19 years, 15 million cars were sold.

This also means that as long as the car’s price could be controlled within a reasonable number, the automobile market is quite vast.

If the cars developed by Spain could sell 15 million units, even if the profit per car was only 100 pessetas, it would be a net income of as much as 1.5 billion pessetas.

The tax revenue received by the government would also be substantial. The development of the automobile industry is a win-win situation for both Carlo and the Spanish Government.

August 18, 1881, in a large industrial area on the outskirts of Madrid.

On a main road of the industrial area, a relatively large factory seemed somewhat calm at this time.

The factory’s gates were open, and workers were not working inside but rather took up brooms and other tools, diligently sweeping the roads bit by bit.

Everyone swept not only inside the factory, but the main roads outside the factory were also targets for cleaning. When such an unusual scene appeared in the industrial area, it signified that this factory was about to welcome an honored guest.

This honored guest was naturally Carlo. Upon learning that Carlo was about to arrive at the automobile factory for an inspection, Benz gathered all the factory workers and requested everyone to clean the factory’s health environment thoroughly, to welcome His Majesty the King in a more sanitary and tidy environment.

When the workers learned that the King was about to inspect the factory, they were filled with enthusiasm, and cleaning became quite a joyful task.

"Everyone, put in more effort. His Majesty the King will be here shortly. If the King sees this mess, it will inevitably shake his confidence in our automobile factory." As the director of the automobile factory, Benz also wielded a broom, following alongside the factory workers to clean.

Under the director’s leading by example, the workers were full of enthusiasm, and the factory roads quickly became clean.

A straight road branched off from the main road of the industrial area, leading directly into the factory. Turning a corner near the right area, it headed straight north, connecting to the large square behind the factory, which was also the car testing area.