Chapter 504

Compared to family cars, trucks and tractors were more favored by consumers in the market.

The former was a luxury that could only consume wealth; the latter was a means of production that could create more wealth.

Rich people weren't fools. They knew which was more important. When making a choice, of course, they had to choose according to their own needs.

Generally speaking, capitalists in the city were more inclined to cars. This was because small cars could show off their noble status and bring them convenience in the business field.

Well, this was just a psychological illusion. Unless they went out to be a scammer and deliberately flaunted their wealth to fool people, it would probably have some effect.

In a normal business environment, it was normal to talk about things as they should be. In the face of profit, no one would easily give in.

The real use of the car was probably to fool his employees. It was an invisible way of flaunting their wealth to tell everyone: the boss is rich, don't worry.

In addition to transportation companies, most of the buyers of trucks and tractors came from rural farmers and some nobles.

Farm owners really needed them. Unlike expensive cars, tractors were defined as cheap vehicles from the moment they were created.

This had nothing to do with Franz. In a large agricultural country like Austria, it would be a problem if the Government of Vienna didn't intervene after the discovery of tractors.

Since 1883, the Government of Vienna had issued a decree to exempt tractor manufacturers from taxes and encourage them to sell to farmers at low prices.

Up to now, many state-owned enterprises had entered the tractor production industry and directly pushed down the sales price.

Compared to the high profits of cars, tractors were really cheap.

Tractors for hauling goods and plowing were sold for 200 to 300 Divine Shields in the market. A single-purpose tractor could be bought for 150 Divine Shields.

Of course, you get what you pay for. The practical value was not low, but there was no hope for comfort.

In order to reduce production costs, some manufacturers didn't even bother to equip seats. They even asked consumers to install them themselves after they bought them home.

The pungent smoke and ear-piercing "tut, tut, tut …" when it ran. If there was a user experience, many would probably give it a zero.

In contrast, a truck could be seen as a modified version of a car. It was nothing more than adding a carriage at the back and adding a few cylinders below to act as power.

The comfort was much better than a tractor, but not as good as a car. As for the price, it was between the two.

After all, it was a big one. The technical difficulty of production was much lower, and the cost was slightly lower.

If it wasn't limited by traffic, it was estimated that the speed of promotion of trucks would be much faster than cars that were only active in the city or the surrounding areas.

Anyway, as soon as it was introduced to the market, it was favored by the nobles. Whether it was to bring food and vegetables from home to the city to sell or to bring their belongings out to hunt, trucks were more worrisome than carriages.

Only the nouveau riche needed to show their status. After the revolution of 1848, the Austrian nobles had to of Austria.

That the new capitalists had taken over their hate-making role was evident in the daily newspapers.

Most of the news that exposed the reality of society, the villains were mostly nouveau riche capitalists or rich second generations.

In comparison, the proportion of hedonistic children among the nobles was much lower. Of course, this could be due to the social environment, which limited their space to play.

By the time they retired from the army and went home, they were not young anymore. They were no longer middle schoolers and knew how to use their brains when doing things.

. By the time they retired and went home, they were not young anymore. They knew to use their brains.

However, these people had to worry about their family's reputation. Apart from a few idiots, most of them knew to hide the matter and not expose themselves under the spotlight.

But these people had to care about their family's reputation. Except for a few idiots, most of them knew to hide things and did not expose themselves to the spotlight.

Many people were addicted to power and were unable to extricate themselves from it. Instead, they caused more trouble.

For Franz, these were small problems.

Things were not exposed. It was good for everyone. Anyway, he, the emperor, would not know.

If the matter was exposed, they would deal with it according to Austrian law.

After watching the chickens being killed one after another, it still played a role. He didn't know if the monkey was scared, but the rest of the chickens were definitely scared.

With the booming development of the automobile industry, many surrounding industries also benefited from this new industry chain.

Steel, machinery, petrochemical … a series of industries had developed at a significantly faster rate in recent years.

Take the steel industry for example. It seemed that the automobile production capacity was not high, and not much steel was consumed every year.

But now, the automobile industry needed stainless steel or special steel widely used in the military, not a pile of scrap iron that needed to be melted down and reforged.

Customers were God. There would be service if there was demand. As long as the money was in place, everything could be discussed.

There was no law in Austria that said special military steel could not be used for civilian use. Before that, no one used it because the price was too high.

But now, it was different. Low-end cars could not afford this technology, but the luxury version had to be arranged.

Influenced by this good news, in just the first half of 1885, Austria's production of special steel directly exceeded 50,000 tons. In 1880, the production of special steel was only a pitiful 30,000 tons.

…

Economic development was not always smooth sailing. Time passed quickly, and by the end of 1885, trouble had come knocking on the door.

Franz asked in surprise, "There's a traffic problem. What problem?"

He was not bragging. These days, Austria's traffic was second in the world. No one dared to say that they were first.

The railways connected all the Austrian cities, big and small, together. On the map, it looked like a dense spider web.

The rapid growth of Austria's economy was largely due to this "railway spider web". It could be said that without convenient transportation, there would be no Austrian Empire today.

Transport Minister Strauss explained, "Looking at the empire as a whole, our traffic situation is still the world's leading, but there is serious congestion in some areas.

It is mainly the major industrial cities of the empire. With the continuous influx of population over the years, the traffic pressure is increasing day by day.

Especially after the birth of the automobile, the original urban planning can no longer keep up with the development of the times.

At present, the problem is mainly concentrated in old industrial cities such as Prague, Plzen, Brno, Ostrava, Munich, Stuttgart, Chemnitz, Linz, and Milan.

Because of the large population, there was often congestion during rush hours. Many people would waste more than half an hour on the bus to and from work.

In contrast, new industrial cities such as Belgrade, Sarajevo, Zagreb, and Bucharest in the south of the empire are much better.

In addition to the cities, our previous road construction is not wide enough. Many roads are too narrow, and it is difficult for two large trucks to avoid each other. "

These problems were inevitable. Even if the old industrial cities were to be upgraded, it was carried out on the original basis. There was no need to go to war with the city's buildings.

Thirty years ago, the changes at that time were enough to meet the needs. The designers did not have the ability to predict the future. They did not expect Austria's development to be so fast.

Franz was not a professional urban designer. He could not intervene even if he wanted to. In addition, the Government of Vienna was already in debt. The depleted wallet directly dispelled Franz's idea of demolishing and building.

Thirty years later, the problem was exposed, and the government needed to find a way to solve it.

The industrial cities in the south were built later. When these areas were being developed, the Government of Vienna's finances had gradually improved.

In addition, the foundation was weak, and there was not much historical baggage. It was not a pity to demolish it directly. Therefore, the cities in the south were more modern, and the traffic capacity was much higher.

"Congestion" was also relative. Compared to the congested cities of the future, half an hour on the bus was nothing at all.

It was much better than spending half an hour on the bus on the way to work and only moving a few hundred meters forward. It was not even faster than walking.

Urban traffic needed to be improved, and traffic outside the city was even more of a problem. Before cars were introduced, Austria's roads were also the best in Europe.

However, roads and roads were completely different concepts. The former was for horses, and at most, it was considered for carriages.

Thirty years ago, cars were all large steam cars. It was fine to pull ore in the mines, but there was no consideration for the problem of cars passing.

The lifespan of a dirt road was very long. After so many years of repairs, the road was still operating normally.

There was no problem of building roads in advance here, because roads also had service life. If built in advance, it was estimated that before cars appeared, the road in front would be retired.

To solve these problems, a round of major infrastructure was indispensable.

Prime Minister Carr objected, "In the short term, it is not suitable for us to launch a new round of major infrastructure. At least before the completion of the first phase of the Near East development plan, the government should not be distracted.

The problem of urban traffic congestion can be strengthened by the transportation department, or by increasing the number of buses, and as much as possible to release more transportation capacity.

Although it can't solve the problem fundamentally, it is still feasible to delay the problem for a period of time.

The roads outside the city were originally not prepared for cars, and it is inevitable that they can't meet the demand. In theory, only by upgrading all the roads in the country would they be able to meet this demand.

But we all know that this is impossible. If we really want to build a road that covers the whole country, the construction cost is estimated to be a little cheaper than our railway network.

This has exceeded the financial capacity of the government, and we can't issue unlimited bonds for financing.

These things are not urgent, and we can make plans first. It doesn't matter if the specific implementation is delayed. "

The problem appeared. Franz knew that Austria was still poor. The cost of re-planning and upgrading an old industrial city was not much lower than rebuilding a new city.

More than a dozen were built in one go. The Near East development plan was already being implemented, and the Government of Vienna really did not have the financial resources to start another wave at the same time.

There was no ready-made example of the construction of the road network, but a reference to the railway network in Austria was basically enough to explain the problem.

If it was not for a large group of international enthusiasts to sponsor, it was estimated that the Government of Vienna's own construction strength would not have been able to run the road.

"A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit."

After being scammed once, international investors had learned their lesson. If they wanted to bluff people again, it would be difficult to find so many "enthusiastic people" to sponsor them.

Roads were different from railways. The investment prospects of railways were bright. As long as they could survive the long investment cycle, they would be rolling in the future.

What did roads rely on to make money? It was a complete mess, and there was no precedent to follow.

There were not many cars these days. Even in the most economically developed areas, the money received from the establishment of toll stations was not necessarily enough to pay the salaries of toll collectors.

It was too difficult to trick people to fill the hole in a business with no prospects of profit.

Not to mention investors, even Franz, a transmigrator, was not optimistic that the road project could make a profit.

There was no other way. The popularization of cars needed time. Only when the market developed to a certain extent, it was possible to rely on fees to recover the investment costs and obtain investment returns.

However, the capitalists could not afford to wait. Even if it was a "value investment", it was not possible because before the road project could recover the investment costs, the road built in front of it would be scrapped.

…