Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

Some decisions made within Ford will naturally be reflected in some actions.

Sharma, who has been responsible for tracking the acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover cars, naturally felt this change quickly.

He knew very well how much Ratan Tata attached great importance to this acquisition, so after having a bad premonition, he immediately took the initiative to report to Ratan.

"You mean the window for Ford to contact you. During this period, apart from asking you whether you can further increase the purchase price, there haven't been many other specific actions?"

Latan's expression changed, and he immediately felt something was wrong.

As the most outstanding contemporary figure in the Tata family, his business sense is definitely very keen.

He is confident that Ford is sincere in selling Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.

Normally, after Tata Motors expresses its willingness to acquire, Ford Motor should take the initiative to communicate with Tata Motors.

But now the other party is only interested in price, which is obviously abnormal.

"Yes, they were not like this at the beginning. It is only in the past week that there has been a significant change in attitude."

"Then a Ford executive who had a good relationship with us before is now reluctant to communicate with us."

"I think there's something going on behind this."

Sharma felt it was necessary to vaccinate his boss in advance.

Otherwise, if the acquisition fails, he will have to take the blame.

"Have you already inquired about the other potential acquirers that you were asked to investigate before?"

Latan's first thought was that there were other opponents wreaking havoc.

The previous changes in public opinion on the American Internet had already made him feel doubts in this regard.

Now that a new situation has arisen, he is even more determined that this is what he meant.

"At present, the other party is unwilling to disclose specific information, but what is certain is that besides us, there must be other competitors."

"And the communication between this competitor and Ford should be relatively smooth."

"I'm worried that because Ford has been losing money for several consecutive quarters, in order to make this year's financial statements look better, it will make a decision relatively quickly."

"That's not a good thing for us."

Sharma's worry is obviously not unfounded.

His worries are even more consistent with the actual situation.

However, Tata Motors has too few chips to offer, and they are unwilling to acquire it at a high price.

In this case, if no one competes with him, then everything will be easy.

Now that there is an additional Nanshan Group to compete, the situation is completely different.

Just one week later, Cao Yang and Mulally formally signed an agreement to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover in Detroit.

Xingchen Automobile acquired the two major brands of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company for US$2.3 billion in cash. The acquisition includes the intellectual property rights of the two major Jaguar and Land Rover brands, assembly plants and all models.

"Jaguar and Land Rover are two great brands," said Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Ford Motor Company. “We believe that under the leadership of Xingchen Motors, these two brands will continue to carry forward their existing excellent products, business plans and elite teams.

As this interview was first reported by Autohome and made it onto the Chinese news that night, the news that Xingchen Motors had invested heavily in acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover was like a bomb dropped on the Chinese automobile industry.

"Mr. Cao, is it true what Mulally said about your acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover?"

As soon as Cao Yang got off the plane, Li Su from Geely Automobile called.

He has always been interested in some of Ford Motor's brands, but he didn't expect Xingchen Motors to take action so quickly this time.

"Yes, the relevant agreement was signed yesterday, and now all that remains is the follow-up specific handover and review by relevant agencies."

This news is no longer a secret, so Cao Yang naturally has no need to hide anything.

He also wants to take this opportunity to spread the popularity of Xingchen Automobile into thousands of households.

"U.S.$2.3 billion in cash. Against the background of the subprime mortgage crisis, Mr. Cao's generous decision shocked domestic peers."

Li Su thinks that he currently does not have the strength to directly obtain so much funds for acquisitions.

Even if they want to do something, they still need the help of the bank.

Otherwise, just based on Geely Auto's profitability and the speed of investment in new factories, it would not be able to come up with even US$1.15 billion, let alone US$2.3 billion.

"Jaguar and Land Rover are both excellent brands, and I have more confidence in them."

"Although Xingchen Motors has gained a certain reputation in the world now, it is still not as good as Jaguar Land Rover."

"I also hope that through this acquisition, I can see if I can take Nanshan Group's vehicle business to a higher level."

Cao Yang knew that Li Su's future was limitless, so he naturally wanted to have a good relationship with him.

Anyway, we are not direct competitors, the other party is still Party A’s father.

"Mr. Cao, Ford sold Maserati last year, and now it has sold Jaguar and Land Rover."

"Do you think it's possible that they sold Volvo as well?"

What Li Su valued most was Volvo. Taking this opportunity, he wanted to ask Cao Yang's opinion.

In fact, he also said hello to Cao Yang in advance, saying that he was interested in Volvo and that Nanshan Group would not compete with me in the future.

This level of meaning, if it were placed ten years ago, Cao Yang might not be able to understand it.

It's different now.

Fortunately, since Jaguar and Land Rover already exist, Volvo is not a must-buy.

Especially in a few years, Xingchen Motors will begin its electrification transformation.

If we continue to acquire Volvo, the significance will be even less significant.

After thinking about this, Cao Yang didn't have so many opinions.

"Mr. Li, Mulally, as an outsider, determined the strategy of cutting off some messy brands as soon as he took office."

"I'm just worried that if I sell too much at one time, I won't be able to sell at a high price, so I sell them separately year by year."

"Volvo must be something that can be put on the table for sale. It's just hard to say when it will be sold."

"I think if you are interested, you can keep in touch with Ford Motor Company first. By next year, you may be able to find a suitable time to buy Volvo."

Now that he is not so interested in Volvo, Cao Yang doesn't mind selling a favor to Li Su.

His understanding of Ford cars must be much deeper than Li Su's.

"Mr. Cao, what you say makes sense. If Mulally wants to make his financial statements look good after taking office, then selling one or two brands every year is a better plan."

"With such a plan, Ford Motor's financial report may have turned a profit next year."

Li Su was not stupid either. After listening to Cao Yang's words, he quickly understood the subtleties.

This also made him realize that his idea of ​​acquiring Volvo was likely to be realized.

"Yes, that's what you said."

"After all, Mulally is just a professional manager and is responsible for the company's stock and financial reports."

Cao Yang didn't beat around the bush and directly expressed his opinion.

"Mr. Cao, I am very interested in Volvo Cars. You have experience in successfully acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover. Can you also help us?"

Bow your head when you should bow your head.

Li Su made his attitude clear simply.

In his view, when asking for help, you must have the attitude of asking for help.

Don't act condescendingly and ask others to help you. Isn't that causing hatred?

He wouldn't do such a thing.

"Mr. Li, for Ford, it is not that important to whom Volvo is sold to. The most important thing is how much it is sold for."

"I estimate that the sales price will not be very low when the time comes, so you should be prepared."

"During the acquisition process, if there is any need for our assistance, there will naturally be no problem."

Cao Yang gave his answer without any hesitation.

At this time, if your attitude is not straightforward enough, even if you help others, they may not be very grateful.

It's better to sell a favor quickly.

"Thank you, Mr. Cao. I wish that Jaguar and Land Rover, under the leadership of Xingchen Motors, can turn losses into profits as soon as possible and become a new force in China's luxury car market."

Geely Automobile's products are not directly competitive with Xingchen Automobile, Jaguar or Land Rover.

So when Li Su said this, he was sincere.

The two sides talked relatively freely.

However, before the phone hung up, other calls came in.

Cao Yang hurriedly exchanged a few words with Li Su and then hung up the phone.

"Boss, are you looking for me?"

Cao Yang knew that Liu Tianwu must be looking for him to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover.

However, there is absolutely no harm in pretending to be stupid at this time.

"Mr. Cao, congratulations to you. If you don't pay attention, you will bring such a big surprise to everyone!"

Liu Tianwu did not ask again whether Xingchen Automobile's acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover was true or false.

The CEO of Ford Motor has already said it, and China Radio has also reported it. If we ask again, isn't it unnecessary?

"I didn't expect this acquisition to be so smooth. It seems that the situation of some companies in the United States is not so smooth."

At this time, there is no need to say how much preparation he has made to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover.

People don’t come here to listen to you talk about these things.

"According to the agreement you signed, how long will it take for the relevant process to be completed?"

Liu Tianwu also has many ideas in his mind, but some of them are not suitable to be thrown out so quickly.

But there is definitely no problem in asking for some relevant schedule information.

"It's hard to say. If it's fast, the results will be available within August. If it's slow, it may take until the end of the year, or even early next year."

"However, we have promised not to lay off employees after the acquisition, not to adjust management personnel within one year, and related benefits will not be reduced."

"So there shouldn't be any big problems in the handover process."

Historically, Tata Motors has been able to hand over smoothly, and Cao Yang doesn't think Xingchen Motors will do any worse.

After all, Jaguar Land Rover is now in a state of loss. If those people are still so uncooperative, at worst, they will spend money to buy the intellectual property rights of these two brands.

When the time comes, I'll have a head-to-head confrontation with those employees to see who gives in first.

Anyway, Cao Yang has no intention of investing money directly in England. It is almost inevitable that R\u0026D and factory production capacity will be slowly transferred to China in the future.

"Most of Jaguar and Land Rover's previous engines and gearboxes were not produced by Nanshan Group."

"In the future, relying solely on this part of the business, Nanshan Group's business will rise to a big level."

From this acquisition business, Liu Tianwu saw more than just the addition of two more car brands to Nanshan Group.

But the parts supply behind these two brands is equivalent to excess.

Here, Nanshan Group will definitely make some moves by then.

"That's true. Last year, the two brands Jaguar and Land Rover combined sold 60,000 to 70,000 cars in a year, which is somewhat of an achievement."

"But they have their own supply chain, and we can't directly replace them all in a short period of time."

"Of course, Jaguar Land Rover used Ford engines before. There will definitely be no problem in replacing them with Nanshan engines in the future."

"As for the 8AT used in some of their models, it is already produced by Nanshan Transmission, so it doesn't have much impact."

Cao Yang didn't expect Liu Tianwu to be able to notice the impact of the component level, which was quite surprising.

However, this has strengthened Cao Yang's determination to bring Jaguar Land Rover's focus to China in the future.

In other places, at most it will be enough to maintain the current scale.

As long as there are no layoffs or reductions in production, even if England has any objections, they can't speak out.

Even if you say it out loud, it will be of no use.

Xingchen Automobile is not something they can manipulate at will.

"Mr. Cao, Jaguar Land Rover should also consider building a factory in China for localization in the future, right?"

"When the time comes, you have to give priority to us in Yangcheng."

"If you have any conditions, you can just put them forward."

Obviously, this is Liu Tianwu's most important purpose.

A big project like a car factory is very interesting no matter where it is.

Not only is the investment huge, but the output is also huge.

The boosting effect on the local economy is very obvious.

Yangcheng has already tasted the sweetness.

Thanks to the rapid development of Xingchen Motors, Yangcheng Honda, Yangcheng Toyota, Xifeng Nissan and Yangcheng Motor's independent brands, Yangcheng's GDP growth rate in recent years has been far ahead in Lingnan Province and even the country.

Even the automobile industry has become a pillar industry in Yangcheng.

Under this circumstance, Liu Tianwu naturally hopes to further make the automobile industry bigger and stronger and introduce more OEMs and parts companies.

Of course, his idea must be considered from the perspective of Yangcheng City.

For Nanshan Group, Cao Yang must have his own ideas.

"Leader, we just signed the acquisition agreement with Ford yesterday. Even the formal handover has not been completed."

"There are many things that need further processing."

"So building factories in China has not been included in the agenda for the time being."

"Also, in the early days, we will fully respect the wishes of Jaguar Land Rover's original management team and will not interfere too forcefully in some of their businesses."

"So whether to build a factory in China or whether to make it domestically, I have no way to reply to you now."

Although Cao Yang already had a clear idea in his mind, it was definitely not the right time to speak out now.

The procrastination technique is not only used by leaders.

Of course Liu Tianwu was not satisfied with Cao Yang's statement.

But he also knew that it was impossible to directly ask Cao Yang to make any promises at this time.

In the end, I had to exchange pleasantries about other things and then hung up the phone.

However, for Cao Yang, this round of phone attacks has just begun.

"Mr. Cao, we have had some contact with Land Rover before and want to discuss establishing a joint venture in China."

"However, because Ford had the idea of ​​selling Land Rover vehicles, the contact was shelved after a brief exchange."

"If Land Rover has plans to localize its products, we at Chery are very willing to cooperate with Land Rover."

"We can ensure that the joint venture company obtains production qualifications, we can provide funds for the construction of the joint venture company's factory, and even some rights in marketing can also be given to Land Rover."

As soon as Yin Chuan came up, he unleashed a big move on Cao Yang.

Although Cao Yang knew that the joint venture Chery Jaguar Land Rover did appear in the future, it should be a few years later.

Unexpectedly, the other party had already mentioned this topic in 2008.

It’s just that the topic seems to have ended before it even started.

Now that Xingchen Motors has acquired Jaguar Land Rover, Yin Chuan must be anxious.

Although China's automobile industry policy stipulates that the shareholding ratio of foreign-invested automobile companies in the domestic market cannot exceed 50%.

At that time, Land Rover can completely cooperate with Xingchen Motors and Nanshan Group to establish a new joint venture.

There is no need to give up shares and interests to Chery Automobile.

Yin Chuan has obviously realized this.

But he still wanted to try hard.

After all, Chery Automobile would previously target Land Rover for cooperation. On the one hand, this was because most of the auto giants already had partners in China.

On the other hand, Chery Automobile also wants to enhance its brand image through this joint venture, so that Chery Automobile can get rid of its low-end image.

However, this goal is not so easy to achieve.

"Mr. Yin, it's too early to discuss this matter now."

"We have not yet formally contacted Jaguar Land Rover's management team, and even some of our handovers with Ford have not officially begun."

"I'm not sure how Jaguar Land Rover will develop in China in the future."

"However, we will certainly fully respect the opinions of the Jaguar Land Rover management team."

Cao Yang would definitely not agree to Yin Chuan's proposal.

But it’s not appropriate to refuse directly.

So the ball was thrown to Jaguar Land Rover's management team.

Anyway, just let them take the blame if the time comes.

As a subordinate, it is part of the job to take the blame for the leader.

"I understand what you are saying, but I also want Mr. Cao to know Chery Automobile's sincerity in advance."

"Although Land Rover only officially entered the Chinese market in 2003, it has now fully established a high-end brand image."

"I believe that the future performance of Land Rover and Jaguar in the Chinese market will definitely bring more surprises to everyone."

Although he was very disappointed, Yin Chuan stayed polite to Cao Yang for a few minutes before finally hanging up the phone with regret.

Regarding the major event of Xingchen Automobile's acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover, Cao Yang, the person involved, received various calls one after another as soon as he got off the plane, until there was no power.

And on the Internet, it is even more lively.

"Xingchen Automobile is awesome, it actually acquired Jaguar and Land Rover!"

“I used to debate whether to buy a Range Rover or a Range Rover, but now it seems I don’t need to debate anymore.”

"Xingchen Motors only has one car, Ziweixing. In the future, we can choose more cars to buy from Jaguar."

"Awesome, my star car!"

"Xingchen Motors has broken the record this time."

…

Various comments are spread across major forums and QQ groups.

Naturally, the automotive media from all walks of life also carnivaled all the way.

No need to worry about the latest hot news.

"Mr. Fang, Xingchen Motors has done a good job keeping secrets before. I didn't expect that they could actually acquire Jaguar and Land Rover, two luxury brands with deep heritage."

"This is simply a depth bomb thrown into the Chinese automobile industry."

Lin Jiayan felt that she would have to work overtime again tonight.

There is a lot of hot news, and this is definitely good news.

But if you have to work overtime...

Hey, just get used to it.

"Mr. Cao is a person who can always bring surprises to everyone."

"In the past few years, I feel that half of the hot news in China's automobile industry has something to do with his Nanshan Group."

"The US$2.3 billion in cash was given as promised. It seems that Nanshan Group has not made less money in recent years."

Fang Dawen has no intention of getting into trouble with Nanshan Group now.

If you have trouble with Nanshan Group, you have trouble with yourself.

On the contrary, it is rare to see negative news related to Xingchen Auto on NetEase Auto.

Of course, this is not only true on NetEase Auto, but also on several other portals. It is difficult to see negative news about Xingchen Auto.

Mainly because Xingchen Auto is so impressive that other websites don’t dare to make up random stories easily.

"Although Nanshan Group has never announced its profits to the outside world, its turnover last year exceeded 200 billion yuan. Even with a profit margin of only 5%, it still earned 10 billion yuan."

Lin Jiayan has a clear understanding of Nanshan Group's operating data.

However, Fang Dawen has a different view, "As for the things produced by Nanshan Group, they are all relatively high-tech. The profit margin is definitely more than 5%. I think it may be more than doubled."

"If that were the case, wouldn't it mean that it earned more than 20 billion yuan last year?"

After Lin Jiayan finished speaking, she couldn't help but swallow her saliva.

She felt like a lot of money was floating in front of her...

What a pity it has nothing to do with her!