The first time he came to Balm's new home, Jonas didn't go out to eat. The dishes at home are relatively well prepared, and her craftsmanship is not bad, at least it is not unpalatable.

Jonas also performed a spicy fried chicken, and the smoke smoked them all out, sneezing and tears streaming down their eyes.

During the meal, the group did not dare to touch the dish, only Kalisler knew the craftsmanship of Jonas and was not afraid at all.

After he had eaten several pieces in a row, the others dared to try to taste one piece, but he couldn't stop.

It's July, and although there is no polar day in Gothenburg, nearly 20 hours a day are daylight.

When we arrived in Gothenburg, the sun was in the southwest, and after dinner, the sun drifted to the northwest.

It was not completely dark until about eleven o'clock in the evening, and after more than four hours, the sun would come out of the northeast and make a circle in the sky.

Neither of them was sleepy, and they talked in bed until it was dark, and then Balm let go of himself.

Jonas, who has been holding back for more than half a month, will meet his opponent in this game of chess, but unfortunately the sky is not beautiful, and before they can fight, the sky is bright again.

However, the Swedes have a lot of experience with this, and every house has thick curtains, and when you close the curtains, you can get a good night's sleep.

Jonas was fine, Mikiros and Ursula had come from Germany, and it was noon at the earliest, so there was plenty of time to rest.

“…… After a busy day's schedule, the SKF Group hosted a reception in the evening for not only business people from Gothenburg, but also representatives of the local government. ”

Jonas shook his head, took the schedule from Mikiros, who was sitting in the passenger seat, and said to Ursula, "Aunt Ursula, are there any people who need special attention during the trip?"

Ursula shook her head and said: "Now that the deal has been completed, all sectors in Sweden are gradually accepting the reality of Volvo changing hands. However, the Nordic people have a special cold temperament, so don't make you feel left out. ”

Jonas smiled: "I have already been mentally prepared for this. ”

Switzerland is a country of barriers in the middle of Europe, and people are accustomed to maintaining their neutrality with indifference.

But unlike Finland and Norwegians, the cold climate in Sweden has made people accustomed to a family-centric life, and half of the year, they live in extremely cold climates and people's emotions are as cold as the weather.

They are truly aloof, aloof.

The acquisition of Opel, the workers of Opel are actually very welcome. Because most of the workers at Opel were Germans, they considered Jonas of German origin to be their own.

From GM's banner, to Hoffman's, they proudly call it a return.

However, Volvo is different, although Sweden and Switzerland both start with the word Swiss, the two countries have nothing to do with each other.

The Nordics are proud, and in 1998 on "history" they sold themselves to Ford for a total of more than four billion dollars.

Even when they were sold to Ford, they were proud to maintain their relative independence, and many affairs were not handled by Ford.

After Ford bought them, they couldn't play at all, and they had been losing a lot of money, and Ford had no choice but to sell them to Geely at a very low price after absorbing their truck technology.

Under Geely's banner, they still stubbornly maintain their pride, but Mr. Li's father is very visionary and helps Volvo design the development direction, so that Volvo gradually recovers.

Volvo Group has always been a large-scale integrated group with diversified development. Gothenburg, where they are located, is the industrial center of Northern Europe, and its strong R&D capabilities make the people here full of arrogance.

Jonas actually understands very well that in the cold Arctic Circle, staying in the house for half of the year, they will drive themselves crazy if they don't find something to do for themselves.

So the people on the Nordic side, change. There are more countries, and the innovation is much higher than the average of other regions.

Volvo started with bearings, and their SKF bearings have been the number one bearing company in the world.

In terms of car production, Volvo's cars are not worth mentioning, but their truck technology is not comparable to Mercedes-Benz.

In terms of arms production, they have also been one of Sweden's two large arms production enterprises. Although the scale is not very large, the strength should not be underestimated.

In fact, Jonas did not expect that they would voluntarily sell Volvo at first, because although Volvo has been losing money, the truck company has always been very strong.

It's not that their car company can't survive, so why sell it voluntarily?

Jonas and Ursula had speculated many times, and the final judgment was that they recognized their limitations and wanted to expand Volvo's market with a better car supporting system.

Therefore, they are arrogant, even if they sell as a whole, their requirements include R&D independence, including the factory is not allowed to relocate, including a series of conditions such as workers are not allowed to be dismissed without cause.

Jonas certainly doesn't disagree with them on these issues, the Swedes don't have the same industrial sophistication as the Swiss, but in the world they also stand at the top of the pyramid.

In the world, only Switzerland, Germany, and Dongying can be better than them.

However, the Nordics are too arrogant, they stick to their own style and do not seek breakthroughs, and in terms of product design, something has to change.

Looking at Volvo's product line, trucks have always been excellent, but sedans have been declining for the past decade.

Before 75 years, Volvo developed models that not only had American atmosphere, British elegance, but also Nordic sophistication.

But after 75 years, their designers began to go crazy and focus on minimalist style.

It's not that the minimalist style is bad, but the car, in addition to its practical use, also represents personal taste and façade.

The development of science and technology is not as developed as in later generations, and it is difficult to pursue perfection in details.

Since 76 years, they have successively developed the five main models of 343, 345, 360, 740, and 760, except for the 740 series, the sales of other models are quite low.

Volvo has developed a number of models on these models, but with little success.

In the case of the 360, Volvo's highly-anticipated model cost 180 million Swiss francs, but in three years, the total sales volume has been less than 40,000 units.

Not to mention earning back R&D expenses, even production to maintain a balance of payments can not be done.

There is nothing wrong with them wanting to build their own style, but if they are on the wrong path, they must be guided.

The minimalist style, which could have been created twenty years later, as a propaganda icon, but now, too far ahead.

Jonas remembers most deeply that after Volvo was acquired by Ford in the 90s, the V40 and Focus and Forrest produced on the same platform.

Although the Focus and Forrest are slightly less expensive than the V40, the total global sales of those two cars are more than ten times that of Volvo.

That alone is enough to say a lot.

On the contrary, after 2010, because of the development of science and technology, the simple style has been gradually recognized by consumers because of the progress of science and technology.

But even at that time, many people still thought Volvo cars were ugly.

The car crossed the Elfburg Bridge and arrived in the small town of Wiken, north of the city of Gothenburg. It is home to Gothenburg's port and the headquarters of Volvo Cars.

The reception was almost the same as at Opel, with Jonas meeting with Volvo's middle and senior management, where they had lunch and a short break.

At the meeting, of course, Jonas did not mention that he wanted to change Volvo structurally, but drew a big pie for Volvo with the changes of Opel and his integration of the Czech Republic and Austrian auto parts companies.

Volvo will send personnel to form a study tour of the parts factory in Austria, Skoda, Opel, and Rolls-Royce and Bentley in the UK.

In addition to inspecting the production line, it is more important to understand the spare parts supply system, sales system, and product development system of other companies, and then reorganize the structure of each company under the unified deployment of Hoffmann.

These automobile companies will save resources, integrate resources, and make rational use of resources under a unified system.

Of course, Jonas also said that even if each car company has the same system, the product positioning of different companies is slightly different.

The luxury cars of the British car factory, the luxury cars of Volvo, the performance cars, the civilian cars of Opel, and the low-cost cars of Skoda will not compete with each other and there will be no internal friction between them.

This is actually very much in line with Volvo's positioning of itself, so the arrival of Jonas was warmly welcomed by the indifferent Swedes.

The meeting was broadcast on the radio in the afternoon, and Jonas began to tour the Volvo factory, where workers were greeted everywhere he went.

No matter how proud they are, they know where their shortcomings are.

Now, Hoffmann has acquired so many car companies and parts companies, as long as Volvo has a clear product positioning, accepted into the entire resource sharing system, and saves costs, Volvo's prospects are still very bright.

Of course, the pressure on the product development department is very high, because in the past, they were free to develop and wanted to cover the entire product line.

From the cheapest 343 to the most luxurious 780, Volvo's models have reached nine levels and more than ten models.

Among them, most of them sell less than 10,000 units a year, and many of them even sell less than 1,000 vehicles.

Less than 1,000 cars are sold a year, and the grandmother who lost money doesn't know her anymore.

Volvo will be able to enjoy the same treatment as other companies in the future, but it is certainly impossible to reproduce these models that do not sell well and conflict with other companies.

The R&D department will also have the power to shrink in the future, and they will only have the right to develop in the designated model field.

It's hard for them to object, because it's an area that has to be chosen for development.

(This chapter is a bit dry, forgive me.) The product positioning of each car company will not be detailed later. ）