Ford, once the world's second-largest automobile company, has been in a state of loss since the "tire gate" incident, and "big but not strong and not profitable" has become a label that Ford cannot get rid of.

In particular, it has lost nearly 10 billion US dollars for two consecutive years, and there is no dawn of profitability in the next few years, and Ford has become a seriously ill old man, unable to climb out of the quagmire on its own.

Against this backdrop, Bill Ford, who had been recognized by the board of directors and shareholders as the leader of Ford's success, had to relinquish the title of CEO and step back as chairman, preparing to ask Gao Ming to bring Ford out of the predicament.

Against the backdrop of media discussions about how long Ford can hold on and when it will go bankrupt, Ford announced that Boeing executive Murali has parachuted into Ford as CEO, which became the most exciting news in the United States that day.

Despite being named one of the "Best Managers of 2005" by Business Week, Murali, who has been working in the aviation industry for 37 years, has nothing to do with cars. Both the media and Ford employees are wondering why the board is looking for someone who doesn't know anything about cars to be the leader!

After the 911 incident, the U.S. aviation industry suffered a heavy blow, and Boeing collapsed due to the large environmental impact. It was under Murali's leadership that Boeing started the road of change to reduce costs and adjust the product structure, and finally got out of the predicament.

And Ford's current situation is very similar to Boeing's, and when it comes to the edge of a cliff that cannot be broken or standed, there must be a strong person to lead everyone to achieve change.

Murally was the best candidate recommended to Ford by the headhunters, and in order to impress Murali to join, Bill Ford gave him great power.

"As long as it's good for Ford, even if you fire me, you can do that!"

Faced with the difficulties of the century-old Ford Company, Bill Ford, the heir of the family, had to support Murali to start a big change in order not to let the ancestral business fall into his own hands.

As soon as Murali took office, he immediately started the research work within the company, and did not respond to external questions.

Han Hao, who was participating in the forum in Shanghai, received a call from Yin Qingxun, a financial officer with a global vision, and it is his daily schedule to read English-language financial websites every day. After seeing the news that Ford, which was dubbed "breaking news", announced the change of CEO, Yin Qingxun briefly checked Murali's resume and deeds, and hurriedly called Han Hao.

"Large-scale layoffs and reduction of unprofitable projects, international procurement to reduce costs, and adjustment of product structure to meet market demand......

After seeing Murali's glorious deeds, Yoon Kyung-hoon's first reaction was that he would definitely make a big slimming down of the bloated Ford company, so that Ford, which owns eight major international brands, would definitely choose to sell the unprofitable brands once it lost weight.

Your grass mustard, my grain and grass!

For Ford, certain brands may be a burden, but for hungry Chinese, they are valuable assets.

Compared to the previous Mitsubishi Motors, Ford is a treasure trove, with many mouth-watering brands, such as Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and other foreign brands that are considered to be the victims of Ford's change.

As soon as Han Hao listened to the introduction, he immediately agreed with Yin Qingxun's judgment.

"Ford is now like a single mother with eight children, and the weight of the burden has left her unable to move forward, and she has to give up to survive. ”

If you really want to save the troubled Ford, it is impossible not to take up the scalpel and make a move.

"You set up an M&A research group right away, maybe our opportunity has really come! This time, we can't let the opportunity slip away again!"

When he decided to let Yin Qingxun take the lead in forming a new M&A agency, Han Hao returned to the venue but could no longer listen to the speeches of the guests, and his thoughts had been around the changes that Ford was about to produce.

I don't know how Ford will restructure and reform, and will sell those assets, but Han Hao prefers the Volvo brand in comparison, because it can fit perfectly with the product line of Zhonghua Group and assume the positioning of the high-end market. In addition, in terms of technology, Volvo is also relatively independent of all sub-brands, and it can survive even if it is separated separately, and will not rely too much on the Ford Group.

The second is Jaguar Land Rover, the two original British brands, whose engine technology is in the hands of Ford, but the brand image is okay on a global scale. Land Rover has been in a state of meager profits in recent years, at least there is less competition in SUVs. Jaguar, on the other hand, lost money and was unable to break through the blockade of luxury cars made up of Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Lexus.

Two years ago, it was rumored that Renault wanted to buy the Jaguar brand separately for its own high-end models, but it was later denied by both parties to no avail. Recently, there has been a scandal between South Korea's Hyundai Kia Group and Jaguar, Hyundai Kia Motors has achieved globalization in the low-end market, but it is extremely weak in the field of high-end cars.

Three generations can cultivate a nobleman, there is a certain truth, if you want to break into the field of luxury cars, you really can't do it without enough historical precipitation. The bottom line is that the luxury car market is so big and crowded with competitors of all sizes that it is very difficult for a newly established brand to gain a foothold.

However, after internal discussions, the South Koreans believe that now is not a good time to acquire luxury brands, and they should focus on expanding global production capacity. It seems that their sense of national pride has overcome the desire for luxury brands and they have decided to develop their own luxury brands on their own.

Successive ambiguous relationships with Renault and Hyundai, although Ford CEO Bill Ford repeatedly announced that he had no intention of selling his brand, the outside world did not believe it.

Now that Murali has taken over as Ford's CEO, many are optimistic that the Jaguar brand will be the first asset to be sold by Ford.

Ford bought the Jaguar brand for $2.6 billion, and now if it were to be sold, the market value would not exceed $1.5 billion. As for Jaguar's brother Land Rover brand, Ford used 2.8 billion to marry in, and now if it wants to sell, it will definitely sell at a loss.

Volvo is obviously more valuable, and Ford spent $6.45 billion to buy it that year, and if you want to sell it, the price will not be low.

Han Hao was thinking about his own capital allocation in his heart, and he thought to himself that even if he gritted his teeth and had the opportunity, he would buy these brands, which was very in line with the development strategy of Zhonghua Group.

Everyone was waiting for Murali to officially unveil his platform, and he had to have a central idea to save Ford.

Sure enough, after 48 hours of silence, Murali finally spoke out.

"With just over 10,000 parts for a car and more than 4 million parts for an airplane, I'm more than qualified for the position of CEO of Ford. Because I know better than anyone else what the root cause of Ford's illness is, I've already found a prescription and is ready to prescribe the right medicine!"

In the face of skepticism, Murali showed plenty of confidence and officially announced his formula.

The "One Ford" strategy is what he believes is the most suitable prescription for Ford, Ford is too bloated, ineffective products and a huge organizational structure consume a lot of resources, but there is no reasonable output for Ford to suffer from the "big company" case.

Ford's major brands around the world, as well as its major intercontinental branches, are in fact independent and uncoordinated with each other, and do not play the role of a fist at all.

Therefore, Murali proposed to reshape Ford's overall corporate structure and production process with "One Ford" as the center, and other brands except for core brands such as Ford and Lincoln can be sold to the outside world. As long as the price is right, Ford will not reject a seller's bid.

You must know that Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin and Volvo brands are all owned by Bill Ford with hard work, and now Murali wants to sell them, which naturally leads to the opposition of Chairman Bill Ford.

"Non-core assets can be disposed of, but a quality asset like Volvo, I would recommend not selling. ”

Bill Ford agrees with the direction that the company needs to be slimmed down, but he wants to keep as valuable core assets as possible when it comes to asset sales.

"I'll consider your suggestion, but don't forget, Bill, you said you could fire you and me for the sake of Ford's revival.

Volvo is a good asset, let's look at the sale of other assets before we talk about it. ”

Mulally doesn't have the same affection for his brands as Bill Ford, and he thinks more about economic efficiency.

Finally, Han Hao waited for the long-awaited news, and Ford first announced that it would sell the loss-making Aston Martin company. Competing with Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche in the luxury sports car segment, Aston Martin has not taken advantage of it in the slightest and has been on the margins.

Ford also released rumors that Jaguar and Land Rover, the two major British brands, are also waiting to be sold, but they are not enthusiastic about the sale, but they have not ruled out the possibility of changing hands.

Although he was preparing for a big sale, Murali also knew that he could not expose his cards too early in business, and he had to work hard to make it seem that Ford was not very willing to sell his brand. If everyone knew about Ford's clearance, they would definitely try their best to lower prices.

Aston Martin is just an appetizer, and it makes no sense to engage in sports cars according to the existing strength of the China Group, so Han Hao set his sights on the main course.

The two major brands of Jaguar and Land Rover have been put on the shelves by Ford, and Han Hao is considering which brand to buy, or both. Although he is more fond of Volvo, Ford has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of selling Volvo, so he can't pick up sesame seeds and lose watermelon, and he shouldn't hesitate when it's time to start.

Through a good personal relationship, Han Hao found Bill Ford and expressed his intention to participate in the acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover. Unexpectedly, someone was faster, and had already taken the lead and also expressed interest in the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover, and the opponent appeared out of thin air.