Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

After the commissioning ceremony of the Jaguar Land Rover Magic City Factory, a grand banquet was naturally held that evening to entertain various media and some guests.

At this time, there were not so many restrictions on eating and drinking, so the dinner was very lively.

Many people related to the Magic City and the district were present.

Everyone is also full of expectations for the Jaguar Land Rover Magic City Factory.

Liu Tianwu would calculate the GDP data at the beginning, and they would naturally calculate it as well.

It was only in 2006 that the GDP of Shanghai exceeded RMB 1 trillion for the first time, and last year it was only over RMB 1.4 trillion.

A GDP growth of hundreds of billions is definitely a figure worth looking forward to by departments at all levels.

Therefore, during the construction of the Jaguar Land Rover factory, the cooperation from the Magic City side was also very high, which can be said to be a green light all the way.

While everyone was paying attention to the news that Jaguar Land Rover's Magic City factory was officially put into operation, Cao Yang and Jaguar Land Rover's senior executives held a formal meeting of Jaguar Land Rover's 2009 Board of Directors in the newly built office building.

Some senior officials who have never been to China have fully experienced the prosperity of the Magic City and the great changes in China in the past two days.

I am not very resistant to the company's decision to shift part of its focus to Shanghai in the future.

But there must be some people who do not support Jaguar Land Rover focusing entirely on China in the future.

"The Chinese market is now the largest automobile market in the world. Building a factory here is in line with the company's overall interests, so everyone supports this approach, and finally we have the beautiful factory we have now."

"However, the company's research and development work has always been placed in England. It is also acceptable to appropriately place part of the work related to mass production process improvement in China."

"But I think it is inappropriate to put all future research and development work on new models in the R\u0026D center in Shanghai."

As the few remaining local factions on the Jaguar Land Rover board of directors, at this board meeting, I heard that President Maderen proposed to move Jaguar Land Rover's R\u0026D center to Shanghai, and only maintain the R\u0026D functions of a small number of models in England.

This naturally touches the bottom line of the local faction.

For a long time, many foreign companies have only regarded Chinese factories as sales markets and do not want to put their research and development work here.

Even by 2023, many parts giants' factories in China will have no R\u0026D functions.

Japanese parts companies are the most obvious in this regard.

It seems that after placing the R\u0026D function in China, one's own technology will be immediately copied by the Chinese.

In this regard, Cao Yang naturally did not allow Jaguar Land Rover to do the same.

Hollowing out Jaguar Land Rover and transferring it all to China, so that it can truly become a company affiliated with Nanshan Group, is what Cao Yang wants to do.

Now that the first step has been completed, Jaguar Land Rover's global president and R\u0026D director are both from Nanshan Group.

But this is definitely not enough.

If there is a Tao that is not of my race, its mind must be different.

Cao Yang definitely hopes that more Chinese people will join Jaguar Land Rover's management team in the future.

At present, only Cao Yang himself and Pan Jianghui have entered the board of directors of Jaguar Land Rover, which is definitely not enough.

So this time when the board of directors was held, Cao Yang decided to do a big purge and remove all directors who were not of the same mind as him.

Then gradually replace the senior management team with people who follow orders.

For Cao Yang, loyalty is more important than ability at this time.

In other words, executives who take orders from themselves are the ones who are prioritized for promotion.

Otherwise, the stronger the ability, the greater the harm to Nanshan Group.

So this time he proposed a very radical plan at the board meeting, otherwise the research and development of major new models in the future would be done in China.

This is much more exaggerated than the rumors that were released before.

So some people immediately jumped out to oppose it.

"The automobile market in China is expected to exceed 20 million vehicles in the future, and Jaguar Land Rover's sales in China will soon exceed 200,000 vehicles. In the future, it is likely that half of Jaguar Land Rover's sales will rely on the Chinese market."

"In this case, the new models we develop must fully take into account the needs of Chinese consumers."

"There is no other solution that is more direct than placing R\u0026D work directly in China to better understand consumers' preferences."

"I believe everyone is very clear about the fate of Jaguar Land Rover in the past ten years."

"It is precisely because of such problems that it is constantly being sold back and forth by shareholders."

“It’s only this year that we have achieved profitability.”

"We must cherish this opportunity and use this opportunity to make Jaguar Land Rover take off again."

Naturally, Cao Yang didn't need to deal with the quarrel personally.

Pan Jianghui, the general manager of Huaxia, immediately stood up to refute after hearing the other party's objections.

And his rebuttal naturally attracted several other local factions to speak out.

What was a good board meeting turned into a debate.

"The reason why Jaguar Land Rover is able to achieve today's results is because it has a strong British luxury gene. If most of the research and development work is done in China, this luxury attribute will slowly disappear. This will have a great impact on Jaguar Land Rover." In terms of long-term development, it is very detrimental.”

"Furthermore, the current R\u0026D personnel are basically native-born English, and many of them are unwilling to leave the country."

"New models developed in China in the future will definitely encounter various problems. There is no need to make such an attempt so soon."

It has to be said that this view is not completely unreasonable.

From the perspective of pure capital investment, Nanshan Group really does not necessarily need to go through such troubles.

But for Cao Yang, this issue obviously cannot be viewed this way.

Jaguar Land Rover, it must be Jaguar Land Rover belonging to Nanshan Group, and Jaguar Land Rover belonging to Cao Yang.

If you can't do this, then you might as well let it sink!

Taking this opportunity to remove disobedient and overthinking directors from the management team is one of Cao Yang's purposes for convening the board of directors this time.

"Wherever the market is, our production and R\u0026D will go. This is what should be done in a market economy."

"Although if we place the development of new models in Shanghai, we will encounter some problems at the beginning, but I think they can be completely overcome."

"In the first stage, it is not necessary for all R\u0026D personnel to relocate to China. Even in the end, some personnel can be appropriately retained to stay in England for R\u0026D."

“But the development of new models produced in China must be carried out in China’s R\u0026D center. Otherwise, a product that does not meet the needs of the Chinese market will be developed, which will be a huge loss for the company. "

Pan Jianghui continued to argue with others.

The whole morning passed like this.

By the afternoon, everyone no longer continued to argue about the R\u0026D center.

However, the board of directors began to make a series of personnel adjustments.

Several directors who expressed objections in the morning were arranged to go to Tianzhu Branch, Deutsche Branch, Dubai Branch and other places to be responsible for developing local business.

Judging from the administrative level, it may not have been lowered, but it has left the headquarters, and its influence is now limited to local areas.

Jaguar's personnel purge has officially begun.

This time, Cao Yang directly transferred ten department heads from Xingchen Motors to Jaguar Land Rover to serve as heads or deputies of various departments.

He is determined to take Jaguar Land Rover into his own hands.

As for whether some people would not cooperate, he was really not particularly worried.

The engine currently used by Jaguar Land Rover is produced by Nanshan Engine, and the gearbox used is produced by Nanshan Transmission.

Nanshan Group has no special expectations for Jaguar Land Rover's technology, so it makes no sense for some of the other party's technical staff to use technology to manipulate Nanshan Group.

People don’t care about your technology, so how can you use it as a weapon to threaten people?

Cao Yang made such a big move in such a short period of time, so naturally he couldn't hide it from all media.

Even some media in England began to report on the changes in Jaguar Land Rover executives, and some bad comments even emerged.

However, this will not affect Cao Yang's decision-making.

In the eyes of some car companies, these changes are worthy of celebration.

"Yang Ming, Nanshan Group has abandoned its martial arts skills this time. It actually purged Jaguar Land Rover's local managers at such a critical time. It also directly transferred a group of personnel from Xingchen Motors to work at Jaguar Land Rover."

"I feel it will take at least a year before Jaguar Land Rover can end this turbulent situation."

"By then, we at Mercedes-Benz may have a chance to surpass Jaguar Land Rover's sales in China."

August is also relatively well-informed, and he has a relatively clear understanding of Jaguar Land Rover's activities.

However, Yang Ming is not so optimistic.

"This change will indeed bring some turmoil and unrest to Jaguar Land Rover's management in the short term."

"But after all, people have come out of the trough. It may not be that easy to see them fall into trouble again."

"I believe Cao Yang must have thought of the problems we can think of."

"In this way, the story behind this matter is worth understanding."

"Perhaps the other party thinks that after adjusting the management team in this way, Jaguar Land Rover's management efficiency can be greatly improved and Jaguar Land Rover's sales in China can be increased."

When Yang Ming said this, August couldn't help but frown.

This makes sense logically.

"Jaguar Land Rover is an English company, and the cultural atmosphere inside is completely different from that of a Chinese company."

"If Nanshan Group wants to completely make Jaguar Land Rover as obedient as Xingchen Motors, I'm afraid it will be difficult."

"But no matter what, Jaguar Land Rover is developing so fast. Now that something happens internally, it is a good thing for us."

August firmly believes that something will happen to Jaguar Land Rover this time.

Nanshan Group's actions were too drastic.

This is to completely transform Jaguar Land Rover into a Chinese enterprise.

Even if the management agrees, English will not agree.

Thinking of this, August felt that he needed to do something, and said: "Collect the information about Jaguar Land Rover in China, and I will communicate with the marketing staff at the headquarters to see if they can come forward. , and publicize how Nanshan Group treats the original Jaguar Land Rover executives in Europe."

"At the same time, we should also publicize how Chinese companies stole Jaguar Land Rover's technology."

Although Nanshan Group also supplies some parts to Didu Benz, cooperation is cooperation and competition is competition.

If he can find an opportunity to step on others, August will definitely not miss it.

Although the impact of the financial crisis has not been completely eliminated, August's statement does not necessarily mean that the market is very broad.

But at least some people can still believe it and jump out to cause trouble.

"Okay, I'll go get ready right away."

"It would be great if some people from Jaguar Land Rover could come out and strike."

"Although they have built a factory in Magic City, they should only be preparing for the mass production of a few cars now. It is impossible for all models to be produced in China at the Magic City factory immediately."

"Once there is a prolonged strike at the factory in England, it will definitely have an impact on Jaguar Land Rover's model supply."

"In the end, it is likely that Jaguar Land Rover will have no cars to sell in China."

Yang Ming also thought of a more vicious trick.

In business competition, naturally all means will be considered.

In particular, Mercedes-Benz's market performance in China has lagged behind Audi, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Xingchen Motors. This situation they definitely hope to change.

To change the situation, naturally we need to take some actions.

"This proposal is very good. I can communicate directly with the headquarters to see if we can promote this matter."

After August finished speaking, he became a lot more excited.

However, since the board of directors has made such a big move, Jaguar Land Rover's internal executives who are on the side of Nanshan Group can naturally predict that the company will have some problems in the next step.

So we are also discussing the response plan with Cao Yang.

"Mr. Cao, although those who objected were removed from the board of directors and dismissed from relevant positions."

"But the influence of these people within the company will still exist. If they want to do something secretly, there may really be some trouble."

As the president of Jaguar Land Rover, Maderen naturally has to consider the stability of the company at this time.

Otherwise, he might become the scapegoat by then.

After more than a year of contact, he has a deeper understanding of Nanshan Group.

Unlike ordinary Chinese companies, they are really not afraid of causing any trouble with Jaguar Land Rover. At worst, they will use your brand and start a new business in China.

The company was even divided into two parts, one part doing business in China and the other part doing business in other regions.

if that is the case. For Maderen, this is definitely not a good thing.

He also knows his position within the company. Nanshan Group just wants to control Jaguar Land Rover through himself.

If you don't do well, you may be replaced at any time.

"This problem is not that difficult to solve. For ordinary employees, what they care about most is their personal interests."

"The so-called company's future is often closely related to personal interests. It's just a different term."

"The English factory can introduce a new incentive measure. In the next few years, employees' wages can be linked to the company's overall sales."

"As long as sales increase, bonuses or basic wages can be increased."

"It will definitely rise this year. Let everyone taste the benefits first."

"If there is a strike or something like that, it will definitely affect production quantity and sales, which will directly affect everyone's income."

Cao Yang feels that things that can be settled with money are not a big deal for Jaguar Land Rover at this stage.

After a few years, Jaguar Land Rover's R\u0026D and production capabilities will basically be transferred to Shanghai, so it won't matter how much trouble Anges takes.

Even the more cheerful you are, the more reason Nanshan Group will have to transfer all functions such as production capacity and research and development to China, making Jaguar Land Rover completely a Chinese enterprise.

Nanshan Group has been able to successfully build Xingchen Motors into a luxury brand. Now it is naturally not that difficult to maintain Jaguar Land Rover.

Especially with the changes in China's auto market in the future, China may account for more than half, or even 70 to 80%, of Jaguar Land Rover's global sales.

At that time, England's headquarters can consider moving directly to China.

"That's okay, but it will lead to a certain increase in production costs."

Maderen didn't expect Cao Yang to be so generous and directly wanted to increase everyone's wages and bonuses.

He is naturally happy to see such a plan.

After all, in the end, most employees will feel that it was Maderen who won the benefits for them.

However, in front of Cao Yang, he still had to show an attitude that he was very considerate of shareholders.

"This is all a minor problem. Let's stabilize the people at the headquarters first. As long as we give us another year or two, we won't have to worry about anything."

With this instruction from Cao Yang, Ma Deren knew what was going on.

At the Jaguar Land Rover Magic City factory, the final sprint for the official mass production of each new model has also begun.

Whether it is a Jaguar-branded sports car or a Range Rover, the original plan was to roll them off the assembly line when the factory was put into production.

However, during the commissioning ceremony, the production equipment of each workshop was mostly displayed, and the launch of new models was not carried out together.

This is also considering that January is coming soon, and the 2009 sales data of various car companies will be released.

At that time, the focus of the automotive industry was definitely on the sales data of various OEMs and the sales targets for 2010.

Whether it’s F-TYPE or Range Rover, if you want to stay popular for a long time, it’s best to wait until this time has passed before engaging in activities.

Otherwise, the publicity effect will be greatly reduced.

Just like a certain rock star, he never finds the right time to promote, or he is just unlucky and fails to make headlines every time.

However, for the Chinese automobile industry, everyone will not ignore these changes so easily.

For example, Geely Automobile, which acquired Volvo Cars and has not yet fully handed over, can't wait to communicate with Cao Yang.

"Mr. Cao, I heard that you replaced the entire management team of Jaguar Land Rover with people who listen to the Nanshan Group. Those who disobey will be kicked out."

"If you do this, won't you worry about those foreigners causing trouble?"

Li Su and Cao Yang were old acquaintances, so after chatting on the phone for a few words, they went directly to the topic.

Many people are not optimistic about Geely Automobile Shetonxiang's acquisition of Volvo Cars.

In particular, everyone wants to see whether Geely Automobile can absorb Volvo Cars.

"They will definitely cause trouble, but now is when they are still relatively weak. If we can't completely control them at this time, it will be even more difficult in the future."

"Cut the mess with a quick knife. If you want to make a mess, just mess with it for a while. Maybe there will be less trouble in the future."

"Let those people know that shareholders are shareholders, and they are not someone they can swindle casually."

Cao Yang did not regard Geely Automobile as his competitor, so he gave a relatively candid opinion to Li Su for communicating with him.

After all, if Geely Automobile can really take over Volvo Cars, it will be a good thing for the development of China's automobile industry.

"Frankly speaking, my confidence is a bit lacking."

Li Su sighed, naturally aware of the gap between Geely Automobile and Nanshan Group.

Everyone's strength is different, and their confidence is naturally different.

"Mr. Li, this is a game process. If you take a step back, the other party will take a step forward."

"If you have more worries, you can consider doing the same as Jaguar Land Rover, first setting up factories and R\u0026D centers in China, and slowly shifting Volvo Cars' focus to China."

"It's difficult to control it at the headquarters, but it's much easier at the Huaxia branch."

When Cao Yang said this, Li Su was a little moved.

He had planned this in the first place, but now that Cao Yang said so, he was even more tempted.

"I will go back and sort out the current situation of Volvo Cars, and then I will go to Yangcheng to visit you."

With a general direction in mind, Li Su also felt that Cao Yang seemed to be willing to communicate with him about this aspect, so he thought about communicating face to face.

After all, some things are definitely not that effective if only communicated on the phone.

"No problem, Mr. Li is welcome to come and communicate at any time."

Geely Automobile's sales have increased significantly in the past two years, and accordingly the parts business supplied to them by Nanshan Group has naturally increased.

He can barely be considered a major customer of Nanshan Group.

There is no need for Cao Yang to refuse this kind of thing that can further bring the relationship between the two parties closer.

Even for other domestic independent brands, if he is willing to have a good communication with Nanshan Group, he is very happy.

The market is so big, it is completely possible for independent brands to go one step further and work together to seize the share of international automobile giants.