Sitting at the negotiating table and listening to the American lawyers' arguments on various patents one by one, Han Hao realized that they were actually earning hard-earned money.

Every patent used by Jaguar and Land Rover needs to be re-argued to find a solution.

According to the database, there are more than 40,000 patents, and it takes at least two months to demonstrate these clauses.

As we all know, after the Jaguar Land Rover brand entered the Ford family, it was developed by Ford, and naturally used many Ford technologies, involving many patents. Now that the family is separated, the patent naturally cannot be taken away, and the new and old owners need to settle the accounts clearly.

The more than 40,000 patents are roughly divided into three categories:

The first type is broad licensing, i.e., Ford owns the intellectual property, but it can be disclosed to Jaguar Land Rover as well as to Chunghwa Group. The number of such is extremely limited, and they are all common standards in the automotive industry, even if Ford does not give them, Zhonghua Group can grasp them themselves.

The second category is exclusive and exclusive intellectual property rights. It is Ford's own enjoyment, and it is their core technology, including key information such as engines and transmissions. In the past, Jaguar Land Rover knew about it when it was developing products, but now that Ford is no longer authorized, Jaguar Land Rover cannot be used in the future, and of course, China Group should not want to get involved. Infringement of these intellectual property rights of Ford will result in retaliatory penalties.

The third category is the key, which is limited authorization. This part of the patent is owned by Ford, but it can be licensed to Jaguar Land Rover, but Chunghwa Group cannot use it and is not allowed to make it public. This category is the area that Han Hao cares about the most, and if this part of the patent cannot be negotiated, Jaguar Land Rover will face the danger of suspension. The strength of the Chunghwa Group alone cannot support the development of Jaguar Land Rover, and it must rely on Ford's technology to make a living during the transition period.

At a cursory glance, the number of patents involved in this part is more than 20,000, which is enough for lawyers to be busy. Otherwise, after the Zhonghua Group becomes the owner in the future, it will be found that the patent lacks or infringes on Ford's patent, and the matter will be even more unclear.

In addition to the lawyer's involvement, Zhonghua Group's own technical experts also had to be present, because lawyers are laymen after all, and professionals need to be in charge, and the working group led by Zhao Quanfu will be responsible for which terms and conditions to argue with Ford.

Fortunately, there are many elites who have returned from Detroit, and they are familiar with English and have no difficulty communicating with the negotiators, which greatly reduces the workload.

Although Ford listed the Chung Hwa Group as a preferred bidder, the two sides were tense at the negotiating table, slapping the table and even making personal attacks. After the quarrel, the conversation continued, and the conversation immediately became arguing, and it is in this cycle that the number of patent negotiations is decreasing day by day.

Such a trivial negotiation, Han Hao watched it for a long time and left, this is really not his field of expertise. Meeting with Ford Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Murali is his main business.

Needless to say, he and Han Hao are already old friends, and both sides are optimistic that the deal can be reached. You must know that Ford continues to lose money, although it has obtained a loan of 24 billion US dollars from the bank with all its net worth, but the sale of Jaguar Land Rover can cut expenses by nearly 8 billion US dollars, which is a real self-help for Ford.

Knowing that the Chinese stock market is rising while the U.S. stock market is tumbling is the envy of Bill Ford, who has no one predicting what will happen next with the financial crisis looming over Americans.

Although Jaguar Land Rover has almost gotten it, Han Hao is still thinking about Ford's other piece of fat Volvo cars.

Compared with Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo is really a piece of jade, and a little carving will become a big tool.

"Han, Volvo is not for sale, and it is a good fit to stay in the Ford family. ”

Bill Ford insisted on refusing to sell Volvo cars because the Volvo brand has a higher global appeal.

Ford's Lincoln brand influence is limited to the United States, while Volvo can cover the global market and will be an important chess piece in Ford's strategy in the future.

During the talks with Murali, the two talked more about the future of automobiles, especially Murali also knew about the "future", a pure electric car made by Chinese, and he agreed with the bold attempt of the China Group.

As we all know, the time for human beings to move from an agrarian society to an industrial society is very short in the long history of mankind.

With the invention of the steam engine as the state of Industry 1.0, humans began to use machinery for mass production. With the advent of electricity and the internal combustion engine, industry entered the 2.0 era of electrification and automation. In the 70s, computer technology rose in the world, especially in the 90s, the Internet became the second space of human life, and industry developed to the 3.0 era of informatization.

The automobile, one of the greatest inventions in human history, has also evolved from the steam engine of 1.0 to the internal combustion engine of 2.0, and is gradually moving towards 3.0 informatization.

Judging from the consensus reached by Han Hao and Murali, the current automotive products have just entered the threshold of 3.0 informatization, and the salient feature is that GPS positioning and more Internet technology are applied to the car. Perhaps in 10 to 20 years, the car will face a new metamorphosis and evolve again with the tide of Industry 4.0.

What exactly is Industry 4.0?

The Internet of Things based on Internet technology has become the mainstream, intelligent industry has further subverted traditional industry, and artificial intelligence will become the most important assistant for human beings in the future, greatly reducing human physical labor and liberating the space for mental labor.

"Cars will also have intelligent features, no longer just a means of travel, but become a good companion for human beings to go out of the house, and can be competent for various auxiliary work.

Maybe the Autobots we see in science fiction films can be realized in the future, and specific performances such as unmanned driving, seamless human-computer interaction, and private housekeepers will all come true. ”

Talking about the excitement, Han Hao imagined his expectations for the future of cars.

"Human laziness and curiosity have driven technological progress, and I believe that all of this will become a reality in the future. However, technologies such as new energy vehicles, unmanned driving, and human-machine exchange have matured, and it is believed that the real scene will be seen soon. ”

In addition to a Ford strategy, Murali also proposed the concept of "Ford of Technology" on this basis, so that Ford would once again lead the technological trend of the automotive industry after the Model T.

Sure enough, he is the best manager to pull Boeing out of the quagmire, and his strategy is indeed forward-looking and feasible. If Ford can follow the strategy laid out by Murali, it is likely to be the first of the three major U.S. auto companies to recover.

"If the difficult situation continues, will you sell Volvo cars?"

chatted happily and deepened their understanding and exchanges, so Han Hao asked where Volvo was going again.

"Well, Volvo is a good asset and the board doesn't want to sell it. But if things don't get better, nothing is out of the question. ”

After a pause, Murali gave a meaningful answer.

If it weren't for Bill Ford's insistence, Volvo would have appeared on Murali's list for sale! Like Jaguar Land Rover, selling back funds can also reduce a large amount of unnecessary expenses, and Volvo can reduce the burden on Ford by at least $10 billion in one entry and one exit.

In the past, Ford Motor had a lot of money, but now it is mired in a quagmire, and $10 billion is a big number, enough to save Ford from the quagmire.

Hearing such an answer, Han Hao knew it in his heart.

After he took down the Jaguar Land Rover, it seems that he will have to stock up on ammunition, and maybe he will have to fight a big battle for Volvo in the future.

If Volvo is really won, this luxury brand from Northern Europe known for its safety has a full platform model from sedans to SUVs, and it does have a positioning overlap with Jaguar Land Rover.

Land Rover must not give up, as a hard-core off-road representative, Han Hao is still waiting for Land Rover technology to be transplanted to the newly established independent hard-core SUV. Moreover, Land Rover is positioned above luxury SUVs, especially luxury large and medium-sized SUVs like Range Rover, which do not constitute direct competition with Volvo's XC90, and there are no sedan products under it, so the two can coexist.

On the other hand, the Jaguar brand relies on the X series as the main product in the field of luxury cars, which overlaps with Volvo's S series sedans. Jaguar's popularity is incomparable to Volvo's, and this loss-making brand needs to invest huge resources if it wants to be reborn and rise.

If you really want to give up, then Jaguar will be the brand that will be abandoned, with Land Rover and Volvo focusing on the luxury car market, it is enough for Zhonghua Group.

If the Jaguar brand is transferred to Tata Motors, it is believed that Ratan should be happy to accept such a deal, so that Zhonghua Group can also return a sum of money.

Like playing chess, one step and three moves, Han Hao began to plan for the future.

Who would have dared to believe that Zhonghua Group could buy the Jaguar Land Rover brand before, and since it has happened, then buying Volvo will not be a pipe dream.

Murali's words gave Han Hao great hope, as long as Ford is willing to sell Volvo, then he will definitely get this piece of jade, and it will be when Jaguar begins to look for the next home.

Although it should not be a big problem to keep a Jaguar, if you really can't afford to raise it and give it to a more suitable person, you are also responsible for the Jaguar brand and its employees. In addition, it can also consolidate the relationship with Tata Motors, and I believe that Latan will raise Jaguar cars as his heart.

With this in mind, Han Hao deliberately put forward a new request to the negotiation team, that is, to have autonomy over the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover in the future.

When it comes to multinational brands like Jaguar and Land Rover, of course, it won't be sold like a toy. The reason why Ford chose the China Group is that it feels that the Chinese can make the two British brands live better.

"You Chinese haven't bought them yet, and now you want to sell them? So there is no need to continue negotiations, we might as well find a company that really thinks about Jaguar Land Rover!"

When Ford's negotiator heard this, he was so angry that he slapped the table and left the negotiation room.

"Ten years ago, when you Ford bought Jaguar and Land Rover, you didn't expect to sell them today! Besides, you Americans don't like to do premarital property justice before marriage, love is love, but life is life, and there is nothing wrong with preparing for divorce in advance, which is a sign of civilization and maturity. ”

Zhao Quan, who was in charge of the negotiation, took a look and quickly pulled the other party back.

In fact, he also felt that such a request was a bit excessive, but Han Hao insisted that he couldn't help it, anyway, try to talk about it first, and give up if he couldn't talk.

"In that case, let's set a 10-year time frame as well.

It took us 10 years at Ford, and I hope that your Zhonghua Group can also keep it for so long, after all, Jaguar and Land Rover are not children's toys, and if you don't want to, throw them away. ”

Since the Chinese insisted on talks, Ford set a 10-year deadline.

In 10 years, the daylilies are cold!

Of course, the Chinese side does not accept such a deadline, and after insisting on two years, it can sell it on its own.

"It's common in society to get married today and divorce tomorrow. We guarantee that in the event of a divorce, Jaguar and Land Rover will be properly settled, and the divorce ceremony will not be less.

Up to 2 years, we can promise not to sell!"

This negotiation alone involved half a month, and the two sides were at loggerheads over it.

In addition, Han Hao also added a special clause: Within four years, with the consent of all parties, the amnesty clause can be used to sell it unconditionally.

This is the back door he deliberately left behind in order to seek Volvo, it seems that Han Hao's appetite is getting bigger and bigger, and he dares to covet more favorable targets.