Coming to the Land Rover factory in the UK, Han Hao was ready to meet with the union representatives to convey the goodwill of his purchase. Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived at the factory gate, I was met with a large group of workers holding signs and shouting slogans in protest!

"Go back to China!"

"Chinese are liars!"

......

The sign deliberately wrote in crooked Chinese characters, and when Han Hao appeared, the protesting crowd immediately became angry.

In the past, I only saw such a scene on TV, but I didn't expect to experience it myself, it seems that foreign trade unions are really not good at stubble, and they gave themselves the power to dismount at the beginning, Han Hao was a little embarrassed to face such a scene.

Ford wants to sell Jaguar and Land Rover, in addition to sellers like Han Hao, the employees of the factory in the British Peninsula are also nervous, for fear that the risk of unemployment will come to them.

"I'm sorry, but most of them are not members of our union, but former employees of Rover. ”

The Land Rover trade union member who was in charge of receiving Han Hao said with an apologetic expression on his face.

"It is said that the Chinese company that acquired Rover assets transferred the engine plant to China according to the actual situation, and also took the R&D center away. They lost their jobs and received severance compensation, but the anger in their hearts has not yet dissipated. ”

SAIC and NAIC divided Rover, and after the contract term, the assets were transferred to low-cost China.

"Your company's actions have broken their hearts, so they will vent their anger on you! Knowing that you are interested in the Land Rover brand, they specially came to persuade our union members to be careful of the Chinese!"

This trade unionist told Han Hao the truth in one go, and there was also a sense of reminder.

"Land Rover will not be sold to the Chinese!"

"We support Tata Motors!"

......

In the crowd, Han Hao also saw other slogans, and it seemed that Rattan's early arrival had won the trust of most of the workers.

Originally, Tata Motors was one step ahead, and now it has been affected by SAIC and Nanqi operations, and this trip to the UK is more difficult than I imagined.

"I'm glad to see this scene, which shows that people are willing to be in the same boat with the company, rather than hanging on to their own business.

While I don't know why my peers do this, I think it's key for the Land Rover brand to maintain its international profile, having its headquarters in the UK.

Land Rover is in trouble with its development, and the root cause is a lack of investment. In my long-term plan, not only will there be no layoffs, but more investment will be made to attract more talented people. ”

Han Hao waved his hand at the protesters, showing that he was not here to fight, but to seek a win-win situation. He was also the first to communicate his proposition, proving that he was very different from the Chinese company that acquired Rover Assets.

"200,000 units sold is not a true portrayal of Land Rover's strength, I think 500,000 units is the right target. As a result, the number of employees in existing enterprises is not enough, and it is necessary to increase the number of employees. If I become the owner, there will be no plans to lay off employees. ”

Layoffs are the key to gaining union support, and Han Hao made it very clear that he would not make cuts.

Although Han Hao repeatedly expressed goodwill, when he met with the leader of the Land Rover union, the other party was still skeptical.

Because of Rover's example, they don't trust companies from China.

Although Chinese-made goods can be found everywhere, in high-end business activities such as international mergers and acquisitions, the presence of Chinese is extremely rare, and they have not yet formed their own group reputation.

Compared with the Chinese, they are culturally closer to India's Tata Motors, especially when Ratan visited to talk about the cultural heritage of the Commonwealth.

"I believe that time will clear the misunderstandings and estrangements between our two sides, and although you know very little about the situation of the China Group, I guarantee that the Chinese will be the best in-laws of Land Rover in the future."

The acquisition of Land Rover was not a spur of the moment, but a deliberate one, as we complement each other perfectly.

If you can, I invite you to send representatives to China to visit the field and see the true strength of our China Group.

A tiger will only surrender to another, more powerful tiger, instead of bowing to a sick cat that is significantly weaker than itself. ”

Han Hao's meaning is very clear, that is, Zhonghua Group has the ability to independently develop the core technology of automobiles, and it has also entered the top 10 in global sales, which is not comparable to companies like Tata Motors that cannot even manufacture engines independently.

On the premise of not laying off employees, joining the strong side is a more in line with Land Rover's future choice.

Leaving Land Rover and coming to the Jaguar factory, the group of protesters also arrived in advance, Han Hao had to smile and wave to them again to thank Xingshi for welcoming him.

Like Land Rover, the Jaguar union is worried that Rover's today is its own tomorrow, and that it will not survive if it sells the company to the Chinese.

Although Han Hao did not receive the same welcome as Rattan in terms of the union, at least his decision to promise that there would be no layoffs made Jaguar and Land Rover employees feel a lot more reassured, and they decided to jointly send representatives to China and India for field trips.

Accompanied by staff from the Chinese Embassy in the UK, Han Hao met with the British Secretary of Commerce.

Han Hao repeated his conditions again, that is, "no layoffs and increased investment in the UK", and strive to revive the two major luxury brands of Jaguar and Land Rover.

"Han, I'm glad you made that promise. Frankly speaking, the cars of your Zhonghua Group have entered the European market and have proved their strength to a certain extent.

China and the UK have close economic and trade exchanges, and you are one of the right candidates for mergers and acquisitions. The UK government welcomes strong investors and we will be neutral under the same conditions. ”

The Secretary of Commerce's answer can be said to be the first good news Han Hao received after his visit to the UK.

Neutrality means that there will be no interference with the entry of Chinese companies, and after the union is settled, the decisive battle will be on Ford.

It is estimated that most of the global auto M&A projects have failed, and Mercedes-Benz has decided to break up with Chrysler Motors, which also makes the British government have no confidence to choose.

Jaguar and Land Rover have released rumors that they are going to be sold, and none of the world's top 10 auto companies are interested, except for the Chunghwa Group and Tata Motors from developing countries, and some investment funds and consortia are interested in participating.

On the plane back to China, Han Hao made a phone call to Tata Motors' Ratan to see if the two sides could negotiate.

Now among the bidding objects, the Zhonghua Group and Tata Motors have the highest voice, and in the context of "one peach play and two soldiers", only by joining forces can they grasp the initiative and not be led by Ford Motors.

"If we join forces to form a bidding body and negotiate one brand at a time, we can reduce a lot of unnecessary internal friction and greatly reduce the acquisition cost. This amount is conservatively estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars, and the combination will benefit both sides, and the division will hurt both.

If I only pursue the Land Rover brand and give the Jaguar brand to you, can I reach the intention of working together?"

Han Hao directly revealed his hole cards, and he hoped to make Ratan settle for the next best thing and choose the result with the least cost.

The mainstream trend in the global automotive market is still sedans, and Jaguar focuses on the luxury car segment, which has a positioning advantage over Land Rover. The only drawback is that Jaguar has been losing money year after year, which is a loss-making goods and the value is not as profitable as Land Rover.

They are all smart people, and Ratan naturally knows that joining forces with the Zhonghua Group is the best choice, but he sees the same thing as Han Hao in dividing up the results of victory.

"Now that we are in a state of tripartite and two-brand games with Ford, joining forces is the most logical decision.

Unfortunately I'm also bullish on the Land Rover brand, and if you're willing to take over Jaguar, I think we'll probably be negotiable!"

Ratan had just met with Ford's top management, and the two sides had a good conversation, and with the courtesy he received in the UK, he thought that his chances of winning were quite high, and he was not willing to accept Han Hao's proposal.

In fact, he also believes that if Han Hao does not get Land Rover, he may not be interested in Jaguar, so he will withdraw from the competition, and Tata Motors can take the opportunity to win the two brands together.

If Ford is willing to sell Volvo, Han Hao may give up Jaguar and Land Rover. But when he met with Ford's top management, he tried to ask about the ownership of Volvo cars, and the answer was that they would not be sold.

Therefore, in the case of Volvo not playing, Han Hao must seize the current opportunity to take Jaguar and Land Rover, which is the best choice he faces.

Compared with Land Rover, Jaguar's attraction is really not big for Han Hao.

"The door on my side is open at any time, and as long as the bidding deadline is not reached, the proposal is still valid. ”

Han Hao knew that he couldn't talk to Rattan, but he still left the back door.

After Tata Motors formally submitted its bid, Ford remained ambiguous and did not offer a proposal for Jaguar and Land Rover to be sold separately or jointly.

According to the M&A team's analysis, Ford is likely to sell it separately so that each brand can get a fully competitive offer.

When Han Hao negotiated with Ratan in private, a big negotiation was also secretly going on in the domestic automobile industry.

The protagonist is also related to Han Hao, that is, SAIC and Nanqi, who carved up Rover's assets, and they have affected the image of China Group that is preparing to bid.

Under the squeeze of the monopoly of the Zhonghua Group, the life of domestic independent brands is under great pressure.

In addition, due to high-level turmoil, Fiat, a joint venture partner of NAIC, has not been able to make achievements in the Chinese market, and the relationship with NAIC is very tense.

In addition, SAIC obtained Rover's technology, but Nanqi obtained Rover's equipment, and the two sides wanted to develop their own products independently, but found that there was always a lack of East and West, and the progress was repeatedly slowed down. For more than three years, SAIC and NAIC have not been able to launch their own brand cars on the market.

But the most critical factor is that NAIC has run out of money and has fallen seriously behind in the domestic competition.

Originally, I hoped to get good things from Rover, and then I could assemble them and launch them in China, forming a sales target of more than 100,000 units, so as to recover the huge costs in the early stage.

I didn't expect to encounter a monster like Zhonghua Group, which suddenly raised the threshold of its own brand significantly, and latecomers could not easily make quick money.

At that time, it was desperate to raise the price to keep up with SAIC to compete for Rover, and the subsequent construction of new factories and the resurrection of the MG brand cost a lot of money to Nanqi, and the joint venture with Fiat also lost money year after year, resulting in an annual loss of more than one billion yuan for NAIC.

Since the battle for Rover, the local government has invested no less than 8 billion yuan in NAIC, but now there is no hope of recovering the cost, so the blood transfusion has been stopped.

The acquisition of Rover was to engage in its own brand, but in the face of huge pressure from Zhonghua Group, NAIC first threw an olive branch to SAIC to discuss the intention of cooperation between the two sides.

Under the promotion of the local government level, the cooperation immediately turned into a merger, and when the tax revenue and employment remained unchanged, the sunset Nanqi was ready to merge into the thriving SAIC Group.

The merger of Shangnan and Shangnan indicates another change in the map of China's auto industry.