We're building a super chaebol in Hong Kong

As one British bank after another was acquired, Li Ka-shing knew that his opportunities were dwindling.

He dared not dream of Jardine Matheson and Swire Group, because these two major firms were now much stronger than Hutchison Whampoa was in the past, and the financial strength of the consortia behind them was not something Li Ka-shing could covet.

Of the remaining British firms, he dared not even think of HSBC. Among the large British firms with such immense scale, only Wheelock and Company remained as an option.

Although Wheelock and Company was a large enterprise with a substantial foundation, it was clear that the strength of its behind-the-scenes controllers was significantly weaker than that of the consortia behind other British firms.

Therefore, if Li Ka-shing could seize the opportunity, perhaps he could covet Wheelock and Company, one of Hong Kong's four major traditional trading houses.

"I wonder if Mr. Su is easy to talk to?" Li Ka-shing suddenly had such a thought.

Since he couldn't compete with Su Cheng, he could only try to curry favor.

To put it bluntly, it was about licking boots.

If he could gain Su Cheng's support, perhaps he really would have a chance to take control of the Wheelock Group!

As soon as this idea emerged, he felt it was increasingly feasible.

"It seems that there is an opportunity to meet with Mr. Su to see if I can get his support in this matter," Li Ka-shing thought to himself.

Since he couldn't be the boss, being the second-in-command was also a good option.

As for Sir Yue-Kong Pao, Li Ka-shing was considered a friend and understood his situation very well.

Given Sir Yue-Kong Pao's current age and his four sons-in-law, the Global Shipping Group was destined to be divided in the end. By then, he would naturally be able to surpass the Pao family.

Su Cheng, of course, didn't know what Li Ka-shing was thinking.

At this moment, he was concerned about the situation of Miles taking office at China Motor Bus.

After all, although he had great confidence in Miles, he couldn't guarantee that Miles was 100% suitable for managing China Motor Bus.

Time quickly came to September.

September in Hong Kong had just passed through a typhoon and rainstorm. The weather in Hong Kong after the rain was very pleasant.

Miles had been in office for several days and had gradually adapted to the management of China Motor Bus.

After all, although China Motor Bus had a larger market value and scale than Jardine Motors, in terms of actual business, Jardine Motors' operations were much more complex than those of China Motor Bus.

Before China Motor Bus ventured into the real estate industry, its business was mainly focused on bus operations.

Miles easily familiarized himself with these tasks and quickly got started.

However, the current China Motor Bus was undergoing large-scale reforms.

Not only was it entering the real estate industry, but there were also significant changes in the bus industry itself.

Among them, upgrading the soon-to-be-淘汰 buses was the first problem Miles faced after taking office.

This problem had been mentioned to Su Cheng by Cheung Kai-ching before.

However, Su Cheng had planned to wait until Miles took office before dealing with it.

Now that Miles had successfully taken office, he naturally began to face this problem.

Rear-engine buses were clearly not suitable for Hong Kong.

And bus companies around the world had stopped producing front-engine buses.

Buying used front-engine buses might not be available in sufficient quantities, and even if they were, they would become scrap in a few years.

Therefore, buying new buses was the best option.

But clearly, front-engine buses were almost impossible to buy new.

No one would specially retain the original production line for your order of just over a hundred buses.

A city with terrain like Hong Kong that could still become an international metropolis was rare in the world.

Therefore, only Hong Kong was like this.

These bus manufacturing companies that mainly focused on exports would naturally not change their designs for just one city in Hong Kong, because the cost would be considerable.

But there were too many mountain roads in Hong Kong, so many that if rear-engine buses were purchased, coupled with the subsequent maintenance costs, the cost performance would be too low.

There would always be repairs, and perhaps the money earned by the buses would not be enough to repair them.

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In this light, buying the currently popular rear-engine buses was naturally impossible.

Although the boss had said that the acquisition of China Motor Bus was not mainly for making money from the bus industry, it was still necessary to achieve profitability, right? Who would do a losing business?

If China Motor Bus could still lose money under his management, then it would be his, Miles's, incompetence.

Helpless, he could only consult Cheung Kai-ching to see if he had any solutions.

"Mr. Miles, I suggest you discuss this matter with the boss," Cheung Kai-ching suggested after seeing through Miles's thoughts.

Then, he also told Miles about the scene when he had discussed this matter with Su Cheng before.

Moreover, the nominal major shareholder of China Motor Bus was still Tian Yuan Investment Company, and he, Cheung Kai-ching, was the general manager of Tian Yuan Investment Company.

Of course, although nominally China Motor Bus was under the jurisdiction of Tian Yuan Investment Company, in reality Cheung Kai-ching no longer had the right to manage China Motor Bus, and Miles directly connected with the boss, Su Cheng.

"I heard that the automotive industry in the UK, since the automotive industry of the Eastern Neighbor entered Europe, sales have been declining, and many car brands are even facing bankruptcy. The British automotive industry has previously experienced a wave of mergers, precisely because many car brands were unable to operate due to a sharp drop in sales and could only band together for warmth.

But even so, the operating situation of British automotive companies has still not improved, so my suggestion is to directly buy a bus manufacturing company on the verge of bankruptcy at a low price. In Hong Kong, China Motor Bus and Kowloon Motor Bus have an annual demand of hundreds of vehicles.

If we only rely on a few hundred orders per year, the bus manufacturing company indeed won't make much money, but we can only retain a front-engine bus production line. The entire Nanyang region is also a considerable market. If we can develop the Nanyang bus market, and even more markets, we can still produce the rear-engine buses they need. The two are not mutually exclusive."

Miles quickly expressed his thoughts.

One step in place, enter the automotive industry.

However, he also knew that this idea was a bit naive. To buy a car manufacturing company specifically for a bus operating company, this matter didn't seem reliable no matter how you looked at it. (End of this chapter)